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Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Leadership Prep School in Frisco will host its second TEDxYouth event on April 24, 2021, and we got to chat with one of the cool kids who is planning to deliver her first-ever TED Talk! (We’re guessing there will be more of these in her future…) LPS teachers Loralea Ray and Tony Curtis, along with fifth grade student Shania Nagpal, joined The Frisco Podcast to share the fun facts about TEDxYouth. We talk about the school’s application process, the rehearsals, and the soon-to-be-famous kids who have some impressive topics planned. Listen and be inspired, Frisco! Details as to how you can watch 2021 TEDxYouth Frisco are within… Enjoy this episode. SHOW NOTES: [01:26] How does a school apply to host a TEDx event? [02:38] Last year’s inaugural TEDx event in Feb 2020, the speakers and topics [05:11] The speaker selection process for the 2021 event [07:25] How it works this year, live audience and YouTube [08:34] Student Shania shares about her TEDx aspirations [09:38] Getting ready for TEDx – choosing a topic, rehearsals, and having fun! [11:56] 2021 Speaker topics [12:50] What students are learning from the experience LINKS & RESOURCES: Leadership Prep School on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Nicole Barron. And today I have the privilege of chatting with Leadership Prep School in Frisco. If you’re not familiar LPS, as we like to call them, is a highly regarded charter school, um, in West Frisco. And they are on a mission to inspire students, to learn, grow, and lead for a lifetime. They have a lot of incredible programs and curriculum that do exactly that. One of those we get to chat about today. It’s a very, very impressive- Leadership Prep will be hosting their second TEDx event. And I have, um, two teachers and a student who have a lot to share with us about it. And you’re definitely going to want to, um, watch the live event when it happens online. So let’s just dive in and find out all about it. Welcome to my guests. We have Loralea Ray, who is a teacher at Leadership Prep. We have Tony Curtis, also a teacher at Leadership Prep. And we have Shania Nagpal, a fifth grade student, which is very special that we have her here today because she’s going to tell you all about what she plans to share at TEDx. Welcome. Hi, thank you so much for having us. You are very welcome. It’s our pleasure. So let me just back up at the beginning and just say it cannot be easy. We hear about TEDx all the time. It’s a very big deal. It’s all over the country, the world. How does a school in Frisco, Texas get to host a TEDx? It can’t be easy. Are there a lot of rules requirements? How did this happen? Uh, yeah, definitely a lot of rules and requirements. Uh, last year was our first year. And, uh, it really just starTED with a brainstorm, uh, about how some of us were doing little mini, uh, sort of fake TED talks in our classroom. You know, just, just to kind of make the presentations seem more fun. And just one day I thought, “wait a second, why are we doing fake TED talks? Let’s do a real one?” And so we just went to TED.com and we looked up the requirements and submitted an application. And really within 30 days they approved the application and we were in, Oh my goodness. Well, they must’ve been impressed because I, again, there’s there must receive a lot of applications really, but it’s special when there are students involved. That’s that changes everything. How all of we adults think we have a million great things to say, but when it’s kids, that’s better. I want to know what they have- Shania’s nodding your head. I can see that. And you can ask. Right. Um, okay. So last year was the first one and it was right before the COVID craziness hit. Right. So you were able to have a live event at that time, is that correct? Yes. Okay. So how many students were involved in that and how old were they? Tell me a little bit about that event. Uh, I, I believe we had 11 speakers ranging from second grade through 12th grade and, um, and really the ones that stole the show tended to be the, the younger ones. Really. How cool. What kinds of things did they talk about? Do you remember? I don’t mean to put you on the spot. It was like a year and a million things ago. Yeah. Younger ones. Um, well, the TED Talks themselves were about, um, overcoming hardships, which you don’t think of a second grader having to overcome that much, but it was, it was really inspiring talks, for sure. Having to just overcome, you know, negative thinking, uh, bullying, how to find that spark within yourself, but they are. Our theme last year was “evolve.” So all of the talks had a little something to do with how, um, you know, the evolution from one, one place to another or something like that. Um, so they ranged anywhere from talking about, you know, positivity and trying to make sure that you kind of know your worth too. Um, our oldest, one of our seniors, um, he talked about how to change and reform the voting that was happening at that time, which actually became such a hot topic while we, you know, we’re in a lockdown this last presidential election, it was, it was really cool because everything that he talked about really came to fruition with like this real-life event that was happening on all of our, um, whenever we were watching the news during the lockdown. So it was interesting, but it is always interesting to see how a student takes that theme and applies it to their passion talk. You know, they apply it to their own life. So the talks can be such a wide range of things. The speaker that she’s referring to, uh, Leo, he had a personal connection to it because he is a self-proclaimed Map Nerd. He creates maps for fun, specifically political maps. And he’s actually published some of those maps on Wikipedia. So high school student and he’s, you know, one of the experts in the world, you know, depending how you look at it on political maps. Gosh, impressive. That’s very cool. I’ll have to look into that. So how did- now this year forwarding to this year. So the theme I heard is “catalyst.” How does a student get involved? So we’re fortunate to have Shania here, who we’re going to chat with her in a minute, but, um, how many students have applied to be a speaker this year? And what does it require? How did they, um, what do they have to demonstrate in order to be qualified for it? So this year, because we had such a wide variety of how students were choosing to attend school, right? We had some students that were asynchronous. We had some students that were synchronous online, and then we had some students that are in-person. So we couldn’t just ask teachers for recommendations. You know, we like to take what a teacher has to say to heart, but it’s not the only thing we look for. You know, we don’t- we tell teachers, we’re looking for kids that are passionate, that are not afraid to tell you their opinions and that, you know, don’t have a hard time taking a side on things. They’re passionate about, you know, one way or the other. Um, so you’re not always looking for the top of the class, the one that’s the best-behaved, you know, TED tends to invite in people that have a lot of fire in their belly for what they’re talking about. Um, and so this year was a little different because like, if a child, if a student had chose to be asynchronous, we don’t see them. You know, they- they’re choosing to not attend class every day, but just do their work at their own pace. And so we kind of took all of that into consideration and we took, uh, we gave, uh, uh, speakers- it’s like in Google, what was it? The form? Thank you. Thanks, Shania. Shania saves the day. We sent them a Google Form for anybody that was interested. And we would just let them fill it out. And then we kind of, you know, Tony and I met and we went through them all and at one- and then we decided, “you know what? We’re just going to let everybody try out.” So this year we decided if somebody felt passionate enough and they wanted to come in and they wanted to audition, then we just thought, why not? It’s a crazy year. Let’s just do this. I love about that is that’s one of the positive effects of the crazy weird year is that last year in person, you were limited your capacity was limited, right? How many speakers can we schedule in a day? And how many people can we have onstage? And if it’s all online this year, which is very cool. And I mean, every TED talk I’ve ever watched, I watched online. Um, so then you can, there’s really no limit is there? So what a great opportunity. Yeah, well, we will actually have our speakers on the very same stage this year that we had last year. So we’ll have all the same lighting effects and all the equipment that we had last time. However, the audience will be much smaller. There only be two family members per speaker and a select number of, of teachers and staff, um, that have, have been interested. But, you know, for COVID, we, we, we can’t pack the room full of a hundred people like we did last year. Right, gotcha. Yep. Okay. So I’m just really eager, eager, eager to chat with Shania. I’m so excited to chat with you, too. Thank you. You are precious. So I also have a sense that you are unbelievably intelligent already. I can already tell this and I’m eager to hear. So first of all, what made you want to do this? Why were you, you said you, this has been a dream forever. What made you want to sign up? Well, growing up, I always like to be in front of a crowd. I always like to public speak. I was like to sing, I always like to play an instrument, but I never really had the opportunity to do it in front of a lot of people and to do it in such a big program. So when my English teacher, she, she was teaching us online and she said that she was a TED organizer and she gave us the link to that form. I like, I knew that I had to do it because I’ve always wanted to do it. So I, so I went downstairs after her class was over and asked my parents and they said it was a great opportunity and a great idea. And so I signed up and then we did the audition and then I got in and that day I was like smiling the whole day. I was so happy. And so, yeah, and I really just loved doing it so much fun. It’s been such a good experience. I’m so glad. So tell me about the process. Like, how is it a lot of hard work? Do you have to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse? Tell me about that. Yes. Some parts are easy and some parts are hard. Like signing up was pretty easy, but then making the whole speech was really pretty hard because you have to pick the right words. You had to make something that made sense. You had to add humor, you had to make it something that people would find interesting. And another thing that I found hard was like picking the topics. Cause they were like so many things that you could do anything. And then you have to pick something you’re passionate about. Like I’m passionate about so many things. So it took me like two days to pick a topic and yeah, it was really hard, but it was so much fun. Are you able to share with us what your topic is going to be or is that under wraps? Well, my topic is virtual reality and augmented reality and how you can escape a world if you have problems or violence and go into some, some place where you feel safe and excited and happy. And then with virtual reality and augmented reality, you can go to like a whole new world. Like if you’re in America, you can go to France or you can go to, well anywhere you can go to India, Dubai, the desert, it’s just like teleportation. And I think that’s so cool. It is. That’s very cool. I can’t wait to hear. So how long is your speech going to be, do you know? 10 to 11 minutes. 15. Video’s like 20 minutes but then we started limiting down. Yeah, I have a lot to say. I’ve just, I told you this at the beginning, I’m an editor. That’s what I do. And that can be very hard, especially when it’s yourself to self-edit. Cause every word feels so important and “no, I want to say that and that and that and that.” And it’s very hard to cut things out, but it sounds like you’re learning a lot about how to keep the audience engaged and what do they need to hear and maybe not need to hear. And that’s a good, that’s a great thing to learn as you continue through school and then you go to college, you’re going to be writing papers and that’s going to be a great skill. I cannot wait to hear. So do you have, um, there must be some of your peers and friends involved as well. What are some of the other topics we’re going to get to hear? Do you know? Yes. There’s like such a huge Gradle topics. Like there’s so many, like every different type of thing. There’s just a topic for that. There’s beauty within. There’s like how golf can teach you life lessons, change-,making positivity and kindness, finding your inner voice, homelessness. There’s so many different topics and I’m so excited for you to hear all of them. I am, too, and you’re going to be famous. You’re going to be on YouTube. Well, I can’t think of a better place to be famous than on your school’s page where I know you’re very proud to be a student there. They’re so proud of you. So that is going to be fine. I promise. I’m going to watch for sure. So I’m going to jump back to your teachers for a second and then I would love to chat with you again in a second. So, um, as teachers, what do you see coming out of these students that, you know, the effect that this opportunity and this experience may have on, on your little speakers and all this hard work they’re doing? Well. I mean, we’ve already seen a ton of growth in them during the rehearsal process. You know, we’re, uh, you know, we’re, we’re chipping away at the talks, you know, we’re telling them to do more of this and less of that. And, and, uh, and they’re just taking the, the advice and running with it. And, um, some of the humor that they’ve come up with, like, I don’t even think they realized it was funny when they said it, but as soon as soon as, as soon as they did, it’s like, “Oh, we gotta really focus on that. And we need a picture of a shark behind you on the screen when you say that. Cause that is hilarious.” So I didn’t even consider that- Their self-esteem just goes through the roof. I mean, when they’re getting up on stage and they’re seeing that they’re able to overcome that fear and not only that. Just their, the passion that they have about the topics that they speak about. And then we also encourage them this year because they were limited to, you know, with all the COVID and everything we encouraged, um, this year’s students to call people in the community. You know, if they were writing about a certain topic, like homelessness, to call organizations in Frisco and talk to them about how they’re combating this, especially during COVID. So you have very young students who are calling the heads of organizations. They were having Zoom calls with them. And so, you know, one of the parents of one of the girls speaking this year said, um, she noticed at church, her daughter would just go up to older people and she was no longer afraid to just have a conversation with them. And she had never seen that before. So I think that’s really cool. This, that self-confidence, that they gain from learning how to speak to other people. Absolutely. I think, I mean, I’m still working on that and I’m a whole lot older than Shania. That’s very impressive. And yes, that, that will serve you well, it’s great to have confidence and to challenge yourself, I was thinking about, um, just the mere fact that you have to memorize it. Right, Shania? You have to completely memorize it? Yeah, no index cards on a TED stage. No teleprompter. There’s nothing. And it, it struck me when you said a Tony about the shark image behind, I tell me about the digital side of this and what’s going on to help, you know, make it fun in the production side. Oh, well, you know, as in most, uh, TED talks there often will be a projection screen behind them. And of course they never turn around to look at it. They’re always facing the audience. And we’re very fortunate to have an auditorium here that has that setup with a large screen behind our TED speakers. But at the back of the room, there is a big screen TV that’s mounted on the wall. That’s large enough, so they can see their own slides while looking forward above the heads of the audience. So, um, you know, we’re, we’re training them to watch those slides, not watch the ones behind them. And, and again, with TED, it’s not like a standard PowerPoint. You know, you’ll never see, you know, a list of bullet points that your audience has to try to read along with. It’s always a simple, beautiful graphic imagery that just adds value to the words that are coming out of their mouth. So we’re, you know, we’re teaching them to communicate both verbally and visually at the same time. And of course, we’re also teaching them about copyright and creative commons and make sure that we have the rights to use the images that are on there, because once you’re on YouTube, you know, there are thousands of people are going to see this, including maybe the owner of that copyright. That’s a valuable lesson. Oh, wow. Okay. So I I’m again, so eager Shania to hear your, your speech coming up here real soon. Tell us, please, when the event is, um, any, any, whoever wants to chime in, when does the event and how can we support it? Since we can’t go in person, but we absolutely want to see all these cool, hardworking kids. How can we do that? The event is on April 24th and then, uh, it’ll come out on YouTube. So I suppose you can support it by watching us and giving us views and liking our videos. Absolutely. Smashing the “like” button. Mash the “like” button. I like it. And share it and tell others. Absolutely. Shania, tell me, I’m going to ask you one last question: what do you like about your school, Leadership Prep? I love everything. But something I like the most is the people here. They’re just so nice. And so are the teachers like these two teachers are so nice. They’re like incredible. They teach us all like everything and they’re also TEDx organizers. So that’s just like a plus. And then all the teachers and the people. They’re all so nice. Also. I love all the things you can do here. Like there’s different events that you can do. Like TED, there was a leadership summit previously and there’s also a bunch of classes and stuff. There’s like, in my old school there wasn’t any Spanish, but there’s Spanish here, which I think is cool. There’s fitness fundamentals. Yes. There’s robotics which is one of my favorite favorite classes. He taught us. It was also really [inaudible]. Right. Got to say that. Yes. Gotta plug my robotics class. Yes. So Tony Curtis is the robotics teacher and Loralea Ray is the English teacher, a English teacher there. So yes. Are they, are they both your teachers then? Shania, you have both? Awesome. Well, how fun, how special that they’re also helping you with this other huge goal that you have with TEDx. Well, I just am so proud. I think it’s amazing that right here in Frisco, we’ve got TEDx. Is it TEDx Youth, technically? Is that what we call it? Is that right? Yes. That’s what I thought. So that’s pretty special and you all should be very proud of Shania. Keep on rehearsing. I know you’re going to nail it. You’re going to do a great job and I’m very eager to hear it. You’re going to do great. Well, I appreciate each of you sharing with us about the event, because again, I just, I think it’s very unique to Frisco and these kids are working so hard and it’s very something we’re very proud of for you. So thanks for giving us all the details. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having us. Thank you, all. Congratulations, Shania, on your great opportunity. Thank you. You’re very welcome.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   We always enjoy chatting with Ann Anderson. A wealth of wisdom, Ann generously shares with us all of the Insurance matters that we never knew we needed to know — and thank goodness for it! In this episode, Ann tells us how to be prepared for things like 2021’s outrageous ICEMAGEDDON! She also offers perspective on purchasing Life Insurance policies for our children, as well as how to adequately insure your family fun vehicles (i.e. RV’s, boats) — and the valuables inside them. Ann’s a friend to all in Frisco and genuinely cares for her clients. Enjoy this episode of The Frisco Podcast. SHOW NOTES: [00:14] Meet Ann. [01:15] The impact of that crazy winter storm in February 2021 [06:12] What kind of coverage should we have to be prepared for a winter storm? [07:45] Why we should consider Life Insurance policies for our children [12:12] Summer fun: how to adequately insure boats, RVs, swimming pools, and more. [17:23] How often you should touch base with your Insurance agent, and why [20:46] How to reach Ann LINKS & RESOURCES: Anderson Insurance Agency on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn |Yelp Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Nicole Barron. Today, I get to chat with the lovely Ann Anderson, who is one of our longest standing clients and friends. We always enjoy catching up with Ann because not only is she a good friend, but she educates us about a lot of things we never thought of and really need to know. So, Ann, welcome. Thank you. Good to be here. Glad to have you back. Ann is always on alert for us. She’s an advocate to many members of our community. She’s studies listens, learns what’s happening in the insurance arena so that we can be prepared for anything. And she’s walked alongside a lot of clients who had unforeseen circumstances, crazy things go on, and I’m sure she’s learned a lot so that she can then carry that knowledge onto the next client. So, Ann’s just a wealth of information. She’s also, um, a parent and a wife and living the small-business-owner life. So she’s just got all kinds of angles from which to fill us with knowledge. So, Ann, thank you. Thank you again. You know what I think we should start with? The big freeze. Yes, exactly. There were a lot of fun names that went around for the, uh, craziness that was February, 2021. And, um, you know, everything from of course, floods to repairs to, um, just having to hire contractors. There’s so much there to unpack probably in terms of, um, what do we need to know to be prepared for something like that, that we just think, “nah, that’ll never happen.” So I know that’s a whole lot there, but just what are your top tips about that kind of thing? What do we need to know? You’re so right. There’s so much. And we never thought, right? I don’t think, you know, we have friends in the North and they’re like, “how do you not have electricity?” Or “why are the pipes breaking?” You know? And I’m like, “because we don’t dig below the freeze line” and things like that, that are conversations we don’t have in Texas. However, they never water their foundations either. So it goes both ways. But yeah, that freeze who- I mean, it was a hard freeze, right? We talk about it, but it was multiple days under freezing temperatures, very low temperatures. So that puts stress on your home, your plans. How many people are replacing bushes around their homes now because the, um, their Indian Hawthorn is all dead or whatever? But the biggest thing, of course, in the end, the worst thing you want is when you have a pipe break. So we, um, we’ve seen, um, a lot of those tankless water heaters, their holding tank have failed many, many of those that happened. So that’s, you know, I will say we’re, um, that’s one of the biggest things. And of course, the first thing you want to do is try and stop the, stop, the water from flowing and remediate as much as you can so that you can, um, stop the loss from being greater than it has to be. However, you know, I will be honest. We have multiple clients with more than $150,000 claims going right now because they have so much damage. And, um, so that’s the big thing where people say “that’ll never happen to me.” Water is so invasive. And we’ve learned that the hard way through the freeze and it gets everywhere. There’s places where they’re like, “but the water was on the other side of the house. Why is my kitchen wet?” That’s the way it is. Water just goes everywhere. So that’s, that’s a big thing is we think it won’t happen. How do we prevent that from happening? Well, one way is, you know, whole-house leak detections, which we’ve never thought of in the past. And a lot of people don’t consider it, but there are devices out there that will actually shut off when they, when they noticed that the hot water tanks are failing, it’ll shut off your water. So those are devices to prevent losses, right? Because we really want to protect yourselves and not have the big claim. The other part that you mentioned- or before we move to that is the other thing is everything’s wet. How do we get it dry? It’s freezing outside. We’re blowing fans, we’re doing everything we can, we want to prevent the growth of mold. Things are damaged, everything you can do. Um, we, you know, in this event, we, even our water mitigation companies that are local, we’re just overwhelmed, right? Our adjusters at Farmers were completely overwhelmed. We had to bring in third-party adjusters. Every county in the state of Texas was in a disaster. It’s never happened before. So that’s huge. So then unfortunately, what happens on the backside of that is unethical, unscrupulous contractors come out of woodwork and people that want to prey on the misfortunes of others, which is just horrible. Um, I think it’s a- I have a lot of things to say about that, but we’re not going to deal with it. We just don’t, they’re just not good people. It’s so important to find contractors that you know, or that you can be referred to you from a trusted source. And, um, it doesn’t have to be your insurance agent, but I always say, if you don’t think to call your insurance agent, when something like that happens, you might want to look for a new insurance agent because they should be, they should be your partner. And we try to be a partner with our clients. And so we do, we’ve had a lot of conversations with people who have claims that are still, we’re still in the dry, um, in the rebuild phase. So working through that, but, um, things you can do on your own with contractors is check and see if they’re listed the city because they should register with the city. Even if they don’t have to be licensed, they should be registered with the city. That’s a good place to start. If they should be licensed, there’s a state repository of licenses online. You can look up their licenses. So, um, those are two ways to look. And then of course, if somebody says to you, “I want X dollars upfront” Red flag. I would say, “no, thank you.” Because they, um, I’ve had seen it on next door. It hasn’t happened to any of my clients, but I’ve seen our next door, the contractor left with $10,000 and they never come back. They want us to, you know, nightmares. So we don’t ever want to see that happen. Um, wow. So yeah, that was, that was a crazy, crazy, crazy month. Here’s the, yeah. Yes, it was. And you’re still still in it really, uh, with the aftermath, but what is the, this is such a naive question on my part, but what is the coverage we need to make sure we have to be prepared for this? So I think the biggest thing is to make sure that your water coverage, um, and check the limits. So limits of insurance are a really big deal. And in every claim situation, we always say we only to, to the limits of the policies, usually what you read. And, um, some companies cover 25% of your dwelling value. Some 15%, some say 15% or 25,000, whichever is less. Um, but those words matter. Farmers insures a 100% to the, to the value of your dwelling, to your reconstruction value. That’s a big deal when I have $150,000 claim if you think about it. Um, but that’s something to really pay attention to. If you have a separate structures that include your pool and, um, you have exposed pool pipes and pool equipment, you want to make sure that that’s covered, or how is that covered? Uh, you know, everyone, “I was breaking up the ice.” Everyone. The pool’s a big story, right? We’ve been covering those too. So that’s been a good, a good thing for our company. Those are the biggest ones you want to make sure that the causes of loss, make sure you look at those because whether it’s water and what forms of water, um, and, uh, you know, fire, theft, whatever, but you want to look at those causes of loss. Those are the important things. Okay. So definitely just have a conversation with your agent, talk through it. Yes. And truly, and I know you’d be glad to take their call as well. Yeah. Okay. Good. Well, that’s really good wisdom. Thank you for that. I’m going to totally jump to something still insurance-related, but away from Ice-mageddon. And that is, um, you actually educated me about this recently. Something I never thought about – life insurance for children and beginning having those conversations starting at pregnancy. And I’ve got three kids. Um, this did not come up when I was pregnant. No, we did not consider that at that time. So will you please, you know, there’s so many young families and Frisco, I think this is a really valuable topic. What do we need to know? So, you know, we hear about the Gerber Grow-Up Plan. But what I like to say is when you’re pregnant and you’re planning for that child, you’re budgeting, right? We’re budgeting for daycare, for diapers, for formula, little league, whatever. We should budget for life insurance. As young as 14-days old, as long as your child is healthy, they are eligible for life insurance and you can set up a plan that will really take them to the end of their life. I’m not going to say anything bad about any other company ’cause anything’s better than nothing. But you know, like we have products that can grow with them, that accumulate cash inside of the money, inside of the policy. There’s just a lot of options that we can do. And as young as 14, 14-days old, if you think about it, you know, there’s no hopefully childhood illness yet. I mean, hopefully they’re still healthy and that just grows and grows with them. But as you can imagine, a 14-day old person has a lot less to insure that a 40-year old person, you know. The cost of insurance is so much less. So there’s I tell, I tell families, you know, for less than you would spend, probably at McDonald’s during the month, you could have life insurance for your child. It’s, I mean, the minimum is $25 cause that’s to draft, you know, it’s just so little and all the tiny importance is that we never know when there’s going to be that line in the sand that says you can’t get insurance anymore. And that’s, it’s sad. It’s a sad thing to talk about. That’s why we don’t talk about it. Nobody wants to talk about this. We could not get insurance for our son until he was 18 and older enough to be rated as an adult because of childhood illness that prevented the automatic approval process. Um, as opposed to his sister who got it when she was much younger. And, um, we just didn’t, if I would’ve known that was going to happen when he was 8, I would’ve made a different choice in his life for him as a parent, but nobody had that conversation with me. Um, I could have, you know, yeah. So, and so we had to hear the sad things too. I have a client who’s a great client, but he had thyroid cancer when he was 18 or no, he was 16. So when he goes 26, we got him on a great insurance policy, but he said, I’ll never not have life insurance. I had to wait so long because I had cancer when I was 16-years old. And you know, you just never know what it’s going to happen. Certain types of diabetes that happen when you’re young can prevent life insurance. So that’s why I say, I know it’s something we don’t like to talk about. It’s not fun. People are like “why would you insure a child?” It’s not because I want to profit if something happens, something horrific happens. I just want to protect them for their life. And I tell all parents, you know, you can always later on your children can take over those policies and pay for them themselves and everything else. They can, they can be the owners, whatever. But quite honestly, I will probably pay for my kid’s policies their entire life. That’s just what we do. We’re mom and dad’s right? And they’ll probably pay for their kids’ policies at some point for a little bit. But you know, um, it’s not to be depressing or morbid. It’s just, we don’t think about it. I wish more people talk to parents when they were, when the kids were younger. ‘Cause when I see something later, I just, it makes me sad. It makes me truly sad ’cause like [inaudible] never asking somebody when a bad thing has happened to them. I’m like, “Oh, did you have life insurance on your kids?” How, how horrible would that be? And I don’t do that, but I keep it to myself and I just kind of go, “I hope they have life insurance.” Well, and then that’s why you’ve always got that in your pocket when you’re having an initial conversation with a new client or are you someone that you just found out is expecting or, you know, then you’re, you can, you’ve got so much to pull from those experiences to share with someone ahead of that situation. So I think that’s really, that’s really great and good, good wisdom. Um, my husband, I know his parents, like you were saying, you know, did this for him when he was very young and when he was 18, they asked him to start paying into it and he’s had it ever since, you know, and I think, um, in this case, you know, teaching him responsibility and taking ownership of that and, um, that’s awesome too, so. Okay, good. Good. Thank you for all that. That was very good. So let’s jump to something fun now. Yes. So summer is coming and uh, you know, for those of us that have students we’re counting down, it’s like thirty-something days. I can’t even believe we made it. Like I, that would be shut down. We didn’t, we weren’t shut down. Anyway. So we’re going to be hitting the lake, hopefully some of us. Can we talk about boats, trailers, all those like fun watercrafts and things that might people might be getting into this summer. And maybe you might even hit on pool insurance again, because that was a good one. People, a lot of people built pools this year. Did you notice? There was like everybody- Oh my gosh. So let’s talk summer, summer fun. What do we need to know, Ann? Well, summer’s great. I will also tell you that last year was probably a banner year for trailers and RVs being sold because everyone discovered how the joy of glamping or camping and I don’t even think of RVs. Totally. Yeah. Last year we were adding a lot of trailers to policies. So yeah, when you’re buying trailers, boats or vehicles, just remember that they don’t have wheels, but they’re still a vehicle. So you want to have the right insurance again, you, you know, you’re out on the lake, you have stuff in your boat, you want to protect the property that’s in it. And the people that are in it. You know, at the end of the day, you don’t want to, um, you know, we always, we all carry these little, these little rectangular phones around with us. They cost lots of money and sometimes they have insurance sometimes not, but if you’re in the boat and you have these first- please put it into something that floats. [Inaudible] I always hold it in my hand. It will sink so fast. You’ll never be able to catch it. I promise you. So you definitely no amount of rice can take care of that. Put it in something that floats, but also just be aware, you know, “Oh my gosh, I have $10,000 worth of personal property in my boat. I want to make sure that it’s insured.” Um, or in my camper when, uh, when we get trailers and campers, we gradually put stuff in it that we just leave it at all the time. So make sure that property is insured on your policy because the policy for your trailer probably has a much lower deductible than your home policy. So if you have a loss or a theft and you need to file a claim, you’re not paying 1% deductible on a home, that’s going to be, you know, $3,000 or more that you’re going to pay, you know, maybe five-hundred or a thousand dollars deductible. So those are like details that are real important, right? And to think about. But we also want to just have fun and we want it to be confident when we’re having that fun that we’re protected and our friends are protected. We want to take care of everybody. Um, and when you talk about pools- a lot of people added pools and I always have a conversation with my clients. When they add a pool, I say, “please consider getting an umbrella policy for your home and auto that will also cover your pool.” It raises all of your liability limits up by $1 million or 2 million, whichever limit you select. But I know that no amount of money will replace a person or replace their lifestyle if there’s a serious injury. Right. But we also have heard the nightmare stories of serious injuries happening around pools. And I’m not saying “don’t get a pool.” ’cause I love pools. I hope to have one one day, but apparently all the pool contractors are very busy, [laughter] ’cause all of you were probably getting pools. But um, have that umbrella policy because you know, it makes a huge difference, um, to be able to, to compensate, you know, that person, if they have medical injuries or whatever, if that, if that accident happens. And the cost of an umbrella policy is so minimal in the grand scheme of all the other, you know, the other costs of having that pool. I have an umbrella policy. I’ve had it since I was 28-years old. It’s not even a conversation. Even before I was an insurance agent. It wasn’t even on the table to get rid of when we couldn’t afford something else. I was like “gotta get rid of that.” It helps me sleep at night if I cause a major accident on the highway, I know that I have good coverage. I hope this isn’t putting a bullseye on me. Right? “Oh that’s lot of insurance” No, but you want to be able to take care of your friends. And if you ’cause injury to a person, you, you want to know that there’s enough to, to help put them back together again. So that’s what the umbrella does. And when you have a pool, I tell everybody “I love pools. But remember it’s a great big hole in your backyard with water.” And so it’s, uh, you know, in the insurance world, that’s a really big risk. We do everything we can to, to mitigate the amount of risk to, to, um, make people save and everything else. “Don’t run. Don’t jump head-first,” all those things. But, um, I just say, add that umbrella policy. I’d say the same thing with boats and trailers, the same, you know. Our family has had boats in the past and my brother has one that has a couple now actually, but he has a good insurance too. He doesn’t live in Texas though. I have to travel quite a ways to get into his boat. But you know, it’s just important. We, at the end of the day, I always say, we want it. If somebody is injured and it’s my fault, we want to make sure that we put them back together. I love that. Okay. That’s good advice. So it sounds to me like, and I I’ll say right now, my husband and I have not been good about this, that every, at a minimum, maybe every six months, pick up the phone and check in with your agent and just kind of, you know, is it, maybe you’d come up with a different timeframe for that. But, um, you know, we just sort of like signed annually and don’t give it a whole lot of other a thought. You’re probably thinking, “Oh my gosh!” No, no, I’d say that was probably 90% of the families. Every time I talked to you, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing you before and also, you know, reading your content on our site. And I, every time I’m like, “Oh my gosh, people need to talk to their agent.” Talk to your agent, talk to your agent because there’s so many things we don’t know to think about. I don’t know what I don’t know. And you’re the expert. You’ve been doing this for so long and you care very much about other families. I know you do. So, um, yeah. People need to call you if they don’t have a trusted agent, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for that. Please call me. But no, you know, I would say, um, at the minimum annually, uh, you know, most people, their, um, their policies, a lot of times their auto policies are at a 6-month in their homes and everything else is annual. Sure. I would say at least once a year, sit down with your agent. You know, I I’ve had these conversations with clients. Like I had one really great lady and I, we spoke and I said, “Hey, how, how are things going? Has anything changed? Is there something, anything new in the house that I should, we talked about.” She was like, “you know what? I bought myself a Rolex for Christmas and I maybe should insure that. I was like, “you probably should. It could fall off your wrist. All the things.” So we just took care of that really quick for her, but it’s, it’s funny. Or someone will say, “Oh, I bought a boat. I meant to tell you about it earlier.” Things like that happened. And we laugh, but you know, there’s light changes too that happen. And this, I don’t want to like harp on life insurance, but you know, a lot of times we have all our life insurance with our employer and I had people call me and they’re like, “Oh, that’s right. Um, I’m on a severance right now, but my life insurance is ending and I need to get with you and, you know, talk about that because I need to make sure I still have life insurance. I don’t have with my employer anymore.” So we have that conversation, but it’s, it’s just important things like things change, right. We don’t know from year to year, from month to month, what’s going to happen. So having conversations’ worth it, you, um, you and your agent or if you call me we’ll you’ll, we will probably uncover things that you didn’t consider. We don’t think about because I don’t know all the questions to ask in different situations. You know, when I go to talk to the mechanic who fixes my car, I don’t know all the things to ask, but he, he prompts those conversations. Exactly. Okay. Thank you so much, Ann. I always love chatting with you because you’re so friendly, first of all, but it’s very informative. It’s useful. So, thank you. Thank you. I will tell you that I am sort of a nerd about insurance. Um, but I, I just think it’s so important to help people and do it the right way. And we have a great opportunity to help others. And, you know, we love to, to give back in the community and, and be involved when there’s so much we’re always doing, but, but helping individuals is really, you know, I think we get the most satisfaction from it and joy from just knowing that we’ve done a good job. Absolutely. And thank you. So, everyone can find you at anninsurestx.com. Am I right? Yes. A N N insures tx.com. Um, you’re on social media. You do a great job there. So we’ll find you there as well. And then also on Lifestylefrisco.com. We’ve got beaucoups of interviews with Ann and articles that she has contributed to, uh, sponsored by her that, um, offer fantastic advice. The good example, you said about the Rolex, we’ve got a whole article about that, you know, ensuring your valuables. We’ve got an article about ensuring your students who are headed off to college. Um, so much good stuff out there. So definitely go to lifestylefrisco.com type Ann Anderson Insurance, and you’ll find all of it. Um, thank you again. I hope you have a great rest of the day. I’m sure we’ll be chatting with you again soon to uncover some more things we didn’t know that we need to know. Absolutely. Well, thank you. And thanks for your time. You’re always easy to talk to and you make it an easy discussion. So thanks so much. Thank you. Have a good evening. You, too. Bye, Ann. Bye.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this episode of The Frisco Podcast, host Scott Ellis and Kevin Carswell talk about what’s new at Mochas & Javas, business in the time of COVID-19, and online ordering now available in Frisco. SHOW NOTES: [02:21] Business amid a pandemic [04:12] Changes & improvements to M&J [10:01] New menu items LINKS & RESOURCES: Mochas & Javas on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host Scott Ellis. This week, we’re talking again to Kevin Carswell, the owner of Mochas & Javas, uh, a favorite coffee shop location here in Frisco, located at the corner of Legacy and Eldorado, that is, on the southeast corner of Legacy and Eldorado. Yeah. So I was thinking in my head, but yes, that was correct. Yeah. I always have to, I’m looking at it from the opposite direction. So I also have to turn the map in my head and make sure I get that right. But, uh, welcome to the show and thanks for joining us again. Thanks for having me. I really enjoy it. Enjoy what you guys do up there in Frisco for us Appreciate it. So yes, thank you very much. And we love supporting the local businesses as much as we can, yours included, but you’re not in Frisco at the moment. It sounds like you’re, uh, probably down in San Marcos, I’m in San Marcos, um, was up in Frisco last week, just overseeing operations. Things are running very well through. We have a really good team in place right now and things they’re really happy with, with our, um, staff up there. We’re still hiring. Uh, I think that’s something that I think every business Frisco seems to be doing, especially in the restaurant industry is hiring all the time. So we’re open to UNT campus comes online here. Eventually allow us a little bit more staffing for the hours that we need which is typically 8 to 5, 6 to 5, Monday to Fridays. But, uh, it’s we enjoy, uh, the Frisco area very much it nice to be up there. And it’s, um, I was telling my daughter, we did, um, doing more t-shirts um, and my daughter and one of our staff are doing more of the designs and she does a great job of design. So they’re just more solid after- the nice thing is the thing that I’ve noticed. The last been there three and a half years now, the nice thing I’ve noticed the last 12 months is more of our customer are buying our shirts and our tumblers cause they have funny bought into our brand up there, which is really nice. Well that’s good. You guys do have a solid brand and I will say you have, I’ve always noticed that you have an excellent staff in the Frisco location. Um, we’re always very friendly, very knowledgeable. Um, they’re really good at remembering people’s faces and drinks. I’ve just always been impressed by the folks you’ve had in there. You guys are doing a great job. So with that said, as you mentioned, uh, you know, we’re in a time when people are, you know, especially restaurants are always hiring, but, uh, right now things have been a little up and down for a lot of folks in your business. How are you guys handling? How has business been, I should say amongst or amids the, uh, the COVID pandemic? Initially. I mean, initially when it first started and right at spring break, pretty devastating, especially in San Marcos, we’re next to Texas State University. It happened, it started on spring break the first spring, a week of spring break, and everyone already had plans to go somewhere else for spring breaks. They all left, went home and 38,000 students never returned. Yeah, that’s, that’s brutal Plus staff and everybody else. So with, uh, we had a greater impact, uh, and a longer impact in San Marcos and we’re still not back to last year’s numbers. However, the Frisco store, we saw a big slowdown in March, April. We started seeing a business turning to pick up in May, June. Uh, summertime was moderate. We make some staffing changes in August. We have a really nice strong team in right now. Um, and we’ve actually been growing over the last year still since we hit September, partly because we have a drive-thru. I know we have great product and our timing has gotten better and we have a better supply of product on hand at all times, too. We were having some issues where sometimes, or we just weren’t stocking as well as we could or not preparing as well. We’ve done a much better job now of keeping our products in stock and with increased volume, we turned those products that were very quickly, so we’re constantly baking fresh items all the time. So invite helps a lot of things. One is it helps product movement and we just stock it more. And so we’re able to fulfill our customer’s orders and the needs a much better, which I think is a part of a reason why we’re growing. Oh, that’s good to know. Cause you have some of our favorite snacks in Frisco. So like, uh, like hearing that. So you mentioned some staff changes, obviously some changes or at least some, uh, uh, improvements with, uh, keeping, you know, the food and things on hand. Uh, what other, if any changes have been happening here at the Frisco location? Yeah, recently, it’s about six last six, eight weeks. We added online ordering for the Frisco location. It’s something we’ve had for a little over a year in San Marcos. Uh, we implemented about six to eight weeks ago. We’re getting to the point now it’s just drinks are in the process of starting to come up with a plan to add because some of our food, we bake it all day long, sometimes scones and croissants. We’ll bake a certain number and we’ll sell out. The more we throw more in the oven. And they’re usually at about a 24 to 30 minute baking time. Some are 14. So making sure we can meet that demand when customers place orders online too. So we’re fixing to start adding more of the food that you can order all of our drinks off the menu right now. Um, it gives a 15 minute window. So you order, it’s ready to 15 minute minutes, or you can say it your time out an hour or two or three, four hours. We have customers actually in Frisco and in San Marcos where they’re, or they’re wake up and order at five o’clock in the morning. We’re not open for another hour, hour and a half staff come in. They pull a ticket at the time that they want it ready and we’ll have it ready at that time in Frisco. We allow customers to choose to drive-thru. They can just type it in the memo section to do drive-thru. They can place the order it’s already paid for. As they come to the line to drive-thru, they say “I have an online order”, we’ll pull their ticket right up and then their items and they’re off out the door. Or they can just walk into the cafe. We’ll have the ticket right there. They can see their name on the ticket, take their items, there out the door. It’s very fast, convenient way, especially in a hurry to do online ordering. I like that. So, uh, to order online people just go onto the website or do they need to- what’s the best way? Okay. So we don’t have an app yet. That’s something we’re working on. So you go to our website, choose your location to online orders, then Choose Location. Of course, where you’re at, choose the Frisco location, you’ll pull up a menu. And then when you place order, it prints up a ticket that shows on one of our iPads also so we see it. It prints a ticket up, we mark it as received or mark it when it’s ready. And the only ones when it’s gone, when Mark is ready, it takes it off from there. Get done, ready to go. Okay. Good deal. So we’ll definitely check that out. That’s mochasandjavas.com mochasandjavas, all spelled out, dot com. And just order online, choose the Frisco location. Sounds quick and easy. Yeah. It’s picking up heavily in San Marcos. We’ve had it for a little over a year now. So we’re starting to see that same thing in Frisco. We’re starting to have more and more orders coming into their own online ordering. Yeah. Well, I can imagine as people are getting out the door in the morning, that kind of convenience and speed is, is very welcome. So we’ll definitely make sure we make everybody aware of that. Uh, and of course, you know, it’s that time of year right now, as we’re recording this, we’re about to head into the coldest few days that we have had here in a long time. Uh, by the time people are listening to this, it there’ll be warming back up a little bit, but it’s still gonna be chilly. So, you know, Mochas & Javas should be at the front of your mind for coffee, drinks and other warm tasty things. But I, I believe you guys have made some changes to the exterior as well. So as things start to warm up, if people want to hang out and be outside, talk to us a little bit about the patio and what’s happened out there, Well the roof, the roof line and the patio, it used to be a slatted top, but they were so far apart when the sun was out in the warmer months, it was almost like sitting in the full sun. So basically this, everything flat. It’s not rainproof, but it’s sun-proof. Puts a banners out there. A new lighting really helps and replace all the tables, too. So, we have new wood tables, uh, look really good, actually put a low ground approach in that real nice. Um, we’re fixing to replace one of our middle tables for another big table again. So when you see that they look good. So we’re slowly doing some preparation. The patio’s a really nice area just to sit when the weather’s nice. It’s a great place. And the wifi works outside just as well as it does inside. Yeah. You guys have a real nice patio out there. So it’s definitely a, a good place. If somebody wants to get outside and get some fresh air, get a little work done outside, whatever the case may be. It’s a good comfy spot to sit, but I’m glad to hear it’s covered because as cold as it is right now, at least for, you know, this northern boy that relocated to Texas, it seems like summer always just comes up real fast and it gets hot out very quickly. So that, that shade will be very welcome. Yes. Yes it will. Well, you talked about COVID but we did- so we did get phone calls everyday if we’re open for sitting inside, and we are, um, some of our competitors are not, but we’re doing a sit-inside. We’re allowed 75% capacity. I say most days, if you look at our actual allowed-sitting for probably somewhere in the 30 to 55% in actual seating inside. So we still have people doing work outside of their house. Some people just can’t work in their house seven days a week. It just drives them crazy. They want to get out and just be somewhere else besides your house, where they have a lot more distractions. So it’s nice to come in and just focus on work, get work done to go back to the house. Yeah. Okay. So that’s good to know though, but you do have a 75% capacity allowed. Usually it’s a little bit less than that. So people can space out and feel comfortable that they’ve got some distance and still get their work done and enjoy their coffee. Yes. And then I assume the patio is, is open all year round, weather permitting. People can sit out there anytime as well. Yeah. And they can sit out there on Monday when it’s four degrees. We don’t mind. Yeah. I don’t know if too many people in Frisco are going to be doing that, but we’ll let them know just in case. Yeah. In fact, I was looking at it this morning and now they’re calling for a low of one, uh, one of those nights. So that’ll be interesting to say the least. Well, Kevin that’s, those are a great updates. I’m glad to hear you guys are hanging in there and businesses is doing well in Frisco. And we certainly want to encourage everybody to get out, grab your coffee at Mochas & Javas support these local businesses, especially right now, you know, it’s, it’s sorely needed. And uh, I’m glad to hear you guys are still up and running and fully functional. I appreciate that very much. And if you haven’t tried, Scott, our new Tuscan Turkey & Pepper Jack-Stuffed Croissant, I’d recommend it highly. Okay. Yeah. And I was going to mention that. I assume you guys still have the, the almost famous chicken salad that everybody’s getting from you guys and- yeah. Chicken salad’s good. And the, the, was it the Lemon Poppy Scones? Lemon Poppy Seed Scones Scones. Yeah. We’ve also, we were doing, we’re not, we did it for the holidays. Maple Pecan. We may bring it back by just by, by demand. People will love that Maple Pecan still. So we’re more in the process of tweaking the menu slightly in both areas, San Marcos and Frisco. Okay. Okay. Any other new food items we should know about? Uh, the Tuscan Turkey has been one of the most popular ones that we’ve added new. We’re still doing. And we still have some seasonal items that we did doing Christmas. We are doing some holiday drinks, both North and South. And the stores on some of the holiday beverage will come up with their own names and creations for their holiday beverages. So San Marcos may be doing a little bit different than Frisco’s. So I can’t recall exactly what Frisco’s done, but they’ve done a great job of being creative and the names are very fun. Also people really seem to like. So we have for of them in Frisco. They do all of our Christmas drinks did extremely well. And our Valentine drinks are already doing really well, too. Fun names. They’re really good because we have great coffee. Great espresso. So I would definitely check out one of those too. All right. That sounds good. And I think that goes back to the, uh, excellent staff that you guys always have working at that location. So glad to hear. They’ve got some, uh, creative juices flowing for the drinks as well. They love that stuff. It’s fun. Yeah. Everybody has a good time with it. Well, Kevin, again, thanks for joining us. It’s always good to talk to you and glad to hear how things are going and just to remind everybody it’s Mochas & Javas, southeast corner of Eldorado and the Legacy, uh, kind of in the front of the Target, a Super Target that’s there and lots of good food, lots of good drinks, great staff, plenty of room to spread out. If you want to sit inside and have a seat and get some work done and we’ll look forward to that patio this spring. Sounds good. Nice seeing you, Scott. You, too, Kevin. Good talking to you and we’ll talk to you again soon.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   The state of a child’s education is always a concern for parents, whether it’s helping them to keep up or to forge further ahead. The pressure to compete is ever more intense and now, in the age of COVID-19, it’s all the more difficult. Tutor Doctor is here to augment the education your child is getting in school (and from you) with a 1:1 setting that gets results. SHOW NOTES: [00:46] What is Tutor Doctor? [01:29] Tutor Doctor’s services [04:51] Helping virtual learning shortcomings [06:10] STAAR, ACT, & SAT testing and prep [09:01] Catch-up and enrichment tutoring [12:29] How to reach Tutor Doctor LINKS & RESOURCES: Tutor Doctor on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And in this episode, we are chatting with Sandy Tutwiler from Tutor Doctor. Sandy, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having us. You bet. It’s good to have you here. And I think this is a very timely opportunity to chat with you about tutoring, the needs of students and all those things that are kind of happening in the age of COVID that have parents concerned, worked up, uh, trying to figure out what the best answer for their, their child, maybe. So before we get into all of that, um, tell us a little bit about Tutor Doctor and how you got started in doing this business. Tutor Doctor’s been around globally for about 20 years. Um, we tutor all over the world. Um, there are about 350 franchises all over the world and we are here in the United States and actually here Frisco-McKinney. Um, we’ve been in the area for about 10 years. And so we’ve been partnering with the Frisco and McKinney schools, primarily, for the last 10 years, um, offering one-on-one private tutoring solutions for kids primarily, um, K-12. Okay. So K-12, you covered the pretty much the whole gauntlet of school there. So you say you’ve been in the Frisco-McKinney area for about 10 years. And is it all one-on-one tutoring or do you have any group tutoring? How does, what kind of, what, tell us about the services you offer and what parents can expect if they come to work with you guys? We started out one-on-one tutoring and that’s been the bread and butter for the last book of, of the tutoring years, um, or the- while we’ve been in business. Um, we started group tutoring and group tutoring really came about in the year of COVID and pandemic where we would offer families who wanted to do social learning, or they wanted to take the virtual learning options that were offered in school and really condense them to smaller groups and, and offer the option of reteaching lessons that were offered in the school virtually or even doing homeschooling options for some children, but with the social aspect tied in. So we do do some group tutoring, but we asked families to form their own groups because we don’t want to be responsible for bringing people together that may not mesh well or may not, you know, be in the same circle of especially now, um, they’re kind of their pandemic circles, their quarantine circles. Um, and that’s worked out really well for us. So we do offer group tutoring had in the past more so now than ever before. Okay. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Is, is everything purely online right now or are you doing some in-person tutoring as well? We are actually doing about 85% of the tutoring that we’re doing is actually in person. Only about 15% is online, which is remarkable considering where we’ve come. In March, we went 100% online. And at the end of July, we started offering in-person solutions again, taking into consideration families that needed to stay. We, we wear masks. We, uh, don’t sit right next to each other anymore. We sit more across the table from each other. We’re still social-distancing, but we’re do- we’re tutoring one-on-one in home in a very safe way. There were a few families as this summer that asked us to tutor outside. Um, and so we would tutor on a patio, a covered patio with the fan, but once it became a little safer and as things have progressed, we have moved into the home. Okay. So I guess that’s an interesting question, too. Does all the tutoring that is in person happened at the home or do people come to you? We actually don’t have any brick and mortar. Um, why we took off is that we’re a very boutique solution that comes to you. It’s one less errand that the parent has to run in running their children to and from tutoring. So we wanted to make it as convenient as possible for parents. Um, and also, you know, students learn better where they’re most comfortable and they’re most comfortable in their home. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And I’m sure parents would be happy to have one less errand to run or to take their kids. Uh, well speaking of the kids. I know one of the things we’ve heard a lot about is kids falling behind, or at least parents being concerned about their kids falling behind where we’ve had, when we’ve had so much virtual learning.; it’s just not quite the same as in-person. Uh, what are you guys seeing on that front and has that been a boost for you guys to try to help keep kids aligned with where they should be? We are seeing some kids falling behind, not everyone. Um, but some. And what we’re seeing is that, um, the kids that have fallen behind are a little bit further in math than they are in reading. So, you know, um, the news has come on to say that they’re seeing kids falling about 30% behind in their math and 20% in their reading. Um, I would say that’s par for the course. Um, what we’re doing is we’re spending an hour with a student, either two 30-minute online sessions or an hour in person with the student to try to help them focus on either or reading or both and just keep up with the class, keep up with the learning, make sure they’re not falling behind and then make sure they’re getting those, um, fundamentals stable. Okay. And then along those lines, uh, testing is always a part of the whole educational process and evaluating where a child is. Are you in addition to the regular tutoring, are we doing specific test prep for them, or is this just kind of the normal sort of lesson tutoring, I guess if you will? We do both. We do offer a couple of, of test prep. Um, we have- about this time of year, we see parents very concerned about the STAAR test that is, is given in Texas. And so we see a lot of parents, um, worried about “Is my child going to do well? Um, how do I get my child’s anxiety, you know, lessened to, to really prepare for that test?” This year, as I understand, they’re not going to be, they are going to be administering that test, but they’re not going to be using the results in the same way. Certainly able to prepare them, but preparing them just means really focused on the fundamentals of reading and math, um, writing, where they’re giving a writing sample. We also do test prep for SAT and ACT, and that world has changed dramatically with COVID. Um, colleges are in some cases dropping the testing requirement and using that only for scholarship purposes. So we’re trying to develop a test plan based on the individual’s high school student and what they’re looking for, where they’re going to school, what their hopes and dreams are, so that we can try to figure out where they need to be. We offer a couple of diagnostic tests as, as a service. So upon enrollment, we’re happy to give some learning assessments to elementary school students to see if their parents are really concerned about whether they’ve fallen behind. Then we’re happy to assess them, um, with, uh, reading, uh, math or both to see where they are. We also offer free practice SAT and ACT tests to help students as a starting point, if they don’t have a PSAT or if they don’t have another SAT or ACT that they’ve taken in the past to use as a baseline. So we can prep students, but we can also assess students with a lot of various, uh, tools that we have available. Yeah. So it sounds like there’s a lot of good options with you for parents. If they are concerned that their child might be falling behind or they’re just unsure and want to find out, you can help them determine where they are and what would be the most appropriate course of action moving forward. Absolutely. And we can use those test results to really pinpoint if they are behind what they’re behind in and develop a plan specific for that. How difficult is it? If it, if, if a child has fallen behind, how difficult is it for them to catch up? Does it just become a monumental amount of additional work for them, or is there a, a fairly streamlined way for them to go about doing it without overloading the student with so much work, you know, that they’re going to have to do to try to catch up? Depends on- you know, there’s really not a straightforward answer for that. It really depends on how far they’re behind. If they are behind just a few months to their grade level, then we can, we can work with them. You would be surprised how much an hour a week can do for a student. One-on-one tutoring, one hour a week, just focused on what they need, can really move a child forward. And we have parents who- I have a parent who started in a summer program just to see if her child could advance a little bit. She renewed for the fall and she’s renewing again because she’s realized is her, her daughter has come so far in just a few months and it’s one hour of tutoring a week. Um, and we have seen her, she will catch up to her grade level and her peers this spring. And it’s really exciting to see. If they are a couple of years behind, we may need a couple of hours a week. But that is something that we can develop a plan and we can make it in a way where it’s not so overwhelming to the student. Good. And I guess at the same time, the opposite side of that coin is if a student is looking to get ahead, even if they’re not behind, does tutoring have the same effect? Is spending an hour a week with you really help them sort of leap forward, you know, if they were particularly ambitious or wanting to get into a certain school, that’s going to require them to be top of their class in math or something like that? Same, same thing a lot? It depends on, on what they want to get ahead on. We have a lot of students who do enrichment tutoring for that very reason. This is a, um, extreme- this is a time where students are very competitive and getting into that school and getting that scholarship and getting that money and staying ahead – it takes a lot of work. And sometimes they just need that little extra nudge and that little extra edge. And so we can work with them in an English & Composition where the, the writing structure is such that they’re delivering college-like essays or research, um, while they’re in high school and we can advance them. Same way with math, happy to work with them on advancing their math studies, um, as they can. And it can be as little- you know, once you start getting into the more, uh, complex subjects, it might be an hour-and-a-half a week versus an hour because it takes a little longer to teach. Yeah. To say that students are more competitive now, I think, is that, it feels like an understatement to me. A few years back, I was interviewing some students for a summer internship. And I just remember thinking how grateful I was that I did not have to compete with these kids when I was that age. No kidding. No kidding. The students right now are so advanced it’s scary. It really is. It really is. But, uh, it’s also reassuring in some ways, too, to know that there’s a lot of kids out there that are getting a great education putting, uh, putting in the work. So I want to make sure that people know how to get in touch with you, how to find you online, um, if they want to reach out, if they’re interested in getting help for their child, what’s the best way for them to track you down? A couple of different ways. So they can always, uh, call us, um, (972) 703-9344 or tutordoctor.com/frisco-mckinney. Um, and there’s a simple form they can fill out or they can go in and they can set up their own consultation. Um, I, you know, I’m the one that receives all of those forms. And so I get back to people pretty, gosh darn quick. Been taking a couple of days over the holidays to refresh and relax and spend with my family, but then we’ll be right back at it. Um, helping families achieve their goals. Very good. Well, thank you. We’ll make sure we link all of that up. We’ll include the phone number. All of that information will be in the post that accompanies this podcast so that people can just easily find it and find you. And thank you guys for everything you’re doing to help, help our Frisco students out. We appreciate it. We know that those families do as well. Thanks for having us on. You bet. Sandy, thanks again for joining us and thank you to all of you for tuning into the Frisco Podcast. We’ll talk to you next time.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   There’s been a lot of confusion around COVID-19, vaccines, testing, and quarantining. In this episode of The Frisco Podcast, Dr. Jay Woody, founder of Legacy ER and Urgent Care, provides clarity and offers guidance, and shares how to ensure you’re not overpaying for acute care. SHOW NOTES: [00:54] Legacy ER’s success story [03:27] What sets Legacy apart [08:30] About the COVID-19 vaccine [13:58] Doubts on COVID-19 testing and isolation periods [21:30] COVID-19 testing at Legacy [27:14] Find Legacy ER online LINKS & RESOURCES: Legacy ER on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host Scott Ellis. In this episode, we are having a chat with Dr. Jay Woody, the founder of Legacy ER. And we’re going to talk a little bit about Legacy ER and the topic of the day, COVID. So, Dr. Woody, welcome to the Frisco Podcast. Thank you for having me. Excited to be here today. Thank you, good to have you here. Um, obviously with everything going on, there’s a lot to talk about, particularly around COVID. Uh, but before we get into that, I wanted to talk specifically about Legacy ER. That is a business that you started. It’s something that I would call a “Frisco success story.” Um, but why did you start Legacy ER, and uh, how long have you guys been in business now? So, my background is I’m Board-Certified in Emergency Medicine. Uh, worked in the traditional hospital, big hospital, ER settings. Uh, spent, uh, all my formative years down at Parkland Hospital, our level-one trauma center here in Dallas. And then sort of moved out to some other hospitals that most of you be familiar with in the community. And what, what, uh, I really saw was the patient experience was, was typically lacking and there also were a lot of patients that were coming through the emergency department. They didn’t actually need to be in the ER. They needed acute care, but they didn’t need emergency services. And what was happening is those patients that needed acute care, but not necessarily emergency care, they were being penalized financially by the big bills that we all know come out of the emergency department. And so, sort of taking my, my sort of passion of improving the patient experience and also, uh, including that billing experience as well. That’s really the genesis of where Legacy ER & Urgent Care, you know, came, came from. And we opened our doors in August of 2008. Uh, back when Frisco was just a tiny, tiny little arm town, um, which, uh, for those of you that were here then, or remember, you know, it was pretty much a bunch of dirt fields where we opened up our original location on Main and Legacy. And, uh, obviously things have changed in the last, you know, 12+ years. And now of course we’re surrounded by retail there and where we don’t have farm fields around us anymore, but it’s been very, very exciting. We now have two locations in Frisco and a total of six locations here in the North Dallas area. Uh, we, we’ve also been blessed to, uh, have a sort of success story that’s very Frisco-centric and we now have, uh, additional two facilities in New Mexico, uh, three facilities in Indiana and, uh, one facility with another one soon-to-open in Florida. So, uh, really, you know, I live in Frisco, been here for about 16 years. And so this is, I I believe as a Frisco-success story and I’m excited to still be here and, and intimately involved with the business and care for the people of Frisco. Well, good. And we’re glad to have you here and thank you for opening those up. I know that early on, when we first started chatting with you, you wrote an article for Lifestyle Frisco about the difference between the different kinds of urgent care facilities, and hopefully I’m broadly classifying those. There’s ER, like Legacy ER, but then there are other types of facilities that are also, I guess, urgent care, but the way they operate and the way they bill are kind of different. Yeah. So, so I think, you know, I think we all understand the traditional hospital-based emergency room and we know how they bill. Is it’s it’s ER billing. Uh, and then sort of in 2000 about 2010, um, there became this trend of freestanding ERs, which I think, again, a lot of us probably saw the, the rise and sort of the fall of those. Those facilities where emergency rooms outside of a hospital, but they also only did emergency billings regardless of what type of care or level of care that you needed. It was emergency billing. So for example, if you just had a simple strep throat, they could definitely handle that, but it’s gonna, it’s gonna cost ya, you know, at least a thousand plus dollars for that. Um, and so the difference in what our model does is we have urgent-care billing for those minor problems such as strep throat. And we have ER billing for those cases that typically would have to only be cared for in a hospital emergency room. So for example, people needing a CT or cat scans, sort of advanced labs or imaging. Uh, normally you have to go to the hospital to get that, but with our model, you can use those levels of service. As well as if you don’t need those then you’re not going to pay that emergency bill. You’re going to have to lower urgent-care billing. So that, that is what is unique about our model and, and, and, you know, makes us sort of sets us apart. And obviously that’s good for patients because healthcare is super expensive. So you, you really only, only want to pay for the, the care that you need and not for anything more or anything less – works both ways. And so I think, uh, you know, that’s, that’s what makes this model very patient-centric. We’ve also found that the payers like it because it saves them money as well. But we’ve also found that little businesses that are self-funded like it because if their employees go to the ER and they don’t need our services, that that business is going to pay a lot for having the level of service that their employees didn’t need. So this, this model is you connect it helps all three of those sort of pillars of the, you know, the community and healthcare system. That’s good information because I have a feeling that the billing side of that and the differences are something most people were just not familiar with and wouldn’t know that one’s going to be more expensive than the other, even if the treatment’s the same in many cases. So knowing that you guys can, can adjust accordingly is, is very helpful. Yeah, no, and I think it takes the guesswork out of patient’s hands because a lot of times, for example, I’m a parent. And so I know how, you know, I wear a parent-hat sometimes. I wear a doctor has sometimes. So most of us that are parents, if our, if our child is injured, say, you know, falls out of a tree or off the monkey bars, you know, we panic a little bit and we say, “Hey, where do we go? And we can go to the pediatrician. Can we go to the urgent care? Or we need to go to the ER.” And if you’re not sure most of us default to the, to the highest level of care, we say, “You know what? It’s my kid. I’m gonna go to the ER, ’cause I know they can take care of him.” And that’s absolutely true, but if they don’t need the ER, then that’s where that sort of financial penalty comes back and hurts you. But again, you know, we’re, we’re asking patients to sort of be medical providers and most of us didn’t get that training. And so it’s not fair to put people in a position where they have to pick and if they pick wrongly, then, um, you know, they penalize one way or the other. The converse can be there as well. For example, if you ended up going to, uh, only urgent care, but you needed that higher level of care, well then, now you’ve got, you know, ambulance, uh, involved, transporting you to another facility. You know, you’ve got two co-pays or two, you know, two times hit your deductible. So again, our model solves for you. Don’t have to know. You don’t have to be a medical clinician to figure out, you know, where- do I go to the hospital? Do I go to the freestanding ER? Do I go to an urgent care? You just, you come to us and we’ll make sure that you take care of, and we’ll also make sure that you only get a bill that’s appropriate with the level of service that you needed. In Frisco-proper what locations do you have for Legacy ER? Yes, we have two locations in Frisco-proper. Um, one is at Main St. & Legacy. And the other location is at Custer & Eldorado. Also we’ve got McKinney, Allen, Coppell, and North Richland Hills. So kind of, you know, across the whole sort of North-Dallas-metroplex area. That sounds good. Just so that you know, people in the community know where to go. Okay. Next up is, uh, we’re going to talk a little bit about COVID. This is obviously the topic du jour. There’s a lot of information and I think sometimes very confusing information being spread around the disease itself, around the vaccines that are coming out, uh, so on and so forth. So I wanted to ask you a couple of questions specifically- COVID specific, uh, first and foremost, um, let’s talk about the vaccines real quick. And what do you know about them? I, my impression is that these vaccines have been well tested. They are safe despite the fact that they were brought to us in record time. Um, but what have you been hearing? What do you know about getting vaccinated and should people be looking forward to getting vaccinated as soon as they’re able to do so? I’ll start off with saying that, uh, I am, uh, very much looking forward to getting vaccinated. I obviously being on the front line, um, you know, uh, in the sort of front of the queue, if you will. And I do believe in, uh, the vaccine and I think, um, you know, that’s given me hope sort of, as we close out the end of this year, you know, the vaccine is sort of one of the most helpful things for me and other health care providers, you know, for where we’re going forward. So with that being said, I know there is definitely some apprehension out there because of the vaccine was developed so quickly. I get it. You know, I, as much as I know, I’m not an expert in vaccines. I’ve done a lot of reading about them and based on my understanding and based on you know people much smarter than me and experts in this area, you know, I feel comfortable with these vaccines and, and frankly impressed with the effectiveness of them because I think what most people don’t realize, you know, we, we all know about vaccines. We’ve been getting them all our life and most of them are good. Most of them are not great, but they work because everyone gets it. And so we sort of get that herd immunity that people are talking about. These vaccines are- even the ones that aren’t the best are actually in the “great” category, my opinion. And so I think any now- there’s a couple of manufacturers that are making these vaccines. Um, I, you know, I think they’re, they’re safe and they’re effective. And I am, like I said, looking forward to, uh, getting mine and sort of navigating that right now, because not only is important for me but it’s important, important for all the healthcare providers that you know, and my employees, because we, we got to keep them safe so they can continue to sort of help you and the others if you fall ill. Yeah, absolutely. And I know that you guys definitely are on the front lines of this, and we’re very grateful for everything that the healthcare providers have been doing to, to try to keep us all as safe and healthy and moving forward as possible. Well, thank you. It has, uh, no doubt been a, a challenging year for, I think all of us in Frisco, in Texas, and essentially the whole world. So, uh, and then especially challenging for those of us in the healthcare field. So again, that’s why, uh, I’m hopeful that the vaccine has arrived. There’s been a lot of talk about it, but now the fact that I personally know colleagues that have received the vaccine, um, I’m excited and like I said looking forward to looking forward, to get getting, getting mine and starting that process since it’s a two, two-shot process. Yeah, that’s right. It’s one and then a second, a couple months later. Well, think it’s one and then depending on which vaccine it is, it can be three weeks to, uh, some more after that. Um, but yeah, it is. And I will emphasize too, it is important to get that second round or else the vaccine isn’t as effective as, uh, the sort of the numbers you might’ve heard in media. Very good. So I, I, without getting too deep into the science that would probably elude most of us anyways- as I understand that these are, uh, mRNA based vaccines, which are a little different than what we’ve had in the past. And the technology behind that’s kind of fascinating and how they actually engineered these differently than vaccines that we’ve had in the past. So do you think that plays into the efficacy, though, of them? Is that part of why? I think so because, uh, the, these are fascinating, um, vaccines and the technology behind is very fascinating. And so, uh, essentially what, you know, in the old days they would take, you know, a virus or something and they would weaken it and expose a person to it. And so your body kind of attacked it and built up antibodies to it. Sometimes they would take pieces of the protein of a virus or whatever it is, your vaccine again, and give that to a person so that your body can, again, build up an immune response to this. The way this vaccine just, I won’t get too technical, but in a nutshell, it’s basically, uh, put in these little lipid mini lipid droplets, which is why the sort of temperature control is so important because this lipid is, is unstable. And the mRNA is, is put into your body and your cell incorporates that MRA and actually starts sort of making, uh, making its own back, making the products that helps your body amount an attack. So very different technology. And I think that that, that is why the efficacy of it is so great because your body- your own body’s immune system is doing the work to make this happen. Interesting. Um, let’s talk about testing. Some people have been, certainly have gone out and gotten tested. Other folks, um, have not been tested, uh, once you’ve been tested, if you get a positive result, there’s typically some kind of quarantining protocol that goes along with that. Um, and then it may be even different whether you’ve been potentially exposed to something or you’ve got full-blown COVID. And to be honest, I’m not even clear on, you know, if that happened to me, what is the quarantining protocol? What am I supposed to do? How do I know when it’s safe for me to be around other people again? Can you maybe clarify that for us a little bit, just so that as people are, uh, you know, potentially a situations where they might be exposed to somebody or they find out later somebody they were around was exposed or had COVID and you have some idea of what looking at doing or how they’re going to handle it? Yeah. It has been a very confusing and there’s been constant changing on that. So, um, I appreciate the opportunity to kind of help hope, uh, direct people so that we can also work together to help each other and get us, get us out of this pandemic. So I’ll start with the person who is positive, because that one, that one’s sort of the easiest, uh, if you will. So if you test positive, the current CDC recommendations are that based on the day that the symptoms started, not necessarily when you took the test, but the day the symptoms started, that’s day 1. And you basically need to march out 10 days post the day that your symptoms started. And then on that sort of last day, if you are fever-free without taking, you know, Motrin or Tylenol or anything like that, and, and this is fever-free, and you have improving symptoms, you are out of quarantine. There’s confusion on when does- When do I start counting my days? And it’s not, it’s not the day you tested positive. It’s- because typically what happens is a guy starts to feel bad, and then all of us are in denial and we’re like, “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing.” And then the next day, our significant other says, “Hey, he really need to go to the doctor.” And so you go in and they test you and you’re positive. But that’s like, you’re on day 2 now, because your symptoms started that day. It’s not from the day of testing. And then again, you got to march out those 10 days, and then assuming, no, no fever and assuming improving symptoms, not no symptoms, but improving symptoms, then you are free to roam about the city. We don’t want to encourage too much of that, but I understand that the point- with your mask, of course. With your mask, of course. Okay. So that’s the situation for “I’ve got symptoms. I’ve tested positive.” That’s right. So let’s take the scenario. You live in a household where somebody tests positive. And so now you’re saying, “What, what do I and the rest of my household need to do?” Well, one is I would even quarantine that person in the home themselves. And I would also have them wear a mask if they come out to sort of any common areas, just sort of to help prevent the spread to the others. But the other people in that household, or if it’s at work or wherever it is you got exposed, um, you- now, there are two pathways that the CDC has come out with. They, they both require that you have zero symptoms during the monitoring period, but there’s two, the two pathways are, one is again, the date of exposure is Day 1. You march out 7 days. And if you’ve had zero symptoms within those 7 days, you can get a test done. And if that test is negative, you, you’re out of quarantine. The other pathway is again, start at Day 1 of exposure. You march out 10 days with no symptoms. And at the end of the 10 days, you’re out of quarantine. Gotcha. Okay. That’s very clear. I think that makes total sense. So hopefully everybody will be able to follow along with that easily enough. And it gives us some idea of what to do if they have been exposed to someone that don’t have symptoms, or if they’ve actually tested positive, and now they know what, you know, kind of what they’re in for. That’s right. And just to clarify, this is a change from what the quarantining recommendations used to be. It used to be 14 days post-exposure. So again, if some of those, some of your listeners are thinking, “Wait, I thought it was 14 days,” it used to be there was only one pathway. And it was 14 days if you have no symptoms, you’re, you’re out of quarantine. CDC revised those in order to try to encourage compliance. There is a slight increase of risk missing a few people with the two pathways I described. But those are the currently accepted recommendations. Um, and it also- the hope is that will increase compliance because what was happening is I think not everybody was staying at full 14 days. And obviously then we were getting some people that were positive that were out in the community, kind of spreading it around. So I, too, hope that the sort of shorter period will help everyone, you know, try to be as diligent as possible and stay compliant. So that leads me to another question. And that is about individuals who may have contracted or have contracted COVID, but are asymptomatic. We’ve all heard a lot about asymptomatic spreaders. And I think that confuses a lot of people as well. Um, so I’m hoping you can maybe enlighten us a little bit to- if somebody gets tested for whatever reason, has a positive result from that test, but never shows any symptoms, there are still the risks that people who’ve been exposed to them in that timeframe may come down with COVID, correct? That is correct. And going back at what does that patient that you described, um, where, what is their time frame start? Since they had, if they truly had zero symptoms, then you use the day of testing “positive” as Day 1. But, you’re right. We don’t really know when they were contagious, how many days prior to the testing. And so that’d be- that sort of, you know, contact tracing is ideal. Um, I know there’s not a lot of that going on, but that is something maybe people heard about, you know, contact tracing, but that would be where, you know, anyone that the person that turned positive or anyone that they sort of have been around, not social distanced, and, you know, over the certain period of time prior, you can notify them. So then, one, they can either be tested, or follow the exposure/quarantine recommendations. I think it’s very complicated. And I think that’s one of the challenges why compliance has been difficult. Because one is, um, you know, not clear messaging, two, the messaging is very confusing, and three, it has changed over time and morphed. And so again, I get it and understand it and I sort of live it every single day. I still have to, uh, you know, I still am challenged to, to keep up with what’s the right thing to do. Yeah. Understood. But I really appreciate the clarification on all of those fronts. And hopefully anybody that’s listening to this, uh, here in Frisco will- it’ll make sense to them, but we’ll also have it written up on the page that this episode will be on, on the website. So, uh, hopefully this will give people a little bit more clarity around what to expect. And then last but not least, if someone wants to get tested for whatever reason, can they come to Legacy ER for that? Absolutely. So, um, sort of a good segue if it’s okay. Kind of talk about the testing and the different testing. So, so there are a number of categories of testing. There, there are, there’s something called antigen testing. Um, this is testing for active disease. And it’s, it’s that type of test is looking at, um, some of the parts of the virus itself. Now there’s another type of testing called PCR testing. And that actually is looking for the mRNA that or the RNA that’s actually within the virus. Uh, there, there is some discussion about which test is better than the other. From, uh, all the data that I’ve looked at, they’re very similar, but the PCR test is considered the gold standard. The problem with the PCR testing is currently most of that has to go to a reference lab and it’s taking from 3 to 10 days to get those results back. So you’re a little bit of a disadvantage because of the time frame, even though it is potentially a slightly better test. Um, there is, uh, more access to rapid antigen testing. Um, and the benefit of that is in 15 minutes, you have a result from that test. Now, the test is “negative,” there are some caveats to that. If the test is “positive,” then it’s “positive” and you need to do the things that we just talked about. And Legacy ER, we have access to both the rapid antigen testing, and we also have access to the PCR testing. So you can get either one of those tests. Again, both testing for active disease. Um, there’s also some- you might’ve heard of something called antibody testing and that’s actually looking for antibodies within your body, uh, that would show that you have been exposed to COVID-19 previously. Not currently, but previously, and it’s looking for something called IgG. It’s an immunoglobulin. And that typically shows up, uh, about 3 to 4 weeks post-infection. So, so for example, if you were sick with COVID right now and I checked for your anti-body, then yours would most likely be negative. Okay. Interesting. So, how, I guess, practical for most people is that test? It seems like the PCR or the other one would be better to find out if I’m actually gotten sick. Yes, absolutely. You’re right. The antigen testing or the PCR testing are obviously- those help us determine, you know, quarantining, you know, exposures, all those things. The antibody testing is probably a little bit more of a novelty. Um, you know, gosh, I was sick three months ago. Really bad: high fever, cough. Was it COVID? I would like to know. Like, do I have antibodies to COVID or do I not? Um, so I think it is helpful in some ways, as far as expert regarding, but it’s not helpful sort of acutely right now because you know, we really, right now we’re dealing with active cases and active disease and the rapid antigen test or the PCR test, or- that’s what we need access to today to, to help direct people and guide them, you know, what, what do they need to do to protect their friends and family. Okay. That makes sense. So before we, uh, before we knock off here, is there anything else regarding COVID or Legacy ER, that you would like to leave us with before we- Yeah, so a couple of things. One is, uh, just, uh, reaffirm: we have, you know, like CR we do the rapid antigen testing. We can do the PCR testing. We can also do the antibody testing. So those are all available, available to those who need it. And, you know, the other thing is we’ve gone to great lengths to protect our patients who come through. And I think that’s something particularly beginning, you know, people were not accessing healthcare and they were winding up getting into trouble, you know, having, uh, complications with appendicitis or not seeking, you know, the health or injured extremities and things like that because everyone was so afraid of COVID. But what, what I can reassure everyone is, you know, we have all the proper PPE equipment. Um, we’ve actually invested in some pretty cool technology that has ionizing radiation to sort of clean our rooms. Um, make sure, you know, all the countertops and services are, are code-free. And so I think just to sort of put people’s minds at ease, if you come in and we’re gonna keep you safe and we’re keeping our employees safe so that they can continue to take care, take care of you. Good. Well, thanks again to you and all of your staff for being there for us when we need you, whether it’s COVID or something else, we appreciate you guys hanging in there. Absolutely. And I am appreciative of all of the people in the Frisco community. They’ve been very supportive of us. We’ve had lots of nice notes and, and treats and well-wishes from everyone. And so we, during this time, when, uh, sometimes it seems overwhelming the number of patients coming through the bombardment with COVID-19 is continuing to rise despite our best efforts, you know, the support from the community has really helped us. So thank you, you know, City of Frisco for, for what you’ve done for us. Very good. And last but not least, if people want to find out more about Legacy ER, where can they go? You know, I think, uh, the best place these days is online. Um, you can just, uh, you can just Google Legacy ER Urgent Care and it’ll show us all. It shows all our locations. There is a specific area that talks about COVID-19, um, informational plus the testing details. Um, there’s also a pretty cool, um, FAQ section about COVID-19 and testing. So I think that would be a great resource to go to our website to learn more about COVID and testing and sort of what Legacy ER & Urgent Care offers in that regards. Okay. And if they wanna go straight there, what is the website URL? Um, it is, uh, www.legacyer.com.?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss Alright, there you go. We’ll make sure to link that up in the show notes along with the transcript of everything we’ve talked about here today. So I want to thank you again, Dr. Jay Woody for joining us on The Frisco Podcast. I appreciate your time and thanks for letting me, uh, offer, uh, some, some information today. Thank you to all of you who are tuning into The Frisco Podcast. We appreciate you listening in and we’ll talk to you next time.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Horizon Hot Yoga continues to add opportunities and workshops for both beginners and those with experienced practices. They’re also making it easy to be flexible in where you practice. Come in for a physically-distanced class, or stay home and join them online. Learn more about their new opportunities and how you can get started or take your practice to the next level. SHOW NOTES: [00:27] What’s new at Horizon Hot Yoga [01:54] Things to look forward to [06:50] Horizon’s Kundalini Class [09:42] Specials for newcomers [11:01] Horizon’s Workshops [13:34] Reinventing Horizon through COVID [16:58] Find Horizon Hot Yoga online LINKS & RESOURCES: Horizon Hot Yoga on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And on this episode, we are bringing back Mary Von Ahnen from Horizon Hot Yoga. And, uh, Mary, how are ya? Feeling great, thanks. I know it’s been a year or so since we had a chance to sit down and talk and, oh, certainly a lot has happened, especially in 2020. So, uh, wanted to kind of catch up with you and hear what’s new at the studio and what you guys have going on. Yeah, so we, um, we’re so fortunate that we are still growing. Um, obviously we’re very limited in our class sizes since we have to, you know, keep the social distancing. But we, we get new students every week. So, there are people right now who want to take yoga. Um, and we’re excited about that. How are you guys handling most of your classes? Is it, are you doing able to do some in-person or is it all virtual or how is it kind of breaking down right now? No, I guess when we look at the positives of COVID, which sometimes is hard to do, one of the things that it forced us to do was to redesign our business model so that we could offer online classes. And we still do offer online, um, almost every day of the week. I think we have six, um, six online classes. But, almost all of our classes are in person. They’re just, like I said, very limited in size. And we have a huge cleaning protocol, you know? People need to wear masks until they’re on their mat, because once they’re on their mat, they, they’re socially distanced. Our rooms are taped so that your mat is separated, your body is separated from the next person. There’s been a change. Yeah. I’m sure that’s been a little bit of an adjustment for you as it has been for a lot of Frisco businesses. Um, I know one of the things we talked about the last time was that you guys were pretty big on was visiting, uh, instructors. Uh, you’d have, you know, special- people who were specialists or have competed and done very well, that would come through and do certain types of classes or certain things for you, guys. Is there anything like that that we have to look forward to? Yeah, definitely. Um, so we- Hot 26, which is the classic Bikram yoga, uh, has been our fastest-growing and most successful format. Um, most of our classes these days completely sell out, uh, with the limited capacity, of course. And we are having two visiting teachers, one in February and one in April, who are coming to do, um, some workshops around the basic beginner series that we offer and also intermediate and advanced, um, because we have not, so far, offered intermediate and advanced as classes. But, this will give the students a chance to try on the more-advanced style and see if they like it. And then, they like it, we like it; bring it on. So we’re really excited about that and also just about the growth of that format, in general. And then, you know, we’ve tried to kind of supplant with the inability to bring on visiting teachers from around the world. We’ve challenged our own teacher community to step up with their own talent, um, which is considerable. And so, they’re offering their own workshops, which have been very successful. We, I guess two or three weeks ago, we had a handstand/forearm stand workshop that was, um, oversold. So we, uh, our own teachers have been able to bring a little bit of what we used to be able to do with visiting teachers. Yeah, I know you guys have some exceptional teachers that are there on a regular basis. The Handstand Workshop sounds interesting. Uh, what, what is the, you know, for those of us that maybe are still very, uh beginner-level, what is the, the, the advantage of doing something like a Handstand Workshop? Why would I want to go do that? What am I learning there? A lot of the more advanced practitioners do incorporate handstands into their practice. It’s very common. So, this workshop was just designed if you are interested in learning how to incorporate handstands, headstands, forearm stands into your practice, but haven’t done it, yet. This workshop was designed to show you how to do that with hand placement, with shoulder-stretching, et cetera. And if you already had handstands, headstands incorporated, it just gave you a few extra tips. And it’s totally a choice. I mean, there’s, there’s nothing in our dialogue that our teachers give that force people to try to do a handstand if they’re not ready for that. But, there’s certain places in every class where a teacher will suggest, “If you have a handstand practice, you can take your handstands now.” Would you consider that as a part of someone’s practice to be intermediate or advanced, or is it something that beginners can also incorporate? Oh, I think beginners can absolutely incorporate it. It’s, you know, it’s um, and I’m, I’m coming from the place you are, Scott. I’m not- I don’t have a handstand practice. Um, but, I think with just some, some diligence and practice that, you know, anybody can learn to do a handstand. So if it’s interesting to you and you’re passionate about it, you go to a workshop like that, which many people did, and you learn the basics and then you practice during your class working on the moves that will get you into a handstand. Okay, fair enough. It does sound kind of interesting. I see people, you know, on Instagram and places like that that I follow who are, uh, avid practitioners sometimes doing handstands and things of that sort, and I don’t think I could do one right now. But, it would definitely be worth learning. Yeah. It takes practice. No doubt. And I’m sure it’s great for, you know, upper-body strength and balance and things like that, as well. Tremendous, absolutely. If you, you know, the, the Hot-26 style focuses a lot on the lower body, um, and on the cardio and the, some of the Vinyasa classes where you would incorporate a handstand really help round out that upper body strength. So that’s, as you know, from the last podcast, exploration is one of the tenants of Horizon Hot Yoga. So, if you explore a few different classes, and you kind of get your mix, um, then you got your body set for all kinds of great opportunities. All right, sounds good. Um, are any of those going to be offered virtually, or are those just in person, as well, like things like the Handstand Class? We, we did not offer that one virtually, um, but we have the technology now to offer anything virtually. So, we, you know, it took us awhile to, as probably you know, cause you’re probably living in the same world we are with, with, um, things needing to be remote, it took us a while to get our audio equipment, um, the, the high standard that we wanted and, but we’re, we’re set now. So, we do plan to offer the, particularly with the visiting teachers when they come in, we do plan to offer those, um, virtually, as well. Gotcha. All right, let’s, uh, let’s move on. I wanted to talk about the, uh, Kundalini classes, as well, that you guys are offering or are going to offer. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Sure. So we, we’ve been, um- we’ve offered a Kundalini class for, about, the last six months. Kundalini is a pretty hard, um, class to find in the area. And it’s, it kind of speaks to maybe the more spiritual side of yoga. Um, there’s a lot of breath work and what they call mudras, which is the placement of your fingers, um, to stimulate certain parts of your brain. Uh, it’s funny because we say Kundalini Yoga, but in India, where yoga was born, they would just call that yoga. And almost everybody from, literally, little kid on up does Kundalini yoga or does some form of it. Uh, they just don’t call it Kundalini. So, we’ve had growing interest in that format. I think with the stress of COVID, um, you know, some of the classes that allow you to, to turn inward a little bit, to become spiritually, um, to focus on breath work that helps you, um, either calm down or there’s breath work that can, can bring you energy, uh, that really resonates with people right now. Yeah, I can imagine. And that would be something that would be good for a lot of people to take. I practiced meditation for a while. And the particular class I was taking was, uh, very focused on breathing and things like that. And, uh, I was really surprised. I mean, as somebody who’d admittedly a little bit skeptical about things like that, I was pleasantly surprised at how stress reducing that can be. So, I would imagine, especially for, uh, you know, in times like this, that having a class and some instruction and something like that would be beneficial to a lot of people. Yeah. It makes a huge difference. Even scientific statistics, like blood pressure, you know, there’s actually, you know, proven difference between people who don’t meditate at all and people who do. So, good for you that you, that you’ve practiced some form of it. Well, admittedly, I’ve gotten a little out of practice. But, I need to, I need, I think about it pretty regularly and I need to force myself to get back into it. In fact, uh, in my particular case, quick sidebar, I was, I would do it first thing in the morning and knowing that getting out of bed meant, you know, going to the, the place where I would sit and relax and meditating made it a whole lot easier for me to get motivated some days to get out of bed, um, as opposed to having to, just to dive straight into work or something like that. Yeah, I get that. Sometimes those foundational morning practices really set the tone for our whole day. They really do. And I was again, pleasantly surprised by how much that was true. So, we’ll have to look into the Kundalini classes for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Come visit. Um, so, moving on, let’s talk about, uh, I know, you know, we’ve talked about some of the classes we’ve talked about some of the visiting instructors, some of the things your regular teachers are doing in the class. So for anyone that’s not already a member, uh, what sorts of things should they be looking for or thinking about if they want to consider joining up? We have a great special that’s running through the end of the year. Our intro month is $59. Um, it’s been regularly $79. Um, and it, it’s met with wonderful reception. Uh, $59 makes the price point so inexpensive that you, you know, you feel like you can jump in and try a month. And it’s unlimited. So, anybody who’s interested in seeing what it’s like at Horizon and maybe trying, not just one format, but three or four of the different kinds of classes, uh, can enter at that price point. And then, right now we have a studio-wide sale going on. So, all of our merchandise, all of our longterm packages, 3, 6 and 12-month packages are on sale. Discounted pretty significantly. It’s the biggest sale we’ve ever had in our history. So if you try the intro month, which is definitely the best entry point, and you love it, then through the end of the year, you can buy into a longer-term package at a really cheap rate. Okay. Good to know. Good to know. And then one of the other things I was going to ask you about, we talked briefly about this before we hit record, but, um, you were talking a little bit about workshops and some of the focus there. Can you elaborate on that a little bit as to what are the workshops specifically and who are those for? Yeah, I think, you know, our membership has, has come to kind of expect us to bring different things. So they, they come in, they get into a routine with our classes and they love our classes and our teachers, but most of our students really like to expand their horizons. And we’ve also found when we bring, for example, visiting teachers, um, or do a special workshop, we draw from, from other places in DFW. So, uh, not every studio does workshops. So when we have something special, sometimes we get people from- that are practicing in other studios. So, one thing that we’ve doing, and I think, again, back to COVID, it’s been really great for people, is we’re offering a monthly soundbath, uh soundbath healing workshop. And the way this works is that AJ Crowell, who is also, by the way, the, um, the founder of Dallas Yoga Magazine, she comes once a month and she does, she takes you through, about, 10 minutes of breathing, and that opens you up to receive the benefits of sound healing. Which, she brings these gorgeous crystal bowls, huge things, um, and makes this beautiful noise through them. She has chimes. She has a gong. And so the vibrations from the sound are actually kind of back to the science, proven to bring relaxation and healing. And those have been, uh, you know, sometimes they’re sellouts and we do, we do it every single month. It was just something different. It’s just a way to learn about another aspect of yoga and some of the natural healing. So that’s why, that’s why we focused on not only great classes, but on bringing in interesting workshops. It’s just something different for people to enjoy deepening their skills and their practice with. The soundbath sounds fascinating to me, actually. As a musician, which I’ve been most of my life, I can imagine very easily how those kinds of sounds could really help someone get into a deeper meditative state, or relax, or what have you. That’s, that’s a very interesting- I’ve never even heard that of yoga classes like that before, so. Yeah, it’s been pretty successful. And as you know, being a musician, I mean, there’s a, there’s a meditative quality to either listening to music or to playing music. Oh, yeah. It definitely works different parts of your brain. No question. Yeah, for sure. One of the things I wanted to ask you about: your background, you’ve got a, you were a, uh, an executive at Fossil once upon a time. You’ve got a lot of, uh, business experience. What, what kinds of lessons, uh, from a business standpoint, would you say you’ve taken away or learned from having to deal with the pandemic? Well, we definitely had to reinvent ourselves. I mean, we could, you know, go down with the ship and not jump on the technology bandwagon and not figure out new and exciting things for our people to enjoy, or we could integrate, reinvent ourselves and do things that weren’t initially comfortable for us and stay afloat. And so, we obviously chose the latter. And so I think, I think when times change, um, for whatever reason, you have to, you have to learn in a business model to change that business model so that you’re still serving your, your client base. And our client base, you know, we were literally closed. The actual studio was closed for two months. And so we, that’s when we got on Zoom and now we have people that still pay their, their monthly dues just to take that one Zoom class a day. So we’ve, we’ve continued to serve people who don’t want to come in the yoga studio yet, just because they’re, they’re isolating basically, but who still enjoy Horizon Hot Yoga. How did you guys go about figuring that out, if you don’t mind my asking? Um, well, we chose Zoom as a platform just because it seemed to be kind of the one that everyone was jumping on. So rather than go to some esoteric one that was maybe bleeding edge, as I would say as a CIO, former CIO, uh, we kind of chose the leading edge. And obviously many businesses that already tried Zoom we’re already on Zoom- it’s really user-friendly. Um, we reached out and asked experts that do wonderful audio. Um, already, we reached out and asked what’s the state-of-the-art audio setup, um, and we’d learned from, from people who had been doing podcasts and audio recordings of their classes and, um, visual recordings to buy the right equipment. And then it was trial-and-error. And, you know, we have such a great student population. They were just wonderful about, you know, sticking with us, telling us, “Hey, can’t hear you,” or, “that class wasn’t clear,” or “you didn’t have the, um, iPad pointed toward the teacher,” you know? We made all those mistakes, um, and like I said, to a very forgiving audience. Yeah, I think that’s, you know, that’s an important point, though, too. You guys have a great community that you’re building there and people will give you feedback and you just have to be open and receptive to that and knowing that it’s not meant to be critical. It’s really just trying to help you get further along as you’re trying something new. Oh, absolutely. Feedback’s a gift. So we, you know, we got good at it, largely due to people giving us, um, good feedback on what we need to do better. All right. Well, Mary, thank you so much for taking some time out to talk to us today. You guys have a lot of great stuff going on, really excited to take part in some of those classes. I always enjoy talking to you. I appreciate you having us on the podcast. Likewise, likewise, and certainly let us know if you need anything. We, uh, we love what you guys are doing. And I also want to express our appreciation to everybody that’s out there listening to the Frisco Podcast. We’re still here. We’re still talking about Frisco and what’s happening in our local businesses. So, please go out and visit Horizon Hot Yoga. Uh, Mary, by the way, let’s leave off on this: where are the best places for people to find you online if they want to connect? horizonhotyoga.com is our website. And then Facebook and Instagram are just @horizonhotyoga. Perfect. So, @horizonhotyoga or horizonhotyoga.com. Go check’em out and thank you all again for tuning in to the Frisco Podcast. We’ll talk to you next time.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Luxury awaits you at Culture A Day Spa in Frisco. Holiday specials, like the Arctic Berry and Peppermint Facial, are a perfect retreat for yourself or to give as a gift to someone who could use pampering.  In this episode, Katelin Schebler talks to us about what’s different about Culture A Day Spa and what they do to keep you relaxed, comfortable, and safe. Katelin is an involved local business owner, to say the least, greeting customers, booking appointments, and even providing treatments alongside her fantastic team.  Enjoy this episode as you hear about Culture’s divine treatments, including the Illuminating Diamond Facial, the Couples Retreat, and the Meridian Massage.  Don’t miss these HOLIDAY SPECIALS: Artic Berry and Peppermint Facial: 80 minutes $200 Hot Stone Peppermint and Citrus Massage: 80 minutes $185 SHOW NOTES: [00:34] What is Culture A Day Spa? [02:02] Unique experience Katelin envisioned [03:36] Involved Local Owner [06:09] Changes 2020 brought [10:37] Favorite Treatments [20:35] Holiday Specials LINKS & RESOURCES: Culture A Day Spa on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. Today, we’re talking skin and spa with Katelin Schebler, owner of Frisco’s Culture A Day Spa. Welcome, Katelin, how are you? I’m doing well, Kelly. Thank you for having me. Excited to talk about Culture A Day Spa because I have, um, visited there now several times recently. And so, I want to share that with other people. For those who haven’t visited yet, can you just tell us a little overview about what Culture A Day Spa is all about? Yes, of course. So, we are a locally owned, small business. And we are located in Frisco, Texas at the corner of Warren and Parkwood. And we are a five-star luxury spa. So, we focus on luxury massages, facials, body treatments. We’re very much, um, focusing on the experience for our guests. We want to be an escape and a retreat for everyone here in Frisco, Texas. And so, when our guests come in, they get provided a private locker room in either our men’s locker room or women’s locker room. We have showers, all of our guests go into robes and slippers and they get to really enjoy their time with us. We also feature a relaxation lounge where everyone can relax before and after their treatments. Currently, we’re serving a White Riesling, hot tea, bottled water, chocolates, and mints for everyone to enjoy. We also have seven treatment rooms for massages and facials, a beautiful couples suite with an oversized hydrotherapy shower, and we offer private dining for our guests, as well, where we can cater up to a three-course meal for a group of either one to our up-to six. Wow. So those are a few examples of different unique things that make Culture A Say Spa different from, um, I don’t know, just many of the other spots that people might have been in. So as, as this is, you know, your, your baby, your idea that was brought to life- and happy two-years, by the way. Thank you so much. We’re so excited. So, how did you envision this? ‘Cause some of these things that you mentioned seem very intentional when you’re in there, like, so well thought-out and mapped out. So is, you know, talk about how you planned for that to make this feel so unique and luxurious. Well, you- and you were absolutely correct. Everything is very intentional, very purposeful. I always believe that the beauty is in the details and we really strive to make those details perfect for our guests. So I hand-picked and selected everything in the spa. Our layout is unique as well. We custom-designed our layout. All of our treatments are custom and unique, as well. And I’ve been in the industry for 14 years and have always been in the luxury-spa industry. So, when my husband and I moved to Frisco about 7 years ago, we really felt the need for luxury spa, where our guests have a beautiful experience. And also that employee experience is very important to us where we can have the best-of-the-best team members and give them a place to be successful and grow in their career. And that is really what we wanted with Culture, which is why the name Culture A Day Spa became about because we believe in changing the culture of the industry – not only from our guests’ experience and guests’ perspective, but also from our employee experience and employee perspective. I love that. And speaking of employees, your employees are awesome. Um, when you walk in, they’re, they’re so great when they greet you with that awesome, um, big rotunda, you have at the front there. But, you’re also often there. And I love that, too. I love that you’re the local business owner. Um, but, that you’re in the business on a day-to-day basis. Now, maybe it’s just every time I’m there, you’re there. I’m not sure. But, what is your involvement on a day-to-day basis? Yes. So, I am very passionate about, um, Culture. And I am- for the last two years, I have been there every day. Um, I absolutely love what I do. I love our guests. I love my team and I’m really want everyone to enjoy their experience. So, I am at the front sometimes, greeting and checking in the guests. I manage, I train the team, I hire the team. But as a licensed aesthetician, I also have clientele of my own. So, I’m often in the treatment room, performing treatments in addition to everything else that I’m doing on a daily basis. So, it’s fun every day. Every day is very different, as well. And it really, everything I do comes out of passion and I love it. I wouldn’t change anything. So, you’re in the rooms doing treatments also to, to your clients. Yes. That’s cool. I didn’t realize that you aren’t just, you know, running the business. You’re actually- still have your hands in it, too, right? Which is neat. I think that gives you a really good pulse on what your customers are experiencing in the rooms and different treatments and how you can innovate and evolve and different, the different specials that you guys offer, which I know we’re going to talk about in a minute. But, um, what- is that something you enjoy doing still? Is kind of taking that role and still being able to do the actual treatments yourself? Yes. I, I love facials. I love body treatments and makeup is my true passion and why I’ve been in the industry for so long. And I love having a well-rounded schedule where again, each day is different. But really, working with a client one-on-one, it just, it completes my career. It really does. And I enjoy working with the team and training as well. And I just feel very blessed that I’m able to do what I love every day. I think you being there every day, which first of all, oh my goodness, Katelin, you need a vacation from your luxurious, vacation-like spa. I know it’s amazing in there, but you still need a break, right? Um, but I think you being in there every day probably made a big impact on what this 2020 looked like for you, guys. Um, many small business owners had to make lot of changes as things completely changed during the year. But because you were there and had such a realistic pulse on what’s happening in your business, I feel like that helped you guys stay on top of adjustments that needed to be made. So what, what, what did 2020 look like for you, guys? And you know, how did you have to adapt and what are y’all doing? Yes, 2020 has been an interesting year. Um, wasn’t something that I expected, you know. We were open just about a year-and-a-half or so before, um, COVID hit in March. So, we did shut down. Um, our entire team was shut down for about 65 days. And so, but in that time, we still were in communication every day. We actually launched a social media campaign during that time to stay in touch with our clients and our guests and, um, continue to let people know that Culture is still very much present in the community. And then I would still, um, in the business, answering the phones and just keeping the internal operations going while we were, during, while we were on shutdown. So once we were able to open back up, we were so excited. Um, the entire team was ready to go. So when Governor Abbott gave us the green light, we were ready to get back to work. And so, we have always had very high sanitation-disinfection practices at Culture A Day Spa. Um, we’ve always followed our licensing board regulations to the tee. But, I always like to go above and beyond with everything that I do, so, it’s always been very clean and sanitary. So that, we had all of our equipment and tools ready for that- with opening back up with COVID. Um, so in addition to that, what we’ve done is we’ve actually limited our capacity currently to 25% or less. And in doing that, that allows our guests to feel extremely comfortable and really focus on that, um, private environment. And then it allows my team to go through the spa and completely disinfect each area that the guest comes into contact with as they transition through the spa. So as a guest comes into the lounge, they knew each and every time that it’s been completely disinfected, um, while they were in their treatments. So, we also have implemented the mask policy, as well. Our entire team, um, it keeps, uh, facial masks on the entire time throughout, um, business hours. And then we’re also asking our guests when they’re in our common areas to please wear their facial masks or coverings. I think it’s so interesting how you, um, did this rotation of getting your clients in. Well, you talked about limiting it too. But you know, you really feel like because you- the way that you’re rotating people in, you really do feel like you have certain sections of the place to yourself. Which- it’s nice and this time of, of COVID-19, but it’s really nice just relaxation-wise, too, that you, um, the way that you guys rotate people in the locker room and the lounge, and then your treatment rooms- you feel, like, so exclusive that, you know, you kind of have, have privacy everywhere you are. Well, thank you. We worked very hard for that, and that is important to us. And even before COVID, I had the policy of relaxation and we want the guests to feel like they’re our only guests in the spa. And that’s what we strive for, even with our reservations. Um, we try, we provide guests specific check-in times. And with those check-in times, um, it allows us to try and check-in our guests, um, privately as much as we can. So again, you still feel like you have the spa to yourself, even if there are other guests and receiving treatments. What are- speaking of check-in times, what are, what are the earliest and latest times that you guys are checking people in? So, we ask that new guests arrive 30 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment times. So if they have a 10 o’clock reservation in the morning, we have a 9:30 check in time. Um, during the week we do stay open until 7:00 p.m. except for Thursdays. It’s our latest evening; we’re open until 8:00 PM. As far as the checkout times, will run until 8:30 at night. That’s nice. Okay. So, um, I am excited to talk about some of the specials, some of the different things that you guys rotate in throughout the year. For example, I think as we talk and record this Zoom here, I think you guys have a diamond facial, if I’m not mistaken. But I want, I want you to talk to me and explain to me some of these divine-sounding, um, treatments that you guys have going on. So, we like to offer exclusive treatments at Culture A Day Spa; treatments that are result-oriented for our guests, but also very relaxing at the same time. So, one of our most popular facial treatments that’s exclusive to Culture A Day Spa is our Illuminating Diamond Facial. And this is an 80-minute treatment focused on customizing for the guests needs, but also it includes a three-blend acid peel to really resurface and brighten the skin. And then we have a fresh-mix diamond mask that has real-diamond dust powder in the mask to brighten and illuminate. And with all of our 80-minute facials, we perform our signature shoulder-face-and-scalp massage. Our guests also receive a luxurious arm-and-hand massage, and then we have facial steaming on hot towels incorporated throughout the entire facial. Oh, my gosh. That’s a lot of good stuff. Okay. I know I just mentioned diamonds. So tell me, what did you call the- what’s the actual name of the treatment? Illuminating Diamond Facial. Illuminating Diamond Facial. And those 80-minutes. I think that’s, that’s another unique thing is that it’s not just a quick, you know, facial in-and-out or anything. You’re in there. Like, it is an experience. You’re in there a while and it gives you time to really, like, deeply relax and not worry that, you know, you’re, you’re in and out so fast. So, besides the Illuminating Diamond Facial, what are some of the other favorites? Yeah. So, one of our most popular massages is our Meridian Massage. And we launched our Meridian Massage at our one-year anniversary. And then again, is custom and unique to Culture A Day Spa only. And in fact, we spent seven months creating the Meridian Massage and perfecting it. And it is a beautiful treatment customized for each guest, but it’s available in 80 minutes or 110 minutes. And it’s focused on full-body harmony. So, we’re working on not only the tight muscles, but optimal circulation for our guests. So, we’ll be doing acupressure points, light-movement cupping, dry brushing for circulation and advanced massage moves that you just won’t experience anywhere else. It’s extremely luxurious, but extremely purposeful at the same time. So, it is our highly requested and most requested treatment for massage at Culture. Yeah, it sounds like it. That sounds amazing. Um, Meridian Massage. Okay. We need to make note of that. And these are really good things to make note of for other people, too, right? So of course, this all sounds great for us to get done to ourselves, but when you’re thinking of, um, giving gifts, whether it’s through the holiday season or teacher gifts or, um, your-wife gifts for anniversaries and birthdays, there’s so many different reasons that you would want to buy both men and women gifts. Um, and like you said, there’s a, there’s a couples-treatment room, too, right? But gift, um, gift cards, gift certificates are so great for something like this, because then you can pass it off and let them go enjoy it themselves. So, tell me about that couples, um, did you call it a treatment room for couples? Yes, we have a couple’s suite. So, we are able to perform side-by-side treatments, um, in our couple’s suite. They can also add on a shower- a private shower experience for them. We have a his-&-her showerhead and with our luxurious Signature Citrus Body Collection, as well. Also what’s very popular for our couples is our Couples Culture Retreat, where they’re able to experience an 80-minute massage, shower experience afterwards – and that follows with private dining, as well. And that’s been very popular for special occasions and date nights for our couples. If guests are looking for gifts this holiday season, I would highly suggest utilizing gift cards. We offer online gift cards or also in-store gift cards. And a lot of the times, one of the biggest questions for the person getting the gift card is, “I don’t know what, what my significant other or friend would enjoy.” And so we would just recommend a dollar-amount for them. And then when they’re- the gift receiver calls, we can then guide them through our menu and help them select which treatment would be best for them. Yeah, that’s awesome. And you can buy- do that, like you said online. So you, if you’re just buying as a gift, you don’t have to stop in in person. You can get it online or call you guys and help you determine the right value or dollar. Oh, yeah. If- online is available, um, in-store’s available, or if the purchaser would just prefer to call us, we can process it over the phone and do a curbside-pickup for gift cards. So, you may still want it wrapped and gifted to be a beautiful presentation. We can still offer curbside as well for gift cards. Okay. That’s fantastic. Okay. That Couples Retreat sounds pretty, pretty amazing, all that stuff. Okay. Katelin. So, I’m curious. As an owner, as somebody who is in there every day, um, watching people get these treatments and experiences and an aesthetician who is giving these treatments to others, what is your favorite treatment to receive as a customer, but then also to give? Great question. So, it’s also difficult question because I love all of our services. But my favorite treatment to perform on my clients is our Polynesian Pearl Lift. This treatment we also launched at our one-year anniversary. Um, I spent seven-to-eight months creating this facial and I just wanted it to be perfect and purposeful for all of our guests. So, the Polynesian Pearl has everything. We’re going to brighten, resurface, clear your skin, but we’re also going to sculpt and lift and tighten and tone the muscles. And so we do that with ultrasonic therapy and we also follow it through with cryotherapy to freeze in and lock all of our lifting and then we finish it with a fresh-mix pearl mat. And this is real pearls that are mixed together that are placed on the client’s skin to brighten and illuminate. And the before-and-after results for our guests are just phenomenal. And it’s just very gratifying that – to see the guests’ results from when they start the facial to when we’ve completed it. Um, we have had some guests who really wanted to focus on lifting and sculpting their cheekbones or lifting and sculpting their eyelids. And we’re able to do that with a pulsating treatment that tones the muscles it’s very relaxing. So, the guests usually sleep through the treatment, but the after results are fantastic. Oh, that’s cool. I bet that is cool to watch, too. As you’re performing it and watch it go through the process, all those different steps and, um, making those physical changes – that’s really neat. Okay, then. What do you like if you get to just walk in, which I doubt you get to a lot of downtime, um, but what is your favorite one or two treatments to get? Yes. So, my favorite treatment to receive, um, outside of facials, because I’ve, facials are close to my heart, um, would be more of our massage treatments. So, we have a Customized Culture Massage and it’s available in a two-hour option. And I love the two-hour massages because it allows me to completely relax. It takes me probably a good 60 to 70 minutes to completely let my mind unwind. And so- exactly. And I think everyone understands that, too, especially this time of year. But it, that two-hour option just completely allows me to relax. And it’s so luxurious and our massage therapists are so skilled. They can really, um, work out and correct any issues that I’m having with tight muscles and soreness and stiffness, but I’m able to fully relax and decompress at the same time. And so, that is one of my favorite treatments to receive because I can just truly melt into the table and just let everything go and not think about anything the entire time. Yeah, that sounds fantastic. I’m like you. That’s what I meant earlier with the longer-than-60-minute when we were talking about the 80-minute Illuminating Diamond Facial, is that it takes me that first hour to like, let my mind stop racing about what’s happening in the outside world or my schedule or anything. Just, I don’t turn off quickly, right? So, it takes me a while to kind of decompress. And so, when I do go somewhere where there’s an hour-massage, every single time when it’s over, I’m disappointed because it seems like it was too fast. So, that two-hour sounds awesome because you can really sink into it and really get that relaxation. I love that. Okay. What was that one called again? That is our Customized Culture Massage. Culture Massage, Customized Culture Massage. Okay. I hope everybody’s taking notes. All right. So Katelin, you told us at the beginning where we can find you. Um, we will also link to the Culture A Day Spa website and social media accounts. So, I would advise everybody to go give you guys a follow so that you can see what’s new every month or two. You guys have different specials. And some of these treatments that you keep talking about, you spending seven months, you know, perfecting and so go follow Culture so that you can be aware when these new ones are launched and you can go experience them for yourself. Anything else, Katelin that our listeners need to know about you, guys? Yes. So, we are excited to enter the holiday season. This is our favorite time of year. So, we are launching, um, our signature holiday treatments. We’ll be launching our Arctic Berry & Peppermint Facial, which is an 80-minute facial that incorporates a berry-infused enzyme and a peppermint mask. We’re also launching our Hot Stone Citrus & Peppermint Massage this holiday season, as well. This is an 80-minute treatment incorporating hot basalt stones to really relax really tight muscles and reduce chronic pain. So, we’ll be incorporating these treatments here in Frisco, starting November 26th through January 31st. And we’ll also be relaunching our partnership with the American Heart Association in February. So, we ask that the local community help us support the American Heart Association. This February, we’ll be donating a portion of select treatments directly back to the American Heart Association. That’s great. Okay. That’s coming up February and then, ugh, there’s the peppermint and berry- all of those facials and treatments sound fabulous. Fantastic. All right. Well, thank you for Zooming with us today, Katelin. And everybody make your way to Culture A Day Spa’s page and check out their social so you can follow along, go get your treatments. Thanks, Katelin. Have a good rest of your day. Thank you so much, Kelly.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this episode, we catch you up to speed on what’s happening at Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway in Frisco. Manager Nick Williams explains the differences in carts, namely the ages and speeds for each type of cart, as well as the leagues, specials, and other activities besides cart racing. Did you know they have virtual reality and a STEM station? So many ways to participate with or without your foot on the pedal. Nick fills us in on the safety measures Kartland takes to keep you distanced and sanitized during your experience. Whether you are racing solo, enjoying a birthday party with friends, competing with your family on game night, or bonding with your teammates or colleagues, there’s plenty of fast fun to be had by all at Kartland. SHOW NOTES: [01:09] What to expect at Kartland and what’s different [03:49] COVID-19 Safety Measures [05:24] Kinds of activities and parties [07:13] Go-Karts speeds and ages [11:56] STEM and Leagues [15:50] All You Can Race [17:26] Family Owned [18:36] Where to find Kartland LINKS & RESOURCES: Kartland on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. Today we’re talking Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway. We have the guy who runs the place, Nick Williams, on Zoom with us. So, Nick’s going to give us a rundown of what’s going on over there at Kartland. Welcome, Nick; how are you? I’m good. I’m good. Just holding down the fort. It’s a lot of fun. Um, pretty fast. We’ve been doing this now, guess, Kartland since 2018, February, 2018. So, this upcoming February will be three years, um, of just letting everybody experience the rush. And I’m sure, I’m sure you guys plan really perfectly well for 2020, right? Nothing’s changed. Oh, yeah. Perfect. Perfectly. We’ve been going- actually, so, we opened up back again. Um, I think it was May 1st when everything was kind of allowed to start reopening. And since then, um, at each month keeps getting better. That’s fantastic. Good deal. Okay. Well, I want to talk to people about, um, you know – in general, people haven’t been in there yet? Why Kartland- maybe why it’s different from others? What they can expect when they go in. Let’s start with that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, right now everything’s kind of COVID; it’s 2020. So, um, we recommend everybody wear masks when they come in. Um, once they get racing, we do require head socks, which are just- we sell them for $2 or you can bring in your own helmet if you don’t want to use one of our rental helmets right now. Okay. Um, um, we walk in the door and have y’all registered. Get y’all set up, um, on that. If you’ve been here before, great. But if you haven’t, we’ll get you on little waiver. Get you inside. Get you set up for the races. Give you your head sock. Get you on a little safety video. Teach you about the karts cause they are a lot different than your normal pop-up karts. They’re not your normal pop karts. Um, you’re going 45 miles an hour here on our indoor facility. You’re an inch off the ground and you’re racing. So, they are a lot different. We’re going to tell you everything. If you have any questions, my team’s awesome. They’ll take care of your racing line. If they see something that you can do a little bit better, be going faster, we’re definitely gonna help you out with that. Oh, cool. So, some of the stuff you mentioned, you probably can do online before you get in there too, right? Like registering and doing waivers. Some of that stuff could help, um, reduce the amount of, you know, waiting and or contact you have with folks when you get in there. Right? Exactly. Exactly. So, we actually now do online booking, so you can entirely book your race online. Um, that- just go to our website, go to “book now;” set you up right there. Select, uh, all your different race packages. Um, there are some that you can do in store that gets you a little bit of a better deal. Um, but our most popular items are all right there online. You can also, if you just want to get yourself registered so you don’t have to use the iPads when you come in, which are cleaned between every use, you can register online at that registration or register online link and sign your waiver. Uh, just come to the cashier when you’re ready and we’ll get you in your races. Okay. Okay. We keep mentioning the online. So, I just want to take that chance to say that it’s Kartland with a K kartland.com is where you can go to look at that stuff. And then I also want to make sure and call out – in August, we, um, did an article. So, lifestylefrisco.com, You guys can go look for an article entitled Kartland Waves The Green Flag on Indoor Fun. It’s a fun article so you learn even more than you’re going to learn from us probably here today. Um, so some different stuff. So go check that out. All right. So you mentioned about, um, ways online that we can register and maybe prevent some of the contact, but what are some of the other COVID related safety measures that you guys have going on? Yeah, obviously we’re- with the state mandate, you have to wear a mask whenever you come in. Um, we do now require a $2 head sock which covers your face. You’ll wear it. It’s a full-face or a full-head, head sock. So, it covers your hair, covers your head. Um, and you’ll wear it up over your nose just kind of like a ski mask. Um, you’ll wear that under the helmets to separate you from the helmets and the helmets from you. Um, but when you come in, uh, we’ll give you all that and get you set up. Then between each race that a kart gets used, we’ll wipe down everything. Get all nice and clean for y’all. Um, sanitize it. And then at the end of, or actually the end of the race, if you have more races, we’ll ask you to hold on to your helmet for your entire stay. Then once you’re done racing, we’ll ask you to put it on our empty helmet rack that we have set up. And then we actually just got in a couple months ago, a UV sanitation unit. So, we’ll- it’s this nice big unit. We can, uh, clean or sanitize up to 10 helmets at a time. So, we’ll stick those in there between, uh, anybody using them. It takes about eight minutes to sanitize them. And then they’re nice and clean for y’all, for the next person. I love that. I don’t know why those UV sanitation lights are so fascinating to me. But, I just think right now it is just amazing that you can put something in there and know that in a matter of minutes, you’re sterilized and good to go. That’s great. Exactly; yes, ma’am. Um, okay. So, Nick, what are some of the kinds of activities that you can do? Obviously it’s it’s racing, but, um, what are some different ideas of activities or types of people and groups that come in there? Yeah. So, um, just touch on all the activities we have. Uh, we don’t just have go-karting. Um, we do, as soon as you walk into the door, you’ll see our massive VR arena, our virtual reality arena. Uh, we have, uh, five or six different games on there for you to play. We can play with up to four players. Um, it’s a lot of fun. Also, if you look over to your left, as you come in, we have, uh, karting simulators also. So, you can experience what it’s like to actually race in a real racing kart. Um, for birthday parties, we have the rookie package, which is going to get you two races, a round on in our virtual reality arena for all the kids, all of this is our private events. So, your kids aren’t racing with any randoms or anything, it’s only- You get the racetrack to yourself? That’s awesome. Exactly, you have the entire racetrack to yourselves. We also offer corporate events or just adult party packages which can get you a real racing experience as far as actually getting raced for position. It’s going to start out with a practice so you get used to kart, get used to track, find your racing line. And then for qualifying now that you know, everything, you can go out there and try and set your single fastest lap time. And as I say that all of our races at kartland are scored based on your single fastest lap time. So, even if you come alone, you don’t have to worry about not having anybody to race with. Um, if you’re the only one- only person here, because all our times are based on that time challenge, trying to get that single fastest lap time. Um, so, and we always display all the top times of the day, the week of the month. So, you kind of have a benchmark of, okay, this is how fast I can go or I want to go or how I want to go faster than this time. Very cool. Okay. So, speaking of speed, um, tell me more about the karts. I heard you say that they go 45 miles per hour, right? Sure do. And there’s more than just one kind, I think. There’s, um, cause there’s, there’s younger kids. Right. And then like youth karts. So give me the rundown on, like how old are you if you do the little karts and all that good stuff. Yes. Yeah. So, I’ll sit down with the kids. Um, you have to be 6 years old and 48 inches to race in the kids karts. Um, those go 25 miles an hour. Um, there are a lot of fun, even us adults, um, like to have some fun in them. Um, now, however, I say that with a grain of salt. Um, if- we can’t have adults in the kids karts, um, but every now and then, as I say that as the employees have had, we’ll hop in a car, if we need to have a, uh, like a kid doesn’t want to race by themselves, we’ll hop in one. Um, so they don’t feel like they’re racing alone, because they really want somebody to race with. Yeah. Um, then you have the youth karts, which are actually my adult karts just slowed down to 35 miles an hour. So, adults can race with their kids 12 and up in those races. Um, and they have to be 12 years old, 56 inches to fit in those karts. Then to actually drive the 45 mile an hour, um, adult karts, you have to have a driver’s license, a physical driver’s license and be at 56 inches. Um, unfortunately learner’s permits do not count for that, but they actually have to be at- a real driver’s license. Sure. Okay. So, six years old, you can start with the junior karts, 12 years old, you can do the youth karts that go 35 miles an hour. And then when you have your legit driver’s license, you can, you can go full speed at 45. Exactly. Exactly. And while we’re talking about the karts, they’re, uh, Italian-made, um, electric high-performance go-karts. Um, so, they’re made to go quick. Um, they’re a lot of fun. They actually handle like a true go-kart would. Um, personally, I actually race go-karts myself. Um, and I go around to tracks all over, check out all other, uh, rental karts. And so far out of all the karts that I’ve been in, um, electric-wise, the OTL Storms that we have here are my absolute favorite with no bias opinions in there. Fantastic. So, are these karts- you mentioned that you guys have been open since February, 2018. Are these karts that, um, Kartland purchased at that time or do y’all always kind of roll in new karts? How does that work? So there are karts that we’ve had. Um, we were a different facility before we were Kartland. However, that does not mean that they are old karts. Um, every now and then a car will need a full-chassis rebuild. So, we will build, rebuild it from the chassis all the way up. So, essentially they’re brand new karts whenever they do that. Got it. Yes. Ma’am. Wow, awesome. I didn’t realize that about all the types of karts. So then if my, um, if my, you know, 10-year-old, is there racing in one of the junior cars and he’s going only going 25 miles an hour, which by the way, it makes me feel a lot better, um, is he only racing against other junior karts or are there guys going on 45 next to’em? Exactly. So, it’s only going to be kids karts with kids, for the youth races, with the adults that go 35. They all the karts in that race have to go 35 miles an hour. Okay. And then the adult karts, it’s only adults on the track. Cool. So, it keeps it fair and kind of different types of races are happening all the time so that they’re not intermingled together. Exactly, exactly the way we kind of rotate our, um, our schedule is on a, say a busy Saturday we’ll have a kids race, a youth race and an adult race. And it will constantly be that in between. So, hopefully, it would be no longer than a 15-minute wait, unless we just have a crazy busy group. So, how long are the races? Each race is going to be 8 minutes long. Ooh, that’s a good long time. Oh yeah. It’s a lot of fun Or that seems, um, that seems like a long time compared to some of the outdoor places that we’ve gone to. It feels like it, you get it, you wait in line for a while and then your race is like 2 minutes and you’re done. Exactly, exactly. It used to be- we used to do it by laps. Um, but we changed the track every quarter. Um, so it’s a different track every time you come in. And this track, I noticed the times were a little bit too, too fast for the 12 lap races. They come out to like 4 minutes for my super-fast, uh, regulars. And so with that, I was like, let’s just go and make it fair. Everybody races 8 minutes. And we’ve people have been loving it so far. It definitely from me, that’s used to those 12 lap races, it’s been kind of tiring. But it’s plenty of fun. Okay. That’s cool, 8 minutes. That’s a long race. So, tell me about, um, I hear you guys have like things like leagues and even like STEM kind of educational stuff going on there. So, tell me about that. Yes, ma’am. So, we’ll start with our STEM classes. Um, we, uh, like to have schools bring field trips in. Um, unfortunately, I don’t think that many schools are doing field trips right now. Um, but we’ll, we’ll do as we set up kind of like centers. We’ll have somebody in this room that I’m in right now and they’ll be doing a PowerPoint, teaching them all about, uh, Newton’s laws and showing them how they go correlate with racing. So, they’re all kind of physics, STEM classes. Then, we’ll have a lab out in our, uh, main area, um, our main waiting area with ramps and tires and balls and, um, we’ll then calculate, um, speed, um, with the distance over time. So, the kids will have stopwatches and then we’ll have, uh, the distances marked. So at each, uh, distance, someone will stop the stopwatch. Grab the time. Then, of course the kids can’t come in here and not race. Um, so what better a field trip where you can come and race go-karts. Yeah, but then there’s also some kids that can’t race, you know, just not able to physically or you’re hurt or for some reason, or they’re super scared. I love that there’s something else, you know, they can, there’s other kinds of activities and um, like the VR and things you mentioned a while ago. That’s really cool that it’s not only the, you know, racing. Exactly, exactly. Um, we, we have kids that come in that we have their 6-year-old, their 6-year-old brothers in there racing, but they’re not quite tall enough or old enough. And so, they have other things to do here for them. That’s great. Okay then, what about leagues? That’s my favorite topic. Right now we’re doing a, uh, we just started or actually we’re about to finish our youth league, which is going to it’s a six, uh, 6-week league. And it went from the last week in September second, uh second to last or the last week in September, and it’ll be ending this Tuesday. Um, it’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been doing both the youth. So the 35 miles-an-hour karts and the juniors to 25 mile-an-hour karts. And we’ve had amazing turnout with it. The kids are enjoying it. We do a practice race so they get used to the karts to get used to the track every day. Um, then we have them do a qualifier. So like I mentioned earlier to try to get that single fastest lap time, then that last race is the coveted position based race. So we actually grid start everybody formula-one style out on the track. And as soon as the green flags drop, we give them the full speed and they’re off to the races trying to be first. Then, um, that’s 6 o’clock on Tuesday nights. Um, again, that’s finishing up this Tuesday, the 27th of October, but, um- There are other leagues, though, that start like, you know, you’re probably continually starting and stopping. Exactly. We’ll probably be doing another one here in the winter. So, that’ll- look out for that. We’re definitely doing one in the spring. Um, so look out for that, to the kids. Well, I love about that is it’s a consistent activity that, you know, it’s, it’s getting your kids, um, out, but not- obviously it’s indoor, so it’s not weather permitting. You can consistently count on it. But, it’s getting them away from, you know, things like devices or iPads or gaming things. If we’re trying to get kids away from those and break certain habits, that’s cool. It’s like an another thing for them to go do this. That’s physical and exciting for them. Exactly, exactly. And right now in COVID times, I mean, this is something that they can do and not like football or soccer where they’re right up on their opponent. Um, they’re actually in their own individual karts separated from them, so. Yeah, that’s really cool. So, you mentioned leagues are right now on Tuesday nights. Um, I also know that you have- I would encourage people to go look at your website to see the other deals that you have going. I mean, while we record this, uh, we’re rounding out October, so things will probably change as we hit in November. But, um, like right now, if you go on your site, you see things like All-You-Can-Race Wednesdays and $15 Mondays and even Happy Hour. So what does that even look like, Happy Hour Fridays? So 4-7 on Fridays, you get $12.99 races. So, essentially you’re getting our friends-and-family’s, uh, price for races. And you do have to have what we call our Annual Race License, but the Annual Risk License is a sweet deal. It’s $8.95. It gets you discounted races as well as a free race during your birth month. Um, so essentially getting an $8 race right there during your birth month. Wow. And then it pays for itself in special deals like that $12.99 special. On Mondays, we do $15 races. And then, like you said, on Wednesday nights, we have the All-You-Can-Race. Um, the awesome thing I’ve been seeing about the All-You-Can-Race is people have been really getting into karting from that All-You-Can-Race. Um, earlier this year when we started it in the summer, I had some people that were up here every, uh, every Wednesday night doing it. And then they actually started showing up for my Thursday night, uh, adult league, which starts at 7:30. Yes, that’s a good, it’s a good way to expose people to it. Um, and going have more than one race if they’re, you know, tight on what they can spend that night or whatever. So, that’s awesome. So now, as far as Kartland goes, is this a unique like locally owned business or is this a franchise where we can find them everywhere? This is a local Frisco family-owned business. Um, they’re here almost every day, um, making sure we’re doing things properly, taking care of things. And if you’re up here during the weekday, most likely meet at least one of the owners. Awesome. Well, who should we look for? What are their names? So we have Kim and we have Frank. Um, they’re awesome people. Um, Kim, um, she comes from a, uh, amazing background, so she knows how to run the place. Um, Frank, her husband, uh, quite the handyman. Um, he helps us out with anything we need fixed around the building. And, uh, they’re both just some of the sweetest people. I love that. I love that there, you know, it’s Frisco family-owned. I love that they’re in there on a regular basis. They probably know their customers and, and really like sounds hands-on like you said about Frank. So that’s, that’s good to hear. I love that. Like, it makes me want to go to places that are, that are part of the community like that even more. Right. For sure. Okay. Then let’s see. What else, how can people find you? Like were- describe to people in Frisco where they can find you physically and as far as the best place to find you online or on social. Right, right. So online, um, for our website, kartland.com, um, we’re right there. Um, for social media, it’s all going to be, uh, Kartland or Kartland Raceway. Um, it’s kart with a K. Yep. Um, so not with a C. And then as far as our physical location, we’re, uh, just a little bit hidden behind FC Dallas Stadium. I kind of call us Frisco’s Hidden Gem. Um, we’re off Frisco st. And All-Stars ave. Um, and that little business park right back there. Um, if you know, we’re right between El Dorado and Maine, so. So you’re back there. A lot of volleyball people would know things back there, right? The LoneStar Volleyball- I think the warehouse, the warehouse section back there. Are you neighbors with Dude Perfect? We are neighbors with Dude Perfect. We’re in a couple of their videos. If you, if you pay close attention while they’re in the back, you can see us. I was going to ask, have they ever been in there? Oh, they have. They have quite a few times. Yeah. That seems right up their alley, getting in there and getting some racing going. Yes, ma’am. Fantastic. Well, Nick, thank you for your time and filling us in. I’m excited for people to hear this so they can go check it out and get in on it. Whether you’re a family wanting to go have family night or corporate, you know, or business locally wanting to just let off some steam and have your employees get out for a minute and do something fun. Or whether you have like a youth team that you want to go and get some team-building in and something different for a change, um, go check out Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway. Thank you. We look forward to seeing everybody on the track here soon.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Dawn Rice is in the business of teaching people to write. Write On! Creative Writing Center opened in March 2020 and learned quickly how to explore new formats, opportunities, and ways to serve the writing community for both kids and adults. What originally started from her teaching experience in the classroom, then moved to camps and workshops in her home, is now an amazing center just off of Main Street and 5th Street in The Rail District of Frisco, Texas. Writers at Write On! get the tools to feel confident about their writing process. From prompts to camps and workshops, anyone can unleash their imagination at Write On! Creative Writing Center. SHOW NOTES: [00:16] Write On! Background [02:56] How To Start Writing? [07:36] Write On! Workshops and Services [12:48] Dawn Rice’s First Writings [14:25] Dawn Rice’s Education Experience [18:42] More About Write On! LINKS & RESOURCES: Write On! on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And today we are chatting with Dawn Rice from Write On! Creative Writing Center in Frisco. Dawn, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It’s good to have you here. I am thrilled to chat with you today because, as you know, writing is a big part of what we do at Lifestyle Frisco. We have some very creative writers that come up with some wonderful ideas and concepts in the things that they do and you guys are in the business of teaching people writing and creative writing. And, um, so I’m just kind of fascinated by you and your story. What made you start this business? And, uh, how’s it going so far? I know you guys opened up back in March. So, kind of give us the background. Well, and as you said, back in March, we opened up and then everything went crazy right after we opened our doors. But, it gave opportunity for a lot of things that we wouldn’t have expected. And, um, and we’re going to chat about that a little later. But like, with zoom and, and, um, just being able to, um, you know, explore things and offer opportunities that maybe we might not have otherwise. But I’m a little background on Write On! is, um, as an educator, I, um, loved bringing writing to my students and, um, through some opportunities that I had, I was trained and, um, gained skills to make writing more exciting and fun for my, my students that I was teaching. And rather than have it just being, you know, one time per month that we would visit a writing piece, we made writing part of our day every day. And, um, so through that process, I was so excited that I could see the results of these, these students go from being reluctant, um, writers or struggling writers to being passionate writers and excited about it. And those who were already somewhat proficient, just growing in their skills. And so, um, when I moved here to Texas, Write On! was born in my home and I had writers come for camps and workshops. And again, just being able to share that experience and seeing the benefits of it in trans- you know, seeing how it translated into their school writings. And, um, it just was very exciting. And I’m sure very satisfying to watch them grow as writers and get better at what they do. Yes, yes. There’s nothing better than having a writer come to a workshop and being very apprehensive and really myself, not thinking, wow, not knowing where they’re going to be able to go that day. And then having a time where we call Author’s Chair and having the writer share and just being like, you know, shocked in a positive way to see the results. And I’m, that’s probably one of the most fulfilling things is just to see what writers come up with no matter what their skill level. So, when somebody comes to you and I’m sure heard this before, and they say, well, I’m not a natural writer. I’m not a talented writer, uh, or they just haven’t really done much writing in the past: how do you get somebody started? Like how do you see them with the right ideas or the right motivation to sort of dive in and start putting words to paper? Because I will admit, there are times, you know, I do most of my writing online, but opening it up to write a post for Lifestyle Frisco, go for example, um, you know, that blank page can be kind of daunting – whether it’s a piece of paper or, you know, on your screen. So, how do you, how do you get them moving in the right direction? No, I, that’s a great question. And, and really what we do is I think the approach is the best way I could put it. Um, if somebody comes in and tells me that they’re, you know, not a good writer or they’ve had negative experiences, or they don’t know where to start, really one of the, the phrases to live by is “the more you write, the better writer you become.” And that doesn’t mean you have to be writing essays to be a better writer. Um, you actually, any kind of writing. If you’re journal writing, if you’re writing to prompts, if you’re writing just fun stories or just letting your thoughts flow, you are writing and therefore becoming a better writer. So when writers come here to Write On! uh, we always start our workshops with a writing prompt, and they really aren’t connected necessarily to our lesson that we’re going to do that day; but, they are very easy to respond to prompts no matter what your writing skill level is. And so that’s really the start of it is just getting that comfort level, letting them transition from whatever positive or negative stuff that’s happening in their life, to the, the thought process of just writing. And from there, um, the lessons that we introduce, we always try and, um, make them so that they are, um, they can, no matter what the skill level, again, that the writers can actually produce a work that will allow them to feel successful and grow in their writing. So, it’s all part of the process to make sure that we’re not just having writers come in and say, “okay, you’re writing a short story today, good luck” and go find a spot. You know, we really give them those tools to make them feel confident. And, um, that then get started on the writing process. And this is a good, that’s a great opportunity for me to plug your Twitter account. So, for anybody that, if you’re not following them, it’s @writeonfrisco. W R I T E. And you guys do some put some of those prompts up there, like you, you, I’ve seen you throw some things out there that are ideas for writing, and I’m like, that’s such a great idea. Um, and it kind of is the times inspired me to like, want to sit down and write a short story, or, you know, just where would I go with that even if I’m just sitting back and thinking about it. So, um, definitely wanna encourage anybody out there to go follow you guys on Twitter. Um, it’s a great place to connect with you, but then also to kind of see some of those prompts and some of those ideas that you guys are putting forward. Yes, definitely. And like you said, just having, if you sat down just each day for five to ten minutes, looked at a prompt and responded to it, yours writing skills are going to just continually grow and grow and grow. And, um, again, no matter even what your skill level is. Yeah, your comment earlier about the more you write, the better you get at it also reminded me of one of my favorite writing quotes. Um, and it might be a little cliche to quote Stephen King in this world, but, uh, one of the things he did, he did a book called On Writing. I’m sure you’ve heard of that. It’s a fantastic book. Um, and one of the things that, that seared into my brain when I read it was, he said, if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write. How much do you find that reading, actively reading, also helps people with their creative writing? Oh, they go hand in hand and you know, my, my education is in literacy skills and just, um, reading and writing of all forms, all support each other. So, I actually, the it’s, I don’t necessarily say it’s my phrase, but again, the more you read, the better reader you become, the more they write, the better writer you become. And the more there you read, the better writer you become. So, they literally go together and you come up with ideas and even just word use just by the type of, if you are really into say Stephen King’s writings, you are going to actually catch on to some of those writing, um, you know, phrases and things that he does in his writing that you’ll find in your own writing, or you’ll be able to, uh, work into your writing. So, um, just getting different, you know, different genres and, you know, ideas and stuff from different writers is amazing as well. Yeah, I love it. So let’s talk, a little bit about the, the services you offer. I mean, we talked about writing itself, but what kinds of classes, what, you know, level of writers are you catering to? What are some of the options, especially, you know, unfortunately, right now, we’re in this COVID world where we’re doing a lot of stuff, virtual. So just kind of tell us what are the, you know, if I’m interested in getting better at writing, and I want to come to Write On! what are the, what are the choices that I have? Excellent. So we have workshops that we offer weekly, and we have them structured somewhat in a semester format, but anybody can join at any time. It’s just kind of the, um, again, the format that we use to allow, if somebody started at the beginning of a semester, they would be able to have different workshops all throughout the whole time that they’re in at Write On! And those weekly workshops are for 2nd through 12th grade. And then we also have a workshop specifically for adults that we offer on Thursday nights. And, um, the other workshops that we have currently are, again, they’re for the 2nd through 12th grade, and we try and separate them into 2nd through 5th and then 6th through 12th. But, um, we also have specialty workshops on the weekend where we focus on say short story writing or poetry, or this weekend we actually have, um, one of our staff members is a published author and she’s doing a workshop kind of focused around the book that she wrote. So we really want to bring in more authors and illustrators to have that experience. Uh, and in addition to that, we also, when there’s an interest, we want to be able to add workshops in the future that will be able to support the wants and the skills to grow for, um, all types of writers. So, you asked specifically, um, you know, well, who do we cater to as far as writing levels? It is for all it is for those proficient writers who just want to have a place to write, have ideas to grow and, um, be able to just, you know, hone in more on their skills to the struggling or the reluctant writers that need to work on just writing and building their skills as well. And that’s, that’s evident at all levels, no matter if they’re in elementary school, high school or even adults. I have so many adults that I can’t spell, or I don’t know, grammar, it’s just that, that whole practice of writing. And again, that’s where we give the opportunity and nobody’s singled out or made to feel that, you know, their spelling is an issue. We want them to just write. And if they want to publish that piece, we want to have those opportunities, too, where they can take their pieces to publication and they can worry about their grammar and their spelling then, and we’ll, you know, focus on getting everything tuned up and submitted for publication. And that is very refreshing to hear. One of the things that, um, has always been a part of my writing process because I was, I was strong in math, not necessarily English growing up, um, was one of the things that I learned from my own benefit. And when I started writing was I just sit down and just kind of spill it out onto the page. I don’t worry about the details. I don’t worry about the grammar. I just, I try to get what’s in my head out of my head and onto the page as much as possible. And then I can go back and look at, you know, restructuring things and editing things and changing the way things are phrased and, you know, thank goodness for spell check and grammar check that are, you know, more omnipresent now in some of the tools. But yeah, it’s, uh, it’s good to be able to just get your kind of thoughts out on paper, if you will, and, and then work them from there. Yes, because that’s, there’s nothing worse than getting to a word that you can’t spell. It’s it becomes a roadblock. And then actually, you know, almost like a traffic accident where you can’t go any further because you’re so focused on spelling that word where if you just spelled it, however it flowed out of the pen and moved on, you would again, just let those ideas and thoughts come out of your head. So, that’s what really what we try to encourage. And sometimes that can be one of the biggest challenges is just to get writers, to have that competence, to be able to just let their ideas flow. Are there anything, any individuals that you find, not, not specifically people, but sort of skill sets or backgrounds that take more naturally to writing than others? So, as we’re having, the reason I asked that is that we’re having that conversation. I would almost wager that those who are, who grew up extremely good at things like spelling and grammar might be more likely to get hung up on those things while trying to write than somebody who like myself was not as strong in those areas. And then maybe that’s not true, but it just sort of struck me as, uh, uh, you know, one possibility. Right. You know, I would definitely say that that that might be a roadblock, you know, of sorts. Myself personally, when I was growing up, I loved to write, I loved to read, but I struggled with spelling. I struggled with reading and that’s actually really what drove my passion in the long run is because I felt that I was oftentimes restricted from those opportunities. Um, and so I want to have that again, to be able to share that or build that confidence in people and be able to just have them not get hung up. I think I could probably just go both ways without one. Were there stories or things, and we’re just gonna, this is a personal question. Were there stories or things that you wrote when you were younger that you still have, or that you’re still very proud of or maybe even thought about expanding on as an adult? Oh, I love that question. So it’s so funny. I kept so many things from when I was younger, like writings and stuff that I have, and they are not impressive. And I don’t know if I would necessarily want to, um, expand on them, but maybe some of them, I have a lot of poetry and we did like poetry workshops. I remember a lot of, and some of them, they just make me laugh. And, um, you know, at that time it was dot matrix, you know, the computer or the printer. And so that’s what I have these funny little cat pictures, all in the dot majors with my crazy poem on it. So, um, but they, they do definitely, um, it lets me see that I was not a great speller. It definitely asked me to see that I actually probably did freely write without too much concern because it’s all right there. Very good. Yeah. I’m still, I, my father just sent me a folder of some stuff from my childhood that he’d held on to, and that were a couple of short stories that I wrote. In fact, I distinctly remember writing them because it was in the back of the car, on a road trip to Florida, from Indiana. And, uh, there was certainly some common themes in my writing and a lot of really bad spelling. And, uh, it was not, as you said, not the least bit impressive, but it was sort of funny to look back on those. So Yeah, I think I have a state report from the State of Oklahoma. I lived in California and did my state report on Oklahoma. So, had to go back and read those Dusted off, so to speak, um, going back into your background. So, you were an educator. Can you talk to us a little bit about your experience as an educator? What did you, did you teach just writing or did that kind of come along with other things that you were teaching and what, what levels were you teaching at and things like that? So, I started in education as a 2nd grade teacher, and then I also taught 1st and 3rd mixed in and together at times. And, um, so that’s during the time that penmanship is, um, you know, very important and also, um, lots of reading skills are being acquired and the writing skills, all of that, we were heavy into, um, focusing on letter writing specifically. Um, and that really was what we focused on the whole year, every week we would do this letter writing. And so, um, as I mentioned, I went to, it was through the national writing project and I was part of a summer institute and it was there that, again, it was taking just very simple, fun writing lessons, bringing them to the students. And they were able to actually produce works that their skills grew in. And so, like I said, when I saw this and I was doing it as an adult and loving it and knowing that I could have my students do it, I brought it into the classroom and made it something daily that we had writing workshop that was being done as part of our, our daily routine. And, um, so it, it definitely came from my experiences and being a teacher and seeing, um, that just there’s so much that the educators have to bring to the students. And it’s, you know, the math, the social studies science and language arts. Yes. And so they try and get the writing piece in there, but unfortunately it, a lot of times is just visited for a brief time and not really focused on or built on and developed. And, um, that’s where I feel that a lot of the students become reluctant and dislike writing because it, all of a sudden becomes, I only do this when I have an essay to write, or I only have to do this for an assignment and there’s no joy or enjoyment out of, you know, coming from writing. And, um, so again, that’s really where that, that drive and that passion came from was that I need, I want to bring this and make this exciting and see the, the results in the long run of, you know, just these writers growing and enjoying it. And of course, there’s still going to be those academic, you know, requirements and, and opportunities and all. But, there’s a world a difference when you go to a test after writing daily and building that toolbox and then having, you know, to need to write a short story and being able to go into that experience toolbox and saying, Oh, I could write about that time when we went on a trip to, you know, Missouri or wherever. And you now have that instead of trying to rack your brain for ideas in a short period of time when you’re, you know, stressed out. So, that’s really where it all came from. When you say letter writing, are you talking about actual, like letters of the alphabet or writing letters to people? Great question. So, writing letters to people. So 2nd grade, it, that was that’s really, the focus is the, you know, letter writing skills. So, sorry, not, not penmanship, but although, you know, cursive writing and stuff is really big, but that’s really focused on more in the kindergarten, first grade, so – Yeah, that’s what I thought. But it was interesting at what made me think of that was the art of letter writing seems lost these days. It really feels like something that has just has just gotten lost, especially with modern technology. And so it’s interesting that, you know, even recently that’s still being taught. Yes. Well, and it’s definitely an important skill, but at the same time, it, a lot of times things are touched on in that grade level and then they’re not revisited again. So I assure you, if I ask, you know, many, a high schooler, you’re probably even adults nowadays, can you address this envelope? Or how do you write a friendly letter? It may not be something they could do. No, but I tell you, if you really want to light somebody’s day up, send them an actual handwritten letter, the thing shows up in the mailbox and people almost don’t know what to do with themselves. Yes, yes. We actually have a squirrel, actually a few squirrels, but when we call Scribbles The Squirrel and we welcome people to write to Scribbles and Scribbles will write them back, so. Very good. Very good. So, what else should we know about Write On! that maybe we haven’t talked about yet? What are the questions that we don’t know to ask, if you will? One thing we talked about the workshops that we have, and those are currently all offered in-person and online. So we, um, you know, for the majority of our workshops and events, even we have online options as well as the in-person options. And of course we’re being cautious with, you know, um, are making sure we’re are, we’re having professional cleaning done that we’re wearing face masks that we have hand sanitizer, temperatures being all that we’re making sure we’re really trying to follow a good routine and keeping it as safe as possible for everybody that’s coming in here. And, um, so we do have the online options, uh, some other things about right on, we have an amazing website it’s writeonfrisco.com. Definitely has lots of great information on there. We are always available for questions, you know, it reasonable hours. Um, so we have phone number, which is (214) 915-2155. And we have an email it’s info@writeonfrisco.com. And as you mentioned, we do have Twitter, which has great, you know, just tips and, and tools for, you know, getting you writing. We also have Facebook, which is @WriteOnFrisco. And then we had Instagram too, um, which is also @writeonfrisco. And so trying to think if there’s anything else specific with, um, Write On!, we have a lot of things. Again, as I mentioned earlier on, if there’s something that somebody’s interested in, I really encourage them to reach out. It’s not that we haven’t thought of it. It’s not that we’re not considering it. It’s that we’re really trying to get our feet off, you know, feet wet or, you know, get everybody out there knowing we exist. And we don’t want to have too much and have nobody coming or few people coming. We would rather have less and then be able to grow in those and add more as time comes on. So, um, for example, we had someone reach out about grant writing and having a specialty workshop on grant writing. And, um, I have experience with grant writing. I’ve written several of them when I was an educator. And, so, that’s something that I really want to explore and put out there as a possibility for people to come and be able to gain skills in grant writing, so – Grant writing is definitely an art in and of itself. Have you guys, just out of curiosity, have you, do you have any, uh, classes or courses that are specific to online writing? Um, so as far as like online writing for, um, like media purposes? Journalist, anything of that nature. So again, at this time we don’t have a specific one scheduled, but it’s all stuff that I don’t even want to say it’s slated. It’s being considered. And really what it’s going to come down to is, um, getting the, you know, the writers, you know, registered and coming and expressing an interest in that. And then, yes, definitely. We want to, we have, we have a blog that, um, one of our staff members does for our website. And so just giving those skills and giving people tips and suggestions about how to go about that is, you know, definitely significant, especially cause it’s, you know, it’s growing more and more as time goes on with technology and all. And especially now that you guys are able to offer, um, courses online through zoom, as well as in person. Are you finding that you’re attracting students from places beyond Frisco or is it mostly just local? Um, that’s a great question. So over the summer, we actually had some writers. We had a writer from Canada. We had, um, a couple from the eastern states as well as California. And so yes, it’s, it’s some with the start of the school year. I think everybody kind of went back to that “Oh my goodness, we’re online again,” you know, all this coming at us. And so we haven’t seen a whole lot of it with the school year starting up, but definitely something that is an option. If somebody lives in Alaska or goodness, if they live in Europe or, you know, wherever they live, they can jump on and be part of one of our zoom workshops as long as time allows, you know, the time of day that it’s scheduled for. And, um, that’s, you know, so yes, to answer your question, we’ve had people from, from various places participate. Good. Well, Dawn, thank you so much. I am absolutely thrilled to have you guys in Frisco. I love what you’re doing. I think it’s just, uh, it’s, it’s a beautiful business. Uh, you know, you’re, you’re connecting people with that passion and, and helping them develop the skills for creating that, that creative outlet through writing and, uh, something I hope we see more of. Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And thanks for having me again. You bet. Thank you for joining us and thanks to all of you for tuning in to the Frisco Podcast. We will talk to you next time.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Charlie Wendell fills us in on what’s new with Melody of Hope, like transitioning from a Gala to a Music Festival. On November 6th, 2020, headliner Abby Anderson leads a roster full of talent for Melody of Hope’s Encore! Drive-in Music Festival. The Festival starts at 5pm at Verona Villa. Attendees will have designated tailgate space with 6-foot buffers for some built-in social distancing. Car passes are available at www.melodyofhope.org/musicfest?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss. In addition to the music, you’ll also find food trucks, a silent auction PLUS a broadcast option too, for those of you who aren’t able to get tickets. Let the music bring hope, Frisco! For additional fun details about the event, read: A New Melodic Twist of Hope on an Old Classic in Frisco SHOW NOTES: [1:10] What’s changing with Melody of Hope [4:30] Artists coming to Frisco [7:00] How will the music festival look in 2020? [8:46] Event details [11:24] Additional ways MOH is helping in the community [14:08] Overview on updates for the nonprofit LINKS & RESOURCES: Melody of Hope on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Encore! Drive-in Music Festival Website Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Scott: Welcome to The Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And this episode, we’re chatting again with Charlie Wendell from Melody of Hope. Charlie, how are you? Charlie: Hey, Scott. I’m doing great. Thank you all so much for having me Scott: Glad to have you back on the podcast. And we’re going to talk about some of the changes to what’s happening with melody of hope and your events, and what’s been happening around town, but, where do we find you right now? Are you working from home or are you able to get out and about a little? Charlie: Yeah, it’s kind of, it’s both, you know, but even before COVID I worked out of my office and I joke that that’s how melody of hope is able to provide so much more funding towards our events and nonprofits is because I don’t have an office rent and I work from home. So it’s been great. Um, I’ve definitely been out and about, a lot of our networking groups have still been meeting and I’ve been meeting a lot of people on zoom as well. So it’s been kind of a hybrid for us over here. Scott: Very good. We’re glad to hear you’re staying safe and doing well. Um, so let’s talk a little bit about what’s coming up this year because the last time you and I actually had a chance to speak was almost a year ago at your big gala last year, hard to believe it’s already been that long. Um, but you guys are making some changes to how you operate and how you do things. So why don’t you kind of walk us through what’s going on? Charlie: Yeah, it’s crazy how fast a year goes by? I mean, I remember we recorded the podcast probably a year ago today, and then the gala was about 10 months, 11 months ago. So, um, yeah, we’ve been making a lot of changes. Our, our board decided even before all the COVID stuff happened that we wanted to kind of shift away from a gala. The gala’s been a really sweet spot for us and just a great event, but we, um, you know, it costs us about 40, 30 to 40 grand to put the gala on and, you know, all that’s on the cheaper side, we just thought maybe that would be that money could be used towards maybe hiring a big headliner or a big talent to come in and maybe do a music festival. And so we were already thinking about this idea of transitioning from a gala to a music festival as our big, you know, our signature event and just to help, you know, I think that would help bring tourism and, you know, bring people from all over the North Texas area to come into our city and to help that. So, yeah, we’ve, we’ve been transitioning to a music festival before COVID. Scott: Okay. Well, certainly for anybody that’s ever put on an event, like the gala that you guys were doing knows how much work and how expensive those can be. So I commend you guys for that decision. Um, it’s funny because I remember several years ago, uh, when Wendi and I were here in Frisco, there weren’t really any events happening or very few, you know, where you would kind of get dressed up and go out and go to, you know, a nice event like that. And now it seems like there’s a lot of them happening, especially around this time of year. So it’s interesting to hear how you guys are differentiating yourselves. Charlie: Yeah. It was also interesting because, you know, they’re, you know, the 90 10 rule, there’s like 10% of people that do 90% or go to 90% of events. And so we felt like we were maybe pulling from the same, you know, group of people and, you know, that’s expensive if you’re one of those, you know, 10% that goes to everything that gets kind of expensive to go to galas and, you know, while it’s helping good causes, we just thought maybe we’ll just bring the community together and have cheaper tickets, but still have a really big event. And so that’s kinda what, another reason we decided to switch to the festival. Scott: Yeah. And then the music festivals, a neat idea too, because it’s not really something we have in Frisco. I mean, there’ve been a couple of big, you know, um, Edge Fest and things that have come through town, nothing that’s local and, and focused on what you guys do. Charlie: Yeah. We had noticed that too. We did a little bit of market research. But also we were wanting to do kind of an upscale component to our festivals. And so, you know, like, you know, Lifestyle Frisco, y’all have been such a great sponsor. We want to do something for our sponsors and our VIP is at our festivals. And so we’ll, we’ll still be having kind of an upscale VIP lounge this year. Obviously we’ll look a little different because of COVID, but there’s definitely a, um, a more upscale, kind of niche in our festival for our VIPs and sponsors. So we’re excited about that too. Scott: Can you tell us at all, and if you want to keep it secret for now, that’s fine. But can you tell us about any of the artists or like what we would have to look forward to at this year’s festival? Charlie: Oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely. We have. So when we first decided to put this on, we just reached out to all of our artists. We’ve got about, um, we’ve really built our, our artists database during COVID. We kind of just blindly reached out to a bunch of artists in North Texas and were like, Hey, we have a lot of virtual shows. And, um, we’ve probably added about 40 artists to our roster during COVID. So that’s been another silver lining to COVID. Um, but this year we’ve got, um, 19 artists that will be performing at the festival. Um, and we just hired and booked our headliner for the event. And her name is Abby Anderson. Um, she is out of Nashville, but it’s kind of a funny story. She she’s opened up for gosh, like Billy Currington, Brett Eldridge, you know, actually Rob Thomas of matchbox 20, which is one of my favorite bands. Charlie: Oh my gosh, I love matchbox 20. They’re so great. But yeah, she’s, she’s kind of up and coming, but she’s done. Um, she was on the Buffalo Bills. Um, Oh, she did a song for the Buffalo Bill’s team last year. And so she’s up and coming, but she performed at our very first gala in 2014. Um, and she was like 14 years old and it’s just been really cool to kind of see her, you know, grow into her own and, um, really take the music industry by storm last year. She’s been doing great. Charlie: Yeah. So she’ll be headlining. Um, we’re going to be blasting a lot of her videos in the next week or so, so you’ll be on the lookout, but we’ve also got Ron Bultongez is, you know, he’s kind of the hometown hero of Plano and Frisco area. He was on American idol and top 24 finalist. Um, and he’s just great, you know, he’s played for us a couple of times and then Grace Tyler, who also, she, you know, she’s a Frisco kind of Frisco country queen. Um, so we’ve got a bunch of artists I can, you know, naming all 19 I can, but those are kind of like the three big hitters of our event. Scott: Well, good. I’m glad to hear that. And it’s funny. I was about to ask you about Grace Tyler. We’ve had her on the podcast before and done some interviews with her in the past, and she’s a fantastic young talent and, you know, she graduated high school, I think a couple of years ago. And, um, I think she went to Nashville. Charlie: Yeah. She’s in Nashville. Yeah. Yeah. Scott: But glad she’ll be back for this event. So in the context of, of COVID and all that, that, that entails, um, how was the event going to look this year? How will it kind of fall together so that people are being safe and everything’s, you know, people are comfortable coming out. Charlie: Sure, sure. Yeah. So the biggest thing, um, that we are doing to make sure people are being COVID compliant is we have a, it’s a drive in music festival. And so we have got, um, Verona Villa. So I don’t know how many details you guys know. I guess our listeners don’t know too many details, but, um, yeah, we were doing at Verona Villa to share in the parking lot and everyone has a designated tailgate space that is, you know, has six foot buffers. And so you’ll have, you know, a parking spot and then a tailgate space. And then, so that’s your six foot buffer. And so that’s how we’re kind of making sure everyone is staying safe. Um, and then if you have a truck, you know, bring your truck and tailgate, like physically tailgate in the back of it, um, in your little buffer, six foot buffer space. Um, so that’ll be fun. We’ve seen it done before. Um, one of our volunteers, she works for a, um, a kind of independent radio station and they did this and it was a really big success. And so we saw it and we were like, man, we really need to do that. We have to do something for our community. You know, it’s just trying to help boost the morale of the community and just bring people together in a safe way. And, um, that’s really the heart of what we’re trying to do is, you know, music is such a great unifier and, you know, I think politics aside it’ll be right after the election. So I think people will be happy and sad. And so I think this is a great opportunity to just bring people together and, enjoy some good music and kind of forget about what’s going on at home. Scott: Yeah. I think first of all, what is the date? So people know, Charlie: Yes, it is November the sixth. Okay. So right after the election and I’m sure that people, yes, everybody’s going to welcome a distraction of any kind that is, we may not necessarily know the outcome yet, but I’m sure people will be ready to move on and think about other things. So that’s great timing. Yes. Yes. And also I’m just touching on the COVID compliancy. We’ve also got contactless entry, so, you know, you buy a ticket and then you just show your ticket to the, um, at the checking table. But when you drive in and so it’s contactless, we’ve got sanitation stations, we’ll be providing masks for everyone. Um, and so that’s a few other ways that we’re keeping it covid safe. Scott: Wonderful. Well, we’re looking forward to it. I think it sounds like a great event. And how long, I mean, you’ve got 19 artists, how long has he been going to be? Charlie: Yeah, so we just kind of redid the schedule. Um, so Ashley Miller and Corey Holmes are, they’re both board members, they’re emceeing the event. Um, we just kind of redid the schedule with them. We’re going to be doing, um, kind of groups of artists. So it’s called a song swap. And so the first six, 12 to 16 artists will be, coming on in groups of four and they will be kind of song swapping and kind of just, you know, bantering off of each other into the first four actual B groups. And then the last four will be, you know, the big hitters that the artists that have actual bands with them, a lot of these artists are just solo artists plug and play. So we’re doing groups of artists first, and then the last four artists are solo artists that are, you know, with their band or whatever. Scott: Okay. And I want to make sure that we, uh, plugged this a couple of times, but if people want to get tickets, where do they go? Charlie: Yeah. So we’ve built a website actually during COVID, Google has been amazing because I just Google, like, I think that’s part of being a business owner. You just Google a lot of things. Um, but we, we just Googled how to create a festival website and what a lot of them looked like. So we made one for the event, it’s just melody of hope.org/music Fest. And so that has all the information. It has all the COVID compliancy information, the artists that we’ll have a couple of food trucks there, um, you know, cause people have to eat, even though, you know, we can still make it COVID, COVID compliant and safe, but we’ll have food trucks there we’ll have a silent auction that’s live. Um, we’re also, We’ll also be broadcasting the event too. So we just hired a company to come in and broadcast the entire thing. So if you can’t attend, then you can still tune in. It’s a free live stream. Um, you can still tune in and watch that as well. Scott: All right. Very good. So we have, um, the festival coming up on November 6th and, uh, obviously you guys have kind of changed the format and, and what you’re doing as melody of hope. Um, but we talked a little before we kicked off the call about, you know, businesses and helping local businesses as well. And the unique position you guys are in to help nonprofits and artists, but potentially also businesses. Can you talk a little, a little bit about what you guys have going on there? Charlie: Yeah, absolutely. We have been in kind of a unique space because like I had mentioned, you know, music is so easily transferred to the virtual world and we’ve had a couple of our sponsors and donors that own businesses reach out and, you know, because they’re not going out and networking as much or even doing events. They, a lot of them reached out to us asking if we could possibly provide an artist just for their Facebook page to go live on. And so, you know, you have an artist on a page for an hour that really helps to boost engagement. Um, you know, and that will help the business can get on intermittently and, you know, talk about what they do, but we’ve had a lot of people ask about, you know, how can we boost our brand and boost our Facebook viewers with an artist. And so we’ve been able to provide that Laurie, Laurie McCaffron, she’s kind of the first one that kind of jumped on the idea and we’ve had like Stryker, roofing, um, Josh Smith insurance agent. So a few people that have used utilize those artists so far. And so if you’re a business out there, we would love to help, um, provide an artist if you need some engagement for your live or just someone to, you know, boost your brand. Scott: Yeah. And that’s a really, that’s an interesting idea. I’ve worked with some businesses that have, um, they do kind of all hands, you know, all company meetings and right now they’re doing them virtually and they’ll actually have an artist come on at some point during the all hands meeting, usually toward the beginning just to kind of make it fun and kick things off and it’s been hugely successful for them and, and employees love it. Um, so I think there’s a lot of different ways to, uh, to make that work. Charlie: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve done that as well. Tabitha’s T is one of the nonprofits that we partner with actually Ebony was, um, on Wendi. I interviewed Ebony yesterday, so, um, that’s just came out. She came to my mind first, but yeah, we’ve provided, you know, we’ve still been able to provide artists for nonprofit events too, that have switched the virtual world. And so, you know, it’s been, it’s been a great opportunity for us and just trying to help, still employ the artists and the nonprofits are still fundraising. I mean, they’re still helping, there’s still needs in the community that, you know, have to be met even though COVID, you know, has kind of taken over, but we’ve been helping that way too. Scott: Uh, how has the melody of hope doing overall? Charlie: And doing great? Like I had mentioned, um, we added, we added three new board members, um, which has been incredible for us. We added, um, Ebony King, Earnest Morgan and Jeff Bankston to our board this year. And it’s just been a time of growth for us. Um, you know, we can do that all virtually, you know, send in the applications and, you know, have board meetings virtually. So we’ve been kind of growing, um, growing in that way as well. And, you know, it’s just, it’s just a really great opportunity for us, you know, we exist to, to share the gospel and we do that from the stage. And so having a virtual, a strong virtual component from COVID has really helped us to just share the love of Jesus. Um, you know, we try to do that any chance we get and, and that’s been great for us to be able to do that on a larger scale. You know, we have more virtual viewers then in person events. And so, you know, that’s really why we exist and that’s, um, you know, why we’re doing what we do Scott: Well, thank you for doing what you do. We appreciate it immensely. Um, and I know that a lot of people in Frisco, we’re going to be looking forward to, to coming out to the festival, to hearing some live music, which is something a lot of us haven’t had a chance to do in a while, uh, to forgetting about politics for hours, at least by all means, uh, you know, I think what you guys are doing is fantastic and we’re grateful for it. So, uh, once again, let’s kind of give everybody the rundown on the festival, they location to get tickets, all that good stuff. Charlie: Yeah, absolutely. Um, so the festival is on November the sixth then, so that’s four weeks from today. It’s on a Friday. Um, the time it starts at five o’clock and it will last till probably about 10 30. Um, and you can get, uh, your car passes on our website at www.melodyofhope.org/music?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss Fest. And then we are doing a free live stream. And so if you can’t attend, um, if you don’t feel good about, you know, socially distancing or COVID, and you don’t want to attend, then you can still watch the show on it’ll be streaming on YouTube and Facebook and portions of it on Instagram. Scott: Awesome. And can people donate to melody of hope through your website? Charlie: Oh yeah, of course. Yeah. That’s just melody of hope.org and there’s a donate button on the, on our page. Scott: Okay. Good to know. So if people, uh, maybe if they don’t want to come or they’d rather stay home and watch the live stream, but they still want to help out, they still want to contribute. That’s a great way to do that. Um, so definitely head out to melody of hope.org, and look for that donate button. Charlie, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Really appreciate it and everything you guys are doing. Charlie: Yeah. Thank you so much, Scott. And I just have to say thank you all so much. Lifestyle Frisco is the generous stage sponsor this year, and that has been such a great help. And so I cannot say thank you enough to y’all and the partnership we really, um, have enjoyed that. And we’re so humbled and grateful for you guys. Scott: Well, thank you very much. We appreciate that. And we appreciate each and every one of you for tuning in to the Frisco podcast, uh, you know, again, go out to melody of hope.org. Look forward to the music festival on November 6th, and we look forward to hopefully before too much longer being able to get out and see you around town. Thank you very much.  

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Let’s talk health and fitness. In this week’s episode, we chat with Beth Crain, owner of BEYOND Pilates Frisco, where she and her team work with clients from ages 16 to senior citizens. Pilates is a mix of resistance and strength training in a low-impact environment. The signature class at BEYOND features their reformer to help work all major muscle groups in a 45-minute format. Listen as we talk about the sweat-drenching challenge of the various types of classes and the ‘work zones’ within them! We also learn about the journey Beth is on adapting to the necessary changes due to COVID-19, including crafting a safe reopen plan with a consultant after being closed for 11 weeks in the late spring of 2020. BEYOND Pilates Frisco is growing! Hear about the new store coming to west Frisco! SHOW NOTES: [00:40] Intro to Beth Crain [1:56] How Beyond is different [4:45] Full Body [6:00] Changes due to COVID-19 [12:23] Gyms may be safer than you think [15:15] Pop Up studio (Legacy & Lebanon) and future studio (Lebanon & 4th Army) [19:10] Fall Challenge LINKS & RESOURCES: Beyond Pilates on Lifestyle Frisco | Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Kelly (00:06): Welcome to the Frisco podcast and welcome to Beth Crain with BEYOND Pilates. We’re talking health and fitness today. Welcome Beth, how are you? I’m good. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thank you for joining us. So we have talked to you before on The Frisco Podcast, but a lot has changed a lot has changed in everybody’s lives, but I want to learn to see what’s changed and how things have evolved over at beyond since we last talked to you here. Um, so can you just kind of get us started with sort of the basics, first of all, who you are and introduce yourself to us and how you’re connected to BEYOND. Beth (00:40): Absolutely. Well, I am Beth and I am the owner of BEYOND Pilates here in Frisco. We opened at the very end of 2017. So we’re coming up on our third birthday, which we’re super excited about. This year we’re celebrating by adding our second studio in West Frisco. So I think we’ll talk about that a little later in the podcast. Anyways, I have an amazing, amazing team of instructors and studio staff and an on-staff nutrition coach over at BEYOND. Um, and we just, we work with men and women from like 16 to senior citizens every week. And, um, just help everyone get stronger and stay healthy. Kelly (01:22): Well, one of the people that you have worked with is me recently. So, um, one thing I, I guess, you know, to communicate to the audience, a couple of words that, that remind me of being in there, so work zone. So these teachers get you in these positions and you work really specific muscle groups, and then they, then they hit you with the surprise that you’re about to get into a work zone. And, you know, you’re going to hold, so do the, do these other movements. So, um, I feel those four days and I love that feeling sore. You feel like, you know, you can tell you did something good. So give me sort of the philosophy on these moves and how this, how going to BEYOND is different than, um, maybe hitting a yoga yoga studio or doing just hit classes at a gym or all the other things that people do for fitness. Beth (02:10): Yes. So people walk into the studio all the time and are like, I need to do Pilates that I need to stretch. And our first reaction is always like, Oh, well, we’re not exactly a stretching studio. Um, you do work on your flexibility while you’re there, but really by nature, Pilates is meant for strength training and, um, resistance training and a low impact environment. So you’re not like jumping up and down and pounding on your joints, which gets important as we get older. So our classes are 45 minute format, always, using equipment. So you’ll either be using our Pilates reformers, which have been fully customized to the way that we run our classes at BEYOND, or the Pilates chair. Um, and then we throw in a little, some other accessories to keep it interesting. Um, you’ll always get a full body workout. So you’re going with the reformer studio, our signature 45 minute class. You’re going to get upper body, lower body and core every time you go beyond. Um, and then we also have a studio that’s more like Pilates interval training, which combines Pilates chairs with kettlebells for like an amazing calorie torching 30 minute session. Um, and that is either your abs and arms format or abs and ass. Um, and that one is just like drenching, sweat. I don’t think you were able to do it when you were in the studio this month, but. Kelly (03:30): Well, just because I didn’t do that one doesn’t mean I wasn’t drenching sweat. I was drenched with the basic class, so I love it. Beth (03:37): And it’s not, I mean, it’s not basic. And I think what’s amazing about the way we teach our classes at BEYOND, um, one what I found cause I was a client at the Dallas studio before, um, we talked to the woman who created it and we’re able to bring it up to Frisco. So, um, I loved that everything was set to music. It’s like a rhythm based Pilates class kind of like, I don’t know, soul cycle. Exactly. Even though we were in Dallas before SoulCycle was so credit to Brandy Marino for creating our concept. The classes fly by because of the music. And like, even if you’re in the worst of it, like, you know, you’re talking about those little work zones where like you’ve been doing something like one move for like 45 seconds and you feel like your arm or your leg is about to fall off and then you have that work zone coming and you’re like, well, if you take classes, you also know that’s kind of like your final cue of like, okay, I’ve got like 10 or 15 more seconds I can get through this. Like I’m not going to quit because we’re going to work zone. Then you’re also, you know, probably have a song that you can either sing along to, or just like help motivate you through class, along with the instructors. So that’s what makes us just fun. Yeah. Kelly (04:44): And you know, yeah, there’s some, there’s some pain, you know, getting through 15 seconds at a time of, you know, short term pain is easy to get past mentally. Um, and you mentioned the full body. I think that’s another part of it. So you’re in there for 45 minutes, but you’re not just going to like a legs class, which I have done, you know, done that at some gyms. And you’re not just going to just burn out arms and back or whatever you, you kind of, I don’t know if they do it in thirds. Right. But you know, there’s going to be arms maybe at the beginning and throughout or whatever, and then maybe switch to legs or different parts. So you kinda get through each piece and it hurts. You’re done with it. Move on to a larger, you know, different body section. So I love that to where you working everything the whole time, but you know, it’s still focused sort of in those chunks during the class. Right? Beth (05:35): Definitely. Yeah. And our format is like super intentional like that because there’s nothing worse for me than being in a class. And you’re like, what do you mean? We’re going back to legs. I thought we might, like, he didn’t even feel my leg anymore. I thought we were done with that. I don’t have any more to give you. So we try to like, you know, really like pull you on that journey through class. Cause it’s an experience. And then yet when you’re done, you move onto the next group. Check. Kelly (05:59): Yes. So now I do have to ask, you know, what, what does the COVID safe version of BEYOND look like? I hope that it’s not a longterm look and I hope that it’s not something that we even look back on this and go, Oh yeah, I hope it’s, um, it’s, it’s short term, but I know we’ve already been six months into this. And so I’m curious to hear what you’ve had to do as a business owner to shift into, you know, staying open now or I’m sure you closed, but tell me what that, what that happened, what that looked like and what it is like now. Beth (06:30): So the whole journey has been interesting. I don’t even know what to say. Um, we actually were talking right before we turned on filming. So we’re filming this in the middle of September. So six months ago we closed the studio and it feels like yesterday and it feels like a really long time ago. So I, um, fortunately, so I’m not, I own my own studio, but I’m not like one woman out on an Island. I talked to owners all over the country. And also, even some international owners. So through one of my business coaching groups, that’s all fitness studio owners. Um, we heard about this in January when it was happening in China. Um, and I was trying to like rattle the bells with some of the owners I talked to locally and across the country. And everyone was like head in the sand, like just Windex, just spray some Windex, you’ll be fine. And I’m like, guys, I think this is going to be a big deal here. So what happened is we came through March. If you remember the very first positive case of COVID was in Frisco, I’m the very first case in all of Dallas Fort worth. And I, when that happened, I was like to my management team, I was like, guys, get ready. We’re going to be closing soon. And we ended up closing on Sunday night, March 15th. We sent the email out and we only closed because we’ll one flatten the curve, that whole thing. But we really closed because at that point I had no idea what to do. Just like total transparency. I had no idea what to do. If a client got it. If an instructor got it, I had no idea how to prevent it or keep it from spreading. And so, um, we closed for 11 weeks and I went out and hired a consultant, um, who did work with a ton of Asian studios and was already kind of most of the way through it as their studios were starting to open again in early spring. And, um, she had worked with like doctors, scientists, immunologists, health hazard, OSHA, um, way beyond my expertise. And, um, we worked with her to craft a reopening plan that we felt like was safe. And we waited until we, I think governor Abbott let fitness studios open like March 18th and at, beyond we ended up waiting until June the first just to make sure we had really good systems in place because the most important thing to me as an owner, like I want my clients to be safe, but more than anything, I wanted my staff to feel comfortable and safe coming back. Um, and I know a ton of studios across the country lost a lot of their instructor talent because people did not feel comfortable coming back and I’m happy to say it BEYOND we had eight out of nine instructors come back, which was amazing. And the only person who did it yes, had lived with a high risk individual. And so like, it just wasn’t physically possible for her to come back Kelly (09:17): That says a lot about you as, you know, a team leader, taking the extra time to make sure everything is in place, um, per what your consultant said. That’s fantastic that you went out and got outside resources and information too. Okay. And so I’ve, you know, watched all your communications during all that. And so when you did come out, you kinda, you know, you came out really buttoned up and ready to go. And I mean, In addition to limiting the member number of people who can register and yes, Spacing these reformer tables out, like those are the big things I’m guessing what else? Beth (09:54): Yeah. So the big things on the back end. So for staff, um, they all get temperature checked when they come into the studio every day and they have to just stay up on, you know, answering all the good questions about, you know, do you have a sore throat? Have you been exposed to anyone? All those fun questions we all answer everywhere we go now. Um, so we really stay on top of them. They stay in full protective gear when they’re teaching. So they have gloves on. And as you saw in class, they teach with the face shields. Um, just because it just helps keep them safe. And they’re the ones that are the most exposed cause they’re there every day. Um, and then for clients what’s different when you come in versus, you know, back before, um, we used to have 12 reformers in our studio and they were not socially distanced six feet apart. So we put forward formers in storage. And so we now have eight in class now. So we’ve got smaller class sizes. You’re always at least six feet apart. And over at our little popups studio, we’re actually like eight to 10 feet apart cause we have a little more room in there. Um, so there’s tons of personal space and, um, gloves were mandatory when we opened and then we were able to replace our loops, used to be cloth. And the company that made our equipment came out with like very easy wiping, um, vinyl ones. So, you know, everything you touched can be right down easily. We deep clean four times a day now, um, on top of the athletic wives and really with bodies, the awesome thing is you come into the studio, you have your mask on, you can take it off once you get to your equipment when you’re safely apart from other people. And then you are only touching your equipment for that class. So you walk in, you know, that your equipment was sanitized, disinfected, completely cleaned since the last person was there and it will be completely cleaned disinfected after you leave before the next person comes in. Kelly (11:41): You don’t move around. You’re, you know, it’s not a situation where you’re moving from a bar to an app section, you know, section of the room or something like that. You’re removing, you know, rotating or, and I know that’s Pretty common in some types of gyms, you’re on your reformer and you’re just using it and it’s enough. You don’t need it. Isn’t that you don’t need to go anywhere else to get an awesome workout. Beth (12:03): And that’s how our classes have always been. So I feel like Pilates has just naturally, um, a good modality to be doing right now. And then you do get sweaty, but it’s not the huffing and puffing of running on a treadmill or rowing or doing that really high intensity like cardiovascular, because that is a concern right now. Just honestly, I have fun facts to share with you, which I just read this week. Yeah, not from our studio, but just for anyone out there, whether you’re interested in and BEYOND, or whether you’ve been nervous to go back to your own gym or your own studio. Um, the International Health and Racquet Association, they did a study over the summer and it was 2,700 gyms fitness studios in the United States that cumulatively had over 49 million visits from June to the end of August.And they found that the incident of COVID in all of those cases was 0.0023%. That’s so good. Well, yeah. So while the government has tried to like paint fitness as like an unsafe place to be right now, um, I think my advice is like, if you were going somewhere that does a really good job of cleaning and you feel good with their procedures and you see people in protective gear and you’re taking those precautions, like it’s unhealthier to not be working out. Kelly (13:22): Right. That’s what I was thinking. When you mentioned that stat, I’m thinking, well, yes, it, everything can be, um, I guess, dangerous too, but also the nature of an already healthy person going into stay healthy is part of the strong immune system that helps in fighting when you do get any strain of anything. Beth (13:44): Yes. And also like this we know is, you know, a disease, it’s a virus that is wreaking havoc on people who are obese, who have diabetes, who have heart conditions like, and all of that can get better with exercise. One of my favorite things that’s happened since we reopened, we had like a very, very loyal member who did like every single video workout we did together. Like while we were closed for 11 weeks and then she never came back to the studio and I was like, where is this person? Like, we need to call and check in on her. And she dodged our calls and didn’t answer our text messages. And then one day the studio door opens and she walks inside and we’re like, we’re so happy to see you, like what’s up. And she goes, I just drove here straight from my doctor’s office because I went in for my physical and he looked at me and he was like, what is wrong with you? Like all of your stats are worse than they were last year. And she goes, well, I haven’t been to Pilates since March. And he goes, why not? Because of COVID. And he was like, no, no, no, no, no. If that’s what you do when you love, like you need to be in there three times a week, like you were. And she drove straight from her doctor’s office to our studio, and turned her membership back on. Kelly (14:57): That’s awesome. See, she needs it. She needed it to be healthy. Beth (15:01): Yeah. But it was like, her blood pressure was higher. Her, her, uh, like everything was like, her weight was higher. Everything had gone the wrong direction. So when you started it around Kelly (15:10): Yeah. Your body reacts when you stop working out sometimes. Yes. Okay. So you mentioned a popup studio and you mentioned West Frisco. I just want to get a quick update. Um, is the popup studio or where is that? And is that Permanent thing or is this temporary until West Frisco happens? So give us the lowdown on the locations. Beth (15:29): Okay. So, um, for, for those listeners, long time listeners and fans, um, the last time I was on the podcast, we were super excited because we were about to open our cardio pilates format, um, in spring 2020. And, um, that came in, went right. Um, but we had signed a lease for an awesome location at fourth army in Lebanon. So, it’s kind of like, you know, halfway between like Starwood and the tribute. Um, so if you live near Phillips Creek Ranch or any of those places were come into your neighborhood soon and with COVID, we had to obviously pivot and pivot and pivot again. So what we had planned to be our bigger cardio studio with treadmills and some other equipment, um, I don’t feel safe opening right now because I don’t should be running indoors. And so what we are able to do is we are going to moving our reformer studio from Legacy and Lebanon, where we’ve been for three years to Lebanon and fourth army. So we’re literally going a mile West down the road, um, to where we have a much bigger studio, we’ll have a huge retail space in the lobby, which, um, we’re really known for our cute t-shirt, um, all of our cute workout gear that we stock and, um, we’ll have a bigger space for that, but we’ll also have room to put up to 14 reformers. So that’s two more than we’ve ever had, um, into the studio and keep them six feet apart permanently. So we’re just going to be social distance forever because we’ve also grown accustomed to having a little extra room and we like spreading out. So we are moving everything down there that will happen around holiday time. Um, we’re about to start construction any day now. And then our pop up studio, came as a necessity the summer because we reopened in all of our classes were wait-listed for like weeks. And that’s not a good experience when, um, you know, you have new clients who want to come in and try you out, or people who decided to return a couple of weeks late and it was really hard to get them into class. So, we hired and trained five amazing new instructors who as of next Monday, we’ll all be on the schedule. Um, and we’re super excited to welcome them to our family. So we have, I think we’re up to 12 instructors and our instructor team. And then, I went to my landlord and I was like, I’ve got some equipment, I need extra space, like, what can you do for me? And there was an empty location in our same shopping center. So in the Kroger shopping center at legacy and lebanon where we are, um, BEYOND Pilates, our reformer studio has big signage up in front of it. And then a couple doors down. There’s no signage because it’s temporary is our popup studio. So that’s where we have that kettlebell and Pilates teacher classes, the 30 minute format. So if you’ve got your kids at home with you this year, um, it’s we really wanted like an express class format where like it was down and dirty, get it done in 30 minutes. Um, so we were able to take the equipment from the cardio studio except not the treadmills and do this popup studio. We’ve been open since, um, I think the first week of August and we’ll be there until we open the new studio and then that equipment will move into our old studio and legacy and Lebanon, Kelly (18:43): Just shuffling the deck, moving everything around. Beth (18:45): Yeah. We’ve got some locations that are luckily really close together for our longtime members and, um, we’re doing the best we can in the pandemic. And then hopefully in the future, it will be safe to open our BEYOND 500 format. So we’re, we’re super excited to bring that to Frisco at some point. Kelly (19:01): Yeah, that is exciting. It’s exciting. All the different formats that you’re able to offer. And I caught wind of something the other day. I want to, um, let you tell us about an upcoming challenge. And I feel like, yeah, It has something to do with nutrition. So that’s something I didn’t know too much about with you guys. So tell me what this challenge is. Beth (19:19): I will so quickly run down. We were so fortunate that at the beginning of 2019, Lisa Nelson joined our family at BEYOND. And, um, Lisa is not only a well known, um, instructor in the area. She teaches Pilates at our studio, but she also is a certified fitness nutritionist. So that is someone who is able to come up with a personalized meal plan for you and prescribe not only a meal plan, but a workout plan that works together to build lean muscle mass and lose body fat. Um, and so she’s been working just one-on-one with nutrition clients, which is something we have that’s ongoing, for almost two years now and getting absolutely amazing results. I think she’s worked with like 50 or 60 clients. So this six week challenge starts October the fifth. And if you have not been to BEYOND before, or if you’re returning after a while, you can get unlimited classes and six weeks of nutrition coaching with Lisa, um, all for one discounted price. So it’s a great value and we have a limited by the time this airs, we may even be sold out, but we have a limited amount of spots because Lisa devotes so much one on one time to each of her nutrition clients. And I mean, I’ve done it with her. I, when we opened the studio, um, my son was two months old and a year later I had still quite not gotten back to where I wanted be. And, um, she whipped my butt in shape in like six weeks just working. I didn’t even, you know, usually it’s a four month program for outside clients, but, um, I mean within six weeks, like I was so happy with where she had gotten me and just the accountability of having to like come in every week and be like, here’s what I ate. I got my workouts in, I didn’t get my workouts in and she’s so good. Like we had a client at one point who traveled a ton for work. And she would literally come in with the, like the restaurant menus and be like, Lisa, I have to take clients out. And this is the restaurant they picked, what am I going to eat? And they would sit there and like make a plan so that she walked into that restaurant and like confident knowing like I’m going to get the salmon with no this and no that that’s on the side. That’s a really big tool tool to have in your tool belts and know the nutrition part of it. Well, yes, cause it really is like, it’s a lifestyle. So what we don’t want is a six week crush diet where everyone puts it back on by Christmas. Like we want to make healthy lifestyle changes. Kelly (21:48): And that sounds great. So by the time this does publish. If, if it’s full, they can still reach out to you guys at BEYOND Pilates and find out, you know, how to get in on the next one or how to go ahead and just jump in and do some trial classes and see if membership what membership is right for you and get the full, you know, BEYOND experience from you guys. Yeah. Well thank you for your time. I love the updates. Beth (22:14): Thank you, Kelly. Kelly (22:15): All the growth. That’s very exciting for you guys. So next time we have you on, you’re going to have like four locations up and running by then. Beth (22:21): I hope so.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, let’s debunk the notion that only wealthy people can make a difference in their community. We discuss some of the things the Communities Foundation of Texas is doing to serve our communities, including their notion that every person is a philanthropist. Educate Texas, Working Families Success, the W.W. Caruth Jr Fund, and North Texas Giving Day are just a few of the huge ways they spread the love and give back to those in need. CFT manages more than donor-advised funds and agency funds focused on trying to better the quality of life of residents in Collin County.   SHOW NOTES: [00:45] History of CFT & Programs [7:55]  Expanding in Collin County [10:10] COVID-19 North Texas Cares Fund [11:14] North Texas Giving Day [17:10] How to get involved LINKS & RESOURCES: NorthTexasGivingDay.org | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Website: Communities Foundation of Texas Communities Foundation of Texas on Lifestyle Frisco Email Sarah Beeks Humphrey: shumphrey@cftexas.org Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Kelly: Welcome to today’s episode of the Frisco podcast. Sitting in for Scott Ellis today I’m your host Kelly Walker. We’re talking nonprofits and community giving today. We have Communities Foundation of Texas with us and joining us with Communities Foundation of Texas. We have Sarah Beeks Humphrey. She is the Director of Charitable Giving Collin County and Jeri Chambers, the Donors Relations Officer Collin County. Welcome ladies. How are you guys doing today? Thank you, Kelly. It’s a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity. Yeah. We’re excited to tell our audience about what you’re doing over there at Communities Foundation of Texas. So to give us just sort of a little history, can you, um, can you give us a brief history and what Communities Foundation of Texas is? Sarah: Absolutely. Communities Foundation of Texas is the largest community foundation in the state of Texas. We were founded in 1953 and we were founded by a number of philanthropic families that saw the need and certainly the benefit of a community foundation to serve the nonprofits and the individuals and the businesses to really match the needs that are in the community with the philanthropists and those that want to have life improved in DFW and in North Texas. So we started our community foundation as the Community Chest Trust, and that was back in 1953. So we’ve been in operation here in DFW and North Texas for a good number of years. We run several programs in house, such as our Educate Texas program, which is a statewide program, transforming public K through 12 and higher education systems across the state of Texas, really trying to improve every student’s chance for success through our programs that we run our partnerships that we have with a number of foundations and individuals and corporations across the United States and our policy work. So we have staff in Dallas and in Austin working with the state legislature on policy issues for education. And then we also have staff in the Rio Grande Valley working with very at risk youth in working to get resources for them, for improvement of the education system in the Rio Grande Valley. Kelly: We probably, um, with Educate Texas, it wasn’t something I was very familiar with before, you know, learning about you guys. That’s probably something that touches, like you said, all over Texas. Many of us that have school age children sounds like it reaches everyone K through 12. That’s probably something that you guys are impacting, you know, our daily lives and we not even know it. Sarah: That’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. Our partners are the school districts, the colleges, the universities across the state of Texas, obviously the businesses and the workforce organizations working on workforce development, many philanthropic agencies and foundations across the country, as well as the state of Texas. And of course the state agencies and policy-making organizations to really change the trajectory of how like education going forward. So we work with foundations, corporations, the Texas education agency, as well as the Texas workforce commission to really make education a priority in the state of Texas. Kelly: That’s a big one. What are some other initiatives that you guys have? Sarah: Yes, indeed. We also work with the Working Families Success model, and that is an economic security for working families. It is providing a framework for nonprofits to deliver key services and financial support, to low income families using an integrated approach for many nonprofit agencies working together in three core services. So we work with employment services to provide skill assessment, job training, and job search and placement assistance. We also work with businesses and corporations on income support or benefits, screening applications, assistance, um, housing assistance, tax prep, and such. And we also provide an opportunity for the third area, which is the financial coaching. So it provides financial education counseling access to financial services. So that is a another really important program that our philanthropic team are really in charge of and make sure that they are addressing the issues in the low income families so that we can provide some additional assistance and provide resources to help them, their families going forward. Kelly: Can you tell me about the WW Caruth Jr. Fund and what that is? Sarah: Yes. The WW Caruth Jr Fund is one of our large, uh, supporting organizations that is administered through CFT., WW Caruth Jr and his family set up the fund with CFT back in 1974. And the thrust of this fund was to provide transformational multi-year grants in the areas of education, health, and scientific research and public safety. So it’s a large portion of our asset base. Communities Foundation of Texas, $1.2 billion under management assets under management. And that includes over a thousand donor advised funds and agency firms and several supporting organizations like our larger WW Caruth Fund. So it allows our team, our philanthropy team and our organization too, to make very large grants, uh, to really make a difference in our DFW and North Texas region. And then our bulk of our work and our bread and butter, if you will, is our donor advised funds. So we have the opportunity, Jeri and I have the opportunity in Collin County in particular to work with individuals and families and businesses and nonprofit agencies trying to better the quality of life for all of our residents in calling County. Kelly: So you said that’s the donor advice fund? Yes. So, I mean, I take that as you, you and Jeri work with donors on helping them helping direct to, to the, put the funds in the best place or helping donations get to the best place and have to get the most out of them. And the best use? Sarah: That’s exactly right. We’re thinking of a matchmaker. We match the needs that are there in the community with those that want to give back whether it’s an individual or a family or business, or the nonprofits, of course, which are on the front lines with boots on the ground, delivering those resources and programs to help those in need. Kelly: That’s fantastic because there’s probably some, some large donors out there. I mean, even me as just, you know, kind of your everyday small donor, um, you want to know that your money is where it’s going or where it’s going to end up. And so, especially, I’m sure if you’re a large donor or you have a family trust or something you’re trying to direct funds to, you really want to work with somebody and know where that money’s going and how it’s getting put to use the best. You probably feel better and end up donating more when you have that partnership with you. Sarah: That’s exactly right. Kelly: So tell me about how you’re expanding and the needs are expanding of CFT in the Collin County area. Sarah: Of course, thank you. Collin County communities are some of the fastest growing communities in the country. And as a community foundation, one of the services that we provide is an opportunity to identify some of the needs in a growing community and be able to garner resources to address some of those needs directly, be it through the corporate fundraising and philanthropy or individuals and families. And we work with nonprofit agencies to help them and assist them in identifying those that are in need and developing their programs, sustaining and providing capacity building to bring a stronger philanthropic base for those growing communities. And so we established an office at Hall Park in Frisco, to address the community directly. So at that time we established a fund for Collin County, which would address the, the needs of the community and those nonprofits in Collin County that are serving that vulnerable population. So we were very excited to be able to seed that fund for Collin County initially with $500,000 from the Mabel Peter’s Caruth fund at CFT. And then we were offering a challenge to the community to join us in building that fund for Collin County to a million dollars so that we would have a fund that would be longstanding and sustainable over time to address those needs in Collin County for many, many years to come. And we’re pleased that over 95 donors and businesses and foundations stepped up, helped us raise the additional million. We’re a little over 1,060,000 and growing. And we have an opportunity of course, to continue to grow that fund over time. Kelly: In addition to the existing programs and initiatives that you run, I’m sure that the COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for you. So tell me how you have been able to react to those needs. Sarah: Communities Foundation of Texas as a community foundation does have the opportunity to pivot, to move very quickly to mobilize funding for disaster relief. And so we certainly have, um, established a number of COVID response funds like the North Texas Cares fund and do a lot of collaborative work with partners across the DFW region to address those that are suffering. You know, we’ve got over 32 collaborative partners for our North Texas Cares fund, and we’ve been able to generate about $40 million out to nonprofits that are addressing, the community that are directly related to COVID-19. Kelly: Now, Thursday, September 17th is coming up. It’s right around the corner. It’s North Texas Giving Day, 12 years of giving in Texas. We’ve talked a lot about this already with Lifestyle Frisco, but I want to let listeners hear it from you. Tell me a little about what North Texas giving day is. What are some of the goals for this year’s giving day? Jeri: Well, I’ll take that one. And this is our 12th year for doing North Texas Giving Day. And it started with the idea that every person is a philanthropist and we have this notion that only very wealthy people can, can make a difference in their community. And we, we, we debunk that notion. In 2019, we raised $50 million in one day by the generosity of over a hundred thousand donors. So it was an incredible day, incredible opportunity for our community. This year, we certainly are very, um, straightforward with the idea that our nonprofits now need their support now more than ever because of the pandemic and what has happened to organizations, they now suddenly have an unbelievable increase in need to do services. For instance, the storehouse in Collin County has increased their clientele over 103% from January to August. So they’re seeing double the amount of clients of the clients that are food pantries and food banks. We’re seeing 60, 70% of those people are first time users, never done that. They’ve never done this. They’ve had to ask for food for before. Kelly: It’s a recent need that they’ve been asking themselves. Jeri: It’s a recent need. It’s something that because of COVID-19 because of loss of wages or loss of job or whatever the situation is, um, people are hurting. And, and we are in an interesting situation because North Texas Giving Day is all about events and highlighting nonprofits and having a big, you know, big gatherings of people. And that’s not going to be able to happen this year. So we have not moved virtually and we depend on to help us get the word out so that people know, know the need and also know how they can make a difference. So September the 17th or 6:00 AM, until midnight people can go to the North Texas Giving Day.org website and go shopping. We have 3,325 nonprofits participating this year. That’s over. Is it’s, 20 counties, I guess 15, I think it’s 20 counties and 421 of them identify as being in Collin County. Jeri: That’s an uptick. It’s, it’s a hundred, about a hundred more than what we saw in 2018 and about 50, more than last year. So we were increasing at about 50 nonprofits every year. Uh, we demonstrate 27 different causes. That go, I mean, you may, I mean, it’s a, cause it was from arts to domestic violence to, um, food security. You could go to our website and check out. So if, if that is something that you’re passionate about animals, you can go to our sites, North Texas Giving Day.org and search the causes and find where your passion is and where your interests are. And you can make a choice about that. Kelly: So the donors, um, they do get to choose where their donations end up? If it’s, you know, like you said, animals, it’s not just going in general to North Texas giving day. It is getting you get to pick and choose. Jeri: I think one of the things is really important for everyone to understand is the North Texas giving day site is up 365 days of the year. So if someone decides in April that they have a passion for, um, I don’t know, there’s so many different fields. I don’t know which one to pick women and childre. Go to our website at April and search women and children, and then see what nonprofits, um, address those issues. So the day is about getting some energy, getting some excitement about that Giving Day, but I use it all the time when I’m trying to look for a cause or an organization, um, that page will tell you about the organization. They may have a video about their organization and they’ll have a direct link to their website. So it’s just a really great tool for everyone in North Texas to use all the time. So there is that, and we did start early giving because we don’t want people to feel like they have to only give on the 17th. So September 1st, early giving began. And I checked the website before talking with you Kelly today, and we’re at over a million at this point, which is further than we have been in previous years. So we don’t know what that means as far as what will happen on giving day, but we certainly are on pace. You’re not, you’re not noticing, you know, behind or anything at this point. Kelly: That’s good, but the people can, I hear this? You can go on right now and donate. Yeah, there’s no need to wait for the 17th. The 17th is the big push day where you’re going to hear about it a lot that day. And, and the, and that’s probably where the bulk of your, of when the bulk of your donations do come in, I’m guessing. Jeri: Yes, yes, absolutely. And the other thing that you need to know is that when COVID first happened, we recognized as a community, we needed to respond immediately, so we partnered with United way and the Dallas Cowboys. And we did at North Texas giving Tuesday Now at the beginning of may. And so on that day, which was planned with less than five weeks, um, our normal day is a whole 12 month process ready, but in five weeks we had a day, May 5th, and we raised over $20 million on that day, so that we have a very generous community. In fact, North Texas is one of the most generous communities in the country. And we know that we need that generosity now to show itself, um, more than ever. Kelly: Well, speaking of that, speaking of generous, um, area North, Texas, and, and Colling County, um, beyond donating before or on the 17th for North Texas giving day, what in general can people do if they want to get involved by being, uh, you know, if you need extra hands, if you need volunteers, in addition to donations throughout the year. Sarah: In addition to being able to give dollars on North Texas giving day through the platform, we for the first time did a volunteer, component, and you could actually volunteer hours as well. So on the platform North Texas giving day.org, it does give you the opportunity to say how many hours you’d like to pledge. And each of the nonprofit agencies will have on their profile page on North Texas giving day.org, what those volunteer opportunities could be. So it is a really important day and period of time, really from September 1st to September 17th, for each of the nonprofit agencies, to tell their story, to address some of the issues and the concerns and the resources that they need within their organization, to be able to provide, funding and support and programs to the community at large. So it’s an opportunity for us, not only to raise funds on that day, but also raise the awareness of the programs, all the great nonprofits and their work out in, in the community each and every day. So it allows the nonprofit to put their profile out, to tell their story, let the community know where they might volunteer and the needs that are, that are required on that day in terms of funding. Jeri: I just wanted to add to that, as far as right now in this moment, people sharing their giving- giving begets giving, and so letting people know I participated in North Texas giving day and hope that you will too, is the best message we can ask for people to do. We really see ourselves as somewhat of a matchmaker. Um, we match people with their money and their time to, to a nonprofit that they can be passionate about. And so that’s really our role. And so we’re really consultants for people and our resource for them. And if they are to a point where they want to be more strategic in their giving, we have tools that we can do to make, um, and to help that process for people. So we work side by side with the donors and we work side by side with the nonprofits to bring those two pieces together. Kelly: Well, thank you, Sarah and Jeri, for your time today. And everyone at Communities Foundation of Texas for all the time and energy and resources that you put forward to really just benefit the community, our communities as a whole, and, um, North Texas as a whole and the thousands and thousands of nonprofits and families that benefit from all of your work. So everyone listening, NorthTexasGivingday.org is that website. You can also find out more from communities foundation of Texas, about some of the other nonprofits and funds that they manage. Um, those links will be in the show notes for this podcast at lifestylefrisco.com and ladies, thank you so much for your time. Good luck for North Texas giving day big push on the 17th. Thank you.  

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Texas WealthWave Senior Marketing Director Bryan Linder is here to discuss how his financial service company aims to help educate families and businesses in Frisco with financial management, and his advice for financial planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [02:15] What makes Texas WealthWave different? [04:00] Current events and current conversations [06:37] What common questions are people are asking now? [08:50] Available resources Texas WealthWave offers [13:10] Bryan’s advice in the current climate [15:00] How to get in touch with Texas WealthWave LINKS & RESOURCES: Texas WealthWave on Lifestyle Frisco Texas WealthWave Website Texas WealthWave: Instagram | Facebook Bryan Linder: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast I’m your host, Scott Ellis, and today we are hanging out with Bryan Linder from wealth wave. Bryan, welcome to the show. Hey, thank you so much. I’m excited to talk to y’all. Appreciate you taking the time to join us. I want to dig in and talk a little bit about what you guys do because I think people have known you for a couple of things around Frisco, but we really want them to understand what WealthWave is and what you guys do. And I think from that we’re going to spring forward into some, some current event conversation around that as well. But why don’t you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and the story of WealthWave. Yeah, I appreciate it. That’s good. Yeah. You know what happens is funny, whenever I go somewhere they’re like, Bryan, we see you all the time, but what do you really do for a living? What do you actually do? And so, you know, I, I do want to let people know, you know, I’ve been in the financial services industry, uh, 17 years. I’m going into my 18th year and I’ve owned and operated, uh, an independent agency of my own starting in ‘07. So the first part of that I was corporate and the rest of it, I’ve owned my own business, central Texas, and it’s grown to over 2000 agents across the United States at this point. But we just moved our headquarters to Frisco last in September. So we operate right there out of the Star, right in formation. And so we’re excited about expanding there. And so I guess to kind of wrap it up in a real quick nutshell, I mean, when you think of financial services, you think of companies like Merrill Lynch and Edward Jones and New York life and Fidelity and some of these bigger firms. And basically that’s what we do in one place. So we’re a brokerage within wealth way. We can represent about 300 different companies to help individuals, families, families, businesses, really with anything financial related between budgeting, debt management, college savings, retirement, estate planning, all those things. We do all that right there in Frisco. I didn’t realize you guys were quite that big. 2000 agents? Yes. Yeah, we, you know, we started with just a couple. We expanded across a course, a bulk of them. They’re in Texas, probably about 1200 here in Texas. The other 800 are spread out throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Okay, very good. So one of the first questions that comes to my mind is how is, how, how, what makes you different with respect to how working with um, you know, kind of mid middle tier clients rather than going to the really high end stuff. Like how does that, how is that different for people like us, for families and Frisco? Yeah, that’s a great question. You know, my dad started in the industry back in 1979 he actually opened up out of his Purina feed store right there in downtown Austin where the convention center is now today. And back then, you know, he started the company in a, in a vision that a business could create, could be created in our industry where instead of the wealthy being served by these financial advising firms, that everybody, the normal person, the coach that he coached with, the people that he sold cattle feed to get access to that type of management. But for them and for their own households, even though they didn’t have 200 300 $500,000 to invest, all they had was maybe 50 bucks a month. And so fast forward now 40 years later. And that’s really what separates us from most of the big firms and wire houses is I talked to people on a daily basis that can save $10 a month, some of them, some of them $500 a month. And now some are very wealthy clients. Of course it runs the gambit. But where we have our strength is we can sit down for free with a client or a family and we get fully on in involvement in their financial household to deliver a strategy that doesn’t cost a dime for the information. And so I think that’s one of the benefits that we offer is I’ll, I’ll spend hours and hours developing a strategy and the client doesn’t have to pay me anything and I’m just there to provide that service and education. All right, that’s good to know. So, and I think, you know, kind of spilling over into current events, probably good timing for a lot of people because there’s, there’s a lot of folks that I know are feeling a lot of financial uncertainty right now and it’s probably a more important time than ever for people to have a chance to sit down with somebody to chat about what’s happening right now, how their finances are and, and having a game plan, I would think to deal with that. Are you guys having conversations with people around everything that’s happening with the COVID-19 and the current pandemic? Oh, 100% you know, for some reason, at the end of last year, I had this vision in my mind that to move my entire business practice virtual, so we still had our physical office and we still do meet physically with our trainees that were trained to become agents and our clients there in Frisco. But I wanted to try and do something where I could train from the office, but using Facebook Live and using Zoom. And so what’s interesting about that is we had all of our platforms in place starting January 1st so when this happened, we were ready to go already. And so I’m doing trainings and client appointments from my home and yes, I probably spent anywhere from five to 10 client appointments a day right here in my, in my living room answering that question. And the benefit that I kinda have is I, when I started, I started my business in 2002 so it was right after the 2001 turn and I went through 2007 as an agent and advisor. And then here we are, 2020 and I think a lot of, uh, new clients, I’ve never been through a downturn before. Some of us that are a little bit older. Sure. We saw 2007 we saw the recession, but some of the millennials, they have never seen a downmarket. It’s a 12 year old market. So they are panicking. There are a lot of questions and even those that are gen X or even boomers, you know, we’re in the worst spot because most of us haven’t saved enough. The boomers that are, we getting ready to retire now just saw 30% of their [inaudible] and just evaporate, which is what’s crazy. It was the fastest downturn. It was a three week drop. That’s never happened in the history of the stock market where it dropped that quickly and that much in that short of time. So yeah, panic has ensued and one of the things I challenged people on is you’re very emotional with your money, right? You know, when it comes to your money, it’s your money. And I get that. And that’s where I advise people, get an outsource outside coach that can help you work through those things because in your mind you panic, you want to sell, you don’t understand. It’s frustrating, but if you have someone there that’s cheering you on to help you understand it, you’ll generally will stick with it. Just like you have a physical trainer that says keep the diet going, keep pushing the weights, eventually it’ll work. The same thing happens with money and that’s where I think people like us really can add value. So what are some of the more common questions you’re getting from people right now in the current climate? I mean, right now it’s how can I stop the bleeding more? The flip side is what would you suggest I get into? Right? Because for most common investors, you really don’t have access to buying the market low, selling it high unless you have your own account that you’re trading in. And most people don’t have the financial education, the financial literacy to actually try it on their own. Or would I advise them to a thousand education and training. And so that’s where I get a lot of the questions. So my first answer to the ones that are scared is, listen, we’ve seen this before. You know, it’s a, it’s a different chapter in the same book, markets go down, markets come up, but when panic ensues, your reaction is to pull out of the market, park it at the bank, park it in a cash or money market account, which is fine at this point, you’ve already lost it, right? So doing that doesn’t really help you at this point. But the trick is now when you go back in, if you, if you waited this long and if you don’t know how to manage the markets and you don’t have an educational background, you may miss it. So what I saw happen in 2007 was clients panicking, pulling out, and then when the markets rebounded, they waited and waited and waited. And it was like 2012 2013 before they went back in the market. So they miss a very big upswing. And my opinion, this upswing coming after this is all settl

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this episode, Frisco resident Lisa Stubbs talks to us about MONAT – the first in its space to offer naturally based products, focused on scalp health. She educates us on dry shampoo, styling tips, and more to help us get to a healthy head of hair. We also learn about Lisa’s own story to get to healthy hair AND financial health through MONAT. She’s proud to work with the number one premium hair care brand in the world! MONAT offers safe and sustainable hair and skin products for men, women, kids – and even pets now! SHOW NOTES: [00:48] MONAT: Modern Nature [02:25] Dry Shampoo Tips [06:37] REJUVENIQE Oil Intensive & Scalp Tips [07:50] Lisa’s Story of healthy hair and helping others [15:15] New and Notable MONAT News [19:00] How to find Lisa (972.693.3432) LINKS & RESOURCES: Lisa Stubbs on Lifestyle Frisco Lisa Stubbs Monat Website Monat Hair Quiz Facebook | Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the new Frisco beauty podcast with Lisa Stubbs. Just kidding. It’s still the Frisco Podcast show, but I’m Kelly Walker and I’m sitting in today with our friend Lisa Stubbs of Monat. Hi Lisa. Hey, how’s it going, Kelly? It’s going really well. So thanks for jumping on with us today. I’m excited because you know, I’m a customer now of yours and so I’m like was excited to sit down and talk hair with you. I’m excited to be here and I know that you’ve talked to our audience before. Um, but for those who might be hearing your voice for the first time, I definitely want to start off with kind of a brief overview, like what is Monat? Sure. I would love to share. So money, it actually stands for modern nature, so it’s pronounced magnate if you’re curious. And we are actually focused on anti-aging. We are the first really in this space to offer naturally based products for both hair and skin, but most known for our shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and the focus or the focal point is on scalp health and it’s for men, women, and children. And we’re actually now officially the number one premium hair care brand in the entire world. So that is a huge bragging, right. Yes. And we use active cellular renewal, so it preserves natural or artificial color and is safe for hair extensions and any way we’re toxin-free vegan, gluten free leaping bunny certified, which means that we don’t do cruelty like animal testing and leaping bunny. That’s, yeah. Leaping bunny certified. It’s a big deal and it’s super expensive and we actually clinically trial every product and with thousands of choices. I don’t know any other brand that can offer all of that. So it’s pretty impressive. It is. It’s just to me, feels like it’s all, all of the stuff you just said to wrap it up. It’s like the healthy way to treat your hair. That’s how I feel like now that I, I mean it’s been a few months now since I’ve been one of your customers. I’m proud of that. Um, and because I’m a customer, I wanted to say that, um, I love the way my hair looks. Of course. I feel like it’s healthier than ever. But what I like about, um, getting to know you and work with you with my hair is that you educate me. I think it’s cool that, um, you help me understand like specific products that are best for me. For example, and you can, you can better explain this, but like you taught me about, um, like dry shampoo tips. Do you want to tell us about that? Sure. So one of the best things that I’ve learned is that if you will shake up the bottle until it’s cold, so you shake, shake, shake till it’s cold to the touch, and then when you spray it on, it’s best to do it at night if you’re shampooing in the morning. So that way the dry shampoo, ours is actually a conditioning dry shampoo, which sounds like an oxymoron, but it moisturizes the scalp because it doesn’t have a talk or a butane base. And so as your oil might start producing overnight, the dry shampoo is soaking that in. And so let’s say you hold it too close to the scalp and you get like a white residue by morning, you’re not going to see that right? So it’s pretty sweet that way. Yeah, it’s, I don’t know, I guess it’s the, no talc and no butane that you mentioned that’s different from some of the other dry shampoos I use. I jumped on the dry shampoo bandwagon a little while back, but it was always using a grocery store, bought dry shampoo, right. Kind of, I’m a cheap person so like I would buy like the cheaper versions of whatever. Um, and then once I switched over to using Monat, like it’s a totally different feel in my hair with the cheaper grocery store stuff I call it. I know you probably hate me saying that, but um, my hair, my fingers would get like kind of stuck in that, that dry shampooed hair. But now it’s still like a smooth, now that, that I do the tips that you just pointed out, like dry shampooing before bed, it’s a smoother hair the next day, dry shampoo and night brush it out, sleep on it, and then it just feels like a fresher head of hair that’s not like a clumpy with a bunch of weird products in it in the morning. Yes. It’s not suffocating your follicles and your scalp. Yeah. Another tip that you gave me and taught me about my hair is this whole four inches of your hair being alive, but so can you educate us real quick on that? Sure. So our natural oil production from our scalp can go all the way down to four inches. So basically that’s why when we shampoo, we really need to focus shampooing on our scalp. And the conditioner is more for the dead hair. So four inches, four inches down and below is dead. And so that’s why the conditioner needs to be there. And so if we put conditioner too close to our scalp, that can actually cause some more oil to produce because it doesn’t really need that. That’s amazing. I never realized that like I’m 40 years old and learned that about which part of your hair needs to be shampooed versus which part needs to be conditioned. And then there’s also, there’s a Monat product that addresses that oil production part, right? Yes. And before I address that, do you mind if I just mentioned really quickly that some people that have tried Monat they, we actually have found that because most people believe that they know how to shampoo and condition their hair, they might not use our product correctly and so they might not have the best experience. So it’s all about, you know, really vigorously emulsifying the product between the palms of your hand before you so that you can activate the botanicals and as you put them into your scalp, it’s just a much, you can get a much more luxurious lather at least on the second wash. and you do two washes in the same shower, but you’re basically removing a lot of buildup. A lot of products out there. They have parabens and silicones plastics that we’re kind of putting our hair and you know, then we’re flat ironing it on, kind of like pressing it on like an iron. And so Monat will remove that buildup and that can take some time. And then what happens is your hair is actually, you see your hair for the first time. Some might actually have a more damaged strand of hair than they ever thought because they’ve been putting, you know, these treatments on their hair and it’s just kind of suffocating the hair and which actually causes breakage in the long run. So you money will take some time to build, repair your hair back up. But it’s really interesting to learn a lot of this stuff. But we offer safe and sustainable effective products that actually perform. So I love that you actually get what you want out of your hair products. So the product that you asked about is the oil, it’s called rejuvenate oil intensive. And it’s our flagship product. It’s actually infused in about 80% of our products. It’s a blend of the 11 essential oils. And we actually call it liquid gold because it smells like gold and it puts money in our pockets too. But it, our hair, our S, excuse me, our hair ages 10 times faster than our skin. And so this oil, say that again. Our hair ages 10 times faster than our skin. Yes. See I didn’t know that yet either. Okay. So the sun is really, you know, penetrating our hair. It’s aging our hair, hair ages, and we’ll own all the dump we do to it. So most people don’t even know that we age our hair, their hair ages. And so this oil has carrot seed in it. That’s one of them. And that is a natural, you know, protection from the sun’s rays. And so, wow, that’s something that we need to pay attention to and it’s even infused into our hairspray. And so as you put that hairspray on that, you know, I mean I could go on and on about how revolutionary or hers is, but we won’t go there. I haven’t tried the hairspray yet. So now I’m curious you, you can tell that you enjoy teaching people about these products. And I’m curious from kind of a more personal side, what is it about these products or why did you get into this in the first place to have this now a connection a few years in, right. How many years in are you? I’ve been using the products for just over five years. Yeah. So I will not let anything else touch my hair. Like I have to bring my products to the salon. I just, it’s one of those things now for me and what I’m getting out of it is my, I mean basically if someone’s looking for more volume or have their frizz, you know, improve or they’re, they have fried strands that can be turned into smooth, supple locks. We have all the solutions people are looking for. And I just love that I’m able to offer a customized hair regime for people so that you don’t have to keep wasting money. I would find that prob products would plateau for me after two to three months. And it was just another set of either parabens or silicones. But even if I went the clean route, yeah, my hair was cleaner, but it didn’t look good. And so I was just really frustrated. It felt like I was in a rat race of trying to find the right products for my hair. And this line just covers everything. I don’t have to have one, one of this from this company, one of this from this company. Right. And it does just really work in a blanket way like that. I love it. So would you call yourself a hair person before this five years of this journey? That’s a good question. I would probably call myself a product hair junkie. Okay. Trying so many things. I just don’t have a graveyard of hair products anymore and I just, I love that my kids can all use this and it’s healthier. It’s toxin-free and as most most know that are very interested in, you know, being more aware of what we’re putting in or on our bodies. It only takes 26 seconds for toxins to enter our bloodstream once they touch our skin. So if you think about that right next to your scalp or you know right on your face, it’s a big deal. I mean our brain is right there. Wow. So it’s important. You’re constantly giving me tidbits of information. That’s what I mean. Like kind of when I say where you a hair person. I, that’s what I wonder. Like, have you always been this knowledgeable or is really, did you dive in when you took on, you know, your world of Monat as a business side? Did you, is that when you really started to like embrace learning so much about hair or, I was just curious, like have you just always been a hair person? Yeah, so I guess I’ve always been a hair person. I would cut some roommate’s hair just for fun and I still, I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair all these 21 years and I was just doing my kids for a little bit and then decided it’s not my time anymore. YouTube is not cutting it for me. Okay. So then now knowing that you’ve always had an interest in hair, what’s the story where it went from? Um, just an interest in hair to trying my eight products and then getting into it as a business opportunity? Yeah, so my stylist, when I went in for an appointment, she’s like, wait, people are asking you about your hair? And I said, yeah, it’s kinda like, you know, when people lose a lot of weight, everyone wants to know. The secret is there was such a transformation I’d run into friends that I hadn’t seen for a while. They’re like, what did you do to your hair? And so she’s like, you need to just share that, where they, where to get this. And I’m like, no, I’m not a sales person. My husband’s in sales. He’s the first to say my wife’s a consumer and you know, I do like to spend money, I’ll be honest. But, um, she challenged me and she says, I’ll help you do it. And so I did it more out of helping her, not even though we did, we were struggling financially for about seven years. So I, as much as I had a need there, it was more that I wanted to help her. Isn’t that interesting? So I just, I really love helping other people. And so the way that this even flourished was, Oh my goodness, I can help other people achieve their dreams. And you know, I started making maybe like $500 a month and that was kind of the amount that we needed to make ends meet each month. And so then my husband’s after a few months, he’s like, Lisa, why don’t you up your goal 2000 and so I did. And then it just started to take off and I just never dreamed changing my shampoo was going to change my life. And I used to tease him that, you know, the Lord put this right in my lap, but truly he put it in my hair. Right. I love that story though, because I do think a lot of people are reluctant to, I don’t know, to take on a side business, the selling piece can be so intimidating and can, can turn like negative in our minds and we think, Nope, I’m not, that’s not my background or that’s not my forte or whatever. But it sounds like with you, it was such a natural selling tool piece because you were using it and finding success with it. So you probably, did you feel like you’re, do you feel like you’re selling or do you feel like you’re just sharing and educating and introducing something to people? Yeah, I definitely have to stay in the mindset of I’m just sharing because it’s everybody else’s choice if they want to use it or not, that’s not my choice for them. Okay. And so I can’t force my beliefs or my thought process on people, but I can definitely offer the dessert. Right. And it’s up to them if they want to take it or not. And we’re not always interested in dessert when we go out to eat dinner, you know? And so it’s may not be the right time for somebody at a certain point, but hopefully they’ll think of me because I, I’m not pressure sales, you know? And that’s not who I am. And I, I don’t, I feel ugly when I’m that way, you know, if I tried to be that way. And so I just really enjoy the education piece because it makes sense. Like, why wouldn’t you want to have the healthiest thing for your hair? It has not been an easy road because even in that seven year financial struggle or as experienced in the hair loss and the stress of life, um, being a stay at home mom and going through a lot of hormonal changes and things, um, you know, I got to the point where it’s kind of hiding in my house and I wouldn’t even answer the door or when people would call that, I actually knew if they didn’t leave me a message, there was no way if I didn’t know what they want to talk about, I wasn’t going to talk and I wasn’t gonna call them back. And so there’s been a lot of learning and growing through anxiety of just, I got to get outside of my own head. It all starts in our minds and, and a lot of times we’ll give excuses. Our minds are wired to be negative. And so we say no just because we’re not sure. It’s like fight or flight. And so it’s easier to say no even so I’ve been just trying to train my mind to be more open minded to anything and everything now just because I want to learn more and I want to grow and that’s how I can expand myself and be, you know, reach more of my potential and be able to help more people too. So it’s been a great journey. Yeah, that sounds like a 180 I was gonna describe it as from from feeling like kind of trapped maybe in your own head and, but you’re in your own home, like physically not wanting to see or talk to people who are return call. Going from that to now, I know you, I’ve known you for several years, but I know you as you know, a vibrant, outgoing, you’re willing to start conversations and, and be, you know, put yourself out there and help people and educate people. So you have, you have come a long way. Yes, absolutely. Yes. Now, I wanted to ask you at the very beginning when you were describing kind of what some of the things that Monat is is good at. You mentioned the products are for women and men and now children and all those things. So, um, I feel that you guys are evolving in inventing new things all the time. What are kind of some of those new things that maybe somebody hasn’t looked at Monat in awhile? What would they see now that’s new? Well, I’m really glad that you brought that up because there are a few things. Um, and this is not new like you said, but maybe we haven’t talked about it in our family. We have someone named Zella and maybe you are realizing that that’s not a person’s name, but I don’t know about any of you. But you know, we have this feeling that our dog is pretty much part of our family and so why not treat her with the best products out there as well and give her the best same care that we get. So gratefully, Monat, they launched a line that is for dogs. So our for babies can start to smell a few days after they’ve been washed because their pH levels start to fluctuate. But our, especially it had formula. It contains just the right ingredients to balance the dog’s pH level and kill that grit and grime that makes them so smelly and anyway. So it’s just, it’s fun that way too. And we definitely recommend that people will chat with their veterinarian, you know, if you want to look at the ingredients with them to make sure. Of course we know it is. Yeah. And it passed the test. But two of my friends that were using the dog shampoo on their dogs that had sensitive skin, it’s just worked wonders for them. And even my neighbor a little bit ago was petting Zella and she’s like, why is your dog’s hair so smooth? And I’m like, Monat. She looked at me almost like, Oh, I’m like, yeah, dog shampoo. That’s great. I didn’t even know that. So that’s a good one. Yes. And then the other one is in September. This is really exciting news that just like I was on a journey to find new products for my hair. I’ve also been on a search for the right skincare for my face and I’d go around asking my friends, you know, if I had noticed that they had smooth skin or less wrinkles, I’d ask them what, what products do you use? And then I grab them and then I’d be disappointed again and just add them to that skincare graveyard. But with Monat becoming a $1 billion brand that yes, that’s with a B in just under five years they became an industry disruptor just like Uber is with taxi or vaping is with tobacco. We Monat decided why not interrupt the skincare industry. So I tend to like products obviously that are not harmful to the skin and I’ve been waiting for company to nail something like this and I believe we’ve done that. I don’t want to touch my face because of the oil on my fingertips, but when I can wash my face at night, you guys, I’m seriously there. I love washing my face so I can feel soft and smooth. My skin is, I feel like it’s the first time in forever. I don’t even, I don’t even get it, but it’s just exciting. Yeah. Now you’ve got me interested. I’ll have to give that one a shot. Okay. So you’ve told us about the new skincare line and products. Anything else that jumps out at you that we should know? Yeah, so I feel like actually our best offering is the limitless opportunity where you can create a profitable, successful business working from anywhere that will bring you joy and you’ll have fun while you change your life. So whether, like I was talking about two to $500 a month, or if you want double digit thousands, I know listeners may be out, maybe only thinking about the products, but when I really think about it, the business is what has transformed my life. And this is from someone who’s never been in direct sales. So what I’m saying is if I can do it, anybody can do it. It’s simply just sharing something you love, just like you know, you buy your favorite brand of deodorant or target might have the best sale on these clothes and you tell your people about it. That’s exactly what this is. It’s that simple. I know you have a hair quiz that’s kind of what you, the direction you pointed me at the beginning. So tell us about what’s that, where did they find it and how can, can people get started and just kind of looking into you and your Monet products. Sure. So I would love to serve anybody who has any questions or concerns or hair goals or for your skin. We have a customized hair or skin assessment and it’s free. It only takes about three minutes and it’s fun. So you’re welcome to call me or text me and I can definitely hook you up. Um, my number if you want to write it down right now is nine, seven two six, nine three three, four, three, two or you’re welcome to Facebook message me. It’s under Lisa J Stubbs, whatever you want. But the link is also on the Lifestyle Frisco, uh, page. And I’d love to help you fall more in love with your hair or your skin because it’s a beautiful thing that, you know, that helps boost your confidence. I just love what it’s done for me. Yes, I’d love to share that with others. We will have a link to that hair quiz on this podcast episode page of course so that people can quickly find it. I loved it because, um, I think I didn’t really know all the things I needed. I thought I knew what my hair needed. But over time your hair changes. Well, mine has for sure. I used to describe my hair as oily and Oh, I, if I don’t wash it every day it looks greasy and oily and um, through through these products and like the dry shampoo regimen we were talking about earlier, I would not say that about my hair anymore. And so you have to keep learning differently, learning new things about your, your own hair. It’s interesting. I’m not a hair girl so I’m bumbling through it, but um, but I’m learning and enjoying it. Oh, thank you. Beautiful. Thank you. Okay, so everybody go check out the hair quiz and reach out to Lisa for all of your hair and now skin care needs. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you for having me. It’s been so fun.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Guest Host Nicole Barron is back in the studio with Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance Agency to discuss a wide variety of topics related to insurance, raising a family in Frisco, and the many seasons of life. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [01:15] What’s new with Ann and her family [03:10] When kids go off to college and insurance questions [05:00] Seasons of life [08:30] Before Anderson Insurance Agency began [10:35] What people may forget or don’t consider when it comes to insurance [13:15] How people can reach Ann LINKS & RESOURCES: Ann Anderson on Lifestyle Frisco Anderson Insurance Agency Website Ann Anderson Business Page Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your guest host today. Nicole Barron, sitting with Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance here in Frisco. Hi Ann. Hi. How are you Nicole? Good. It’s always a pleasure to see you. We got to do this together a year ago and at that time we had your lovely husband with us as well to chat and um, our relationship with you is so wonderful. You’re one of our favorite clients because you’re so fun to work with. You bring great content for us and the community adores you. Oh, thank you. Well, I love our community, so it makes it easy and it’s always been a great relationship with Lifestyle Frisco, so. Well thanks. I appreciate that. So you and I were chit chatting beforehand and trying to catch up personally a little bit and it was fun to talk about where your kiddos are now and how things have changed for your family in the last one, what would you say? 10 to 15 years. How long have you been here again? We just had 15 years. Yes. Years. So long. And we won’t, we won’t do the cliche. Oh, back when it was fields on La Hacienda Ranch, we’ll just breeze past that. Thank you. By the mall. Dirt roads. It’s been said. It’s been said. Um, so what is new with your family? How are things going? So I think a year ago our daughter was in college in North Carolina, but now she’s done a semester at Disney in an internship there with their college program, which was amazing. Also gave her some clarity and time to look back and think. So she’s moved home and is doing Collin for a semester. So our, our college junior is home, which is different dynamic. And our youngest is about to graduate from Frisco High School. So we’re um, he is very clear he’s going to go to Collin for a couple of years and then to Texas Tech. That’s been, he said that for years, uh, our, but now we’re looking at colleges again cause our junior needs to transfer, so to finish up somewhere. So we’re, we’re back at that kinda stage, but she’s, she’s very level headed and she has a much better idea of what she’s, where she wants to be. So good. We have such good options here. Do you do that? Play the parent card, like, you know, you could go to UNT and just the around the corner. Are you comfortable with them going off and being wherever they want to be? You know, she just did, you know, five, six months in Orlando without a car figuring it out. She only asked us for money once. She lived in an apartment with five other girls and have the most amazing time of her life. And I think she wants to go work for Disney for the rest of, for every forever. Right. She’s like a Disney fiend now. But um, so I don’t worry so as much, you know, um, we are, we are definitely looking at Texas colleges though she’s, she’s kind of put that like, I want to stay in Texas. It’s easier. It, you know, it’s not so far away. It’d be nice to kind of finish and then, and then we’ll see where life takes her. So, you know what, that’s a unique segue into what you do professionally and are so good at is insurance. And I have to wonder because I have little kids, we’re all very just living the Frisco life. Haven’t had to give thought to like the future future quite yet. From an insurance perspective, when you’re sending kids off to college in state, out of state, what do you have to think about? What are the, I mean that’s a giant question. It’s a huge question, you know, and I will tell you that, you know, we have attorney friends there. Of course, there’s so many things that they, they remind us of, you know, make sure you have a powers of attorney you have, there’s a number of legal documents when our kids turn 18 they immediately are not our children anymore. They’re adults in their own right. And so there’s a lot of legalities around that and being able to even just have access when you go. Okay. The first rude awakening was at the college when we went to, it was called one-stop and that’s where kind of the offices are. And you just went in and we wanted to find out some information about paying. We knew we wanted to pay them and they were like, we’re sorry. Do you have the code that your student would have given you to access her account? I was like, I want to give you money. I kid, she’s my kid. But those are real things and I, and I, I really understand the reasons for it. So, um, so yeah, even in insurance then we think about, well we need to make sure that, you know, she set up with insurance for her dorm room, that she has renter’s insurance. We want to make sure she has the right, you know, we’ve indicated her correctly on our car policy. Like she didn’t go to college with the car. So we, we made that distinction on our car insurance, just all the little things to make sure that, you know, she’s set up right. And of course, you know, at some point we’ll actually put her on her own and she’ll have her own insurance policy. So we have to kind of, we definitely want to set her up for success in that regard as well. So how, I mean, so many things I’ll just have to keep in touch and, and salary advice. Um, so I mean, you were, we, again, we were sharing before we hit record today about seasons of life and you were kinda talking about, um, how dramatically things change. Um, what was, you know, sort of the dynamic of your life. Let’s just say 15 years ago when you came to Frisco, you had littles. Yes. So what were you doing? What was your day to day like? Yeah, 15 years ago we were, I mean, it was Christmas season to believe it or not, we moved over the Christmas break. Corinne was in, Corinne was in first grade. Harold was in, um, not even, he was three years old. Um, and we were, you know, moving our whole, our whole family. Uh, it was my work that brought us here. So, um, if you can imagine, we were trying to figure out where we want it to live. We, we knew wherever we lived would be where we lived forever. My husband was adamant, you know, Thor grew up in the same house his entire life in Bismarck, North Dakota. So he’s, you know, I was a military child, so we just kind of moved all the time. I thought that was normal. And he’s like, no, I want the kids to have the same school district. I don’t want to hop around the metroplex. So, you know, we just sort landed in Frisco, which were, we feel really thankful for to be honest. Um, but yeah, I mean 15 years ago I wasn’t thinking about college and, and where we are today. And I was really worried about, you know, Corinne was wanting to get into Corrine. I think Corinne did girl Scouts, but I forgot what it’s called when daisies, man, I think so. I haven’t gone there yet. I mean, it was doing, it was all of those things. And of course, after we moved here, um, that’s when Harold was, you know, we realized Harold had some needs and some sensory dis, you know, um, some challenges that were going to be unique to him. And so, um, those all became apparent. So we were even more thankful to be in Frisco, to be honest, because the special education department here is, is the best. It is absolutely the best and constantly growing and changing to, um, to meet the needs of the students. So, um, yeah, I, I will tell you, yeah, I can’t even wait. But yeah, the seasons change, right? We go from um, worrying about the little littles and all the things like are they doing soccer, are they doing lacrosse? Are they, you know, what are the sports they’re going to choose or not choose. And then moving to, you know, middle school, high school, you know, all the steps and like we were talking now, um, we have the 21 year old junior in college that moved home, which changed, changed the dynamic a little bit. We have the graduating senior who could be happier than his sister, his home. I mean, eh, and you know, my dad comes in the winter and stays with us for about three months cause it’s warmer here. So we have dad here too. We’re truly the multi generational family. So, but it’s really nice. And, you know, I wouldn’t change any of it to be honest. It, you know, it all presents its own struggles and its own challenges. But, um, this is our life and our story and we love it. So that’s so nice. And it’s, you know, now you’ve got the office space and that you, when was that? About a year ago. Two years ago. It’ll be three years in July. Yeah. Two and a half years. [inaudible] no, that’s awesome. And it’s amazing though, because I bet back then when you had the little ones, you probably couldn’t have imagined that you’d be, you know, in the seat that you are now the successful business, but community involvement at the level that you have it and the investments that you’ve made have brought that. But, um, so then I h

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Buddy and Robyn from Visual Learning Solutions discuss how their business has evolved and how they have developed a novel solution to the challenges leaders often face with content development and distribution of training programs. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introduction [01:10] What is Visual Learning Solutions [02:45] How Visual Learning Solutions began [04:00] Services offered at Visual Learning Solutions [07:15] Content development in training courses [10:40] Benefits of using Visual Learning Solutions’ studio space [22:30] What questions should people ask Visual Learning Solutions [27:50] Where to find Visual Learning Solutions online LINKS & RESOURCES: Visual Learning Solutions on Lifestyle Frisco Visual Learning Solutions Website Visual Learning Solutions on Facebook Visual Learning Solutions on Twitter Visual Learning Solutions on LinkedIn Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And today we’re hanging out with Buddy and Robyn from Visual Learning Solutions. Guys, welcome to the show. Thank you very much Scott. It’s good to have you here. Visual learning solutions, I’m guessing you help people teach. Well are it’s, it’s visual because I’m a visual learner and uh, obviously we wanted when we pick the brand years ago and we wanted it to be in the name, you know what we do. So, uh, we designed training for the visual learner to be consumed as most people do now on some type of device. Uh, that’s really kind of where we started was picking a lane on, on how we’re going to deliver training. So it’s training, development, basically if you like most people have taken some type of online training, you’ve consumed, say a e-learning or watched a training video, that is what we do. Gotcha. Um, so just so I know kind of who we’re talking to here, if I’m going to teach a course, I wanted to develop a course that’s going to be out online in somehow consumed through devices online. Do I come to you to help me produce and develop that is, does that what I understand correctly then? Yes. So I, so I’m Buddy Broyles, I’m the CEO of the company. I’m the, I’m the uh, chief creative if you will, but I’m, I’m, I wear a lot of different hats and of course my business partner, Denise Broyles, she’s the operations manager in Robin’s seated to my right. She’s the senior creative editor and other things. But as when we’re approached and when we’ve talked to new customers, our goal is to understand basically from concept delivery and where they are in that cycle. So if you, for example, if you are a, uh, a typical trainer that is like instructor led, you lead courses, you talk in front of people in front of a room, maybe with a PowerPoint or something like that, we would want to understand, you know, what are your goals and who’s the greater audience you’re trying to reach for our co, our corporate customers, they will reach out to us and say, well buddy, we have instructional designers. People that understand how people learn and that are trained in that area. They’ve written a script or they have some type of content already created. We, we need your help fulfilling that either it’s video production or it’s a e-learning design or graphic design or even help designing the brand of that training. What does it look like? How, you know, what’s the user experience? How are people consuming that? So we can answer a lot of different questions based on whatever the need, whatever you bring to me as the, uh, even as someone who doesn’t know how people learn, but you know that you have a topic that you need them to consume. Then we just start the conversation there. Gotcha. So I’m curious what, uh, what was it that got you guys into this business and wanting to help develop courses and training and education for online consumption? Well, Robin, if you don’t mind just kind of start with your history. Well, I’m like Buddy, I’m a visual person. You know, I’ve always been a visual storyteller and a, I started out in the industry, you know, working TV and, and corporate stuff. And then I went into teaching for a while and I was in public education. And teaching is something that came very naturally to me. And so when I got out of education and came back to the, uh, production industry, I, you know, met up with Buddy. I, uh, knew him while I was teaching. He actually came and talked to my classes. Um, but it was a perfect fit for me because I could utilize my education background and my visual storytelling strengths and marry the two together. It’s kind of a management and have an Arthur. Yeah, for sure. Good deal. So I’m kind of curious when, when you’re putting together or helping somebody to kind of come up with a look in the field and in developing that, that online training, um, is it, are we building things that are not only maybe somebody on camera whiteboard stuff, but also graphics, infographics and kind of motion graphics and things like that, incorporate it into, do you guys do all that stuff? We do it all. And so as I’ve mentioned before, or possibly it’s concept to delivery, so, um, we’ll first, uh, we’d like to host what it’s called a discovery sessions, very similar to the marketing, uh, life cycle. So it’s essentially bringing all of the stakeholders together, even if it’s just one person on the other side of the table with us and to understanding their brand, their goals, their audience. So that’s the discovery. And that usually results in a report that is, this is the roadmap for what the project should look like from a 10,000 foot up level. And so, um, once we have that, and that can be anywhere in the life cycle of the product, but it’s essentially we understand all of the different things you want to do or at least we tried to extract that in that conversation. It’s almost like a group therapy. We’ve had a session like that that literally lasted eight hours and we filled entire whiteboards with all of these different, basically just words, what does this mean to you? Well what about this? What does success look like? What are the different personas who are either giving the training, you know, facilitating if you will, or receiving the training. So we map all of that out and that’s how we understand really where we’re going with this because it’s just like anything else. You, um, what is it? A failure to plan is planning to fail, right? And so that’s very important in the training market, especially some of these projects are large. The largest project Robin and I are working on right now is a, is a training, uh, program. And we’re on what, like month 18 or so. We’ve been at it for some time. So it’s important to get it right from the beginning. So, um, to answer your question, it’s, we offer so much that is everything that can be consumed. We have a vast network of really talented people and that’s, you know, I’ll get to our business model briefly, but we’re, we call it a flex and surge. So we have five core employees and a handful of really powerful contractors that are here in house. And then we have, last year we had 60 to 99 so we have a bunch of different people that have, they’re all every discipline you can imagine that contributes to the visual learning field. But from, again, from instructional designers to graphic designers to people that specifically do those hand drawn videos that you’ve seen. We have a lot of different talented artists. A lot of them have a background in even so they understand what, what, how the spatial relationship that needs to live on the screen so people can consume it at the pace they need to consume it. So to, you know, the real answer is we do it all. I mean, I, I hate to sound cliche when I say that, but, but we absolutely, um, bring the right, the flex and surge model, which Rob and I’ve talked about is, um, basically we, we been to whatever the needs are of that particular project and client and, um, an example would be saved. You’re in the, um, food service industry. We’d find an instructional designer or a graphic designer or someone who has produced content somewhere within that industry rather than just putting a, you know, a, a round peg in a square hole, right? We don’t just fit a person. We find the right fit. So when we present, uh, at the beginning of the project or wherever the project is in its life cycle, we make sure we bring the right team. So be, especially if there’s a contractor, cause we want to understand the, the full project and where the, uh, talent, um, and the, you know, instructional design talent on the other side. And of course, where the learner is, when to make sure that the language is right, the vernacular, the proper vernacular is used. So it, uh, it basically, uh, eliminate some of the project learning curve and uh, eliminate some of the confusion and conversations so communication. One of the key elements of any, any training courses, obviously the content itself, I would imagine that the customers that come to you have expertise in their area and they want to turn that into a course. How much of the actual content development side of things do you help with or is it kind of up to the person that’s hiring you to really develop the content for the course? It depends on the project. Um, you know, there’s some times like Buddy said they’ll come to with those, with the script and so then we

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed In this episode of The Frisco Podcast, Portrait Photographer Me Ra Koh, Professional Organizer Sue Yaghi, and Howard “The Dirt Doctor” Garrett join us in the studio to give a sneak peek of what you can expect to see at the upcoming 2020 Greater Frisco Home and Garden Show. SHOW NOTES: [00:20] Introductions [02:30] KonMari Method explained [08:15] “The Dirt Doctor” discusses organic gardening [14:21] The experience of photographing family portraits [20:10] Where you can find Me Ra Koh, Sue Yaghi, and Howard Garrett online LINKS & RESOURCES: 2020 Greater Frisco Home and Garden Show Website Me Ra Koh: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Sue Yaghi: Website | Facebook | Instagram| LinkedIn Howard Garrett: Website | Facebook |Instagram | Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And in this episode we’re talking about the Home and Garden Show that’s coming to Frisco on March 20th through 22nd I have a number of guests in the studio with me today. So, uh, I tell you what, instead of me introducing you guys, why don’t we go around the room and you guys can introduce yourselves and I’m gonna start with Sue. Hi, my name is Sue Yaghi. I am going to be the home and garden show and I am going to talk about the basic methods of the KonMari organizing. So you’re gonna be doing, talking to you have a booth there as well. I do not have a booth. I’ll be talking on Saturday. I have two sessions at 11 and two and then on Sunday at one o’clock. Perfect. Okay. Howard. Well, I’m the dirt doctor. I’m been, I’ve been in the landscape business all my life. I’m currently doing the radio talk show weekly that’s nationally syndicated. I’ve written 15 books on organic gardening, various specific subjects. And I, uh, just teach people how to go organic and stop using synthetic fertilizers and toxic chemical pesticides. We’ll be speaking three times at the event. Okay. Very good. I’m sure we’ll have a number of questions for you. And last but not least, mirror. Hi, my name is Me Ra Koh and I was a photo mom on Disney for several years, which is a show called capture your story. And I love empowering people with photo tips on how to capture their family. We’re going to have a booth there as well. We um, just came here from Seattle and have a local studio now in Frisco. So I’ll be on the stage giving tips on how to look thinner in photos, how to get high energy kids to like calm down for the photo. Just all kinds of tips that, you know, we just want when we’re working with kids, um, as well as have some of our fine artwork of families on display there. Well, we’re going to have a lot of questions for you guys as well. So we’re gonna have some fun here today. And again, the Home and Garden Show is happening. It’s at the Star in Frisco. So if you didn’t get to go last year, uh, this is the second year at the star and it is March 20th through 22nd. So it’s coming up pretty fast. So, uh, let’s go ahead and dig in with a little bit of organizing talk here because you know that that’s a topic that comes up frequently, um, with some of our writers and other people that we work with at lifestyle Frisco. There’s so many families moving into Frisco, you know, kind of clean slate, new house, all that kind of stuff. So tell us a little bit about the KonMari method. What exactly does that mean? And we’ll go from there, Right? The KonMari method really has three rules, uh, three basic rules. And the first rule is be honest with yourself and visualize your ideal life. What is your ideal life and why do you want to tidy? It’s not just about tidying or houses. Why do you want to do it? And trust me, once you are done, you will find out that your life is just a little more and less, more stress, fee free. And therefore you have a better life. So that’s number one. Number two are the rule number two is tidy in one go. Do not tidy. One room, do not tidy. One closet tidy in one go. Um, so you basically pile everything up. There are certain categories to go by, but basically you pile everything up so you see the magnitude of what you have. And the third and last rule is tidy by category. So you tidy. There are five categories in the KonMari method, clothes, books, papers, um, komono komono means miscellaneous, which is kitchen, bathroom, everything else. And the last one is sentimental. Sentimental meaning your albums, you know, the closets of albums and pictures, the pictures on the walls, sentimental item, psych, wedding dresses, um, maybe little trinkets, maybe the thousand Christmas cards that we’ve saved over the years. And we have, we don’t have the heart to throw those away. So that is sentimental. So once you go by these three rules, you will really understand that once you’re done, Oh my gosh, my life is stress free. So you, if you start with clothes, you basically take all the clothes you personally have not talking about your partner. I’m not talking about your kids, I’m talking about you personally. You, whoever wants to start it has to do it, has to go through the experience themselves. Throw all your clothes on the bed, socks, underwear, jackets, coats, um, anything you have, um, scarves. Throw them all on the bed in a huge pile and take a look at it and say, why do I have all of this? Do I wear all of this? Do I use all of this? And then the, maybe the most, the biggest trademark that the KonMari method has is the spark joy. So you pick up every single item. You have to pick up every single item. And trust me, I have done this exercise. You pick it up and you look at it and you think, does this spark joy to me? If it does not spark joy to you, you thank it. You put it in a pile for giveaway. If it sparks joy to you, put it in the spark joy pile. And then later on we’ll talk about folding it and if you’re not sure there’s an item like, ah, I really like it but I haven’t worn it. I’m not sure that’s your maybe pile. By the time you’re done with the spark joy pile that I really hate this pile, and the maybe you will come back to that maybe pile and say, okay, I know exactly what I want to do. Usually there’s a couple of items that you’re still not sure about. I say hang them up in the closet, put them in clear view, don’t stack them somewhere. You’ll never go back to them. If you stack them, hang them up and take a look at them every day. Maybe in a week or two, maybe in a month or two you’ll say, why the heck am I holding onto this? I’m going to throw this away. Or Oh my gosh, I love this. I should wear this. As long as you’re wearing it, keep it in the closet and then move it to your spark joy pile, which will be hanging up. So what are the key benefits of going through this kind of a process? I mean, what do people, other than making more space and getting rid of things that they’re not using, what are they really, really? They’re Galing. They’re gaining the spark joy. So if you, if you think about it, if your closet sparks joy, your pantry sparks joy, your living room sparks joy, you’re going to spark joy on the inside. You’re going to be happy on the inside because everything is basically organized and then you think, okay, let me move to my second thing. What am I doing next? Has nothing to do with organizing. Has nothing to do with your house. Maybe it’s, gosh, you know, all my life I wanted to do something. I wanted to do this hobby, but I haven’t done it. So you do it because it sparks joy. You basically are teaching yourself a method of how to take care of yourself. I’ve worked corporate America for 20 years and I decided one day after I read Marie Kondo’s books, I decided I’m going to take a break. I’m going to quit my job. My 50 hour week job and just do what I want to do. And I went through the whole course, the training, the seminars, the practice, and I feel like I’ve really done what I wanted to do. I even garden, you know, if never gardened before. I don’t have a green thumb. I, I really am horrible at it. I’ve killed so many plants and finally I’ve taken the time to read through it to really learn how to do it. And I’m doing that. I travel because now I feel like while there’s nothing holding me back, there’s no one holding me back. So it’s about what you want to do, your ideal life. That’s why I said be honest with yourself and think, how do you visualize your ideal life? Sounds wonderful. I can imagine for some folks it’s probably harder than it sounds at times that we used to get going. Um, but good practice. And speaking of gardening, what a great transition. We’re going to talk to Howard now, the dirt doctor who is also going to be at the Home and Garden Show and Howard, tell us what about the dirt doctor and what you guys are doing over there. Well, if I teach you how to garden, will you come over and talk to my wife? I’m on the other end of the spectrum of that. Well, I as the dirt doctor, like I said, I specialize in organic gardening. I’m a practicing landscape architecture for a long time. I really don’t do that anymore. I do a little consulting on projects that are special to me, that I’ve worked on in the past. But the main thing I do now is teach homeowners, farmers, ranchers, and others how to go a different route, go this natural organic route. And I try to teach people about all the misconceptions on it. We are, we have a little bit of

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, plastic surgeon Dr. Sean Hill sits down to discuss his journey becoming a medical doctor, his involvement in the community and why he chose to open his own practice right here in Frisco. SHOW NOTES: [00:33] Differences between a plastic surgeon versus a cosmetic surgeon [02:23] Lone Star Plastic Surgery [05:40] Where to find Lone Star Plastic Surgery on social media [06:20] Why Dr. Hill chose to start his practice in Frisco [08:30]Dr. Hill’s involvement in the community [13:25] Most common questions patients ask and questions Dr. Hill wishes patients ask more [19:45] What age is appropriate to consult with a plastic surgeon [21:20] Patient Education [23:30] What makes Lone Star Plastic Surgery unique LINKS & RESOURCES: Lone Star Plastic on Lifestyle Frisco Lone Star Plastic Surgery Website Lone Star Plastic Surgery Facebook Lone Star Plastic Surgery Instagram Lone Star Plastic Surgery Youtube Melanie Nance Instagram Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And in this episode we are joined by Dr. Sean Hill. Dr. Hill, welcome to the show. Sir. Thanks so much. As always. Glad to have you here. And we’re going to talk about all kinds of fun doctory things today. It’s you are a plastic surgeon if you prefer a cosmetic surgeon or does it really matter? Oh, it does matter actually. Yeah, that’s what I mean. I’ll jump into that topic since you led me into that one. So, uh, I am a plastic surgeon. I also do cosmetic surgery, but I’m not a cosmetic surgeon. And the question you may ask then is, well, what is the difference between plastic surgeon and cosmetic surgeon and why would I have maybe taken offense to that? Well, so, uh, plastic surgeons, um, are trained in a full plastic surgery residency and then a will then they will be boarded by the governing body, the American board of medical specialties, which is a body that does board certification. Okay. And so that as part of that you have to do a board exam and then do continuing medical education throughout your entire lifetime. A cosmetic surgeon is anyone that’s completed some medical residency, whether that is emergency medicine, family medicine, OB, GYN, internal medicine or anything. And then they do a short, maybe six month or one year fellowship in cosmetic surgery surgery. And lo and behold, there are cosmetic surgeon out there hanging a shingle and doing scary things like breast augs and whatnot. Okay. That is, first of all, let me dive back in here for a minute. That’s great information because I never knew there was actually a difference. I always just assume those two things were synonymous. So that’s really good to know if somebody is looking for someone to do a procedure or maybe has needs a procedure of some kind. Um, it sounds to me, and I don’t want to offend anyone else, but it sounds to me like what I’m looking for is a plastic surgeon.Ideally. Yeah. I mean as, as we always tell people, do your homework. I mean, obviously, you know, cosmetic medicine and aesthetic medicine is a very lucrative thing. So it, you know, and when, when there is revenue in something, everyone wants to be doing it. So thus if you’re going, even if you’re going in for something as simple as simple, seemingly simple as Botox or fillers, you should do your homework because, you know, I mean, I don’t just let anyone with a pair of scissors cut my hair. Um, I want someone that’s actually been trained to cut hair to cut my hair and that’s just my hair, which will grow back and well, I mean for me, Oh, a long time. But for the most, for average people, three weeks. Yeah. Okay. So that makes a lot of sense. I’m thank you for clarifying that for us. Now that we understand. So you are a plastic surgeon and your practice is called Lone Star Plastic Surgery? Yes, sir. A plastic surgeon. The plaque, the practices here in Frisco called Lone Star Plastic Surgery. I have done way too much training to be injecting poison in people’s faces. I’m, I, uh, I’m from Illinois, originally. Did, um, general sir, I’m sorry. I did med school in the full general surgery residency there. And then I moved down to DFW to train at Parkland and UT Southwestern, uh, in plastic surgery, which is renowned as the top training program in the entire world actually. Um, and then did an extra year fellowship down in Austin, Texas doing cranial facial plastic surgery as well. So nine years of postgraduate training and three fellowships and boy am I exhausted. Wow. Yeah. You’ve been in school for a long time. We’re training of some sort for a long time. Yeah, I know some, some, yeah. Longer than some people have been alive. They’re probably listening to this. So, um, when, when did you start your practice here in Frisco? Oh, we’ve been open for about a year and a half now. Um, and, uh, it’s, it’s been an adventure, you know, we’ve seen growth every month as you can imagine, but it’s been, it’s kinda been fun getting to know everybody in town and then building up the, the Lone Star family. Very good. Are there particular things that you specialize in? Besides being awesome? Um, I, you know, I, I’ve done, like I said, I’ve done all of that training. So ultimately where I want the practice to grow as to, you know, be doing facial aesthetics. So facelift eyelids, a rhinoplasty especially. Um, but being an in Frisco, kind of the, the largest segment of the population here is probably the 35, 30 to 50 year old young family. And so up until now, pretty much the largest portion of our practice besides nonsurgical have been, uh, breast augmentation, breast lift, and the, you know, the proverbial mommy makeover. Do you do some of the, the I guess somewhat lighter things like Botox and things like that? Yeah, yeah. At this point I’m the only person in the practice that does any sort of the procedures. So I do my own Botox, I do my own, well, not on my selection on myself, I do as well. But on the patient, I’m the only one that does Botox and the fillers. And then we have a couple of, um, we do, you know, medical grade, chemical peel, so deeper chemical peels for like resurfacing. And then we also have a, a, a kind of minimally invasive skin tightening device in the office for kind of what we call the gap patient, which is the patient that is either not quite ready for surgery or is not, I don’t wanna say old enough for surgery, but the person that doesn’t necessarily need the changes of surgery, but they need something a little bit more invasive than a, you know, skin lotions and whatnot. So that’s where those products come in, are those devices. Okay. So are you the only physician in your practice right now? Yes, as of right now it’s just me and then a team of a very few folks. Okay. Who else do you have on the team? Can you tell us about. Uh, yeah, my, my patient care coordinator, Carrie, she’s been with me since, since day one. She’s kind of the, the concierge. So if you, you come into the practice, she’s your gateway to kind of everything there. And then our medical assistant, Brooke, is, I’m the newbie to the team, but she’s kind of my right hand gal when it comes to, to procedures and whatnot throughout the office. And she’s also kind of, if you ever watch any of our videos on our YouTube channel or on online, Brooke’s always the camera person egging me on. So I will say or do pretty much anything and Brooke will kind of push, push me to do even more silly things. So there you go. Fun. So yeah, we’ll, we’ll make sure to link that up. But while we’re on that subject that people want to find you on YouTube or Facebook, where do they go? Facebook at lone star plastics or electric guys. It’s just face. I’ll just plug this lone star plastic surgery. Instagram is at lone star plastic surgery in the YouTube channels the same as well. Okay, that’s easy enough. Again, we’ll make sure we link all that stuff up in the show notes so people can find you. Um, so you’ve been in business for a year and a half. First of all, congratulations on making over that one year hump. The lights are still on and they haven’t kicked me out. Exactly. You know, that’s always the first, uh, first goal for any small business. Um, Frisco has become home. And you said you came down from Illinois. How long have you, how long have you been in Texas? Uh, I’ve, you know, I’ve, what’s the saying like, I wasn’t born a Texan, but I got here as quickly as I could. Uh, yeah, so I mean, I, I’ve been in Texas for since 2014, so five years. So three years in Dallas proper, one year in Austin and then, and then a year and a half here and in Frisco. And you know, I guess a question that you didn’t ask Paul answered anyways, you know why Frisco, Texas? My next question. There you go. So why job [inaudible] yeah, go ahead. Just sit back and, and sip your coffee there, Scott. I got this. Um, so, um, you know why Frisco? Well, I’m from a town called Jerseyville, Illinois, which I guaran go ahead and map it. You’re not going to know where it’s at. It’s, it’s essentially in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of nowhere, Illinois close ish to st Louis. And so it’s, as you could imagine, a small town. So you know, there’s, everyone knows everyone’s business and you know, kind of everyone is involved in the PTA and things like that or the lion’s club or whatever. And so whenever I, I didn’t, you know, med school in st Louis, the big city and they went to you by universal Illinois. And then when I came into Dallas, I love Texas, but I didn’t really think I wanted to be in, you know, the big city of Dallas. So it was just a bit too much going on. And I kind of wanted that small town community feel that I had growing up back in Jerseyville. And so whenever I was looking at where to start at the practice I wanted, obviously you need to, you can’t start a plastic surgery practice in a town of about 5,000 like I grew up in, you need a bigger city. And so Frisco kind of seemed to meet the urban cosmopolitan feel of Dallas, but also the small town feel of Jerseyville. And so that’s why Frisco’s seemed to be a perfect fit for me. Very good. Yeah, Frisco is, has done a good job of still feeling like a small town in a lot of ways. Um, despite the obviously immense and significant growth that we’re experiencing, you know, month in and month out. But, uh, I can actually kind of relate to your story a little bit here. So I’m also a Midwestern boy. I did most of my growing up in Indiana. Um, I was born in Michigan, but I also lived in a very small town in Illinois that was basically in the middle of a corn field, a little further North. It was a little town called Deer Creek, kind of halfway between, I want to say urea and I think it was peaking or Bloomington, I forget which one, but, Oh, that’s so funny. I was impure after I did general surgery and, and, and uh, med school. That was Peoria actually. Yeah. But this was a town of about 600 people. Really small and I was there for just a few of my elementary school years and then we moved back to Indianapolis, which was a great thing. I was glad we did that. And then like you, I went to college and then found my way down to Texas. So similar paths. Well, there you go. Yeah, very good. So, uh, you, I know that you’re involved with, uh, some different things around town. I see you in many of the same events in places that we go to. So let’s talk a little bit about what other things you’re into besides, besides just working on people. Yeah, well, you know, so I mean, when I first moved down here, I didn’t, well, I first I should say moved up here since I was in Dallas when I first moved up here to Frisco, not knowing really anyone and trying to start a business, I felt the best way to kind of do it was just to basically throw myself into the community and, and essentially, you know, no offense Jeff Cheney, but I felt like I was running for mayor. And so, um, which I, I’m not despite the rumors. Um, and so I felt like I was running for mayor, so I had to, I wanted to get out and plus I wanted to be involved in the community. So I, I eventually I just threw myself into, to every kind of group that I could find my, get my hands on. And so I, the, the first group I actually, the first group I went to was the Frisco Quantas, which I’m not really affiliated with any longer, but, um, I, I joined the first go chamber of commerce almost immediately. So I, I’m, I’m a member of that. I, um, as such, I, I also help, uh, run a thing called get to know Frisco and get to know prosper. That was started by Miss Melanie Nance, who everyone knows as ms Frisco around here. Um, we, I’m very, very involved with the Frisco, uh, art society. I’ve, um, I’ve, I placed in there 5k last year and then this year I was, uh, unfortunately the, the race got a little out of hand, so I didn’t quite finish place this year. Um, those are a couple of the big ones. Art. I also, you know, I go to, I feel like every night we’re going to a different Gala or different events. I’ve, you know, I’ve, I’ve good friends with the Frisco fast packs. I I help out with that. The uh, national breast cancer foundation, is a group near and dear to my heart. Since, you know, we take care of a lot of, uh, breast cancer survivors and plastic surgery, um, actively involved with, um, uh, the melody of hope, which is in there, a group headline. But one of my friends there, we often go to the camp Craig Allen cookout every year. So, you know, I think, I’m sure I missed a few there, but pretty much if you, if you have a group in Frisco and you haven’t seen me there, then you must not be advertising well enough. So it’s just a matter of time until you get out. I’ll be there eventually. I’m making my rounds. You, if you want to keep your practice going, you don’t want to run for mayor anyway. So Jeff takes, no offense, that’s a full time job on top of a full time job. So I thought it was just showing up for meetings and rubbing, cutting. So there’s more to it than that. I’ll let you talk to Jeff about that, but I think it’s a little bit more involved than just that. But yeah, he’s done a good job. So it’s, speaking of you, you mentioned a number of nonprofits around town, some of which you’re involved with. Um, is there a side of your business that, do you do any like nonprofit work or is there a charitable side that lone star or are we not at that point yet? Cause I mean, just really you’re saying no, I mean, I mean we, we, we’ve just entered year. We, I mean, I guess we’re officially in year two now. So not necessarily. I mean, we do sponsor, do we do sponsorship packages for a couple of them? I mean, for example, the, uh, the kids who shouldn’t have cancer foundation has had their annual gala here in Frisco. And we sponsored, we were a spa, a gold sponsor that, um, and then we did do spawn a sponsorship of the Newman village lemonade stand as part of that as well. And then the melody of hope. We’ve always been sponsors that. So we sponsor a table at that. So we do sponsor tables, but we haven’t necessarily kind of broached into the topic that, I mean we, we actually, interestingly enough, we did do a, um, melody Pope at a toy drive for the boys and girls clubs of Collin County. And we actually got the most toys of all the boxes they dropped off this year, which may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that if you brought a toy and you got 10 units of Botox, Good thinking. Okay. I like that. But, so you guys probably had a Oh yeah. Quite a contribution going there. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s amazing. If you link toys to Botox, people will suddenly come out of the woodwork and bring you a toy from Walgreens. I love it. Um, yeah, those are, those are all notable, uh, charities. And, and we kinda did this, something similar in that it took us at Lifestyle Frisco several years to figure out we wanted to do something that was sort of a, how are we going to get involved in the nonprofit side of what’s happening in Frisco? And I mean, we started in 2013 and it wasn’t until last year that we did our first Give for Frisco Day, which is coming up again. I’m sorry, I’m gonna plug it on your podcast, but February 14th pay attention. Um, so it took us a long time to figure out what made sense for us to do as a business. Um, but it sounds like you’re, you’re getting involved in a number of things and I’m sure those nonprofits appreciate those sponsorships immensely because you know, that is what helps a lot of them kind of keep going is, is those galas and raising funds in that way. So, yeah, I mean, I, I figured you, I mean obviously I’m, I, if you, you know, when you, when your listeners do click onto the link here, they’ll see that we’re pretty active in social media. So we’re, I always feel like if nothing else, if I can’t give my my funds to these nonprofits, we’re pretty active in plugging all of them on our social media. So, so we are, you know, that’s kind of how our relationships grew with a couple of those already is because we’re, I’m always plugging them on social media so they, they at least get some airplay for, for free out of me. So yeah. And that’s every, every little bit of that is helpful to all of them. And we do the same thing and they are all very appreciative. So let’s go back to the practice side of things. I want to talk a little bit more about what you’ve got going at lone star, um, for those. And I want to talk for a moment to those that might be considering some kind of a procedure but haven’t made the jump yet. What are some of the most common questions you get, number one and number two, what are the questions that you wish people would ask or research before they come in? That they often don’t? Well, that’s what actually, um, that’s my, that’s a really good question, Scott. So, I mean, I always feel like it’s funny cause my, my [inaudible], I’m pretty sure it could repeat everything that I always say because she always says you get the same questions over and over and it’s almost like someone just could pull a cord on me. And in reality that, that, that was the original intention of our YouTube channel was to answer those questions. But obviously the practice keeps me a bit busy, so we haven’t gotten as good there. But I mean it’s, it’s always kind of the, am I the appropriate candidate questions. And, and, and for the most part in plastic surgery, you know, really there’s not really an age criteria for most of our procedures. It’s almost, are you a healthy person? And, um, will, do you have reasonable expectations for the results? Because obviously if I walked in to, uh, a friend of mine who’s a cosmetic surgeon and showed him a picture of Brad Pitt and said, this is what I want to look like, he would look at me and say, you’re completely delusional. You’re never going to look that ugly. And I’d say I appreciate that. But you know, so it’s kind of a little bit of that. And then, you know, what questions do people I wish they would ask is what we have already talked about. You know, you know, essentially, you know, there is a difference between plastic surgeon and a cosmetic surgeon and you need to make sure that the person that you’re meeting with is qualified to do the procedure. So that would be one. And then, you know, number two, it’s, I feel like really is, you know, a mentor of mine told me at one point in time, you know, whenever knife touches someone’s skin, you’re married to them for the rest of their life until they either are no longer alive or they fire you. So in essence, anytime I’m thinking about operating on someone, I need to say to myself, is this someone that I want to be married to for the rest of my life? And so you’ll see if a patient comes in for a concept, they’ll see that really they’ll walk in and we’ll sit in my office and we’ll chat. And the first, probably 15-20 minutes of their consultation is just us chatting and getting to know each other. And in essence they may feel like I’m trying to make them feel at ease, which I am. But another portion of that is I want them to decide, is this the person that I want to be married to? And vice versa. It’s almost like speed dating. So we’re speed dating there for the first portion of the, of the consult. And then we actually get down to the meat and potatoes of here’s what the is like. You know, here’s where we think we can get you, do you want, is this, are we a good fit? And so I think that that’s a large portion of it. Cause I mean, when it comes to medicine and surgery, you know, not, you know, the, you know, there are complications no matter how great of a patient you are and how great of a surgeon you are. And really you want someone that you can beat that will be there with you through the, you know, if something bad happens, you want someone there, you want to know that person. They’re across the table from you is the person that can, can get, can steer the ship out of disaster. And so that’s kind of what if I were a patient I’d be looking for is, is this a person that can get me out of harm’s way if, if they need to. Makes sense. And it seems to me that you’re making a very wise decision that I wish more business owners would make. And that is, it’s not just, um, you’re bringing your business. Yes. Come on in. Let’s, let’s do what we do. But you need to make sure that that patient is a good fit for you as well. Um, I know I’ve had from past businesses, I’ve had clients and customers that I wish I had never taken on and they just, it wasn’t a good match for us or for what we were doing at that time. Um, so it’s, it’s certainly important for you as you know, to maintain your own sanity and happiness, to make sure that your patients are people that you can work with that are going to follow your instructions. I would imagine that can be a little bit of a challenge sometimes, especially post op. Oh yeah. Well, you know, one thing that I, another mentor always told me, he said that essentially when you first got into practice, he’s like, you need to pretend that your plate is full and that you don’t necessarily need to take on every thing that walks in the door. Because otherwise you’re going to build things up that you’re not going to want. And then next thing you know that’s going to monopolize your time. You’re not going to be able to build what you want. And so, you know, I always joke with the staff. I mean, I’m probably never going to be the richest plastic surgeon or the most success or more than, nor the busiest. But my goal is to be the happiest. And so, I mean, in reality, that’s, that’s kind of the goal of the practice. That’s a good goal. I mean, medicine is under so much pressure right now from so many different angles. I mean between the changes in legislation and insurance companies and all that kind of stuff. And I don’t know if that, if that impacts you as much as it might some other specialties and you’d tell me, but, um, it just seems like doctors are really under, uh, under the gun and a lot of different ways and, and happiness. I have friends and actually a business partner that’s a physician as well. He’s an ear, nose and throat doctor. Um, and he’s done a very good job of keeping his sanity and building his practice the way he wanted. Uh, but there was a tipping point where he could’ve very easily gone down this path where a lot of his cohorts have gone where they’re, they’re just not happy, they’re miserable, they’re burned out and they’re not practicing medicine the way that they wanted to practice it. And so some of them were even just stepping away from it. Does that, do those outside pressures affect you in the same way or, or with what you do? Is it tend to be more a little bit insulated from that I guess? Well, yes and no. I mean, you know, I, I uh, in as a plastic surgeon, I not only do I do cosmetics or I do reconstructive surgery as well. So I mean, I do, you know, I do fight the same fight that that other park practitioners do have, you know, insurance is this procedure cover and how much is it going to reimburse, all those kinds of things. So I’m not completely insulated. I do have to, you know, kind of fight those fights as well. So I mean, I do, you know, you’ll, you know, you’ll do some procedures and you’ll say to yourself, I can’t believe that that’s what Medicare is, is going to give us back concerning the amount of energy that was invested there or the, I mean, one thing is, you know, like there’s, there are certain things that patients will come in for that gets denied by insurance and you say to yourself, I understand why this procedure got denied. Obviously this person is suffering. Why is your insurance company not going to pay for this? So, I mean it’s, it is a frustrating thing because there are patients suffering that I can’t help out because of the insurance companies. So yeah, there is that pressure. And that’s why, I mean, I joked about earlier about how, you know, everyone in their dog wants to do cosmetics because it’s lucrative, but there’s a reason a lot of plastic surgeons that are in practice for a decade aren’t doing reconstructive stuff anymore. And that’s, it’s not because they’re greedy, it’s because of the frustrations of the insurance companies. And so that’s why they will just start doing cosmetic surgery because they don’t want to deal with, you know, fighting, you know, you know, Medicare to get this procedure covered or reimbursed or whatever. Or chasing the insurance company. I mean, I have procedures that I did a year ago that I haven’t see the insurance companies pay before. I mean that’s, and that’s, and you know, you can’t imagine and no other business would someone not get, collect an invoice after a year. But in medicine that’s not an uncommon thing. Yeah, no, I’m sorry to hear that. Um, I want to touch back briefly on something you said earlier and that was on age. Is there a, is there an age appropriate level at which people can come to you? I mean, if somebody came to you with their 16 year old that wanted something done, is that too young? Is that not appropriate or it depends. I mean it depends on the procedure. I mean, you know, that’s, that’s a common, that’s a common test and thing on plastic surgery ethic, ethical boards types questions is, you know, patient presents with 16 year old daughter wanting a breast reduction. That’s the, probably the more common one. And you know, if they have reached kind of, you know, essentially maturity, meaning they’ve kind of, they’ve reached that point in time. You could do like a breast reduction, that wouldn’t be a problem. You know, breast augmentation according to, you know, the, the uh, American society of plastic surgery guidelines, you know, you’re supposed to typically wait until patients are at least 18 or 19 to do saline implants and you can’t even place silicone implants until the patient is 22. I’ve got, that’s not ASP S that’s the, the a few FDA says Silicon implants can’t be placed until the patient’s 20 years old. And so they do try and place a guidelines on that and obviously there won’t be pupil out in the world that will be kind of bending those rules. Um, you know, the other common one for the younger patient is, you know, rhinoplasty a patient comes in with their, you know, they’re a high school age daughter and you know, she’s been tormented because of, you know, you know, she either has a hump on her nose or her nose is crooked or she was in a car wreck, et cetera. And you know, would you do a rhinoplasty on a 16 year old? And again, that’s more of a, if the patient’s mature enough to understand it and they’ve reached skeletal maturity, doing a rhinoplasty is not that big of a deal. You know. Do your patients in particular, do you find they’ve done a decent amount of research to understand what their teenager’s not aside, I mean, just patients in general. Are people good about kind of learning before they come to you or is there still a lot of education involved? Let’s get there. I almost welcome the lack of education at times because you know, there’s, the internet is just full of lots of, um, you know, as they say fake news. Oh come on. Okay, well, okay, fine. It’s all real. It’s all totally real. And, and you know, Betty on Facebook is, I saw something like thing and get their data that said like, you know, reliable source in the 80s and it was like a scientist reliable source in the 90s and it was a newsperson. And then in the two thousands it was like someone like, you know, his podcast person. And then in the 2010 it’s like Betty on Facebook as the most reliable Facebook person, our most reliable source. So it’s almost, I welcome the person that comes in that doesn’t really know as much because then, cause I love to do patient education. I mean my consults are at least an hour long and a lot of that’s me rambling like I am right now. And when I educate you, the ha, I mean, the first thing I’ll say is here are the bad things that can happen with your procedure and we go through them. And so the patients that that don’t necessarily know anything are kind of the best ones because that way, you know what I’m telling them is, you know, they’re not, they’re not full of misinformation, but I mean obviously you know, our patients more educated now than they were probably 20 years ago, I suspect. Yeah. I mean the internet is rampant. I mean there’s shows like botch, people can watch that right now and learn. I mean, I, I, my girlfriend jokes all the time that she watches boxes, you could do my job, you know, so I’m, I’m pretty sure shout out Melanie Nance. I’m pretty sure that people think that they can, you know, they’ve gotten enough news from that. So yeah, I think people are probably more educated than they were 20 years ago, but there’s still the patient that walks in that, you know, has no idea and that’s okay. That’s why they come see me. Absolutely. So take that to take that to heart folks. You don’t have to go out and become an expert. If you learn a little that’s good, but don’t get carried away. There is a lot of fake stuff on the internet. There’s a lot of rabbit holes that you can go down and next thing you know it’s, and some of them are, some of them are really scary and, and, and how, why or types of situations. So just, yeah, don’t get carried away with the internet research. So. All right, well, Dr. Hill, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s been fun to chat with you. Is there anything else, I feel like we could probably talk about this subject for hours. Is there anything else in particular about you, about Lone Star Plastic Surgery, about what you do that you would like the Frisco audience to know? I think I, you know, I think that, you know, what makes, I think the question we should ask is why Lonestar over, you know, the plastic up the street from me, right? What makes us unique? What makes us, uh, what makes our brand to plastic surgery different than their brand of plastics? Because essentially it’s the same operation. It’s not like, you know, I’ve got some magic wand, actually I do have a magic wand. It’s still in the box, but I mean it’s not like I have a magic wand that doctor up the street doesn’t have, you know what? Like I said, you need to find someone that his personality matches with yours. But what we bring is, you know, our, our brand of, when I, when I started the practice, I said I want our office to be like a like a family, like a small town. And so when I said earlier, like, you know, we’ve been building the Lone Star family for the past year and a half. That’s why I say that I’ve, you ever won in the office as a family member, I view all the patients that come in as family members. So when you come into our office, you’re not a cookie cutter, you know, Oh, she’s coming in for a breast aug, we’re going to put the size of implants in and then we’re done. Or Oh, I’m going to do a nose and it’s gonna look just like the last knows I did it because all the noses look the same. No, we do a cookie cutter approach and I’m sorry, we do an individualized approach to each patient. So when you come in to us, that’s our brand is individualized care for you. And so I want y’all to, you’ll feel that way hopefully when you come into the office. And if you don’t, please tell me that way. We can change things up because that’s my goal. And so, um, that’s what makes Lone Star different. And that’s, I think all that I got. I love the personal touch. So if you’re, uh, thinking about any kind of a cosmetic or plastic procedure or need something along those lines, please reach out to Dr. Sean Hill at Lone Star Plastic Surgery. We’re going to link up all of the places you can find him on the internet in the show notes here, and we’ll definitely give a shout out to Nancy, Melanie, Nancy as well, and thank you so much for joining us today. Appreciate your time, Scott, as always, thank you. And thanks to all of you for tuning in to the Frisco podcast. As always, you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and pretty much any place you listen to podcasts. So please go out, subscribe, leave us a rating, leave us a comment, let us know what you think and we’ll talk to you next time.

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   In this week’s episode, Code Authority CEO Jason Taylor delves into how his team helps business owners by creating custom software developments and digital marketing services, as well as his involvement in the North Texas nonprofit, Mankind. SHOW NOTES: [00:15] Introduction [00:45] Give For Frisco [02:15] Mankind [03:45] How men get connected with Mankind [04:30] Where Mankind is based [05:14] How Mankind raises funds [05:30] 10th Annual Mankind Charity Classic [07:33] Code Launch [09:24] Process of Code Launch [11:26] Code Authority [12:40] Give for Frisco LINKS & RESOURCES: Mankind on Lifestyle Frisco Code Authority on Lifestyle Frisco Mankind Website Code Authority Website Code Launch Website Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And this episode we are joined by Jason Taylor from Code Authority and Jason is the president and founder of Code Authority. You started that about 18 years ago. Welcome to the show. Glad to have you here today. Thank you Scott. And we’re going to talk about Code Authority a little bit, but we’re going to start off with Give for Frisco and you guys, Code Authority is the sponsor of Give for Frisco this year. Decided to get involved in stuff behind it, Give for Frisco’s something we’re hugely, hugely passionate about. Um, but what made you want to get involved in and sponsor the Give for Frisco initiative? Well, um, like you mentioned, I did start Code Authority, um, 18 years ago and um, you know, that’s a technology services business, um, software development, digital marketing. Um, but also 10 years ago I was asked to help get a charity started. And so a close friend of mine asked me to help him, um, everything from legal to forming a board to forming bylaws and try to get the structure going to create a charity that was designed to help men, um, in a way that we hadn’t seen that had been done before. Um, so, um, my last 10 years of, of that effort, which has been all volunteer effort, I’ve learned and surprised to learn that was much more difficult to get a successful charity off the ground that was able to raise money and then distribute money, then, uh, it never was to get a traditional fee for service business off the ground and running healthily. So, um, when I found out about this, I thought, well, I can, uh, I know there’s other small charities here in Frisco that are run by people out of their homes from the passion of their heart and, uh, you know, their desire to help and in some cause it’s important to them. And so I thought, well, I want to support, you know, bringing light to those charities as well as mankind, um, as much as I can. Okay. Talk a little bit about Mankind, especially for those that are not familiar with, with that organization. What does Mankind do? Um, Mankind was created to help men who are facing a health crisis. So it’s a, a, a needs based giving, a model where we basically are essentially helping people that are economically challenged and at the same time they’re facing a tremendous uphill battle in some sort of medical crisis. So, um, specifically men, cause we felt like men are less likely to ask for help. Um, when they get in trouble, they usually take an inverse approach. Uh, they, they keep to themselves. Um, and that is they also tend to not take medical news as serious. They try to, they’re, they’re more likely to be in denial for a long time and even avoid medical care to avoid finding out something that they’re afraid might be true. And so oftentimes men finally get face to face with something when it’s taken too long for them to get to that point.And they could have been more proactive. So we try to encourage men to break those kind of patterns of behavior. Um, and then we also get directly involved with financial support for families, uh, of men that are facing some kind of health crisis. So if, and I completely agree and believe you, when you say that man, we tend to put things off or live in a state of denial about something or not want to get the bad news, but how do you get connected with the men that need your service if they’re not actively looking for it? Well, that was one of the challenges that we found right off the bat that was very difficult. Um, but in the most recent a few years, we’ve made a lot of progress in the area by introducing ourselves and our cause to case caseworkers at institutions that are helping people like this. So, um, cancer treatment centers, um, other charities that are designed to help people in need that will encounter, uh, men like the ones that we’re looking for, we’ll bring them to us and say, Hey, you should talk to these mankind people. And so, um, we have a nice funnel of potential beneficiaries coming at us pretty often. Okay, well that’s good to know. And it sounds like a great organization. Is that based here in Frisco or is it nearby? So a, it’s a collection of volunteer board members. Um, I would say about half of us actually live in Frisco proper. The founder has moved a few times since he started it and now he lives in Murphy. Um, and then a couple of other guys are from here and there around North Texas and it’s mostly Collin County. And, um, the people that we help are from all over North Texas.So we’ve helped people better, um, actually outside of DFW proper. But somewhere in our North Texas, our community. And um, yeah, like this last year, um, we helped, uh, 20 people and we have two more in the queue right now that we’re trying to raise funds for. Okay. Very good. How do you guys go about raising funds for Mankind? Well, uh, we have events throughout the year. Um, most recently we had a, um, we had a, a beer tasting event at a brewery in McKinney called Tupps brewery. So our next event is, um, the 10th annual Mankind charity classic, which is at the tribute golf course in Frisco on Friday, April 3rd. Okay. Is that something anybody can participate in? Anybody can participate and we need, um, we need companies to sponsor holes. So, uh, for 1500 bucks you can sponsor and brand a hole with your company and that includes a force him to come out and play. Um, we also need other types of sponsors like lunch and dinner sponsors. We have a great, um, collectable item, um, and uh, donated item auction after the tournament’s over and lots of great prizes for winners and free gifts and giveaways, just like you have a lot of other charity golf tournaments. Okay, awesome. So that’s a great way for people to come out and support you. Um, but Mankind is also, if you go to giveforfrisco.com, uh, you guys are also one of our listed nonprofits in Frisco, so people want to make a donation to you guys on, give her first go day on February 14th. They can do that as well. Um, but I would definitely encourage people to come out to the golf tournament. It sounds like a lot of fun. It is a lot of fun. We like, um, volunteers to come out and help us. So any way that you think you can evolve, we’ll find a way for you to get involved. Mankind’s a great organization that, uh, around 97, 98% of all of our money goes straight to people that need it right in their pockets. Right. So, um, we are really excited about this year’s tournament and we’re hoping to sell all 144 players. Okay. I was gonna ask how many players you get. So that just answered my question. So, all right, very good. We’ll make sure that we, uh, continued to promote that event and try to get as many people out there for you as possible. Cool. Um, are there any other nonprofits or things that you’re involved with around Frisco or is that kind of take most of your volunteer time? That takes all of my time. Um, and you know, I use Code Authority resources quite a bit to, to help it function.We, we do the, uh, digital marketing for Mankind and social activity. Um, my team there at Code Authority. So, um, we’re always working a little bit on, on Mankind projects as well as Code Authority, Code lLunch and other other clients of ours. But, um, yeah, aside from that, that’s my own personal passion. Okay. Yeah. Tell us about code launch a little bit. I know we’ve, we’ve heard about that and we’ve, we’ve mentioned it, uh, more than a few times on lifestyle Frisco. But, um, for anybody that doesn’t know what is, what is Code Launch? Code Launch is a crazy idea that, um, a seed accelerator can take the format of professional software development companies building a startups product. So, um, as shorter version, it’s a one day trade show and startup competition. Um, but what we do is we take companies like Code Authority, like Improving and, uh, like some other brands we’ll be announcing soon that our North Texas, uh, dev shops and technology consulting companies, they provide their labor in the hackathon format. Um, like they’re very experienced senior technical people and we pair them with a finalist startup that has applied from anywhere from other countries and continents to other States to right down the street. And they worked for three or four days on their product and then they come and show what they got done on stage and compete for prizes and cash and um, recognition. Very good. So they kind of help springboard some of those startups forward a little bit with their, with what they’re doing from a technology standpoint. Yeah. The idea is to get, um, technology startups that are dependent upon software development to get their product to market. Um, some serious momentum toward that goal for a lot of them will come into code launch and have very little or no progress

Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Google Play Podcast RSS Feed   Dr. Trillion Small is bringing the famed TEDx to Frisco, Texas on January 11th. She has an impressive lineup of speakers, and plans for future TEDxYouth and TEDxWomen events later this year. SHOW NOTES: [00:28] Introducing Dr. Trillion Small [04:33] Overcoming the stigma for seeking help for mental health issues [09:16] TEDxFrisco Coming January 11 [12:53] The difference between a TED Talk and TEDx event [15:55] TEDxFrisco Details – Event, Watch Party, and More [16:57] TEDxFrisco Women & Youth [19:00] TEDxFrisco Speakers [24:25] TEDxFrisco 2020 is sold out but here’s how to see the speakers LINKS & RESOURCES: TEDxFrisco on Lifestyle Frisco TEDxFrisco Speaker Lineup TEDxFrisco Website Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:  YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Machine-generated. Welcome to the Frisco podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And today we are chatting with Dr. Trillion Small, who was the organizer of the upcoming TEDx Frisco. Dr. Small, welcome to the show. Thank you Scott for having me. It’s such a pleasure to be here. Great to have you on. We are looking forward to having our first TEDx and Frisco. But before we get into that, I want to, I want to learn a little bit more about you. What kind of a doctor are you? So I have a PhD in clinical counseling, so I’m passionate about all things. Mental, emotional wellness. Do you, do you have a, so, okay, so you’re in the, the mental health field. Do you have your own practice? Do you work inside of another practice? How does, what do you, how do you operate? I do, yes. So I’ve been working with clients individually for about eight years now. Um, I’m transitioning a little bit from just doing the one-on-one to working with, um, athletes who are working on their mental performance. I love also working with companies who just are passionate about helping their staff take their performance to the next level as well. And so I’m finding different ways to really take my psychology degree and really apply it to different areas now. That’s interesting. So usually when you talk to somebody about a mental health professional, you think about them treating things like depression or other mental health issues that that may come up. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody that focuses on the performance side aspect of mental health. What made you get, how did you get into that? That’s very, that’s interesting. Yes. So I do, I do work with those with anxiety and depression and PTSD. The majority of my clients have experienced trauma of some sort. So when I say trauma, trauma is very subjective. Trauma for one person can be, I witnessed domestic violence while trauma for someone can be, my father never showed up to my basketball games and that affected them right. In a negative way. And so I still, I work with those. Your, your typical mental health issues. But I, I realized that if we have anxiety and depression, it affects our performance as, as it does with athletes. If they’re, if they’re at the free throw line and they’re anxious, right? Their heart rate is increasing, their, their mind is all over the place that’s going to affect their performance. And so just being the creative that I am and loving to be diverse as possible, I said, in what ways can I expand myself and what ways can I take my knowledge and help as many people as possible? And I realized that it wasn’t just limited to people who were cutting themselves and they were suicidal. It literally is the top CEO who says, our company is doing well, but I have this roadblock and I have a difficult time overcoming it. How do I, and it’s really just working through cognitive distortions. It’s working through those, those mental barriers that we, we know that they’re there, but we don’t realize we can actually overcome them. And so that’s what I do. I love working with people, providing them with tools and techniques to really live a fulfilled life. And I don’t believe that we have to live a life that is bound by our insecurities. It’s just a matter of once you become aware of them, like, Hey, let’s become aware of them and now let’s do something about them. Very interesting. I can imagine that would take you into all kinds of fascinating places and meeting with a lot of interesting people. Soit has, it has, it has opened up so many different doors. I would have never thought, right? Like working with, uh, attorneys, right? They’re like one of the top, um, careers that are known for suicide, but, but we don’t think about it that way. We just think, Oh, these are top attorneys. But you don’t realize that the stress that they’re under. And so it’s just if you’re helping person, if you, if you’re a social person that loves social enterprise, if you will, you find a problem. That’s what I do. I love finding problems. Not because I like problems, but because I like solutions. So when I see a problem, I say, Ooh, this is an awesome opportunity to make an impact in this area. That’s interesting. The, uh, you know, I think for a lot of folks, and just for the sake of disclaimer on the podcast, um, I have a bachelor’s in psychology and I worked in a clinical environment for a couple of years. I am not the professional that you are and I know, pretend to be, although it is funny, as soon as you tell people you have a degree in psychology, the first thing they always want to know is if you’re summing up, even assessing everything they say. And no, I’m not, I’m not analyzing you, but yes I am. But no, no, I’m not. I’m curious how you feel about your mom, right? You just did this. Tell me, you tell me where did that come from? Um, but there seems to some degree to be less of a stigma than there used to be around seeking, uh, help in the mental health field. Why do you think that for our, first of all, I’m glad that that’s the case. And I know there’s still some of that out there, but I’m also happy to see that people are becoming more open to working with someone such as yourself. It might be for something like depression, but it may also be, like you were saying, a CEO that recognizes they have a mental block of some kind and they need help getting over it. What, what do you see in the industry or in the world at large that has allowed that stigma to start to come down a little bit? Well, I think vulnerability, but gets vulnerability. So when you have people who are truly open and honest and saying, Hey guys, you see my social media, it looks so perfect. It’s so filtered. But guess what? I cried myself to sleep last night. Right? It’s those moments that make you feel like people are tangible and it makes you feel like, Oh, I’m not the only crazy person. Right? So I know I’m in the psychology world that you’re not supposed to use the word crazy, but I’m for stories, for storytelling sake. When I understand and I meet somebody and when their life feels perfect, I can’t relate to them. But when they say, Oh man, let me tell you this has happened, this has happened. Doesn’t mean divulge your entire life to me. But, but making people realize, helping people to realize like I am just like you, like my may not be your struggles, but I understand a struggle. And I think what’s, what’s happening now is, especially celebrities, the more people who are in the spotlight began to normalize it. Everyone else will follow suit. Right? Because we would like to follow trends, if you will. I don’t, I’m not saying this is a trend, but it’s when your top celebrities and your top thought leaders are articulating that this is something that needs to be addressed, I think then everybody else in the public eye will look at it and say, wow, like I can relate to that. And I was gonna say, wow, me too. But that, you know, that’s another segment of, you know, things that have a Rose because of a, uh, a top leader articulating what has happened to them. I don’t mean me to in a sense of the sexual assaults or what has happened. I mean me too, as in me too. I can relate. Yes. Yeah. And well, I hope if anybody out there is listening and has any concerns, thoughts, feels like they’re suffering from PTSD or depression, that they will reach out to someone and get help. Um, if you feel like there’s stigma attached to it, just try to let that go and, and, and go out and get the help you need. You know, you mentioned celebrities and, and they definitely have idealized lives, I think in a lot of our minds. And yet I think back to somebody like Robin Williams and like what just a treasure that guy was as an entertainer. Um, and how much laughter and happiness he brought to people for many, many years and was still struggling with those demons. And, and uh, you know it until you’ve really walked in someone else’s shoes, you never really know what they’re going through. So, right. It affects us all. And one thing I will say as well, it’s not even just celebrities, it’s them as well. And just top leaders in those in the public eye. But I’m also an adjunct at UTD and one thing that I noticed about my students is that they are the generation that says no more being silent about this. Majority of their parents are against them in the psychology department because their parents say mental health doesn’t, is not an issue. Mental illness does not exist, but they are the students who are going against their parents and saying, no, this is an issue. Anxiety does exist. Depression does exist. Trauma is a reality, and trauma does impact us and I’m not going to