Episode 34 - Marlinda Newmyer - Strategic Sales & Operations Leader

On this episode of the Realtor Who Wines, Rashelle Newmyer sits down with her first love, her mom, Marlinda Newmyer, for a heartfelt, hilarious, and deeply human exploration of motherhood, reinvention, leadership, and the magic of Disney that’s woven through their family story.

It begins with Marlinda’s inspiring journey from stay-at-home mom to self-made business leader,  a chapter that started at the dining room table with a blank job application and a few tears. From her first seasonal job at Toys R Us (for the employee discount, obviously) to becoming a respected leader in staffing and HR, she opens up about fear, growth, and finding purpose again after raising a family. Together, Rashelle and Marlinda laugh their way through stories of resilience, identity, and the evolving definition of “having it all.”

They delve into leadership and how it has evolved over the years, exploring why the best leaders coach, listen, and lead with empathy. Marlinda shares the wisdom she’s gained from decades in management: that leadership is about working for your people, not above them. They discuss embracing change, utilizing tools like AI to stay relevant, and the importance of being your authentic self in business, in family, and in life.

And finally, the conversation drifts to one of their shared passions: Disney. With laughter, nostalgia, and even a few insider tips, they reflect on the joy of experiencing the parks through generations, from Goofy hugs and princess encounters to late-night parades and churros on Main Street. They talk about what keeps them coming back year after year, the emotional pull of tradition, and why Disney magic feels different when it’s shared with the people you love most. Marlinda also shares her favorite travel tips (like how to save on princess dresses and avoid souvenir regret!) and a few stories that prove the happiest place on earth isn’t just about rides, it’s about connection.

This episode is part life story, part leadership lesson, and part love letter to family. It’s about finding your voice, rediscovering yourself, and remembering that sometimes the most magical moments happen in everyday life if you slow down enough to see them.

So grab a glass of wine (or a Dole Whip), and settle in for this heartwarming conversation between mother and daughter filled with laughter, lessons, and a little Disney pixie dust.

Thank you for listening! Connect and collaborate with Realtor Rashelle on any of her social media platform pages > https://linktr.ee/RealtorRashelle

Transcript

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Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast. I'm Rachelle Newmeyer, your hostess with the mostest a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast, and your local favorite guide. Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest. Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship. Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique. So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the realtor. That light. I am Rachelle Neumeyer, your local realtor that loves to light. I am here today. You have already met the love of my life. But this is the first love of my life. So my mom, my number one, cheerleader and champion. Cheers. My lender. Thank you for being here. It's weird to call you Marlin, but not mom. My pleasure. What should I call you? Can I help us? Oh, marvelous. Yes, I forgot. I, I do apologize. I wanted to have you on for multiple reasons. One. Don't worry if anybody's tuning in because you're hoping we're going to talk about Disney. Yes we are. We're going to talk about everything. House a mouse. But first, just because we do talk a lot about business on this podcast, and you have had quite the career in the journey. And I was actually talking about you the other day. So I was like, oh, what is your mom do? And like, how did she get started in that? And I was like, well, it's actually really funny and I hope you don't care that I tell this story. Surprise! I'm another step. But I remember coming home in high school, so my mom was a stay at home mom, a really active mom when I was growing up. And I remember coming home one day in high school, and she saw my siblings and I down. I was like, she was kind of getting bored, like we were in high school. We had a lot going on, and she was like, can I have a life now? Like I might done being a mom now? She didn't say that, but she did say, I'm thinking about getting a part time job. How do you guys feel about that? I remember being like, I don't care. Like, go for it. I mean, did I have a different reaction? I feel like that's how I remember it. Okay. So I just remember and I do remember asking, what are you going to miss volleyball games or something. And she said, no, also be at everything. And I was like, now, like, you're still single, mom, right? Like go crazy. So will you talk a little bit about how you started your career? Sure. From being a part time employee, a seasonal employee, actually, I think. And then to the where you've been today. Sure. I think that, a really big call out is something that I remember. What, like, I still feel it to today is what you probably didn't see is when I filled out those job applications. And, dude, this was a long time ago, so they were on paper at the dining room table, right? And I was filling out the job application. I was filling out my first one and having been, a stay at home mom for your whole lives and and mine. I didn't have anything to write down. Like, nothing. Yeah. I broke into tears and I called my sister on one of those big phones and we started out. Hello. Yes. Yeah. And I was like, I don't know what to do with this. I'm a useless bag of skin. I have no, I have nothing to write down for work experience. I have nothing to write down. Your dad died when you were five. I didn't finish college. It's, you know, I just, I think that there are women out in the world today who will probably feel the same way, or they're overwhelmed with what job applications are, how to enter. The work world from taking care of their family or reinventing themselves at a different age. So, yeah. It's I have learned since then that it's really common to feel that way. And, had I known that toys R us just wanted a bag of skin that would show up every day, you would have just done like, my name is Malinda. I see on Friday. Right. Here we go. So, I will say this that, toys R us is actually where I reentered the workforce as a seasonal cashier at Christmas time. I did it for the discount because I had children who wanted video games and other things. And it worked around your guys's schedules. And I found that there were not a lot of people who came to work every day with a positive attitude and had the best job they could every single day. I'm just a cashier. I only make six, $6.25 an hour. That is for real. When that. So that's how long ago that was? Yeah. And it's really easy in that moment to be recognized and get promoted for your work ethic and your attendance. But then how do you move from that into the leadership roles? Because I'm walking around with, a person who's telling us how to re merchandise the puzzle. Well, and I'm like, I want his job. Like, that's a cool job. Yeah. So anyway, so from there, I spent years in retail. I worked all the retails. Let's see, there's a long list. Target, home depot Tuesday. Tuesday morning. Because once you're in retail, you find that you can actually make a reasonable salary without that college degree and building work up, you know, your work, they do reward experience. They do. Yeah they do. And then as you become that leader, you find ways to encourage and inspire the people who are showing up for their 40 hours a week or their 32 hours a week or whatever it is they're coming to work in retail for. It's a great way to break into working again and getting used to doing that is also when you're walking around the 200,000 square foot store, you can say a little about, yes, it's a lot of steps. So there's that. And when you were in college, you worked in retail. You did high end brands and that sort of thing, and it paid the bills. You know, I worked retail for a long time, even after college. So one thing I kind of want to touch on a little bit is when you very first started working on Tuesday morning, so you had had this like identity as like a mom. Sure. What was that transition, even in your own mindset about yourself when you realized like, oh, I'm this person, oh, I can be this person. Like, what? How was that journey for you? So I think it's when you get your first earned paycheck. I did that right. Right I did that. I was rewarded for doing that. I'm very rewarded for the children that I was This is why we're not having wine. Because we're going to cry. That's were having soda I was very rewarded with being able to raise my children. Right, right. Like, well, that's like the ultimate thing. But, you know, I, I now try to help women when they interview with me, and I, I ask one of my favorite interview questions is, tell me something about you that's not on your resume that's super interesting or, cool. Yeah. And they say things like, well, I'm a mom. Well, everyone's more than a mom, right? Right. Yeah. I'm boring, and I know then that that's somebody I want to help them define themselves as an. It's great to be a mom. Please don't take that wrong. Yeah, but you can be a mom and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Totally. You can. You can be those things. So when I got my first to answer your question, when I got my first paycheck, I was like, wow, I did that. I'm really helping out with my family. It's increasing the, money that we have to save and invest and do things with. And then as you grow in that career and retail, sometimes if you work for the right companies, target has a great business colleagues and they put their employees through that, go into leadership roles. Yeah. And, you learn how to communicate differently because you can really talk to your employees like you do your kids. You find that out the hard way. Yeah, I did work for my mom at one point, and she fired me once for coming home from a party late. Had nothing to do with work. I was in high school, and then she got to work and realized she had no more openers, and I was rehired instantly. That was also after our conversation. So you can't fire me for stuff I did at home? Not. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, that's fair. Yeah. So so there is, there is, some of that out there, but I think that, moving from I'm a useless piece of skin to I'm, I'm more than, I'm a whole person. Yeah. And being a mom is my whole heart. But also having something else. Yeah. Where I've grown and developed myself. And you know, it's it's it's uncomfortable. It's hard. I've cried in the shower. I'm telling you. Oh, my gosh, who has a right? I had the opposite experience because I had Rylan later and I had already developed like a corporate like persona and I already had this, like, work. Well, yeah, you did, because I moved home after, when we found out we were having a baby, my mom was like, are you done living in Kansas City? Come home. You're not raising a baby away from me. So we moved home and while we were house shopping and stuff, we were living at home. And I was, like, searching for a job here. And I felt a little bit ashamed that I wasn't more happy to be at home with my baby all the time, because I was just so used to like I. It was a very big eye opener for me to realize, like, oh, I identify a lot with my work. I didn't realize that about me until I was put at home with a baby. And I love her to pieces, and I was happy to be with her. But I didn't realize that, like, I was just like, I need to be around grown ups. I don't know how to be around just a baby all day. And then it was hard because for me, you guys would all come home and think, I want a break. And they're like, give me the baby, go do something. I'm like, I've been alone all day. I just want to be with other grown ups. She doesn't talk yet. Like, yeah, I'm just sitting here. So I had the opposite where I had to like, figure out who I am as a mom. And you went from being a mom into the workforce. So I had, like, the different, like the. Sure. And a different experience. Identify that, I had you really early. I was 18 when I had you in 21. I had Wes and, your father died when I was 24. So you guys were little, right? Yeah. And then I committed to. I'm the only parent you have left. I'm going to be the best one I can be, for sure. And those were the choices that I made. But as to your point, I saw y'all getting big. You don't need me as much in my mind, right? And what am I going to do when they leave. Yeah. Like I've spent the last 17 years, 15 years whatever it was being 100% invested in you all. Yeah. So that's why I was like well you work part time and I was arrested a bag stuffer and I thought, that's fine. And so and it was fun. It was really fun. And it was fun to do your eight and skate and have no responsibility and check in and check out. But then I found that I found it really gratifying to work. I found it really gratifying to, become a little more career focused. And I, was working for a company called Save a Lot, and I got a call from a company called CLP, and I seriously had. No, I didn't apply. It was it was just a random call from a backwards resume searching builder. When I I'm still around. It's probably still around a little, but, a woman named Shannon Conn give me gave me a call. And I still adore her to this day. And she's like, hey, I'm Shannon comma CLP and and my mind was going, is that a collection agency? Yeah. Somebody money. Did I do something wrong that I did yeah. Like what? What's happening. Yeah. And then so I'm not really listening, but I'm kind of listening, which is kind of a thing anyway. But. Yeah, and so she rattled on the whole thing and I'm like, say that to me again. And they had found my resume and they had a, business development representative position available that the local market manager wanted to talk to me about because of my experience at Home Depot. He thought that made me construction savvy because it was construction staffing. Yeah. And I went I never turned down an interview. I think it's always great to keep those skills honed in to find out more. And even if I sit down and talk to someone and that interview doesn't work out for me, I rattling through my brain, the people that I know who might be a great fit for their. So I did go meet him, and I had a conversation with him, and I had recently found out that my first grandchild was going to be born soon, and I thought, no nights, no weekends. Yeah, 7 to 5. Not on my feet all day. That's that's a change in lifestyle for me. And I get to reinvent myself again with a new career. And you remember you being nervous about it? I was, I was I was like, let's do it. And I remember my first day at CLP and I've got this empty desk, empty drawers, empty everything. And Ron was like, hey, let's go shopping at OfficeMax and get what you need. And I'm like, I don't even know what I mean. Like, I haven't I haven't worked in an office job before. What do I mean? It goes whatever you want for your desk. And I'm like, I don't even know if you do that. I get Scotch tape. Can we do that in a couple weeks? And, when I get more of a feel for this. Yeah. That. Sure. And then he was very concerned that I had moved in, and, he said his wife in to see me, and she's like, bronze. Wait, you're quitting? And I'm like, why would Ron be worried about that? And she goes, well, you don't have any pictures of your family or any of the things I'd never had an office to get right, because when you work in retail, we all the managers, you're on the floor office. Yeah. Well and you're on the floor right. Yeah. So I'm like, all right. So, since then my offices have been full of Marlin and says, oh yeah, and for sure to the max. And so yeah, I started in staffing then and I had such a great time. Staffing is a really wonderful place to be because you get to I mean, how fun is it to offer somebody a job every day? Yeah. How fun is it to help a startup or a business that doesn't have capital to add headcount, and you can bring in the workforce that they need to fill the gap to get going, or when the sad days happen and reduction of workforces happen, that you can send recruiters in to meet with those teams, to help those folks who are being displaced into new roles. So there's a lot of things about staffing that are wonderful, absolutely wonderful. But, you know, my journey isn't over. So maybe I'll reinvent. Yeah. No you will. It's so funny too. So my mom is actually like every time that you've had a step like I remember when you went from being like an assistant manager, just store manager to CLP to like managing. Well even when Save-A-Lot called you, like, I don't know anything about groceries. I've never done groceries. Right. You've always had this, like, hesitation. But then at the same time, drive to like push past the has the deadline. What is that thing that you say to yourself to push yourself past that hesitation? Or is that who you surround yourself with? Does that help? So I'm a plan B girl. I think when you become a widow at 24 and you've got two kids, five and under that you create backup plans and things for yourselves because you're it for them, right? Like you got to keep it together and that experience, as horrible as it was to go through, you know, being a widow that young, has really taught me resilience and the biggest piece is you cannot wait. You do not know what tomorrow holds. Right. So, I, I, I have to suck it up and go. We're going to risk it, right? Just like right now. I, will say that I'm in transition right now. I'm going to risk it. Yeah. Is it going to be? What's it going to be? I don't know, I haven't decided yet, but, to do something, you have to fully commit to it, which means you have to leave that security behind you. Yeah. So. And I don't have littles at home anymore, so I can do that. And I have a great husband who is there, too. You got to have that support team around you. Yeah. But I you can't wait because I don't want to say rude things like your car accident away from tomorrow, but, yeah, you just don't know. No. It's true. Right? I watched a super healthy 24 year old person die, right? Right. Yeah. Nobody could see that coming, right? So that that was, It's a life lesson that I've carried with me. Always, Be courageous. Yeah. I sometimes have to take a deep breath and go. Sometimes it's me in the background, sometimes a little pushy, and I'm like, don't forget, you are here at the Neumeyer. You got this, babe. And you're my friend. Yeah, well, new my friend. Sorry, sorry, sorry to the husband. Yeah, but yeah. So it's that it's the cheerleaders for you. And, back to your career. PS, I wanted for you and your sister, more than anything, for you guys to go out and launch. Not to go from home to married to, And some people want that and love that. I didn't want that for you guys because I had to transition from, what do I do? I've been a daughter, a wife and a mom, and now I'm on my own with these children. Well, how am I going to make this work? Yeah. So I didn't want that for you guys. I wanted my daughters to go out and know that they could take care of themselves, rent their own apartment, travel abroad, get, have careers and become these strong, independent women. So when they chose men in their lives that they would be choosing for the right reasons. Not that, you know, I want you guys to be in relationships because you want to be in them, not because you have to be in them. And I think a lot of people are in relationships because they're so entwined that they have to be in them. And then that makes us not appreciate their relationship as much. Right? And it makes it a little less healthy. Yeah. So I wanted for you what I didn't do for myself. Well, and it's not that you didn't do it for yourself. It was just situational. Like you didn't know that it was very common, especially in the 80s where one. Yeah, like you get married straight out of high school. And your husband is a breadwinner. That's pretty normal. And my dad was in the military. So you were instantly a military wife. Yep. And for him to pass away in the military and like you said it was like I have two babies. I didn't finish college and I have never worked. And my obviously my dad was more things than a paycheck, but my paycheck just passed away. Now what do I do? Plus, so much for the ability. Yeah. Like how I would. Yeah yeah yeah. She's better with words than I am. She is a writer and I'm not the writer, but I'm the actress. She's the right. That's right. There we go. But yeah, but like, I feel like, how do you prepare for that? You wouldn't be able to prepare for that. But you have instilled in me like. And when Chelsea to like any flat out said, I don't ever want you to feel lost. Like, what am I going to do if I don't have so-and-so or something? You can come home. Yeah, for sure. But unfortunately for any of the men and my sisters in my life, we don't tolerate much because we do know we can take care of ourselves for sure. Yeah. I want you to want to be with them. Not. Yeah. Have to be with them. Right. So there there's that. And, it's. Yeah. So I, you know, my mom was a stay at home mom her whole life, and I love what our stay at home moms do every day. They volunteer for the school day. And that's actually what I ended up writing down on my on my application were all the things that you do. I think that they often don't see the soft skills that they have, the negotiation skills that they have, the sales skills that they have. They got to sell this vacation to the husband. They got to coerce this child into doing this. They have to run that household. They do amazing. Even like the fundraisers at the schools, for sure. All that stuff. Get your day taken, you know, go on to being involved, be in the sports, mom. All those things I mad love and mad respect of those ladies, I really do. But when they're ready to then move on to the next steps in their lives, who's there to help them understand that those skills all transfer into work skills, if that's what they're looking for? Yeah, well, and being a stay at home mom is a really tough it's so hard. It's it's very siloed and it goes unappreciated. It's often yeah in like everybody's family loves them and stuff. But I don't think everybody realizes nobody does what they go through every day. Yeah, that's for sure. Except for them and their network of friends. And I have a positive network. I've had friends that have daydreamed about being stay at home moms, and then they their husband gets to a position financially and they get to be it. And they're like, I thought it would be like Pinterest board, what is this crap? And then they were like, I'm going back to work because, like, it wasn't cut out for it. Like they couldn't do it well, and there's just, yeah, I like I said, my sister, your Aunt Tracy is the June Cleaver of moms, right? I used to say it all the time. Tracy's picture is in the dictionary next to June Cleaver. If you're talking about moms, that. That's. I wasn't that mom. I was more of the. Oh, we're all the way to Eugene. Let's screw it. Let's go the rest the way to Disneyland. We don't have school tomorrow. Yeah, we just. Or maybe we did. We just keep going. Yeah, that was I. Was that mom. I wasn't the, the room mother for sure. Yeah. There's nothing wrong with that. There's, like, a place for everybody, so they can totally, totally talk a little bit about. I feel like how you are as a leader is a lot like how you are as a mom. And partly because even when I give her compliments or tell her how much I appreciate her, like how she's impacted my life, she'll get really like, what are you doing? Stop talking to me. I don't want any praise. And I've been standing next to you multiple times where you have impacted people's lives and you have changed because you did give them the chance that somebody else didn't give them, or you saw beyond what they wrote down on their resume. How have you seen throughout the years leadership change? And this is going to be a two parter. So I'll just ask that first. How have you seen leadership change over the years? H.R. is way more involved in leadership now, and it feels almost, intrusive in some ways. Yeah. The, the I love radical candor. And I think that you should be able to talk to your team with radical candor because people being surprised about what's on their review or people being surprised in their one on ones with something that you said or something that you thought is nonsensical. I like to coach in the moment. So that we can correct the behavior or learn more about what caused them to take that action. Yeah. And then understand so that they're one on ones. And this is the other thing that I think I've seen people struggle with is I truly believe one on ones are about the individual. You're talking to. It should be like ten minutes of team building, conversation. How is your weekend? What are you doing that kind of stuff and truly care about that? Yeah. Be 100% engaged. And then, what's going on with them? What? What is their dream of what they want to do? Because my my personal goal always is to leave you better than I found you. Right. Yeah. So if your personal goal like if your dream job is to be, the disc jockey on the local radio station, let's look at your current job and what pieces of that are skills that would get you there. Yeah. And then what can we add into your personal development that you could do that would help you get there? That also serves a purpose for the business that you're personally currently working for, right? Right. So I, had a gentleman who worked for me as a branch manager at a staffing agency, and he he actually wanted to do something like that. So he ended up taking on in our market meetings, all of the, leading the meetings, setting it up, being what a disc jockey would be or somebody call it a sports game, would be. Yeah. And he would do that for practice. And, decided he'd love it as much as he thought he would do. Yeah. And so we went down a different path, and he's, he's doing something else now, and he's amazing and he's triple his income and he's been great, right? Yeah. But I know that I help that person. I know that I help that person. I don't need them to tell me that. I see it on their face. I see it in their performance, and I see it in their improvement. Yeah, but they're the ones who take action, right? I just am the one who gave what I would call sage advice, or sometimes a boot in the pants. Yeah, right. So but they took the action. They did the work. Yeah. So they deserve the credit. Yeah. And so that's the thing that you'll see. I don't like people to say I'm their boss. I hate it. So much. I got she I like it when I say mom. That's true to. She wants to be Malinda. Which is fine. Her mom. Ma. Yeah. I like you to call me mom. Right. You teasing me? Yes. Like, hey, this is Malinda and she's marvelous. Yeah. So. Yeah. But, I like them to say my colleague, because my thought on leadership and it's always been. Is I work for them. My job is to work for them and get them to their next place. If my team is getting where they're going I make my, my parts too. And I've had some really great successes personally when I was an individual contributor. And I will say, as much fun as that was, it is more fun to cheer for your team when they win. Yeah, and it's one. That's why I was comparing kids, right? That's I was just going to say that's why I was comparing it. Kids, when they went in to you being a mom that you do approach leadership and that way. And you also don't shy away from the tough conversations, which is probably why you made the air comment because especially right now in today's world, you have to be very delicate. Everybody has big feelings, and H.R. has to watch out for the company that they do. Yeah, yeah, they have to mitigate the risk. So so that the piece is a little bit harder and it's changing all the time. Right. And state regulation is changing all the time. And what you can and can't say and what you can and can't do and how you can do. Correct. I don't like corrective action. I like positive coaching and like, stop doing that and do more of this. Yeah. But, anyways, so there's just everybody's got a policy or procedure and it used to be stuck in mine. What I'm doing. Yeah, but, so I made it, and I'm not saying that's bad. I'm just saying it's made it different, and. Yeah, well, there's definitely the classes and learning of how to present to an HR person what it is I'm looking for. And then they gave me great feedback on helping with growth and development plans for others. Right. That are structured in more than Marlin does. So I've got some great collaborations with HR as well. But that has that is what's changed in my mind in the world of work, a lot. Everything's a lot more, public. It is. And the people are also quick to, I'm telling, you know, or like like, yeah, I live every day with whatever I did. It's okay if you told. Because if you work, if you lead with integrity and you have morals and you don't do anything illegal or immoral, yeah. They can tell whoever they want. Yeah, know for sure, but there's I don't we run into this in real estate where people will say like, well, you're breaking this code and I'm going to turn you in and you're like, I'm not actually breaking. No one said this to me, by the way. I don't break any codes. If you're listening, but I over hear a lot of conversations like, I'm going to turn them in. And I was like, for what? For when they didn't. That's not a rule. Yeah. In over 20 years I've had, very few complaints. Yeah. I mean, there's always going to be one, but very few. But yeah, I mean it's just part, it's part or that's part of the job. Yeah. Yeah. What has been one thing that you've learned along the way? I mean, I know you've learned a lot of different things, but like what's like one piece of advice that was given to you that you have like kept and multiple different positions in multiple different positions, or it's just kind of like a subconscious thing in the back of your mind. Listen with the intent to hear, oh, I like that. That's nice. Who said that to you? Do you mind on, Shannon con, I hope you're listening. Yeah, you should have her. She's amazing. No, I like that. That's really good advice. What is a piece of advice you would give somebody that is thinking about making a change in their career, or maybe thinking about, like, my kids are off to college now. I want to do something, put my time elsewhere. I'm a little bored or sure, I think that, if you're reentering the workforce, do something fun. Where do you shop? Oh, yeah. Go there. Go get that discount. Go get that discount. Go there. Spend some hours there a week. Start building your LinkedIn network about who you are. Yeah. Stay up on technology. I think that's the hardest thing right now, especially for women of my age that have not stayed up on technology or the kids lingo. Because, you know, this is me getting a fandom tax by taking your drinkers matching your fries. You got to know that stuff. And as silly as it seems, and I know we like to make fun of the husband because he doesn't want us to talk to him in those terms. Yeah, I do it all the time because I want him to be good for the heck of it. Like, I'm like, hey, yeah, I like that drip today or whatever. Yeah, nice fit, nice things like, oh my gosh, I'm writing. Hey, come spell some tea with me over here. Right kind of thing. But, I think the best advice I can give people work going into the workforce is, from not working for a while is start acclimating yourself with something small. Do part time. Do one day a week. Go volunteer somewhere even. Yeah, a lot of volunteer jobs, turn into paid jobs. Get to be somewhere you love. I would volunteer at the dog shelter, but I'd have all the dogs so I can't go to. That is true, I can't. We would probably end up with like three. You have to have a farm and all the things. But anyways. So yeah, there's that. And then if you're in the workforce and you're not enjoying your job or you're stagnant in your job and you want to reinvent yourself, there's no time like the present, right? Yeah. Just I this is the stupidest thing ever. Just do it. But, there's fear in that, right? So figure out what is it you're afraid of. If you want to know, call me. I can help you figure it out. Yeah. Well, what do you say to yourself? When do you hesitate? When I hesitate is. What's my backup plan? If this doesn't work, what's the backup? Yeah, and then I write it down. Yeah. How much time am I going to give it? And I write it down. I always say, what's the worst that can happen? Well, for sure, yeah, my mom will bail me out, so. That's right. That's right, I always felt. But what's the backup? Right. What's the backup plan? Here's the deal. I grew up in retail. Retail is always the backup plan. I'm just saying study strong and true. Whatever I do, there's always going to be retail. Yeah, right. So if I, I've gone from being a business, from a retail executive to being a business development rep to being, market manager to being, a sales director to, all different. I've, I've led teams that do$40 million in business. I've led teams that do$10 million in business. It just it's across the board. Yeah, but I would say the soft skills are the win every time. Yeah. Right. The soft skills. I think if you're not using AI to practice interviewing you're being silly. Oh my gosh. My mom was like, I feel like she invented because she was like, I'm definitely an early adopter. And she's sending me stuff like instantly like, have you seen this? Have you seen this? Which I loved? And you instantly found ways to, like, implement it into work too? I'm like, I did, I did. So one of the things, I like to call it, nobody likes to role play. It makes everybody anxious and gives them like, unless you're a theater kid, but, doing practice. Right, like, well, so you can go in a chat and go, hey, I want to practice elevator pitches with my team, create or, a scoring rubric. And on what an elevator pitch would sound like that would help them get the meeting. And then we would just go in and I would record them and then chat, would score them and then give them great feedback, tell them what they did. Well, this language could be tweaked here for the type of business that, yeah, we were doing. And it so much improved their comfortableness their muscle memory because we want them to sound like them. Right, right. When they're out and about. And yeah, this it's just such a cool way to do it without it being like Walmart lender said. Well, yeah, I love the expert of anything. Right. So it's like them. Yeah. Getting a different opinion. But again you just give them the tool to do it right. And I'm not the expert of anything. Right. That's not true. We're going to talk about Disney okay. Well I might know a lot about Disney. It doesn't make me an expert. But depends on it. Yeah. So I would say you're an expert on things. Lots of things. But let's transition to Disney. Let's do it. Yeah. It's a passion project of ours. Yes. It's a little thing called House of Mouse Adventures. Yeah. House of Mouse adventure. So for those of you that don't know, my mom and I, we should have started this like so long ago. Now, vlogging for Disney is like huge. And we talked about it 20 years ago. The first year with it, we were like, we should have a blog. And then we never did. We just thought it. Yeah, yeah, but we do like to go. People reach out to us all the time for advice. We do have a House of Mouse Adventures Instagram that we'll post pictures and tips and tricks on. But where did your well, yes, but again, some days we're like, great, we'll be posting every day and then like two months I'll go by and we're like, oh yeah, house, house adventures because it's a passion project, right? But where did your love for Disney? I know our mind started, but where did your love for Disney or Disneyland come from? Oh, so born and raised in California right? I went to Disney once and I can remember with my mom and my dad. But my love for Disney really started with the movies and office himself and the Mickey Mouse Club. And I remember sitting in our little two room house in Anderson, California with my black and white TV, watching the Mickey Mouse Club and, what would come on. And, many of this was like reruns because of, you know, the years that it was or whatever, but it really, really started. There is probably why and, I made it a mission to take you and your brother before Chelsea came along, every two years when you and experienced Disney through your eyes and that. Yeah, it's a whole that sealed the deal. Yeah, sure. For me, I will say the first time I to well, actually, it was the first time we took Wyatt, my nephew is three and I remember and at the time I was like, I don't know if I have kids. I think I'll just be a really cool and and even though I'm like the older sibling and so and then we went to Goofy's kitchen first before we took Wyatt to the park. So tell why we do that though? We'll just see how they're going to respond to the devices in the app. And it also for anybody who needs a fun tip if you don't want to spend your day looking for that or waiting in lines people. Yeah, you can for those characters at the character breakfast so you can get to the other fun things. And so they're not wondering when they're going to see so-and-so. So that's when it is really interesting too, because you might think that your kid will be super excited to see Mickey or Goofy or Donald, and we've seen so many kids freak out. Yeah, yeah, like totally like freak. So it's a great way to find out for sure. Are they going to do that, especially before you wait in line for an hour to meet Mickey just for your kid milk? Yeah, tell him all time. But we walked into Goofy's kitchen. Goofy greets you at Goofy's kitchen normally and you get to take a picture, and Wyatt ran right up to him and hugged him. And I looked at my mom and I go, I think my ovaries just screamed like I need a child now. Like just even going with Wyatt was so fast. Jazmin came over. Oh my God. He panicked and he was just like, I just. And we were like, he'd never. My brother was a very, And we were the same way with Rylan. Like, not a lot of TV before. Sure. So he she didn't know who Jazmin was. He had not seen any princess movies, but he just could tell that she's a princess. And he was very excited. He was what? She just started high school. So got to be something. Yeah, yeah. But it would be really funny. If. But when you had those moments. Yeah I had moments with you and your brother at Disney when you were both little and it just it, the magic that happens and the way you all love it so much, it just endears it to you. And then they do such a great job with all the details, the damages and the details. Yeah, well not too it's, like, really cool too, about Walt's vision was a place you could go with your kids and be a kid with your kids, or have you don't have kids because mom and I go all the time with no kids, but also. Ha, well, I guess I'm your kid, But you know what I mean. No littles. I mean, we go all the time with no littles. Disney adults, they call us. Yeah, yeah, but also where you could go be a kid or just have zero responsibility. Just just have fun. Immersive. And it is so 100% that people ask us all the time, what do you say when people go, don't you get tired of it? Why do you guys go? So much so Disney, like Costco, does a really good job of changing stuff up all the time. Yeah, you never know what you're going to get. You have your staples that you love, right? Right. So I go, do you go to Costco? Do you hit the Costco's when you travel to see what else is there? Yeah, I go to Disney. Same thing. Right. Like, I know Main Street is going to be the same, but the merch is different and the food, they change. The food is seasonal. The characters are in different costumes. The shows change, the parades change, the fireworks change. Everything has a seasonality to it. But the core of it, the nostalgia of it is the same. And my next response to that is, Will you go to the lake, whatever, every year to ski or you go to said mountain, why do you do that same thing over and over again? And it's because it brings you joy, right? So for me, I do it because it brings me joy. I also get to remember as a mom with grandkids now you guys being there little. Right. So there's some of that and how much you love this. We have that door that we always take a picture in front of. Yeah. And I get to remember that. And when we get to go with the grandkids watching you all watch them. It's the best thing in the world. Totally. I think that's so true. I also tell people I love when just you and I go because it is different. Totally. The pace is different. The vibe is different because mom and I are fortunate enough that we do have our annual passes. We do go enough that we're not because like, there's a ton of people that go just once and that's fine. And but while you're there, you want to get everything and you want to see everything, which you should. If you're only going to go that one time, if you're going to go once every five years, get everything in, do everything jam, pack your five days, we go enough that we're like, seen it. Let's go get a pretzel. Like. Or let's just sit and watch. We love sitting and watching all the families we do. Or, Rochelle was really kind to me. I kind of like Star Wars a tiny bit. And, we were in Batu with tiny land. Yeah. And, for those of you who don't know. And they had come out with the bounty Hunter app on our phones and on our wristbands, and she let me spend the whole day bounty hunting and had to where we would go do it. And then we got like one 30,000 steps in. And just back to that day. Yeah. And so we would go back and we anyway it was she was very excited. I was every time and I was like way to go mom. And I just had another snack. I just followed her around. I enjoyed watching her enjoy it. It was so much fun. But if like we only went like once every five days or something, there's no way I'd be like, mom, I love you, but I can't watch you catch one more bounty. I need to ride Thunder Mountain first. Kind of a thing. But yeah, that is a nice thing about going often is that, like, you can really take your time and enjoy the small things you can at Disney. What's a tip or trick that you always give when people are like, I'm going to Disney with my family. I haven't been in years, what should I know or what should I do? I typically ask them how old the children are, they're traveling and if their children are less than ten. Disneyland's great. If your children are over ten, you got to go to Disney World. Yeah, it's bigger. It's more spread out. There's more to do. And the rides are a little more thrilling in some of the park. I mean like so that's I kind of start there. But if they're just looking for some tips and tricks I try to remind everyone pick your top five things you want to do and do those things because it's crowded. It's it's been so crowded after, after they after Covid. I guess I'll say that that from everybody having the feeling that they were missing out and that they were afraid, it's kind of like, you know, society's one, oh my God, we got to do all the things because we got locked down. Yeah. What if this never, really never. What if it closes again kind of thing? So, there's a tremendous amount of people in the parks these days. If you can afford it, stay on resort watch for sales. There's three right? Pixar places, the economy resort, sort of, you know, as sort of as it can be because then you can you don't leave your vacation right. Which is why I and you get extra hours. You get. No, they just ended that. Never mind scratch. Yeah. Lightning Lane now. Oh yeah. That's right. Yeah. They just ended the extra hours. So staying on resort means you don't leave your vacation. Yeah. And they do actually have characters to that, like they do the hotels. They have story times. They do a lot of, like. Yeah, at Disneyland. Staying on resort at Disney World is very affordable. They have everything from the real economy, like pop century type resorts to the super fancy boardwalk resorts. So depending on how you want to want to be in your stay and they have great transportation to all the places. But I think if your children are older and have the bandwidth to do all the walking, yeah, that having fun and you don't need a midday nap. Disneyland's much better. Yeah, yeah, easier to get to. So it depends on the person I typically don't give just random advice. I ask what they're hoping for and then give them my best advice on what they're hoping for. Yeah, some of the advice I give, especially if you have a littles, is don't come for me, Disney. I spend a ton of money at your parks and other things, but I would never do the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with Rylan because, or her hair, well, first of all, her hair. But it's just so expensive. I would rather also go do other stuff. Like I'd rather do the Princess like breakfast instead of that, but she sees all the girls walking around, so I go to the Disney outlet and I pre buy her outfit or I did. She's kind of outgrown it now, but I would pre by the Cinderella outfit. So the outfit that's $90 at the park you can get for $40. And especially if you know Oregon tax free and you bring it with you and your four year old doesn't know if you bought it at the park or not, they just know it looks exactly the same as the one and it is a Disney. There's a dresser who recommends that you go to all the places because Disney sells toys and things in target, not anywhere else, and that you have it in your bag. Yeah, that's what I do, child. Want something? You pull it out and go, here you go. I've done that before. Like when we were there for Halloween, I was at Jcpenney's and they had a Disney Mickey Halloween Cup for $0.99 a lit. And Rylan was like three at the time. I took that with me to the park and she's like, I want a drink. And I gave it to her in that cup. She thought she got it there. She does share she history. Yeah, I do tell people that too. Here's my sage advice. No matter what Park you go to, take a picture of everything you think you want to buy. Don't buy it. First, take a picture of everything you think you want to buy on your second to last day, not your last day. And I'll explain why. On your second to last day, look through those pictures and decide what you really want and go get those things. And the reason I say second the last day, do not do it on the last day, or you spend your whole day running from store to store, just are trying to find things and you do not get to have a great last day. Yeah. And that Disney magic kicks in really hard and you overspend on that last day when you do that. So I, I tell the kids, even when I have the grandkids with me who I would buy everything for, but the, the parents don't like it. No way. No. We take a picture of it and then we talk about it before we're gone. Do you still really want this? Do you? So, yeah, pick one of these five, because sometimes it is in the moment or, you know, you're also like, what? I wear that again or do I just want to wear it right now at the park. I've done that a few times. So I take pictures around and then, pen training is a really great way to have a good time and not have to tote a bunch of stuff home. Yeah. So there's that. And the other. And another little piece of advice is a lot of people don't realize you can bring in your own food. Yeah, we love eating at Disney and we still do. But I love having beef jerky in my bag. Pringles tend to come in my bag because of the canister. They don't get smashed up. It's like a bag of chips, but trail mix because likes to make me eat protein bars. Oh yeah, one time we had an adult only trip. Sorry, West, if you're listening, but it was me and Mom and West and Mom and I were so excited to have our snacks and my brother's like, I got protein bars, and we're like, thank you. We took them because he meant well and he was just trying to keep us, like energized. But we were like, I really like it. Yeah, I wanted the cupcake. Yeah. But it is nice when you're waiting in line, too. And they're like, I'm hungry. I'm this sure, like, here's some granola or or even for me, too. There's times I'm like, oh, all of a sudden I'm really hungry. Yeah. And I'm not getting any water. Don't by the water bottle. So filling your water up anywhere. Yeah. Or bring your own water bottle and yeah, they'll fill that up and there's and there is like water stations at some spots too. But anywhere that has water on tap. Yeah. They'll fill your water. Yeah. For you fresh. They'll give it to you in a cup and you can important here. Yeah. Either way. But and that goes for all the parks. Yeah. Disneyland. Disneyworld. All of it. Yeah. So for sure, what is one of your favorite Disney memories? Oh my god. My favorite Disney man is. I don't even know how to line them all out. Yeah. Or what's just one that sticks out to you? When I met Oscar, I mean, like, I have so many family ones, I can't. But from a magical moment, Oscar was the longest standing cast member. Who worked at the Carnation Cafe. And he started. He worked with Walt like he did? Yeah. He was. He started very on. Yeah. And when he was, later in life, they named us. There's a breakfast named after him on the menu at at the Carnation Cafe. And Oscar used to stand outside with this Mickey Mouse Club and wave at you. And having conversations with Oscar were absolutely amazing to meet somebody who has met and worked with Walt and has been at the park since it opened because he's since retired. But that that was that's a standalone memory for me. And then he gave me a hot tip to go over to the Star Tours gift shop. Because there was a young lady in there who was, one of the Ewoks, the turn of the Jedi. And Justin and I went over and she was working the counter and we walked up and he told us her walk name, and then we were able to talk to her. And I took some great pictures with her and story and stuff. And, it was really fun to get to meet her and hear her stories. Yeah, filming in the redwoods in California as I walked. Yeah. And what it was like to work with George and. Yeah, everyone else. So, Yeah. So those are some fun things that, you know, I encourage people to talk to cast members beyond where it says, how do you do that? I always ask them, why do you like working at Disney? How long have you been here? It is amazing the longevity when you do so. I mean, our social media and stuff, you do hear like some of the disgruntled like, I'll tell you the truth about working for Disney, but I would say like 95% love it, even if they don't work there anymore. They're like, my time at Disney was amazing. I wouldn't change this for the world. Or they'll still abide by all the Disney rules. They won't tell you who their friends were. So like a lot of times if like you are, let's say you play somebody at the park or you are somebody, you say, my friend so-and-so, like they won't just they'll still like abide by all those rules for sure. I mean, if they don't work there anymore, I've not ran into a cast member who had anything horrible to saying while they're at the park or anything. And I've heard amazing from the bus driver, like the bus drivers at Disney World are great. They sing songs, they welcome you on. Yeah, they all like love it. They talk to the kids and, yeah, they they're all fantastic. Yeah, they really are. Yeah. Thank you so much for being on today, mom, I appreciate it. You cried, I didn't. That's a curse. Normally, if she have her chin, even wiggles. I'm like, okay, yeah, I know I was strong today. I was definitely strong today. I thank you for raising me to be that way. I appreciate you so much. And I love you so much. And I wouldn't be who I am without you. So I very much appreciate you. Thank you everyone for listening. I can't wait to see you next week. Cheers. Cheers.