Intro: [00:00:09] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and Resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits. Dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruett.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:46] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday. And we’ve got three more fabulous guests. First of all, welcome in, Sharon. Thanks for coming back and being the producer this morning.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:55] My pleasure. It’s one of my happy moments on Fridays.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:58] Yes. So it’s also a big weekend because my Cincinnati Reds are hosting y’alls Atlanta Braves. It’s going to be an amazing series. We’ve won 11 straight. The Braves have won eight straight. Somebody’s got to lose. So. Well, if this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positive things happening in the community. And as I said, we’ve got three more fabulous guests here. They’re going to share their stories and we’ll talk about what they’re doing within the community and that kind of stuff. So my first guest this morning is Teddy Mathis from Teddy Bear Realty. Teddy, thanks for being here.

Teddy Mathis: [00:01:27] Thank you for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:28] And I’m glad you’re here because you posted yesterday you were having some medical issues. So I’m glad to see you up and about and making it over.

Teddy Mathis: [00:01:35] Thank you so much.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:36] So a few weeks ago, or I guess maybe a little over a month ago, you shared at the Acworth Connections your story a little bit. You are a veteran, so thanks for your service. You also have just a compassion and passion for veterans as well as children. So if you don’t mind, could you just share a little bit of your story and then we’ll talk about your realty?

Teddy Mathis: [00:01:58] Sure. I grew up in a little small town up in western North Carolina, just a little town called Waynesville, North Carolina. We we were extremely poor, didn’t have a whole lot. And I remember about seven years old there, there was a union that put on Christmas outreach for for people like us. And I remember going up and getting some oranges and and a little gift from this gentleman and he reached and hugged me and he said he said, I love you, the Lord loves you. And he said, You can you can do anything you want to do. And that stuck with me. And and later on in life, when when God had blessed me, I wanted to to spread that story everywhere I could.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:01] So you’ve also spent some time in ministry as well. And you and you said you were in a band as well, right?

Teddy Mathis: [00:03:06] Yeah, I used to. Well, at about 11 years old, I started singing in a in a bluegrass gospel band. It was called the Dills Family. Kind of a big deal back then in the in the bluegrass world that happened to be my aunt and uncle. And I sang with them for the next five years and then sang in a country music slash Southern rock band for about three years.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:34] Awesome. Awesome. So you were Army, is that correct? Yes, sir. Can you tell us a little bit about your your story when you were in the Army greatest.

Teddy Mathis: [00:03:44] Fighting force on the planet? I was only in for a short period of time, just under three years. But I went in my first day in the Army was my 18th birthday, and about nine months later was when Operation Desert Shield. Desert Storm in 1990 started. We were over there for approximately a year, I guess. And honestly, looking back on it now, as a 51 year old, that 19 year old kid was probably a little young to be there. And but when you get to see outside of America and you get to see the way we live here, even when I was the poorest of the poor, we didn’t live like that. And to get to go over there and and and fight for freedom of those people, it’s one of the it is probably the greatest success of my life.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:58] What was the specific thing that you were doing in the Army?

Teddy Mathis: [00:05:02] I was called a wire systems installer. It was basically anything that had wires, sound equipment, but, you know, alarms, satellite feeds, things like that, just anything that required wiring.

Brian Pruett: [00:05:19] So my cousin was in the Navy. He was over there, Desert Storm, and he was on an aircraft carrier. And I’ve actually got a pin that he sent me that was one of the pins that held a bomb on the one of the bombers. That was kind of cool. And he told a story that he said all the guys would write their names of family members on the bombs and then they dropped them. And so I guess my name is somewhere over there scattered all over. I don’t know. But that’s kind of cool. Also, if you remember the story, the two Navy pilots that were shot down and then we were rescued. They. Rescued? Yes. He was in charge of the ejection seats. That was his job. And so he’s the one that worked on them. And as a gift for them being alive and rescued and stuff, they brought him in one of those nice gifts of Crown Royal gift baskets. I don’t know. I guess he still has it on if he drank it or not. So anyway, so again, thank you for your service. Um, you are very, very passionate about helping veterans right now as well. I know. I guess, what, about 6 or 8 months ago you were collecting some sleeping bags and tents for some homeless vets. Other than being, I guess, a veteran yourself, why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Teddy Mathis: [00:06:28] Well, as far as the veteran community and more specifically, I like working with combat vets. That’s just me. And I love all of our veterans. I love I love anybody who will serve the community. But for me, combat veterans make up about one out of 4000 veterans. It’s a very small fraternity. And quite honestly, you know, I was 19 years old. And one of the the things that I saw that no 19 year old should should have to. But it’s a necessary evil in this world. I saw about 20,000 dead bodies laying across a field in Kuwait. The and my time, to be honest with you, was was minimal compared to since 001 and 911. And what these young men and women have had to endure was it’s amazing. And we do it at such a young age and no matter how strong, I think I’m a very mentally strong human being. But there is a price to pay for that. Justin here was was a police officer. There is a price to pay for that. And so for for me, I just enjoy going up. And if you ever hang out with us much, we’ve got these dark senses of humor or weird senses of humor and and all that. And really only us can can relate. And so I love to to just go hang out with them because 22 soldiers a day commit suicide. We come back a lot of times very lonely. We we come back definitely changed and and so that’s why it means something to me and and we you know, we were taught to be very independent and maybe to a fault. And what I try to go around and say is that, you know, you got somebody and if it’s nobody else but this old country talking realtor that from Waynesville, North Carolina, it’s somebody and that hopefully that makes a difference. Somebody.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:59] So you’re very involved with the VFW in Acworth, correct?

Teddy Mathis: [00:09:02] That’s correct.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:03] You guys have anything coming up you want to share that’s any kind of events or things going on that on a regular basis going on there.

Teddy Mathis: [00:09:09] On a regular basis? If you enjoy certain things, we have karaoke every Friday night and if you come up you will hear me sing. It’s not as pleasant as it used to be, but we have a lot of stuff that goes on, you know, go go on Facebook to our our VFW 5408 website or page, and it’ll keep you up to date. But we are having a great July 4th celebration that hopefully you guys, the general public is welcome at the VFW at any point. So y’all come and be with us. And every time that you have a drink with us, you support something with our veterans causes. Or if you just want to come and hang out and love on us. So we take that too.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:04] Well, I know you’re also very passionate about kids and you’re a new grandpa.

Teddy Mathis: [00:10:07] Yes, I am.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:08] Congratulations for being a new grandpa.

Teddy Mathis: [00:10:09] Yeah, I had my youngest daughter had my first grandson. It’s my third grandchild. He is absolutely perfect. He is. He’s just cute as can be. And and I’m going to kiss him as much as I can.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:25] There you go. All right. Let’s talk a little bit about your your reality. So it’s Teddy Bear Realty. Yes. And you’re based out of where?

Teddy Mathis: [00:10:31] Out of Dallas, Georgia.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:32] But you can work pretty much anywhere.

Teddy Mathis: [00:10:34] I have about six counties that that I, I would say predominantly the the Northwest or the northern and western side of of the metro Atlanta area.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:47] Can you share any advice for anybody who might be either starting the process or in between or in the middle? What kind of what kind of advice can you give somebody who may be wanting to, uh, I don’t know, look for a house, buy a house, Sell a house?

Teddy Mathis: [00:11:01] Well, it’s it’s one of the most strange, wonderful, exciting, scary times in a person’s life is when they’re buying a home. And anytime that you move something that large as far as monetary value and, you know, maybe you raised your kids there and you’re going to sell your home and, you know, that kind of thing. It the thing that I would say the most is just prepare for if you’re buying a house, be excited about that. That’s where you’re going to. Raise your family, that’s where you’re going to do whatever they are. In selling a home. Most of the time it’s that you’ve got to realize that when you’re at that point that it’s no longer the place where you raised your kids. I mean, it is, but it’s just a business transaction at that point. And so if you’re going to sell your home, understand that there’s going to be a lot of emotion with it. But at the end of the day, it’s a it’s a financial transaction and be smart about that.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:14] So we all know a lot of realtors, there are a lot of realtors out there. And in this, from my understanding right now, there is not a lot of inventory. That’s true. And I also realize there’s people out there who are not as reliable as some people would want to be. So can you maybe talk to talk us through a little bit about how what to look for, what to do when you’re picking out a realtor, that kind of thing?

Teddy Mathis: [00:12:38] Sure. You know, there there are a lot of good realtors out there. There are some that are a little less desirable. And and it will show for for most of us in the real estate world that we.

Speaker5: [00:12:58] Um.

Teddy Mathis: [00:12:59] Are doing it for the right reasons and that we’re not salespeople. We are agents. And agent by the definition, is one that acts on the better or on behalf of another in a given thing. Right? That and so it’s pretty easy to see that when you’re interviewing your agent, are they talking about what’s best for you? Will they do you feel confident that they have integrity and decency? Check them out. I mean, we you know, we live in in Google Land today. We live in in in places where reviews are. And I would say that somebody that is going to be honest with you, even if you don’t like it, because, again, I’m a real estate professional. This is what I do day in, day out, day in and day out. And my clients are not they may be a professional at something else. Take their advice, but be sure that every decision that they’re making or helping you make is in benefit to you. Because that’s what our job is.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:15] I think it’s very important that you talked about that, because also I think as long that was constant communication, you want to be on constant communication with your your agent, the person working with you. If somebody’s listening and talking, thinking about getting into the real estate world as an agent, what kind of advice can you give them?

Teddy Mathis: [00:14:30] Oh, um, well, uh, it looks a lot more glamorous than it is. You know, we see the the shows on TV, and we think that, Oh, man, this is. This is just a glamorous, wonderful, beautiful thing. Well, a lot of times it is going through houses that you probably would not want to be in. It’s a lot of behind the scenes work. You know, they think that it’s wonderful we get to go out there and I just get to show you this house and then throw your contract in on the house. And 30 days later, I’m going to make this big wad of money, you know, or whatever. And it’s it’s not all that. It’s a lot of hard work, actually, but it is one of the most rewarding careers. I’m 51 years old and it’s beautiful for me to to be able to take a young family. Maybe it’s they just got married and they’re starting their life. And I get to see that light open up in their eyes when when we do find their home or just got a Facebook message yesterday, day before yesterday, that they had had their new baby in their home. And and so it’s a it’s an awesome, awesome industry. But if you think that you’re going to just get in and all of a sudden I’m going to make all this money and and it’s going to be, you know, it’s not a lot of work or that you’re sadly mistaken.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:12] So what made you decide to get in real estate because you owned a couple of businesses before, right? Yes, sir. Well, landscaping. And what was the other one?

Teddy Mathis: [00:16:20] I owned three service companies. The biggest one that I owned was a chemical lawn care company. It was called Above Par Lawn Care. I owned it for about 20 years. God bless me, way more than I probably deserved. Through that, I did own a fencing and decking company and and then a little minor home, home repair kind of thing.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:44] So what made you decide to transition from those to go into real estate?

Teddy Mathis: [00:16:47] Well, actually, that was through a bad thing. My wife, I she and I married. We were we had been together since we were children. I think when we got married, I was 21 years old. She was 18 years old. We’d been together 24 years. And unfortunately, that ended in a divorce. And we had four just absolutely beautiful children together. She she’s a precious woman. She’s a beautiful lady. But we just didn’t see that we were going to make it anymore. And it was not a good divorce at all. It was kind of nasty. And so I, I. Lost everything I had.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:38] So if somebody is listening and they’re wanting to possibly get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?

Teddy Mathis: [00:17:44] You can call me. My my cell phone number is (770) 235-7711. You could email me at Teddy at TB realty.biz. Those two mainly phone if you can text. I prefer that, but that would be the way.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:07] Awesome. Well, tell you, don’t go anywhere because we’re not done with you just yet. But I appreciate you sharing your story a little bit. And we’re going to move over to Miss Linda Oviatt. Linda, thank you for being here this morning.

Linda Oviatt: [00:18:15] Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:16] So Linda may not know this because I just thought about it this morning. So Linda used to have a nonprofit, and you guys know that I do fundraising and I’m doing monthly trivia shows for nonprofits. Your nonprofit was actually the first one I ever did a trivia show for.

Linda Oviatt: [00:18:33] Yeah, You came in and we we auctioned chairs that night and we did a trivia that night. It was down there on Marietta Square.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:40] Yeah, that was a that was a fun night. So thanks for getting me. Getting me started. Yeah.

Linda Oviatt: [00:18:44] Was Arts of Cobb. That was back with Lauren McBride.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:47] Yep. Yep.

Linda Oviatt: [00:18:48] I miss Layla is still in music today.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:50] That’s right. So you are a certified. Let me get this right. Certified mental wellness coach. Is that correct? Can you share what that is?

Linda Oviatt: [00:19:01] Yeah. Yes. Most everybody walking the planet today has got some form of anxiety, depression, just getting up in the morning and having that I don’t feel on today and I don’t know what’s going on. I got a good night’s sleep. I didn’t need any sugar. I don’t know what’s going on. Or maybe you’ve got a lot of outside stressors. Maybe your kids have got some outside stressors. And so mental wellness actually involves the gut health as far. And so it’s a gut brain heart axis.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:40] So you also shared your story a few weeks ago at Acworth Connections and you were very transparent. This led to you, Your story led to you of why you’re doing what you’re doing. Do you mind sharing your story?

Linda Oviatt: [00:19:54] Yeah, I don’t remember what I said there, but I grew up in Miami, Florida. I was part of the first year of desegregation of the schools. And so I know your listeners can’t see me, but you don’t put a blue eyed, blond five six into the inner city and expect her to survive very well. So in high school, in middle school, I had actually flunked phys ed, and the first day of high school I scaled the fence. So motivation will be is powerful on what you want for a result. So yeah so I did I got first year of desegregation so I understand all of the both sides of that that thing a lot of mental illness in the family. My brother was he committed suicide. He was he dressed trans. It was meaner than a junkyard dog called himself Lisa looked like Tom Selleck, great car mechanic. But you know, my sister, I don’t even know if she’s still alive. I really lost contact with her grandparents. Everything. There was a lot of mental illness there. So I think that affected how I grew up to. You know, not every kid gets to be have their parents held at gunpoint and the front yard by your brother. So. Just. That makes me cry. I even remember that one. But yeah, that mental. Excuse me. Mental illness is so strong and no one wants to talk about it. Everybody walks around with this happy face and you’re sitting there going, I really want to say life. Gee, I don’t know what I can say on radio, but.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:49] You can say anything.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:50] You want. The FCC is not listening to this.

Linda Oviatt: [00:21:51] So at 68, I’ve become a little unfiltered. On Instagram. You can find me, Linda, unfiltered. So I pretty much say I say what I want anymore. But yeah, a lot of that mental illness and that trauma and then I watch and I listen to people and I listen to Teddy’s story and different people’s stories. And we all walk around with these smiles on our faces, and we don’t realize that we go behind closed doors at night or we get in our car and we don’t even know how we’re going to make it to the next meeting. We don’t even know how we’re going to get lunch out for our kids with a smiling face and, you know, knocking somebody into next week. So yeah, so I yes, I have been able to make it through. I taught health and wellness. You know, I did. I managed I was the director and founder of our father’s hands. And so that one was called. I set up those cute blue sign, Our Father’s Hands thrift shop and everything. I’m dead in the water. Some kid was in the the store and he said he’s looking at blue jeans and he’s on his phone and he’s going, Yeah, man, I’m over here and I’m helping some homeless dude, you know, by just buying a pair of jeans. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, people want to be about something. I want to be about something. So I tore everything off. I did off and all broken wood and it was off clothing for a cause. And that is how I took it off. I got the high school, they graffitied the whole building and yeah, so we started getting a lot of people in there and we raised 140 grand every year.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:29] That’s awesome. I was over in Powder Springs area, right?

Linda Oviatt: [00:23:31] Yep. We put new shoes, new socks and new underwear on homeless children. I started out on the streets of Atlanta and there’s a lot of vets on the on the on the streets. So and people always used to come down and they wanted to volunteer. And I said, you’re not here at the zoo. You’re here with my people. So you’re not here to show your kids at their PlayStation is worth something this Christmas or whatever. You’re here to serve people. So just sit down and talk with them, touch look in their eye and talk to them.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:03] So you were talking about that. Everything starts with the gut. Can you explain that? Share that.

Linda Oviatt: [00:24:09] So some days you wake up and you’re just off. You just don’t know why. That is a gut issue. There is something going on with the most. Everybody walking the planet these days has heard of microbiome or they’ve heard of leaky gut. Don’t have a clue what that means, but there’s something off with the gut. It can also have outside stressors. And so you know that when you’re under a lot of stress, you either me, I solve all problems through the refrigerator or with a cookie or you just you’re such not that you can’t eat and then you you’re losing weight and you’re not looking good. You can tell by some people their skin, even eyes. Every single issue you have starts in the gut.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:58] Well, don’t forget your happy juice.

Linda Oviatt: [00:25:00] Oh, I have my happy juice. Everybody thinks I have vodka. Is there a vodka in there? And know there could be.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:06] Share what your happy juice is.

Linda Oviatt: [00:25:08] Happy juice is actually through a product from a. The company is called Amari, and there’s actually three different products in here. Your first main product is a prebiotic probiotic post biotic and abiotic. And so the very, very specific strains of biotics that are for the stomach and they actually have that ability to connect the make those neurotransmitters fire and the ones that are in your stomach because most of your serotonin and most of your dopamine and all of that is produced in the stomach. It’s not produced in the head. So the second one is a thing called edge, and it’s a little scoop of a product and it’s a nootropic or a nootropic, however you want to pronounce it. It’s basically Asian herbs that do the same thing as far as mood, motivation and energy in the body that perhaps some of your look them up. I guess I can say anything. And then I’ve had people come off of Adderall. I’ve had kids not go on Ritalin or Adderall and just be amazed after about three days on how they feel and how they can just do life and their focus now. And they’ve got energy back and they have they feel like they have a new life back, that they just needed the cloud to be lifted long enough. They could see the sunshine, you know, so that a beautiful piece of it. Some people gain weight, some people just lose weight. They lose weight within the first couple of weeks. They’re just they’re going, wow, they’re just coming off. I goes, Yes, because we’re affecting those insulin levels and how your body is responding to those. So and then the third product is for energy. It’s just natural energy. It’s a natural green tea, green tea extracts or coffee bean extract. So it gives you that little boost. And so I no longer drink coffee.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:09] Oh.

Linda Oviatt: [00:27:10] I drink coffee on Sunday just because I like the smell and the taste of it.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:14] Right. So is that’s where the saying trust your gut comes from because everything comes from your gut. It does.

Linda Oviatt: [00:27:21] If you just listen to your gut, a lot of times your gut is telling you, you get those butterflies, butterflies are talking to you, you’re nervous, you’re anxious, you’re fearful, something you know, listen to your gut. Take time. Take the breathing. It’s not now. I can’t tell you. All your problems are going to be solved in this cup that I’m running around here. I do. Look at your lifestyle. I do ask what’s in your home? I do look at the toxins in your home. I do want to know what your outside stressors are. I do want to know if you’re taking any medications. So we do sit down and just really go over the whole picture and what your what your ultimate goal is. But this is it’s just the flipping easy button you know, I just wrote an article. Did you read it like all the diets since 1930? You know, I started out with the cigaret diet in 1930 and now we just. What was the latest one? Now we’re just in the oh, it’s whole 30 or no hard 75 is the new one.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:17] Yeah. Diets don’t work. You can tell I’m on a seafood diet.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:19] You see. I am, too.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:21] Exactly. Exactly.

Linda Oviatt: [00:28:23] Well, diets work every every I say, why? Why? I said I was talking to my daughter because she said she says, Mom, it’s such a struggle. I said, Yeah. I said, you can go on a diet right after dinner. And you go, Yeah, we’re just going to do this tomorrow morning. It’s easy because you’re full, you know?

Brian Pruett: [00:28:39] And the worst thing you can do, don’t go to the grocery store when you’re hungry.

Linda Oviatt: [00:28:43] Oh, gosh, no.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:44] Because you’ll come out with three times of what you were going to buy.

Linda Oviatt: [00:28:47] Yep. Yes, you. And again, when you’re looking at the gut issue, the microbiome issue, you’re now you’re cutting all of those different cravings. And so those things that you thought that you used to go for all the time, if you’re a sweet or salty person, those cravings have now just gone away and you’re not even looking for them. So like, Sunday is my cheat day or my there’s usually one day a week where I can just eat anything I want. Could be pizza, chocolate cake, whatever. I’m on the 8020 rule most of the time, but I have a flat out day. I don’t even want that stuff anymore. I take a bite and it doesn’t even taste good anymore. So. Wow.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:22] That’s insane.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:23] I know pizza and chocolate get together would be good.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:25] I know, right?

Linda Oviatt: [00:29:27] Kevin?

Sharon Cline: [00:29:27] Yes.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:28] So I want to talk a little bit about certified mental wellness. Coach is not the same as a psychologist. Psychiatrist No. For those of you, those listening that you probably can work with them. Yes. But you’re not you can’t prescribe medicine or anything like that. So can you. I mean, you shared a little bit already, but share what exactly you’re going to do with with a client that might want to want your services.

Linda Oviatt: [00:29:52] I’m going to talk with you. I’m going to listen. And so I want to know what what. Have been your barriers. What are your blockers? What are you doing? What have you tried? And so just let you talk that out with me because I want to hear where your fear is. And then I want to hear what’s your lifestyle like? What is in your home? What toxins, what are what are the outside toxins that we’re talking about? There’s so many things from laundry detergent to the shampoo you use to dryer sheets that are going to block your ability to lose weight or even gain weight one way or the other. Or maybe you have allergies or skin issues or things of that nature. There’s all kinds of things that that are environmental. What drugs are you on? What medical issues are you dealing with? So we’re going to talk about all of that.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:40] So now I’m curious, how does a dryer sheet block your weight from maybe that’s my problem. So how does a dryer sheet block you from losing weight?

Linda Oviatt: [00:30:47] Zino Estrogens.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:49] Wow. Will you come and learn things? All right.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:52] I’m so glad I showed up today, right? Yes.

Linda Oviatt: [00:30:55] There’s all kinds of ways that all the toxins there’s over 3000 toxins that we allow in the United States that you are not allowed in Europe. I can eat food in Europe. I can do things in Europe and things overseas that I cannot do here.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:08] That’s because probably I don’t think the other countries use as much pesticide for one that we do over here. Um, so are you. I’m guessing you could probably work with somebody virtually, but it’s not going to be as beneficial working somebody in person, correct?

Linda Oviatt: [00:31:20] I can work. I can do a zoom calls. The company is global. It’s a more global. I can offer you a $10 off coupon for your first order. Right now there’s a free, free, cute, happy juice glass coming with your order.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:39] There you go. Sharon. I am always in free.

Linda Oviatt: [00:31:43] Stuff, you know. Yeah, the free stuff. But, you know, I can work with anybody through phone calls, through texting, through zoom calls in person. I love in person. We just went through, what, two years of being isolated? I like hugs. Yes.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:00] So if somebody wants to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?

Linda Oviatt: [00:32:03] Yeah, you can just call my cell. I’m pretty easy to find. I’ve been out on the Internet, you know, for a long time with homeless ministry, so. And in this town for 26 years. (770) 241-4302 is my phone number. And you can find me at Linda. Linda middle initial s like Sam o o v like Victor i a t at gmail.com. And you can get me on Instagram at Linda Oviatt.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:30] Awesome. So other than the fact of wanting to help people in their mental health and their health overall, why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Linda Oviatt: [00:32:39] Oh gosh, just I mean, everything from my own family issues that not realizing that there was help out there. Of course, now all the technology, all of the science that I’m dealing with today is only since in the last 20 years. So it wouldn’t have probably been out there to help my family with my family. I am now in the special needs community. I know I can help with the special needs, the autistic autism spectrum kids, even keeping kids off of things that have been diagnosed on the spectrum, adults dealing with anything. Knowing what my brother went through, the veterans and the people that I dealt with on the street, I just know I could have helped in so many ways that I that I can help. Now.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:29] I’m guessing you talked about technology, so you know these things right here. For those of you who can’t see me, it’s the phone have ruined. I think a lot of people, especially teenagers and the younger folks in this world, because that’s all they do is spend much time on that. Do you address that at all when you’re working with anybody?

Linda Oviatt: [00:33:48] No. I mean, that’s a way of connecting. And a lot of times the only way you can connect is through a cell phone when I’m talking about is the latest in science. There’s like six and a half miles of outdated medical journals and medical procedures and things that they thought were the bomb totally outdated in Leuven, France. Okay. So you can go sit. So you have to keep up with whatever the latest is and how they’re figuring out. We have a second brain and we have a first brain and a second brain. So just being able to stay on top of things.

Brian Pruett: [00:34:20] All right. So give us a little bit of advice on actually, I mean, I know the biggest thing is just take the first step, but give us advice on how somebody can take their first step and reach out to you or anybody else that’s in the industry who want to take and get better, get just get healthier.

Linda Oviatt: [00:34:36] It’s taking that first step. And I think community is so important. And so I think that’s what I offer most is community. Sometimes people like to just stay on the outside of my Facebook page, which is living well made simple. You can sit over there and I mean, you can go in there and search everything from. Eye health to colon health in there. And then I get people liking and then I get people maybe kind of commenting and then I finally get the person that wants to, you know, they’ll DM me or something like that and they’ll finally reach out. But I think being able to establish that trust first is probably the biggest thing and being able to work with somebody.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:19] Awesome. Well, Linda, thank you for sharing a little bit of your story. Again, don’t go anywhere because we’re not really done yet. So I’m going to move over to Mr. Justin Arndt.

Justin Arndt: [00:35:26] Hey, what’s up? Brian.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:27] So. Justin Arndt Media.

Justin Arndt: [00:35:29] Yeah, yeah. Justin Arndt Media.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:31] You are a former first responder, as Teddy mentioned, you are a former police officer. You’ve served for Powder Springs and Kennesaw, so thank you for your service for that as well. But you had to kind of reinvent yourself.

Justin Arndt: [00:35:45] Yes. And first off, thank you, Brian, for having everybody us, you know, like us on the show. I really appreciate that. And yeah, so I was a police officer again, not the service level of the military like Teddy here, but I did serve my community for eight years. I did six and a half years with Powder Springs and then moved on to Kennesaw. And I unfortunately, I got into a minor car accident and I’ve got some back issues and I medically resigned in 2020. And so I wanted to work at my own pace. I didn’t know whether I should work for somebody right off the bat. And in 2021, I decided to work at my own pace as a business owner, and it was very scary. I don’t know if you all experienced the same thing, but yeah, it’s scary to be on your own and doing your own thing and not having like a strict schedule. So it was definitely a big learning curve for me. Did you all have like the same experience with that? Yeah.

Linda Oviatt: [00:36:43] You like to eat.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:46] And pay the bills? Yeah. So how did you decide that it was going to be videography and photography?

Justin Arndt: [00:36:52] Yeah. So I’ve been around cameras all my life. My. My parents invested in a camera when I was a very young child. I was a baby. And so I have all that video footage. I have all the photos of when I was younger. So I saw the value in that very quickly. So I’ve been having cameras in my hands since, you know, when I was in high school and just playing around and doing photo and video stuff, learning how to edit. And I made the decision to go into that sector and provide photo work, video work and even aerial photo and video work because of the drone systems that are out there that are available now.

Brian Pruett: [00:37:32] You know, so when I was growing up and I learned, you know, people could actually make money doing photography, I’m like, you’re kidding me, dude.

Justin Arndt: [00:37:38] It’s the best trick in the world, man. I trick these people into paying me to take their photos.

Brian Pruett: [00:37:43] So you started with just the basic kind of like headshots and stuff like that and then, you know, moved into other things, Right?

Justin Arndt: [00:37:50] Well, so I wanted to do like branding photos, like if brick and mortar had like a restaurant needed photos of the outside and interior photos of their food, maybe a video to put online. And with my back injury, man, I just I didn’t want to lug all that damn gear, dude. You know what I’m saying, right? Like, my back’s hurt, like it’s injured. I’ve got some disc issues. And so I decided to just stick with the aerial photo and video work because it was a lot less equipment to lug around, you know?

Brian Pruett: [00:38:23] Right. So it’s kind of cool. We’ll talk about what you’re getting ready to do. You started a new passion with the photography and stuff and we’ll get to that in a second. But what I think is really cool is you also started some drone things that you’re going to be doing some drone shows. Yeah.

Justin Arndt: [00:38:41] So get this audience. Imagine, imagine a hundred drones in the sky all illuminating it and certain sequences providing like images and animations and graphics and stuff. A lot of people out there have seen drone light shows already online and not many people have seen them in person. And I’d in North Georgia there there are a handful of people who are offering this, but not too many. And I’m part owner of this company called Hot Wing Drone Shows. And the other owners are my friend Danny and his wife, Jenna.

Brian Pruett: [00:39:15] So you got anything that you guys are working on? Some stuff, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Justin Arndt: [00:39:18] So we are gearing up for the holidays. I know it sounds crazy, but it takes a while to to get these these things done. And we just bought a Christmas show and we’re reviewing it. We’re finalizing it here soon. And basically the show is built online or not online, but on a an application or a program. It’s 3D software. And these drone shows are created and we just got one built. And so if you’re familiar with like Jpeg files, these these have path files, these these are files that go and get uploaded to one drone at a time when we lay them. Out on the grid and we press a button and that drone has that one file and information and that drone knows where to be and swarm in a formation with everybody else. And we have 100 of them.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:07] That’s crazy. So a lot of times I. We follow each other on Facebook and stuff and I see videos. You say, this is my office for the day and a lot of times I see you at construction sites and all that. So talk about that.

Justin Arndt: [00:40:17] A little bit. So that’s that’s mainly my aerial video and photography stuff and construction companies and marketing firms, they need content and the media team, the people who handle the website and the social media. Those people love the office. They don’t want to go out in the field because it’s hot, right? It’s like, I mean, look how hot it is today. So they hire people like me to go out and take photo and videos for their content for both digital and print.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:48] That’s cool. So all right, so you have just started something that’s really cool for photography. You have a passion obviously for the community as well, and specifically the veterans. So talk about your new passion and what you’re going to be doing.

Justin Arndt: [00:41:00] Yes. And thank you. And this is the only reason kind of why I’m on the show to talk about this, because and with me being out of law enforcement or public safety and me being a little bit more active in the American Legion post 29 here in Marietta, down the street, I’ve kind of thought about starting a project maybe a year and a half ago where I provide professional portraits for military veterans absolutely free. And I think we’ve figured out a way to partner with the American Legion Post 29in Marietta to provide studio space and a lot certain days of the month for me to come in and provide that service for not only members, but to advertise and bring people from wherever if they want their photo taken. Here’s where I’m going to be at these three days out of the month and come at your leisure type of thing. And it’s it’s all free there. I just secured my second contract with a government agency, the City of Powder Springs, actually. So I’ll do their portraits on site and that’s that’s an expense there that that does cost money. So I want to photograph first responders and and veterans and just highlight the women and men who serve this country and our local community here.

Brian Pruett: [00:42:15] That’s awesome. So you were sharing with me, too, that local businesses could get involved with that, right? Because they can help sponsor.

Justin Arndt: [00:42:21] Yeah. So you Harley PD, for example, I know the chief over there, we actually had a portion of the cost covered by a local insurance agency. Her name is Maj Lovingood. She’s with the Bird Insurance Agency. And she and her her partners actually went there while we did the shoot and got the meet and greet all the officers while they were hanging out, waiting their turn to get photographed.

Brian Pruett: [00:42:47] Imagine tearing that groups. Amazing because they’re one of my sponsors too, for the deluxe sponsor for my trivia show all year long. So yeah, there’s an amazing organization. So, um, other than the reason of being a former first responder and serving the community, why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Justin Arndt: [00:43:04] Well, I think it’s important for everybody to be a part of any kind of community that that, you know, they feel appropriate to be a part of. It builds leadership characteristics, right. And and giving back, being able to give back and volunteer and do things for the common good rather than yourself, that that definitely is important here in today’s time. And yeah, I think the younger generation will hopefully, you know, have that in mind or at least grasp the concept of that.

Brian Pruett: [00:43:36] If somebody who is listening wants to follow you and learn about when the drone zones are going to happen and where, how can they do that?

Justin Arndt: [00:43:43] Okay. So the the hot wing drone show company, it’s it’s hot wing drone shows on Instagram, all one word and they can reach us out reach out to us there and and the project that I’m started and I’m starting soon is called our local heroes and they can find me on Instagram at our local heroes all one word and that’s that’s the passion project that I’m working on.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:11] So you’ve actually also approached me and said you would like to photography some of my events too, and I appreciate that. We’ve got some stuff we’re going to be working on with you, and I’m looking forward to that. So when you’re working on the videography and the photography, is it just a certain amount of Atlanta or can you go all over? What’s your range?

Justin Arndt: [00:44:30] Oh, well, I generally the metro Atlanta area, I’ll I’ll go as far as I need to if it’s you know worth worth the the return. Right. Everybody has a price. But I like to stick with, you know, Cobb County, especially because I live work and play in Cobb and any other outside adjacent counties is fine but metro Atlanta Atlanta area in general.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:54] Awesome. He just reminded me of my days growing up because he said. Has a price. And that was the main dollar man, Ted DiBiase saying.

Justin Arndt: [00:45:01] So I’m glad I sparked that memory.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:05] You got to have fun, right? So. Right. All right. If somebody is listening and wants your services for the business, how can they do that?

Justin Arndt: [00:45:11] Oh, so it’s Justin Artmedia. You can actually go. It’s justin.com is my website and that’s spelled Justin a r n d t.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:24] So you talked earlier, you know, you took the step to start a business and it was obviously scary. I think all of us in this room have done that. So I’m going to come back to all of you on this question. But Justin, I want you to start give somebody some advice, what to do when they if they’re thinking about starting a business.

Justin Arndt: [00:45:40] Okay. So you asked me first that they have time to think about it like a good answer. All right. So the question is, any advice I can give somebody thinking about starting their own business? Correct? I would say be patient. It’s not going to be great. Right at first, the first start, unless you get lucky and that happens. But yeah, give it give it a chance. I was told three years. That’s that’s a long time and it’s okay to have a full time job and then do something that you’re passionate about on the side to see if it grows. But it’ll never grow as, as large as you want it unless you put in 100% of your time.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:23] Teddy.

Speaker8: [00:46:25] Oh, boy.

Teddy Mathis: [00:46:28] Well, I’ve owned a business of some sort since I was 22. I could probably tell you there is a reason that only 2% of the people in America own businesses because it’s going to take everything you’ve got and in some. And but at the end of the day. Uh, probably my biggest advice is is. Is get ready to work hard because you’re going to gladly do it. If it’s for you, you will work twice as hard for yourself as you will for someone else. And just like Justin said, when it looks like the rewards aren’t there, you’re just one one deal away. You’re one. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring. So but you better be tough because it’s going to require it.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:18] Yeah. Linda.

Linda Oviatt: [00:47:20] Be coachable. Get a team of people around you. Ask people who’ve gone there, done it. Make sure you have two, three people that you can check in with at least monthly run ideas by. They’re going to tell you whether you’re crazy or not, whether they’ll be supporting of you. Listen to podcasts, stop listening to the news and start listening to John Maxwell. Start listening to any kind of leadership, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial podcasts that are going to encourage you to keep on going.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:51] Charitable Georgia too, because it’s all about good stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:47:53] Oh.

Teddy Mathis: [00:47:54] Justin’s got probably something that just came to mind is I would say the second best piece of advice I could be is before before you do go into business. It’s just like anything else that you want to have success in is be as prepared as possible. One of the biggest failures or causes of failure in business ownership is Undercapitalization. We try to start it with nothing. Thank God I’ve had success that way. But all too often just be prepared and especially be capitalized to where that you can have every option that you can to succeed.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:36] And all of that is great advice. The other thing I would add into that too is don’t be afraid to fail because everybody’s going to and you mentioned John Maxwell. He’s got a great book called Fail Forward, and everybody needs to read that book because it’s not a failure. It’s your you know, somebody else told me to it’s God’s stepping stone. Got something better for you. Another thing that I would say is get out there and network. We all in this room, network. That’s how we all know each other in multiple networking events. So I’m going to ask all three of you this question as well, and we’ll coming back to you first this time. Linda Okay. Um, can you share a story about networking that may be a testimonial of how network has worked for you?

Linda Oviatt: [00:49:19] Oh, gosh. I think the testimony would be consistency. I just had a phone call yesterday from a lady who talked to me last October out of the blue. She has my name and my phone number. Like I said, I’m not hard to find. But she called me and she had talked to me last October constantly be thinking about what you can do for others and not what you’re looking for somebody to do for you. Amen.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:48] Preach it.

Linda Oviatt: [00:49:49] Connect, connect, connect. It will come back to you eventually.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:54] Teddy, you got one You can share.

Teddy Mathis: [00:49:57] Um, networking in general. I don’t have just one. I would say that that’s a huge foundation of my entire business. I think Linda said it best right there is that, you know, for very little money or no money, in a lot of cases, we network at places where we just go have lunch, you know. But but it’s a very inexpensive way to to get your name out there. But when you do it on a personal level like that, you know, you and I are friends. You know, Justin and I are friends. Linda. I’ve known Linda for 20 years or right out. So, you know, when people see that they can trust you and that they like you and that you’ll do what you say when you say you’ll do it, you get a lot of free salespeople for your business because they they want you to succeed.

Justin Arndt: [00:50:58] Justin I agree with both Linda and Teddy here. Yeah, those are all good points. It’s hard to follow that. They mentioned a lot. I would say to piggyback off and consistency and building relationships, it’s it’s all about who knows you likes you trusts you and I guess a testimonial. As far as a networking for me, yesterday I had a video call with Atlanta Braves Truist Park for events and I was connected to them with somebody who does events and I did not know her until I knew somebody else at one of these networking events who introduced me to them. So there’s like three, three chains of people that, you know, led to a video call with, you know, the Atlanta Braves. So we’re talking about drone light show stuff. And, you know, there might be an event next year that we might be able to to perform for.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:58] So that’s awesome. It’s kind of like a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Yeah. Yeah. So, no, it’s cool. I mean, consistency, right? Because if you’re there all the time, people get to know you. And look, not everybody in the room is going to be a client. Not everybody in the room is going to be a good fit. But I’ve I’ve learned that, you know, when I first started networking, I went to an Internet hungry guy and I was like, here’s my card. Where’s your card? Where’s my card? You know, I’m going to sell you. And then that’s obviously not the way to do it because you’re not going to get anything. I had, you know, Shea like butter out of the blue. Now, she doesn’t not work with us as much as she used to because we don’t have a really group out there in Paulding County as much. But she reached out to me two days ago on Messenger out of the blue, and told me how much she thinks this show is about ready to take off. I didn’t even know she was listening, you know? So it’s just it’s pretty cool because it’s just those those connections. All right. So one thing that I like to do as we’re wrapping up the show is I ask everybody the same question, too. So we’ll get you guys get to think about this, but I want you guys each to share one positive quote word nugget. So somebody who’s listening now can listen today and the rest of 20, 22, 2023 and beyond. I’ll get it. Adam. I can’t see past my teeth. Um, so, Teddy, we’ll start with you. Can you give us one positive quote nugget? What can people what can you share?

Teddy Mathis: [00:53:14] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:17] Yes, Linda.

Linda Oviatt: [00:53:20] Oh, don’t worry. Be happy.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:23] Wow. My mom’s favorite song. Justin, what you got?

Justin Arndt: [00:53:26] Perseverance.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:27] Awesome. And I do this, too. Now. Going for it again. The simple thank you is a lost art today. So I want to thank each of you. Teddy, thank you for what you’re doing for the veterans and the. And the kids in the community. Linda, thank you for what you’re doing for everybody in the community, trying to help people healthier. And Justin, thank you for what you’re doing for the firstrillionesponders and the veterans as well. And thank you all for coming on the show. Remember, everybody out there that’s listening, Let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.