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Intro: [00:00:07] 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 Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday, and we’ve got two fabulous guests here this morning. We’re supposed to have three, but our other guest is sick with a stomach bug, so we’ll get her back on here. But again, we’ve got two fabulous guests. And if this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positive things happening in the community. So we are going to get started with Meena Lahku. I say it right. That’s right. Awesome. I get brownie points for doing it right. So you’re with 52 Compassionate Hearts as well as Best Version Media. So we’ll get into all that in just a second. But you’ve got a pretty cool backstory and it leads into your passion of what you’re doing. So if you don’t mind, just share your story with us.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:23] Okay, well, that’s. How much time do we have?

Brian Pruett: [00:01:27] I’ve got till 5:00. I don’t know about Holly, but.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:30] Okay, well, where should I start? I mean, you’ve heard the story, so it could. It could? Well, just.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:38] Our listeners don’t know anything about you, so just give a little bit about your background, and then while you’re doing well, we’ll talk about 52 Compassionate Arts in the magazine. But there’s a reason why you’ve started both of those. But so share just a little bit of share as much as you want to. Because like I tell people all the time, you don’t know who’s listening, who might need to hear your story.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:54] Right? Okay. Well, so there’s definitely a significance behind the name 52 beginnings. And just to kind of back up a little bit, you know, I guess the story started of the main part of it started. I’ll say like in 2019 and basically decided to start a business of my own with somebody that I was engaged to at the time. And, you know, things didn’t go as we had planned, so that relationship didn’t work out. It wasn’t a very positive relationship, to say the least. And, you know, I kind of came to a point where I had to make some decisions and decided to to to leave that opportunity. Although I loved the environment, the place that I was in, the type of work which was more in hospitality, it was a bed and breakfast, a a historic home that was transported up to the North Georgia mountains. There was an event venue seated 200 people. It was just a gorgeous, gorgeous property and I loved it up there. But it was also a toxic personal environment. Somewhat, I hate to say it, but somewhat of an abusive relationship that I had, I had to get out of. So I made that decision in 2020 to just leave and cut my losses. And whatever happens, happens. And chips kind of fall where they may. And so that happened in March of 2020, and we all know what happened that month as well. So, you know, just as things would have it, that particular week that I left, Covid was not as big of a deal.

Meena Lahku: [00:04:09] People were talking about it, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t a lockdown or anything like that. We had just had some guests from China and directly flew in from China. There was a international boarding school located next to us, so they just had flown in. My daughter wasn’t feeling well and so I did not go visit my dad and. You know, for obvious reasons. And so I left that week, and later on that week my dad passed away. And that same within a like the day before that. That was a Saturday. So like on Friday the world decided to shut down. And so timing like everything was just awful, awful, awful. Like when it rains it pours type of thing. You know, we had to have the funeral at home. It was just nobody knew what anybody else was doing. It was just a bad time. So basically from there, just, you know, we were all at home. I went to real estate school online because what else can I do? And my heart wasn’t really in it. I really that’s not what I wanted to pursue, but I knew what I didn’t want was to go back to work for somebody else on somebody else’s time and money and work every weekend, work at nights, and miss the summers and miss the holidays and all of that.

Meena Lahku: [00:05:38] So, um, and I and if I didn’t mention this, I’m a single mom. I have three kids, so that in itself is a challenge. Anyhow, long story short, I was blessed enough to have the opportunity within that next couple of years after that to be able to take my mom, to go visit family and able to take care of her while she had knee replacement surgery. Things of that nature. Um. When it came to a point where, okay, I need to, you know, figure out what I’m going to do next. Uh, you know, I took odd jobs in between. And one of them was to basically, you know, help a person that I considered a good friend of mine at the time, we had known each other for ten years, somebody I trusted, somebody who I laughed and cried with, like, everything. And basically that ended up into another bad situation where basically I just did not get paid for about nine months worth of work and it just wasn’t good. And just to kind of make things right, I won’t get into big, big long story, but to make things right, I. I pretty much demanded that. I guess things be put in a manner that that they should have been in, in terms of payments. So I started an LLC and I was 51 at that time, and I was on the verge of turning 52. And I’ve always been the same person I am today, which I’ve always had a positive outlook in life, and everything happens for a reason.

Meena Lahku: [00:07:32] I don’t know why all of this has happened, but something good is going to come out of it. I don’t know what it is, but something good is going to happen. I was about to turn 52 and I just went with 52 beginnings, knowing that there was a bigger, brighter future ahead. So that’s where 52 beginnings comes from. And, you know, moving forward from that is when I connected with Best Version media and it just aligned with every single. Way my brain thinks and feels about the community, about being compassionate, about being having a fun, loving spirit. A professional will and a compassionate heart. Those are the three pillars that they stand by. Almost so good that I kind of didn’t believe it. You know, I was like, oh, this is way too good to be true, right? So anyways, that’s that’s where that comes from. And I, you know, moving on with that, I basically turned it into 52. 52. 52 beginnings local media, which has with the print and digital publication in the town lake area, there’s about 42 publications now in the Georgia area. Most of those are in the Atlanta area. So, you know, with that, it goes into another big long story. I don’t know how much you want to hear, Brian. You like opened up a. That’s right.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:17] The people tell me I do that all the time. So well a couple of questions. So first of all, we had one of your cohorts on here, Caitlin Thomas, who’s doing the Cartersville Living from Virgin Media over there. So and she’s got the same kind of heart. So my first question is going through what you did, especially with somebody you thought was a friend and, and then dealing the stuff with your dad and all that. A lot of people might have shut down at the time and said, you know what? Community is not there. It’s just it’s terrible. It sucks. Whatever the case may be, you decided to turn that around and keep going and push through and you have a heart for community. So why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Meena Lahku: [00:09:56] I just have faith in people. So, you know, there were so many times that people told me, you’re just too nice. You’re too nice, and that’s why this happens to you. I’m like, I just. Yeah, that’s great and everything, but I’m not going to change the way I am. I mean, I like who I am, I like being nice, I like being compassionate, I like helping people, and I believe that there’s other people that feel the same way. So why why become something that is so unnatural and something that I don’t want to be, you know, just to get further in life monetarily. You know, that’s I don’t I just don’t personally believe. That’s right. So I believe that there is a community out there of people which I have seen in the Cherokee County area that do have a compassionate heart, that that that do look out for each other.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:53] Which, you know, there’s a there’s a lot of pockets out there of these types of community from Cherokee and Bartow. You know, Cobb, you know, and I sit down and talk to people every day and learn their stories. And that’s what birthed Charitable Georgia, because there’s a lot of great stories out there, and that’s what needs to be heard. Not all this negativity and scare tactics that the mainstream media puts out. So it’s just great to I mean, you do so much for the community. I mean, you you’ve even turned your backyard into an event facility, which you just had an event. So you kind of focus right now on working with people with the brain, brain injuries, brain tumors, all the above. We share about that.

Meena Lahku: [00:11:30] Sure. So. When it came to my first publication, I had one full page that was generously donated by a corporate sponsor who didn’t need the space he just donated. You know, the the cost of it. And so I needed to put something on that page, and I wanted to give it back to a cause. And so upon doing some research, I found out that this was in the month of July. And so I found out that July 19th is Glioblastoma Awareness Day. It was the fifth year that it’s been nationally recognized. I was dumbfounded and like that. I didn’t even know that that existed because my brother passed away of a glioblastoma. And so the moment I saw that, I knew that that was it. I knew that I had to do something to bring awareness to that day and to to all the different types of brain cancers that are out there, because there is such little research that has been done in such little progression in decades with treatments and things. So, you know, basically what ended up happening was I had a friend of mine, do, you know, kind of get the information together. He’s a retired physician. I figured he’d be the best person to, you know, get all this together for me. And things didn’t quite pan out. And I stayed up the night before my deadline thinking, oh my gosh, what am I going to put on this page? I don’t know what I can do, what I can’t do.

Meena Lahku: [00:13:17] I’ve never done this before and ended up connecting with someone at the National Brain Tumor Society almost, almost by accident. We both almost thought it was the wrong number and hung up, but ended up spending probably an hour and a half or so on the phone with her. She. The night before, while I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with this page, I my wheels just started turning and I like had all these ideas of, oh, I could do this, I could do this. And so when I was sharing that with her, she was like, we could totally do that and we will support you in that. And within a couple of hours, I was, you know, connected with their marketing department and we got that page together. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to do at that time, but we knew we were going to do something. So that’s how 52 Compassionate Hearts began. And it’s basically a year long fundraising effort that started on July 19th of this year. That will go on through July 19th of 2024. My goal is to to work with 52 compassionate hearted people or businesses and create these teams where we’re all supporting each other. We’re all supporting the communities, whether it’s the families or the businesses, that doesn’t matter. There’s a way that everybody can make it work and it doesn’t cost anybody any money, which is amazing. And and my goal is to raise $52,000 by that date.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:50] So you just said it doesn’t cost any money. Can you share more about what that looks like?

Meena Lahku: [00:14:54] Sure. So the way I’ve got it set up with the National Brain Tumor Society on the site is you can either donate money and just just do that and be done with it and no big deal. Or you can become a fund raiser where you can either join an existing team or you can create your own team. So if you either want is fine, if you create your own team and neither one of those options cost any money, it’s just a way of you to be able to participate. But with that, if you create your own team, you get your own web page where you can customize and, you know, put in your if you’re a business, put in your business logo. If you’re an individual, you could, you know, if you want to do it as a family incentive for the kids or, you know, use it personally, just, you know, you can customize it however you want and do a fundraising campaign on your own or not. Just do it like if you want to lose weight, if you set up a goal to every time I lose a pound, I’m going to donate a dollar, you know, set it up however you want. It doesn’t matter. It just matters that everybody participates in one way or another. And at the end of the year, if we all do it, then I don’t think getting $52,000, I know it won’t be a problem.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:14] So share right now, if somebody is listening and says, I want to be a part of that, how can they do that? How can they get a hold of you or go build their team, or what they need to do.

Meena Lahku: [00:16:21] So they can connect with me on? Well, there’s a couple of ways. I think the easiest way would be, well, there’s Facebook, you can look me up on Facebook or you can go to 52 beginnings.com. And you know, that’s my website. And you can you can find it on there as well. There is a link but it’s kind of long. So yeah I’m not going to say that right now, but.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:49] Just reach out to her the way she said. And you can get more information on that as well. So. Right. All right. So let’s talk a little bit more about the magazine. So what’s the name of the magazine that you currently have.

Meena Lahku: [00:16:57] Neighbors of Town Lake. All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:58] So it goes actually just to the town Lake area. Yeah. And is that directly mailed to the homes?

Meena Lahku: [00:17:04] It’s mailed directly to the homes. And it goes to the communities in that area they do not subscribe to. That they don’t, you know, they don’t pay for it. It just gets delivered right to their homes. It’s a private publication, so it’s not online or anywhere.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:20] And so how do you go about finding your stories for the magazine?

Meena Lahku: [00:17:24] Well, we ask for the community to submit them. So, you know, the magazine is the reason why the concept works so well. It’s a branding concept, and it works so well because the information in it is derived from the community. I’m not going around interviewing people or writing stories myself or my, you know, my content coordinator who’s fabulous. She does write the stories, but she writes them for the businesses that are sponsoring the publication. So everything is very local. All the pictures and all the content come directly from the community. Therefore, they’re going to flip through every page because they want to know, you know, if if their content got put into that particular edition or not.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:13] I think it’s funny, a lot of people talk these days that print is dead, but it’s kind of cool to see different, a lot of different community type magazines coming out at the time, because people do love still holding something in their hand, flipping the pages, reading it, looking at it. And when it comes to the community, especially a buddy of mine and I had a magazine a few years ago called Northwest Georgia Rising Stars, and it was all positive feature stories on the kids in the high schools in Bartow and Gordon counties, whether they played sports or not. And it was such a well received thing that I think people love, again, positive stories about the community. So if a businesses I’m assuming businesses, you talk about business sponsoring the magazine and it’s more or less them advertising. Correct.

Meena Lahku: [00:18:56] It’s advertising, but it also gives it also allows for the community to be able to submit that content. Right. So if a business is sponsoring, say, the pet page or the recipe page, then yes, half of it is like an ad of their own, which we also encourage them to make it more educational. Give people the reason why they should choose them. When there’s like a sea full of other businesses that do the exact same thing, why should they go to them? Right? So be a little bit more informative that way. But then the rest of the page is where the community can, you know, can submit their content and it gives them space as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:37] How often does the magazine is it mailed out? Is it once a month or.

Meena Lahku: [00:19:42] It’s every single month?

Brian Pruett: [00:19:43] Every single month. Yeah.

Meena Lahku: [00:19:44] And then the what we also do, which is really great, which no other company does, is we’ll take the the ads, I’ll just call them ads that are in the publication and reformat those according to the specs on Google, Facebook and Instagram and run those campaigns on those platforms as well. So they’re getting that many more impressions.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:07] So if a business is listening and wants to do that with your magazine and be a sponsor, how can they get a hold of you for that?

Meena Lahku: [00:20:13] Well, probably the same way. It would just be either through Facebook. You can find me there, you can find me through there’s a business web page. Business Facebook page that’s neighbors of Town Lake. They can that would probably be the easiest way to to look me up. Or they can look me up personally. Message me that way or go to the website.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:36] Another thing we talk about a lot on the show is networking. And I’ve seen pictures of you at networking events, so I know you network as well. So do you have a positive story you can share about networking and how it’s helped you?

Meena Lahku: [00:20:48] Um. Absolutely I think. Just just getting around like minded people that, you know, have the same goals and want to, you know, in all networking groups are different. You know, I kind of tend to, to, to go to the ones where I can make more of a personal connection and get to know people. So, yeah, it’s definitely something that I feel is very powerful and that can help everybody in every business and definitely support that. I think what I was trying to do with the event this past Friday was incorporate the 52 beginnings Compassionate Heart like, combine those efforts and create a networking opportunity that was more in the evening, as opposed to 730 in the morning, right when a lot of people can’t make it. So give them another opportunity. Give those business leaders another opportunity. And I think.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:56] It’s important to you that you mentioned about going and establishing the personal relationship side, because too many people make the mistake of going right into networking and trying to sell, and you can’t do that.

Meena Lahku: [00:22:07] Oh, yeah. Well, I kind of found that out the hard way because I had no idea how the whole networking thing worked. And yeah, I did do that. I thought that’s what we were supposed to do. And so I was actually kind of relieved to find out, no, that’s not what you do, because I wasn’t comfortable doing that in the first place. I’m more of a people person. I like to get to know people. I build relationships. If things happen, they happen great. If they don’t, no big deal either. We’re just trying to create an environment that helps everybody, you know, and it may not be for everybody. And that’s okay too, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:22:47] Which it’s kind of funny because nowadays I get more uncomfortable talking about myself than listening to about somebody. I’d rather sit down and learn about you than to talk about me all day long. So it’s definitely go in with the open mind and heart about learning and how you can help somebody else than yourself, and it’ll come back to you whether it’s immediate or not. It’ll come back to you. Absolutely. So a couple other questions for you. So first of all, the first question is other than networking, how do you get the word out about 52 beginnings 52 Compassionate Hearts. And then how do you get the word out about the magazine?

Meena Lahku: [00:23:20] Um. Well, social media is really big. That’s very helpful. So I’m not the best at that. I will admit it’s hasn’t been my thing, but that is definitely, you know, something that I’m working on is is putting more out there to. To get more awareness and for more people to participate and going to more events myself.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:55] So you’ve been on both sides of this too. So if somebody is listening first of all and is thinking about starting their own business, give them some advice on what to do. The other aspect is if somebody is listening wants to start a nonprofit, what advice for them?

Meena Lahku: [00:24:09] Well, starting with your own business, I would say definitely have a business plan and think it through thoroughly. You know what I see a lot of is people that are so passionate about doing whatever it is that they’re doing, whether they’re making something or it really doesn’t matter, but they’re really passionate about their business, but they haven’t thought about the whole business process. And that’s where I believe that businesses fail, because you can love baking cookies or whatever it is you know, or, you know, art or whatever, whatever your business is. But if you don’t have the business plan to support it and the budget to support it, then it’s going to be a rough road. And you know that that directly, I guess, relates to me when we’re talking about marketing, because a lot of people don’t have a marketing budget, and therefore they try to do a lot of it themselves, and then they end up doing so much of it themselves that they don’t have time to do the actual thing that they love to do in the first place. So. Well, and.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:22] That’s the first thing people cut to is the marketing budget. They do have it, which is the last thing. So you have to always to my, in my opinion, have a marketing budget because you can people say, well, I have too many clients, I have enough clients. You can never have enough or too many, right? What happens if that? Well dries up? You need to be constantly doing that. So share some advice on starting a nonprofit.

Meena Lahku: [00:25:44] Well, technically I’m not a nonprofit, you know, yet. It is something I am considering. And. You know, I would just say like, get really educate yourself, talk to other people who have been there, done that, not other people who are thinking about it. Right. And, you know, just educate yourself and make sure that that’s the avenue you want to go down. You know, there’s a lot of logistics behind it, a lot of there’s a lot to it. So it’s not that simple.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:23] And I’ve had several other people and non-profits on here that too, that also say that look at other people, other non-profits in the area who might be doing what you want to do and align yourself with them first and then, you know, go from there because you can always partner. Right, right. And be a part of something that’s already there. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Meena Lahku: [00:26:40] Exactly, exactly. There’s no need to do that. Right?

Brian Pruett: [00:26:44] Right. You shared about your your year long fundraiser that you’re doing, but do you have any other events that are coming up or anything else you want to share that might be coming up you can let people know about?

Meena Lahku: [00:26:53] We have an educational event coming up in January, so we’re still working on the logistics of that, but that’s going to be our next one.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:01] And what kind of educational.

Meena Lahku: [00:27:03] It’s going to be more towards brain health and brain training. And we’re talking to some of the senior communities, local senior communities, about doing things that will help Alzheimer’s patients and dementia patients and things of that nature. So it’s going to be surrounded. You know, in that way. Okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:33] All right. So share one more time, either the website or the Facebook so people can follow up on that. And then again how they can connect with you.

Meena Lahku: [00:27:41] Sure. So they a website is 52 beginnings.com. And you can follow me or follow me on Facebook as well or Instagram. And it’s Meenaa. Meena Lahku. And the business page is neighbors of town.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:03] Like awesome. Meena, thanks for coming on and sharing a little bit of your story. Don’t go anywhere. We’re not technically not done with you, but thanks for coming on and sharing. We’re moving over now to miss Holly Payton, and I’m sure people have probably go, hey, I know that name. Well, her husband Stone is the one that owns the and runs the studio here. And when you hear her voice, you’ll say, I definitely know that voice because she does the intros and outros. But, Holly, thanks for being here this morning.

Holly Payton: [00:28:25] Thank you so much. I’m glad to be here.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:27] So you did something pretty incredible. Just what, a month and a half, two months ago you donated part of your body. So it’s kind of cool that when Stone shared it with me, it wasn’t somebody to directly. It was more of like a almost like a ring type thing. Can you share that? Sure.

Holly Payton: [00:28:45] Um, my best friend, Mary Guyer, we grew up in the Philadelphia area, and in February of 2021, she called to share with me that she had kidney disease. And at the end of the call, she asked, would it be okay if I sent you some information on on kidney donorship? I said, sure, and then she said, would you consider being a kidney donor? And I said yes. And so when Mary hung up the phone and she talked to her daughter Sarah. Sarah said, mom, you know, Holly’s going to have to talk to her family and a lot of people. So let’s not get too excited. And that was absolutely not the case. You introduced this by saying I did this incredible thing. People have reacted that way, and I feel like everybody in their life has somebody that they would do this for. Mary’s my son. Buddy. You know, I didn’t have to ask anybody else what they thought. Mary was my son, buddy. And the other thing I would say. If anyone is considering this. My friend Mary was challenged a little bit. She was disappointed that some of the people in her circle of friends and circle of influence didn’t jump at the chance, you know? And they said, oh, what if one of my children needs a kidney? I don’t think I can do this now.

Holly Payton: [00:30:33] And. I was raised that you pitch to the batter that’s at the plate. You don’t live your life. What if this. What if that? Mary was right in front of me. I had someone right in front of me that needed something. And it was something I could do something about. So. I contacted Emory University. Emory is the Emory University hospital. They are the hospital in the Atlanta area that has a kidney transplant program. And I was not a match for Mary. So what the. We went into the National Kidney Donor Registry and we were paired. So what that means is I’m not a match for her, but I’m donating on her behalf. And you. Let’s say you need a kidney. You, your person who wants to donate on your behalf isn’t a match. So my kidney goes to you and your person’s kidney goes to Mary. So they create a chain. And that chain can be a few people. It can be 25 and 30 people. So in a year and a half, nothing happened. By that I mean no chain was created. I was matched, but the chain. But Mary wasn’t. The chain never formed, or Mary was matched, but I wasn’t matched, and the chain never formed.

Holly Payton: [00:32:04] So we were both educated, Mary and I, from her coordinator in the Philadelphia area. Mine down here, that it would go faster for Mary if I would donate. If we would decouple, we wouldn’t be paired anymore in the National Kidney Donor Registry. And I would donate and go into the voucher program. And what? So on September the 5th, I went into have kidney donor surgery at Emory Hospital, and the next day my voucher went to Mary that someone has donated on her behalf. So she was active now in the National Kidney Donor Registry, and she’s just waiting for a match. So it you never know when that will happen, but her odds are much better now because we don’t have to pair two people, just her. And I feel in my heart of hearts that this will happen for her this fall sometime. She’s not on dialysis yet, but getting closer in the best of all possible worlds. She would get a kidney transplant before she goes on dialysis, but if that’s not the case, that’s not a problem. You can be on dialysis and stay healthy while you wait for your your kidney transplant.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:37] So with that is you mentioned the voucher part and stuff. So I guess is that part of still being I guess you’re on the list. The waiting list, like Mary is on a waiting list of certain, you know, when somebody gets one and then she moves up. Is that the way it works? Yes.

Holly Payton: [00:33:52] So in the National Kidney Donor Registry, the way it works is someone gives a kidney and you get you don’t just get. There has to be someone who is giving on your behalf. And either I give directly to you or I give it in a chain, or I give it and you get the voucher and and you will get. So I went was active in the voucher program probably in July. And in mid-August I got the call that I was a match, and it was a chain of about six people. And so I can’t know who my kidney went to or where it went. I have a feeling it got on a plane, because my surgery was at 6 a.m. and the recipient’s surgery was that evening. So I think it went on a plane. But the next day I learned that it was very successful and that the kidney was fully functioning in someone else on the operating table. So which was very cool.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:10] That’s awesome. So but you mentioned that you you can’t know is that obviously in Hollywood they can do what they want to, but you see things where people they meet their donors and stuff like that. Yes.

Holly Payton: [00:35:20] I could have requested that the recipient had my contact information. And that way they. You could have. I could have known. I could have met that person, or they could have met me. Uh, this sounds terrible. I chose not to do that because. It’s very humbling at times to receive all that wonderful good wishes. And and people are so amazed and they it’s hard for me to take sometimes. And so I thought, you know, if this person reached out, they would be so thankful. And so and you know. That would be a little awkward for me, so I didn’t. I chose not to do that. I’m just happy that I’m thrilled to death, that I heard that the kidney was functioning and the surgery went great for that person.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:28] Well, yeah, that’s that’s I mean, you got to be off the moon or the moon just to hear that. Anyway. So what kind of did you have to do any kind of like preparation or testing to, to go through before you did this?

Speaker1: [00:36:42] Sure.

Holly Payton: [00:36:42] So people should know a little bit about kidney donor ship. I learned a whole lot by doing this. Yes. So I contacted Emory and in in February and I was not in their program until June. So there is a lot of testing. There is a lot of blood work. I had to go to Emory for many hours one day. And you had a stress test, an echocardiogram, to an ultrasound of your heart before and after the stress test. You had a chest x ray. You had your blood pressure taken, you had a CT scan of your kidney. You had all all kinds of tests. Then it was during Covid. So this was a zoom call where now people would have face to face. But you met with a social worker to kind of assess your emotional and mental attitude about this. You met with the nephrologist who was a kidney, specializes in kidneys. You met with the surgeon. You met with the financial advisor from Emory. The amazing thing about kidney donor ship. Is the donor has no medical bills. The recipient pays all of your medical bills. Wow. And so when you talked financially, he was saying, you know, you’d be out of work for a time. And so, you know, were you prepared for that? I work for IBM, I’m a consultant for IBM. And IBM was unbelievably, unbelievably supportive of me. I went on short term disability so that I was paid while I was out. I didn’t have any medical bills. So that was an amazing part of this experience.

Brian Pruett: [00:38:45] That’s pretty wild because, you know, in one aspect you would think that it might be the other way around where the recipient shouldn’t have any medical bills either. Right. But I mean, that’s just really cool. So all right, you’ve already talked about you work for IBM. So you’re in the corporate world I am. And so obviously you have a giving heart, but you gave away a kidney. Um, but I know just from being with Stone, he talks about you all the time to believe good or good or bad, mostly good. But you you you too have a heart for the community. And so why is it important to be part of the community?

Holly Payton: [00:39:23] Oh my gosh. When we were trying to, we had a house in Marietta where we raised our kids and we knew we wanted to downsize and we wanted to move to a smaller community. And so we visited a lot of smaller communities around, and we came to Woodstock, and we kept coming back and kept coming back. And Stone loved that. There was music everywhere. You know, Madlife has music outside, and sometimes in the summer century House has music and reformation has, you know, there was music everywhere, and families and children and old people and young people and everybody’s downtown. And we fell in love with the community. And when we moved here over two years ago. We moved here right as the Reeves house was having their opening, and we went and I had the chance to talk to some of the people who have leadership positions in Woodstock Arts. And I was amazed. How in the world did a small town like this get the movers and shakers of Woodstock to buy in to having such a thriving art community? I just I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And so I was very anxious when we moved here to get involved. And so I. I love Woodstock Arts. I think that the people in the leadership positions do such a magnificent job. And so I have participated in art on the spot where artists create something and then whatever you create gets raffled off.

Holly Payton: [00:41:08] I teach watercolor classes at the Reeves house. I’ve taken clay classes at the Kish House, and in February of this past year, I got the chance to act in murder on the Orient Express. That was done in February at the theater. So I this is kind of funny. I have an acting degree from the University of Florida. So yes, you can work at IBM and have an acting degree college degree. I did go back and get a master’s in instructional design, and that’s what brought me to IBM. But I started taking oil painting classes when I was young, and I, I went to to college as an art major, but I couldn’t do it every day. I was taking an avocation, trying to turn it into a vocation that didn’t work. So I had painting skills, and I and I had artistic skills. When I was in the play in February, I had not acted in 45 years, but it was such a magnificent experience. So Stone, I don’t know everybody in town. Stone knows everybody in town. So he loves, loves that aspect of the community. And I have really gotten to appreciate the artistic side of the Woodstock community. They are fabulous. The opportunities abound. There’s all kinds of volunteer opportunities within Woodstock Arts. People can get involved in so many ways.

Brian Pruett: [00:42:47] Well, that’s a good point. Well, first of all, I do know that Stone loves being here because there’s beer right around the corner and he can go have his beer anytime he wants to. That’s right. And he can drive his golf cart now. So. Right. But you’re talking about the volunteering aspect of it. And I think that’s really cool and important to talk about, even if you’re in the corporate world, because, you know, there’s these small business owners who are all out doing the networking aspect of it, you don’t get to do that as much being in the corporate world. And so giving back and volunteering, I think is important to talk about because, you know, there’s these people that come, I might have worked ten hours a day. I’m so tired or whatever this weekend. I just want to do for myself. And I think when you find out of the volunteer opportunities and you do that and you give back, you get more.

Holly Payton: [00:43:29] Absolutely, absolutely. Woodstock arts.org is their website. They host Lantern series on the green. They host art exhibits on the green. They have the art a gallery at the Reeves House. They teach art classes at the Reeves House. The Kish House is where they have all their clay classes. They have the theater. You can volunteer to help put up art gallery shows. Man, you learn a lot about what happens behind the scenes and an art gallery. It’s very educational, and you can volunteer at the theater to take tickets or to hand out brochures or to work the concession stands. There’s all kinds of volunteerism at the when they have the Lantern series shows to seat people, to take tickets to, you know, serve wine and etcetera. So there’s just so it doesn’t matter what you what skills you have or don’t have, there is an opportunity for you to be a part of that world in, in your volunteering.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:49] And I think that, again, just being part of the community in whatever you do, because I know I have family members who’ve turned into hermits, they just want to stay at home.

Speaker5: [00:44:59] And.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:59] You know, and Covid did so much wrong for people in that way. But you’re right. Just giving back whatever you can do and it makes you feel good, you.

Holly Payton: [00:45:09] Know, and you meet so many wonderful, fabulous, talented, energetic people that it just everything you give to them, they give back to you.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:18] Right. So being how long have you been at IBM?

Holly Payton: [00:45:23] 22 years.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:25] Have you again been in the corporate? You don’t get to do networking I’m assuming, but have you ever been in an opportunity to do networking events and if so, do you have a positive story for networking?

Speaker6: [00:45:37] Oh.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:40] You can actually talk about the like you just talked about what the art and stuff. That’s technically everything you do is networking.

Holly Payton: [00:45:45] Everything you do is networking. I have been able I’ve been blessed to be able to go to events where IBM has a booth, conferences where IBM has a booth, and I’ve been a presenter at at conferences on behalf of IBM. And your comment earlier to Meena about networking is not about selling. It doesn’t matter whether it’s volunteering or small business or corporate business. People do business with people they like and people they trust. And I, I am often uncomfortable because I don’t sell, but I’m happy to listen to challenges your corporation might have. My expertise for IBM is in implementing major change. So major disruptive transformation or or systems and so on. And so I’m happy to listen to the challenges that you might be having and share with you my experience. If I have anything that could help you tweak what you’re doing to be a little bit more successful or share with you, I don’t know if this would work for you, but this is what I’ve found to be successful in working with organizations going through it. So it’s not about selling, it’s simply me giving to you, you sharing with me, and you build those relationships and it goes from there.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:20] And it’s kind of funny you said you’re not into selling, but technically you are, because everybody sells themselves.

Speaker5: [00:47:23] Everybody.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:24] That’s true. Yeah. So. Well let me I’ve got a couple other questions. I want to go to the. Being a corporate and a small business, I run into a lot of people. I used to be in the corporate world. I just couldn’t handle it anymore. So I started this small business. And I know you haven’t had the opportunity to start a business. Stone’s been in this situation, but do you have any advice for anybody who might be thinking about either one, staying in a corporate world or starting a business? You got any any advice for some folks?

Holly Payton: [00:47:56] So I am not an entrepreneur. I married an entrepreneur, but I am not an entrepreneur. I would say from the outside looking in. One of the biggest things that that Stone and I differ on is he is a risk taker. I am not. I take risks all the time. But I am blessed to work in a community where failure is fine because you fail fast, you learn fast, you recover fast, and you move forward. But as an entrepreneur, it’s a little bit bigger risk, you know? And so I would say if you want to start a business, you need to look at and really be self examining as to how big of a risk taker are you? I echo Echo Mina’s suggestion. You have to not only have a passion for the business you’re going to start. But you also and lots of people don’t have both of these. You have to have a business sense and a business plan. You have to understand. Where your what’s your supply chain is? All the things that I work in in IBM, you know, you have to understand your supply chain. You have to understand the finances of it, the tax ramifications. There’s a whole lot to starting a business. And you really have to have expertise or grow your expertise, educate yourself, you know, really learn about it in a lot of different things. It’s not just the passion for what the business is, but it’s all of those business aspects. So to start your own business is is, you know, there’s a lot to, to be good at for those people who, who do it. Well.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:01] The other thing you just talked about, which I think is cool and something I didn’t think about until you just mentioned it, but a lot of the folks that I know that Stone brings in here and people that I’ve had on my show are the entrepreneurs. And you said you’re married to an entrepreneur. My wife’s married to an entrepreneur. What advice would you give somebody who’s married to an entrepreneur because you got I know one of them. You got to be patient for sure.

Holly Payton: [00:50:23] You have to be patient. You have to love them very, very, very much because it’s in the beginning. It’s very up and down and it’s very uncertain. And and I like the certainty of working at IBM and, and so we made a great pair.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:42] That’s awesome. All right I want to go back to the the donation. You talked about having my somebody. Right. And the same thing goes with a business too. You have to know your why and anything. You got to know your why. So it goes by my somebody know your why. I’ve known people that say yeah, it’s marked on my driver’s license. I’m a kidney donor, but I just want or my own organ donor because I wanted a discount and that was the only reason they did it. But just share with somebody who has been thinking about that and just haven’t done it. Maybe they’re scared or whatever. You know what? What can they obviously the joy of knowing that you’re helping to save somebody, but share with somebody who might be thinking about that.

Holly Payton: [00:51:26] Sure. The. The first thing I would say is it’s a personal decision. It’s your body. Don’t be swayed by by anybody else. I didn’t wasn’t swayed because I didn’t ask anybody else what they thought of it. But it’s a personal decision. When I went in the day before the surgery and I met with the surgeon, he said to me. There’s a lot of things we only have one of, but we don’t live our lives in fear of that. We have one heart. We have one brain. We have one stomach. You don’t make decisions about how you live your life because you’re scared that you only have one of them. And he said, this should not change your lifestyle, your longevity, anything about how you live your life because you have one kidney. There’s lots of things and you do just fine. Some people are born with just one kidney and they do just fine that I had never thought of. And that was very meaningful to me. So the only I will say, the only thing that it changes for you is they don’t want you to take drugs like Advil or Aleve. That’s it.

Speaker5: [00:52:54] I can eat.

Holly Payton: [00:52:56] I know that those two drugs are harder on your kidneys. And it’s not that you could never, ever in your lifetime take an Advil again. But Tylenol is is not hard on your kidneys. So that’s why they say that. And so you could, you know, if you have a terrible headache and you can’t get you could take an Advil, but just don’t take one for another month, you know? So that’s really the only thing that it impacts I would say as far as. The actual surgery. The surgery is done. Laparoscopically. So I have three small incisions in my torso, and then I have about a 4 or 5 inch vertical incision going down from my navel. And that’s where they actually take the kidney out. So you do have this incision. But. It. You heal up very. I’ve healed up very well. You’re limited for about seven weeks that you can’t lift anything 10 pounds or heavier. But that’s okay. I live with someone who’s willing to lift the heavy stuff and do the dishes. So that was not a problem. The only challenge I have now, physically, I feel great. I can do just about anything. I’m, you know, like I said, it’s been over eight weeks now. I’m 65 years old, and. If I don’t do core muscle exercises or yoga or things like that, my back starts talking to me, you know? And I think that’s probably at any age, if you don’t have a strong core, you your back suffers. And so right now I’m, I am cleared. I am able to start slowly getting back into yoga and start doing some core exercises. And so any back issues I might have right now will get better over the coming weeks.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:09] Have you started back to work?

Holly Payton: [00:55:10] I have, I started back to work after seven, seven weeks and and I got to say for seven weeks I didn’t sit in a chair for hours. You know, I’m sitting in a chair at my computer, I’m on WebEx calls, I’m working. And that’s been a little painful on the back because you’re not used to that. But but those muscles are building up. So.

Speaker5: [00:55:34] Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:34] So I just got to know, did you make stone pamper you?

Holly Payton: [00:55:37] I did.

Speaker5: [00:55:39] I did.

Holly Payton: [00:55:40] And and over the years his pampering skills have definitely improved.

Speaker5: [00:55:45] So got practice.

Holly Payton: [00:55:46] Yeah he got practice and he did a great job.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:49] There you go. That’s awesome. Well Holly, thanks for coming on and sharing that. What I’d like to do as I wrap this up is I always like for my guests to share a quote, a word, a positive nugget for somebody to take in today, the rest of 2023, which we’re not far from being over to 2024 and beyond with. So, Mina, what you got? You’re giving me that look? Like what?

Meena Lahku: [00:56:14] Let’s see a positive quote. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:17] Or just a word? Or are you going to make it up? It doesn’t matter.

Meena Lahku: [00:56:24] Um. You know what? Just. Live every day to its fullest potential and live like there’s no tomorrow. And maximize every opportunity with everything that you got.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:43] Holly.

Holly Payton: [00:56:44] So. The way that we say that sentiment in my family is a quote from Auntie Mame. Life is a feast and most poor bastards are starving to death. So go out and live your life as a feast and don’t be one of the others. The other thing that my family really relishes we have always said, live your life with tickets. And what that means is always have something that you’re looking forward to. It doesn’t have to cost anything. It could be a picnic in the park, but plan things so that you always have something that energizes you, that you’re looking forward to.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:26] That’s awesome. Well, and you have a fun family. I got to meet some of your family at a, at a event that we got to go to. And yeah, there’s no there’s no boring time with your family. So that’s pretty awesome. The other thing I’d like to do is to thank you is a lost art these days. So, I mean, I want to thank you for what you’re doing for the community and getting the word out for the brain Tumors organization. And Holly, just thank you for what you’ve done for the people who need kidneys and just being part of the community that way. So everybody out there listening, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

Intro: [00:00:07] 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: [00:00:45] Good fabulous Friday. It’s another fabulous Friday. We’ve got three more fabulous guests. If this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, it’s all about positively happening in your community. And again, like I said, we’ve got three fabulous guests this morning and I don’t know if I put myself in this situation or not because I could be in trouble because I’m the only guy in the studio again this morning. So Stone’s even left me. He normally says, you’re in charge now, producing and being the host. So thanks a lot, Stone. But no, I’m excited about this morning. We again three three wonderful ladies here. And we’re going to start this morning with Shay Traylor. I put it wrong on the internet. So it’s Traylor, not Taylor. I apologize Shay. But you’re with Loving Arms Cancer Outreach and you’re the founder correct?

Shay Traylor: [00:01:26] That is correct.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:27] Awesome. So we’ll get in to talk about that in just a second. But tell us a little bit about your background, and then you can tell us how you got got what loving arms started and what you guys do. Okay.

Shay Traylor: [00:01:35] Well, I am a R.N. by trade. I’ve been an r n for 34 years now, and being an r n I wound up, I’ve done different things, different areas of nursing. And the last 20 years it’s been in oncology nursing where I take care of cancer patients administering their chemotherapy. And during that, I realized that there was a big need out there for financial assistance to help pay for different things where the patients can do their medical treatment. And they would come into the infusion suite worried over their bills. And so we just fell into this organization or starting this organization. It was never my intent. And that’s been 12 years ago, and God has blessed us to where we have been able to help thousands of Georgians with cancer to pay their bills while they’re going through treatment.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:33] Aren’t you from Georgia originally?

Shay Traylor: [00:02:35] I am not, I am from mobile, Alabama originally and I moved to Georgia in 226 2006.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:44] I was going to say 26. You got that little no, no time.

Shay Traylor: [00:02:47] I missed the 0 to 2006. There you go.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:52] Yeah. All right. What brought you this way?

Shay Traylor: [00:02:55] My husband wanted to move to a bigger city. He was from Philadelphia and I am from mobile. And he was. He did not like the small city feel. And so he met me and wound up being there for 13 years, and then we moved.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:13] It’s probably a culture shock coming over here from mobile.

Shay Traylor: [00:03:15] It was. It really was. But we we moved to the suburbs. So I still had that small town feel. But he had access to Atlanta, downtown Atlanta, the big city fields. There you go. It was a it was a good compromise. So when you’re.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:28] Nursing, where did you come over here and where did you do your nursing at?

Shay Traylor: [00:03:32] I when I moved here, I started working at Northwest Georgia Oncology at Kennestone. And, and I did that for about 13 years. And during that 13 years I started loving Arms Cancer Outreach. Awesome. Well, not by myself. There was another nurse. It was two of us. Her name is Diana and but she retired in 2015.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:55] So okay, well, we’ll get into that organization in just a second. But I’ve got a couple of questions for you. First, so tell me why. First of all, it’s important for you part of the community.

Shay Traylor: [00:04:04] Well loving arms cancer outreach. We help the community. And so it’s a part it’s important that we become a part. And the community knows more about us so that not only can we help them, but they can help us. And there are so many people right around us that are affected by cancer that even if they’re not the ones that are that have it or have the diagnosis, they are related, or they know somebody who has the diagnosis. And we need to be loving arms needs to be out there. We need to be seen. People need to know that we are an accessible resource for them. And so I’m here today to let the world or let our listeners get to know more about us so that we can help them, and they, in turn, can help us.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:55] All right. So since you started that, go ahead and tell us more and how people can get involved. But first of all, tell us everything that you do and where all you serve. And then how can people get involved?

Shay Traylor: [00:05:04] Okay, well, we are loving arms services, seven counties. When we first started the organization back in 2011, we had these grandiose ideas that we would help the whole state of Georgia. Well, that came to a screeching halt. We primarily assist with financial and emotional things, the financial aspect of it. We pay people’s bills, we’ll pay their light bill, their gas bill, water bill, cell phone bill. If that’s their main phone, we will send out gas cards to help them get back and forth to treatments. We send out grocery cards to help them buy food, so they don’t have to decide whether they’re going to buy their medicine or buy groceries. So we do those types of things. We also have a program that’s for for certain people. It’s a special grant that we have that will assist with rent and mortgage payments. So but there’s a big qualification that follows into that through. And it’s for Cobb County residents. But we also have support groups for anybody that has cancer. And we meet every other week and we do different things like yoga, light touch, massage. We have a time where we serve lunch and we just talk.

Shay Traylor: [00:06:27] And the big part of that is the people that have had cancer and have survived for years are able to help the people that are just starting or have been doing it for a shorter period of time. So you go to this meeting and you have lunch and light touch massage and sometimes chair yoga, and then you get to talk to people that have walked the path that you’re walking and you’re getting encouragement. You’re finding out some shortcuts, some educational type things. And so it’s really a big deal. And you’re with people who are walking that path with you so you don’t feel so alone. Because cancer has a tendency to make you feel isolated because. You are fighting this battle and you feel like you’re fighting it by yourself, and our support groups helps you to see you’re not fighting it by yourself. Somebody else has done this and somebody else is doing this and you’ve got support. So that’s that’s a very important component of what we do. But I think people mostly like us because we help financially. Right.

Brian Pruett: [00:07:33] So do you guys also have support groups for the family members with those who have cancer?

Shay Traylor: [00:07:39] The family members are more than welcome to attend. We have had several family members to come. They turn into volunteers real quick. They start helping with the light touch massage and the yogas and the serving of lunch and stuff like that, because not only do they want to come and find out more about what their their care their person is going through, but they also see their other people that that are there that need help. And so instead of them sitting there receiving and, you know, having a time out, they wind up volunteering and helping out and they find a lot of joy in that. So yes. And if ever we get a lot of them that request a caregiver support group, we will definitely consider that because in the past we have had that. But then the attendance fell off because they’re so busy taking care of somebody that they don’t take the time out to go to a place just for them. So attendance fell down and so we just combined it into one.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:43] There you go. So you guys are based in Marietta, is that correct?

Shay Traylor: [00:08:47] That is correct. Our office is at 844 Livingston Court right off of Franklin Gateway. Okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:55] All right. We know Franklin Gateway pretty well, don’t we, Dana?

Dana Austin: [00:08:58] We surely do.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:00] So you you mentioned earlier that you also you said you support seven counties. Yes. Can you mention those?

Shay Traylor: [00:09:06] Yes. The seven counties that we’re currently supporting are Cobb, Bartow, Cherokee, Carroll, Pickens, Paulding and Douglas. Okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:17] Nice. Remember. You talked about people getting involved in volunteers and mostly family members. But what other way can the community get involved with you guys?

Shay Traylor: [00:09:27] Well, we have several events that we have every year that we would love for people to get involved with because we can’t do it by ourselves. We it takes a community to make these things happen. One is our dancing with the stars of Cobb County. I’m sorry. Dancing with the stars of loving Arms. And this this. The next event is going to be April the 28th. And we are excited about that because it’s going to be our reunion tour, because we have not been able to do it since Covid. And so this is going to be our reunion tour where we have some of the past dancers, the to come out and they’re going to do a repeat performance or a new performance, even, and we’re just excited some of the previous instructors are going to be there and we have a silent auction, we have heavy hors d’oeuvres. We have a time of just partying and having a good time, and it’s a great fundraiser for us. We in the past have had it at the Renaissance Waverly. We’ve had it at the the Marietta Conference Center. And this year we’re not this year, but in 2024, we’re having it in Paulding. Actually, we are having it at the Civic Center and Theater in Paulding and in Dallas, Georgia.

Shay Traylor: [00:10:52] And because what we’re trying to do is incorporate the other counties that we serve, we’re trying to get the communities in every county that we serve involved in what we do. We’re also what’s coming up next is a festival of trees in Euharlee, which is in Bartow County. We’re having that, and it starts the the Saturday right after Thanksgiving, which is the 25th of November. It will run for a week, ending on the 2nd of December, which is the following Saturday, and it’s going to be every night from 6 to 9. We have trees that are being donated by different companies, different organizations, and those will be on display and they will be available for silent auction. Not just trees, but wreaths and decorations, anything Christmas. So it’ll be like walking into a Christmas land. And it’s going to be at the granary near the covered bridge in Euharlee. And our big night is going to be that Monday. They have the Christmas parade with Santa Claus and everybody, and it ends right there at the greenery where we’ll be having the festival of trees. So I feel like it’s going to be really busy.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:01] Well, you just got Lois excited, so I’m sure she’ll reach out to help you.

Dana Austin: [00:12:03] every single year with my daughter.

Loice Hayes: [00:12:06] We love the Festival of Trees. Awesome. Well, my daughter always goes and looks around at every single one. Is the display.

Shay Traylor: [00:12:12] That’s awesome. Well, this year it’s being we’ve partnered with the city of Euharlee and we’re going to be doing it.

Loice Hayes: [00:12:18] That’s so exciting.

Dana Austin: [00:12:19] Yes.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:20] And I have a feeling that after the show is over, Lois will be talking to you, that you get involved somewhere. Yes.

Loice Hayes: [00:12:25] I already took a lot of notes for you. So I love, love, love volunteers.

Shay Traylor: [00:12:29] And so we have a not a finance. We have a fundraising committee and we meet and we do these different events. We have subcommittees in those committees where the people in the community join us on those subcommittees to get the little things done so that it equals up to the big thing that way. Because right now we only have two full time employees and a lot of volunteers that volunteer in the office, and I volunteer as well. And we need people in the community to come with us, to help us to do these things, because we can’t do everything by ourselves.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:04] So when you do your gala, I got my guy I want to connect you with who does the silent auction stuff that could probably boost your event on the silent auctions, right, Lois?

Loice Hayes: [00:13:11] He is absolutely amazing.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:12] And it’s no charge.

Shay Traylor: [00:13:15] That’s even better.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:17] We’ll. I’ll connect you. His name is Chad Blake. Okay. Angel auctions. You’re welcome. Chad.

Dana Austin: [00:13:23] Shout out to Chad. Yes.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:25] He’s amazing. So I always tell people, if there’s anybody who has a heart that can beat out of their chest, it’d be Chad. So anyway, so let me ask you this. How I actually didn’t know about you guys until I’m having a brain fart who may emailed me. Janet. Janet. Thank you. Um, so tell me how you guys get the word out.

Shay Traylor: [00:13:45] Um, the biggest part is by word of mouth. We also have a good Facebook following Instagram. We have we go to doctors offices, the oncologist offices, the infusion centers, cancer centers and the discharge planners at the hospitals. We talk to those people because they’re the ones that come in contact with with the patients one on one, and they hear about what their needs are, and they send us a referral. And the referral process is somebody could either call us at (770) 590-5153 and give us their information. The discharge planners at the hospitals will call us and give us the information. The doctor’s offices, if you have cancer or are currently in treatment or have been in treatment within the last 18 months of of ending your treatment, you qualify. Because we don’t we don’t discriminate between the types of cancers. We assist with all cancers. And that’s why I have on a lot of lavender today because lavender represents all cancers and that those are loving arms colors because we want to represent all cancers. So if you have had chemotherapy or you have had radiation or some type of surgery for cancer within the last 18 months or you’re currently in it, you qualify. It’s not based on income because cancer will strike you and you will find yourself broke. So we don’t look at income except for special grant things that the government requires. But normally just for us helping, we don’t look for income. So we have people that call us on the phone that heard from a friend or heard from a friend, from a friend, and they call and ask us, can you help me? And if they meet those qualifications, then yes, we can to verify that they are telling the truth or that they actually have cancer. We send a form to the doctor and he signs verifying that they do have cancer. And then we start helping as best we can.

Dana Austin: [00:15:55] Wow.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:56] Go ahead.

Speaker6: [00:15:56] I love that you mentioned, Shea, that you all help everyone with cancer. And just last week since this is Cancer Awareness Month, I was attending the Pink Frog Ball Affair, which is also an organization that shows up in the same space to help those dealing with cancer and resources. And one of my good friends who invited me every year, he invites me. Eric Dunlap is a one of the first men and the only men that I knew with breast cancer. And he’s a survivor over 20 years. So you’re helping all people, including men, with breast cancer. Raising their awareness around that to get screened is so essential. So I’m excited about what you all are doing on many for many reasons. But I’ll just say I’ll just say that for now.

Shay Traylor: [00:16:46] Thank you.

Dana Austin: [00:16:48] Thank you.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:48] So we talked on the show a lot of time too, about not only community but also the power of networking. Do you do any networking for your organization?

Shay Traylor: [00:16:56] Um, I go out and I do wherever somebody wants me to speak, wherever somebody wants my presence, I’m there. Um, during Covid, I was out a lot. Well, I took a step back during Covid because in 2020 1st February 2021, I lost my husband to Covid and I could not. I didn’t have the emotional reserve to do anything. It was, you know, it was enough to just barely live. And so I took a step back, and I didn’t realize how much my presence was missed, because I was the one that always went out and did and met people, shook hands, kissed babies and stuff like that. I didn’t realize how it was missed because until somebody called and asked, was loving arms still? A thing, or was loving arms still around helping people. And we were we were actually doing very, very well during Covid because we qualified for some grants that we didn’t ordinarily qualify for. And so I thought it was so strange. And then she said, well, we haven’t seen Shay. Where is Shay? Shay is usually at all the events she’s at all this networking and she hasn’t been around and that’s when well, they told her what happened and but that struck home with me as to how important it is to get out in the community and let the people see that you’re there to tell the people constantly that Loving Arms is here and can help. And I didn’t realize how my stepping back had such a big impact on that. And so now I’m back.

Dana Austin: [00:18:44] Awesome.

Shay Traylor: [00:18:44] I have a newfound resilience, a newfound I better get out here and do this.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:51] So I’ve been dubbed, well, this is a few years ago, but I’ve been dubbed the leader of the networking posse. So I need to induct you and you can follow us. Lois has started coming to one of our groups. I can send you some groups to go to, but you definitely need to be out there so people can.

Dana Austin: [00:19:04] Oh, absolutely.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:05] And the Cardinal Business Club that you guys are in, and since you’re in Bartow County, you need to be part of the Cardinal Business Club. It is more than just a networking group. It’s a community. And yeah, so you’ll you will find a lot of support there. So I want to go back to a little bit about your background. I wanted to ask what made you decide to become a nurse?

Shay Traylor: [00:19:28] Well, my inspiration was a time in my life where. I was a teenager. Prior to this, I had only wanted to be a doctor, but. As a teenager, I made some bad decisions and I wound up a teenage mother. And my young one was she was ill and she stayed in the the NICU at the hospital. And my experience in going in there, interacting with the nurses, seeing how the nurses loved her, loved all the babies in there and and the impact they had on my life. They took me under their wings and I mean just became mothers while I was there. And so they taught me how to take care of her. They taught me all the different things that I needed to know. And I just I thought. Wow. That’s what I want to do. I want to take care of people. You know, I want it to be a doctor. But I saw the doctors. Not that they had a bad impression on me, but they would come in. They would do the their doctor stuff, and they were gone. They didn’t have a relationship with me, and that’s what I wanted.

Shay Traylor: [00:20:47] I wanted to have a relationship not just with the patients, but with their family as well. And so as soon as I graduated high school, I went right into nursing school, and I graduated from high school when I was 17. And then I went right into nursing school. So I went and got my associates degree. So I graduated nursing school at 19 and took my state boards and got the results just after I turned 20. So I was like the youngest nurse, the youngest R.N. at the hospital. And the patients were like, oh, can you send the nurse? You are a candy striper. I’m like, no, I’m here to give you your big medicines. So that’s that’s what inspired me to become a nurse. And I haven’t looked back. I am a care giver by nature. I love taking care of people. I’ve done the supervisor thing sitting behind the desk and that was a no go for me. I needed that hands on taking care of people, finding out what’s going on with them and that that sort of thing.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:43] I think it’s important that too. I mean, you know, they talk about the bedside manner for doctors, but the nurses are the ones that, you know, they’re always with the patients looking after them and everything. So it’s so I’ll give you a quick story. When I was younger, I had something we’ve talked about before on here, but when my mom took me into the urgent care, I guess it was an urgent care they to to give me a shot that they needed me. Shot the lady, the nurse. She was quite large and she sat on me like this to say my mother was not very pleased. And there could have been, you know, there probably was. Anyway, that was not a nurse that you wanted to be involved with. But nurses I think, are amazing. So we appreciate you for for what you’re doing there as well. So let me ask you this too. So you’ve have the experience of starting a nonprofit. If somebody is listening and is thinking about starting a nonprofit, give some advice on what to do or what not to do.

Shay Traylor: [00:22:36] My advice to someone thinking about starting a nonprofit would be. Find another profit that is already in existence that does what you’re thinking about needing to be done. And what I mean by that is we have nonprofits galore, but there are a lot of them are repetition. They’re repeating what somebody else is doing. Even if you find a nonprofit that’s not quite doing what you think should be done, but. Their mission is close to what you’re thinking about doing. Go and talk to them. We need help. So go and talk to them and say, hey, I have this idea and I would like to partner with you and then go under their umbrella and start that program for them. You know what I mean? So like a good example would be like with loving arms. One of the things that we do is we give out free hats and wigs and scarves to cancer patients. Well, if you’re out there and you think you need, you want to start an organization that provides wigs for cancer patients, then instead of trying to start an organization that does that, find loving arms and say, hey, let’s partner, I will start this program or enhance the program that you already have, and I will take care of this and handle this.

Shay Traylor: [00:24:00] That’s a win win that way. Loving arms doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. But we can send our people to, you know, to be in this program and you’ll be under the Loving Arms umbrella. And you don’t have to go through all the paperwork and starting a 501, C three and all that good stuff. So and you’d also benefit from our, you know, our. Being out there already, and you don’t have to do all that. You just join in with somebody. So that would be my suggestion. Before you start the organization, try to see if there is an organization that is in existence that could use your help and then partner with them. The second thing would be to get involved with like the different collaboratives, they already know who the nonprofits are in the area, like Cobb Collaborative, you they know every nonprofit that’s in Cobb County. And if you need if you want to know who does this or who possibly does that, they would be a great people to call and find out and get involved with, because they have educational programs that teach nonprofit important stuff. Because I was a nurse, I didn’t know anything about nonprofits. And like I said earlier, we fell into it.

Shay Traylor: [00:25:19] We kind of backed into it. We were making arts and crafts and going and sitting at the flea market selling them. And and people were like, oh, that’s great. What are you what can we do to help? If I donate to your organization, can I write it off on my taxes? We didn’t know anything about that. But if you need some chemo, we can give that to you, because that’s what we did. So we started researching and finding out what we needed to do, and started the paperwork and got our 500 and 1C3, and still didn’t really know what it meant to be a nonprofit or how to run a nonprofit. And as the years went by and we went to different classes and groups and got certifications and stuff all along, we’re still helping people, but we’re also trying to do this and work full time jobs. It was wild, but we did it. And. We learned what we needed to do. But the biggest thing I know this isn’t part of the question, but I’m going to tell you this you have to know that a nonprofit is your mission. What you’re trying to do in the community as well as a business. Right. And a lot of people don’t realize that in order to run a successful nonprofit, you have to have people running the nonprofit.

Shay Traylor: [00:26:39] In other words, you have to have employees, whether it be one, two, three, ten, 12. However, this depends on the size of the organization. If you don’t have employees that are dedicated to running this thing constantly, and that’s their main focus, it’s not going to survive. It’s not going to survive. We are some of our weaknesses or our oppositional oppositions in non profit. Is other people trying to raise money too. So you have. Donors out there that everybody’s trying to get to, and donors donate to what matters to them. And so somebody that is not doesn’t care, not they don’t care. But cancer is not a big thing for them, may not be interested in loving arms. They may be interested in education because they’re a teacher and they feel like education needs it. And so they’re going to donate their funds towards that. So we’re all out there vying for donor dollars. And so if you’re not ready to understand that it’s a business as well as your mission, then it’s not going to work because you have to pay your people to be there, to serve the people, to help your mission come to fruition.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:56] And I think that’s important that you bring that out, because while there are volunteers, there are people, like you said, have to be there and run. And that’s their that’s their business, that’s their job. That’s how they get paid. So and they got families too.

Shay Traylor: [00:28:07] That’s right, that’s right. Because the volunteers at the end of the day, we love our volunteers. But if a volunteer wakes up and they’ve got a headache or a stuffy nose, you know what? I’m just volunteering. So I’m not going to go today. But you’ve got to have somebody in there calling people and making sure their needs are being met. So you have to have employees, right? So we love our volunteers, don’t get me wrong. And they are what make our world go around in doing fundraising and reaching out to people. But at the end of the day, they don’t have to be there. So you need somebody that has to be there, your employees. That’s going to make sure this thing is still moving and running even during the holidays and stuff like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:47] So other than volunteering in the financial aspect of it, how can individuals and businesses get involved and help you guys?

Shay Traylor: [00:28:54] We love when businesses and other organizations have fundraisers, like this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there are a lot of people that are doing different things well. We have a special program called the Pink Ladies, and what we do is that’s where the different people that are breast cancer oriented can donate their funds. And it’s specifically for breast cancer. We have a matter of fact here in Cherokee County tomorrow, they’re having their their charity golf tournament, and they’re going to fund raise for us in Cherokee County. So they I mean, it’s a big fundraiser and it’s wonderful. I normally go, but I’ll be at the Alabama game tomorrow.

Dana Austin: [00:29:42] I’m sorry. Yes.

Shay Traylor: [00:29:43] Roll tide and so I won’t be able to go. But I have people that will be there Janet and Michelle. Janet is our director, by the way, and Michelle is our care coordinator. And so those are our two full time employees that keep things running for us. So they’ll be at the event tomorrow and we’ll be all pinked out. Even though our colors are lavender, we will be all pink out. And it’s so much fun that golf tournament is. And so that’s an I that’s an example of the community getting together, doing something to help us. Right. So we love, love, love going to events where all we got to do is collect a check. Oh my God, that is awesome.

Dana Austin: [00:30:23] Lois, is your.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:24] Brain running like mine is? Yes.

Dana Austin: [00:30:25] All right, we’ll talk later.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:27] We’ll talk later. All right. So share a little more about the golf tournament. Where is it at and how people can get. You know, I know you just said it was yesterday. It’s tomorrow, but it’s.

Shay Traylor: [00:30:35] Tomorrow and it’s at the. I need to call Janet. And.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:42] All you golfers out there just getting go to the. You can go to website.

Dana Austin: [00:30:45] Your website. Right. Yes. Go to share your website.

Shay Traylor: [00:30:47] Yes. Yes. But it’s as far as the the golfers are concerned, they’re already registered. The ones that are going to participate tomorrow, they’re already registered and different things like that. But we like spectators to come out and look and, you know, and buy some of the silent auction stuff and donate and different things like that. All right. So it is at the, the golf.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:08] The golf course.

Dana Austin: [00:31:09] The golf course.

Shay Traylor: [00:31:10] In Cherokee.

Dana Austin: [00:31:11] County.

Shay Traylor: [00:31:12] It’s the one not far from here. Right up off of Town Lake.

Dana Austin: [00:31:16] Yes. Okay, it’s that one. All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:17] Well, share your website anyway so people can find other, other information about you and that. Good stuff.

Dana Austin: [00:31:22] Okay.

Shay Traylor: [00:31:22] Our website is Loving arms support.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:25] How about you already shared a phone number? But is there an email?

Dana Austin: [00:31:29] Yes, you.

Shay Traylor: [00:31:29] Can email us, email us at info at Loving Arms Dot support. We try to keep it simple.

Dana Austin: [00:31:35] There you go.

Shay Traylor: [00:31:36] And we kind of try to keep it simple. And we use dot support because that’s what we provide. We provide support. So loving arms dot support.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:42] Awesome. Well Shay, thanks for coming and sharing a little bit of your story. Don’t go because we’re not done with you yet. So we’re going to move over to on to Miss Lois Hayes for with celebrations to remember. And let me tell you, it is a celebration to remember when Lois gets involved. So, Lois, thanks for being here this morning.

Loice Hayes: [00:31:57] No problem. Thank you for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:59] So you and I sat down, I guess, a few months ago, and talked, and we hit it right off and we knew we need to do some things together. And you kind of jumped in and helped me with the locker room chat. So before we get into your business, just share a little bit of your background and we’ll get into what you’re doing.

Loice Hayes: [00:32:13] Sure. Okay. So I well, there’s a lot to unpack about me, but I will kind of keep it brief because my husband says I talk too much, but I.

Dana Austin: [00:32:24] Still didn’t.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:25] Have a show till 3:00, so we’re.

Dana Austin: [00:32:26] Good. So I know, right?

Loice Hayes: [00:32:29] So I am a mom of two little girls. One is four and one is 18 months. My husband and I have been married for seven years, in December together for ten, and I grew up in California, but and I lived in Vegas for a little while, and my husband is from this side of the world. So when we met, I packed up everything and moved out here to be with him. And it’s been the best decision that I’ve ever made living in the South, because everyone down here is just so friendly, so wholesome, so kind, and I, I was stuck in retail management for quite a bit of time, and when I had my daughters, I realized I needed something that was going to help me live my dreams. So that’s why I decided to start celebrations to remember it’s a full service event planning business where I do everything from planning the events to executing the decor of the events, hiring the caterers, finding the vendors for your events, things of that sort. So I partner a lot with nonprofit organizations. I do a lot of events for weddings, baby showers, birthday parties, and so I I’ve always been passionate about helping people make it a memorable experience because growing up, I, I was the youngest of five.

Loice Hayes: [00:33:54] So I obviously my parents had so much on their plates and couldn’t really have birthday parties for all of us can have celebrations for all of us. And so I was always the one that was like, it’s okay, I’ll do it, I’ll do it, mom, I can I can handle it. So I would always put on celebrations and parties for my family growing up, and I would go to like the Dollar Tree and get little, you know, little things that I thought were the best items for the birthdays and celebrations. And I just loved being able to bring a smile to my siblings faces and my nieces and nephews and things of that sort. And so I actually went to college for meetings and event management and hospitality management. And I also have a certificate in event management as well too, through event tricks. And so I am just really passionate about relieving the stress off of others when it comes to the event that you’re putting on, because you’re putting on an event for your business or for your family to be able to enjoy it. And most of the time, people don’t even enjoy it because they’re so stressed about everything else that’s going on. So amen. Yes.

Dana Austin: [00:35:13] Yes, sir. Yes.

Loice Hayes: [00:35:14] So I am here to help take away all of that where you can just focus on what you’re there for, which is helping to promote your business, helping to entertain the people that you’re invited to your event. And so that’s why I started Celebrations to Remember.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:30] So I’m going to, you know, again, shout out to Lois, because we and Kevin, we’ve become really good friends. And so he likes to joke back with me, and I joke with him and seeing how many times I can tell people how many times we made him cry at the event. For All In All Out Ministries. For those of you who don’t know, Kevin Harris started All In Ministries helping men with addictions because he was in that lifestyle and it’s just an amazing story. So when when I first suggested that you and I were going to partner with Kevin, Kevin came to me and said. Everything that I see, though, it’s going to be like for little kids on decorations and stuff. And then Lois brought out her superhero and brought the decorations.

Loice Hayes: [00:36:11] He said he didn’t want it to look like a three year old’s birthday party. Those were his words. Oh, my. Because I do a lot of kids birthday parties, so I think that’s what he saw on my social media. And so I was like, Kevin, do not worry. Do not fear. And so I it was a really elevated, upscale event, something that really helped highlight what he was passionate about and showcase all of the different sports memorabilia that was there.

Dana Austin: [00:36:38] It was cool.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:39] Because literally, I don’t know if you saw him do this, but literally when you got finished decorating, first of all, she was there running around like a chicken with her head cut off since I don’t know how long, and then stayed late and all that stuff too. But when he walked in the room when she was done decorating, the tears just started. So made an.

Speaker6: [00:36:57] Impression for.

Loice Hayes: [00:36:57] Sure.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:58] Yes, not just to him to let me just tell you. So a lot of people, they’re still talking about the event. So thank you. Um, all right. So but you were very passionate and wanting to help with that event. Um, just tell us why. I mean, you have a little bit of a story. Why?

Loice Hayes: [00:37:12] I do bear with me if I ever get emotional at some point.

Dana Austin: [00:37:15] But I told Kevin.

Brian Pruett: [00:37:17] I haven’t, you know, this is the only thing I go. People cry on my show, too.

Dana Austin: [00:37:20] So go ahead.

Loice Hayes: [00:37:21] So Kevin and I have a fairly similar story. I struggled with alcohol for close to 1516 years of my life. It was very, very hard for me. You know, I would wake up and drink and I would go to work and drink, and I would get home and drink some more, and I would nothing made me feel better than having a drink in my hand. And it was it wasn’t something I could control because I tried to just have like one glass of wine or one one beer, and that never, ever, ever worked for me. Like I. To this day, I can’t even comprehend how people do that, because it doesn’t make sense to me why you would only have one when it doesn’t make you feel anything. So it was always a struggle for me and I hid it very, very well. I considered myself a very high functioning alcoholic because nobody, nobody knew, like no one. And so. I would. It took a very, very, very. Bad experience for me to stop, and it was an experience that hurt my husband and hurt my family and. It changed my life forever. It made me realize that I couldn’t go down that path, especially if I wanted to have a family down the line. I never wanted my girls to see me like that, and this was before I had my daughters. So I’m so thankful that I decided to stop before I had them, but I, I can’t imagine. Working with someone better than Kevin for that event, because I talked to him about my story, and I shared my story with him and how important it was for what he was doing to the community, and how he was giving back to all of those men that really need and struggle with it so much. I’m so sorry.

Dana Austin: [00:39:38] I accomplished it.

Brian Pruett: [00:39:39] Kevin. Sorry.

Loice Hayes: [00:39:40] I know, and it’s always Kevin too, because Kevin cries. So when he cries, I cry. So any time I talk about him, I’m always crying. But it’s just it’s just an honor just being able to partner with organizations that give back in that fashion and. Knowing that there is someone like Kevin out there that cares about the community that much. I knew I had to jump on, and so I partnered with a lot of nonprofits that way, and my services are donated to. For the most part, to their organization and to whatever it is that they have going on. But it’s if you have any kind of nonprofit organization, whether it’s cancer or whether it’s anything that anything that’s nonprofit, I can help you with your events. And I come in and I help take over any of the decor pieces, any of any of the vendors that might be coming in. I help support with any of the food, food trucks, anything that you have going on.

Speaker6: [00:40:49] Do you travel to Puerto.

Loice Hayes: [00:40:50] Rico, to Puerto Rico? Ooh, I have not, but I will definitely.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:55] If our tickets paid for, she probably will.

Shay Traylor: [00:40:57] Yeah, if the tickets paid for, I’ll go.

Dana Austin: [00:41:00] Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:02] So she and I are just, you know, we we’ve dubbed the Dream Team. So it’s not just. It’s Lois, myself and Lawrence Simone. I’ll get it. I always mess it up. And Anna. Christine Boyer, I got that right, too. You did?

Loice Hayes: [00:41:15] You nailed that one.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:16] And and say, that’s my dream team. You notice I’m the only male. Dana. Yes, I know.

Dana Austin: [00:41:20] So.

Speaker6: [00:41:20] But, you know, you’re quite comfortable around women that I know.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:25] So she and I are partnering to in November. We’ve got another nonprofit that we’re working with that it’s going to be a business, a veteran business owned or first responder owned business expo. And portion of those parades are going to The Outer Circle, which is a nonprofit based in Dallas, Georgia, helping veterans and first responders with PTSD and suicide prevention. So anybody knows veteran businesses or businesses that want to hire them, let me know. We’ll get them involved in the expo as well. So all right, so I wanted to go back to. Obviously there’s a reason why you get involved with the community and. We talk all the time about community, obviously in the show, but why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Loice Hayes: [00:42:04] So my biggest thing has always been I have to put my serving heart first. And I people say I don’t have a mean bone in my body, which is probably really true, and I give I’ve been always been a giver, and one of the things that my pastor said in church one day was we have to step out into levels of obedience that really scare us and challenge us. And so that’s what I wanted to really do when it came to giving back with celebrations to remember and I, I reached, I started reaching out to local businesses that were non. I’m partnering with the Open Door Home in Rome, and I put on events for their kids every single month, because those kids don’t get to have birthday parties, they don’t know what a celebration is. And so just being able to give back like that and seeing the genuine reactions from people that have never had anything like this before, that is the main reason why I continue to do what I do with celebrations, and I really want to continue working with nonprofits in that way. So that way, I told my husband I was like, if I never make a dime from this, but continue to make people happy, that is all I would ever want in life.

Loice Hayes: [00:43:28] And he was obviously like, wait, wait a minute, we need to bring in some kind of income. But I, I, I truly enjoy giving back as much as I can. And I do a lot of things. They say you have to serve in silence to truly get blessed. So there’s a lot of things that I do that people don’t even know, but I want to make sure that I support the community in any way that I can. So I do a lot of things. I don’t want to mention them all because that’s not serving silently. But I just always want to make sure that no one goes without a celebration. And if there’s someone out there that is struggling financially and needs to have a third birthday for their son or daughter, I will take care of that if I need to and any way that I can, because I don’t want any parent to feel like they can’t have that for their kids. So not only is it the organization, but I also look out for things like that within the community to really help them as well. All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:29] So Chad just may have gotten his competition with beating out of the heart of the chest. So so you also told me when we first sat down and met that you told me about a couple of events that I never thought about. You’ve mentioned that you’ve done some celebrations of life events.

Loice Hayes: [00:44:46] Yes.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:47] That’s I mean, can you speak about what those what that looks like.

Loice Hayes: [00:44:50] Yeah, definitely. So I those are probably hands down my favorite ones because those are so personal. The ones that I’ve done, I’ve been able to incorporate what their loved one felt like and bring that to life at their celebration. So just for example, a couple of the ones that I did one, their mom loved the ocean, she loved the beach, she loved that life. And so I was able to really bring in all of the ocean elements to the decor pieces, bring in dolphins, bring in like real sand, sand, real seashells from the beach. Really bring in all of those elements that she loved. And then all of her favorite food, her favorite flowers were there. I created a slideshow with all of the memorabilia of their photos. I was able to project that on a projector. And really? Oh, and I also made all of those obituary cards and things of that sort with her favorite poem on there. Yeah, and just really those small touches that people get overwhelmed doing for events. I can do all of that and bring that to the table when it comes to those celebrations of life. And then the other one that I had was so, so, so special. It was she loved the 70s and the 60s, so we made it really groovy for her in a very elegant way. And so we were able to incorporate all of her favorite designs and elements with the 70s and the themes of that sort, and her favorite colors were in there. And so when the family walks into those spaces, they can feel that loved one that’s right there. And every event that I’ve done for those celebration of life, people always come back and just tell me how they knew that that person was there because they could feel it in all of the decor. So. When I. When I do those. It’s so special to me. Sorry. I’m just emotional all day today, but it’s just so special to my heart doing this because I really take the time to make it super, super personal for the families. And I just love I love doing this.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:13] That’s awesome. So when I when I started out as a sportswriter years ago, I always told myself I was never going to ask stupid questions. I didn’t want to ask a stupid question. Okay? At least I feel like it’s going to be a stupid question. These celebrations of life services. I guess probably you do them after the service or would you do them? How? How does that look?

Loice Hayes: [00:47:34] Yeah. So it actually varies because some people don’t have a memorial or a funeral and just choose to do the celebration of life instead, because then it doesn’t feel like it’s a sad event. It feels like the family is gathering to really remember that family member that passed away. So for the first one that I did, the family couldn’t come because of Covid, so no one was able to be there for her funeral and her her services. And so two years later, they had the celebration of life, and they were able to gather everybody there for that. So that made that very, very special because they hadn’t seen each other in a while as well, too. And then the other one, they chose to have a celebration of life instead of the memorial service in the funeral as well, too.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:27] That’s that’s pretty awesome. I never thought about that. So that’s really cool. All right. So if somebody is listening and is thinking about starting a business because you’ve obviously done that, give some advice on on starting a business.

Dana Austin: [00:48:38] Yeah.

Loice Hayes: [00:48:38] So um, I have been blessed beyond measure. I’ll just start off by saying that because I started my business earlier this year in February, and it has taken off because I have left it in God’s hands. And I I’ll get to your I’ll answer your question in a second, but I just want to say, if it wasn’t for my my church and the ladies in my women’s ministry that prayed over me and really helped me find my calling, I would have never started celebrations to remember. I was so lost last year I struggled with. I’ve been seven years sober and I think, yes, I’ve been seven years sober. But last year when I had my daughter, I struggled with a lot of postpartum anxiety and it was very, very hard for me to figure out what my why was and what I was going to do next, because I was working full time, working 50 plus hours a week, only seeing my family like one hour a day. It was very, very hard. And so I would go to church every, every week, every Wednesday night for our women’s Bible study. And they really helped me realize what family was all about and how I needed to find my calling.

Loice Hayes: [00:50:05] And so I prayed about it. They prayed over me. And in January, I told my husband I was like, why am I waiting so long to start something that I’ve always been so passionate about? And so that’s that’s when I realized that you don’t have to be perfect to start. You just have to start. You just have to go for it. And if it wasn’t for me stepping out of my comfort zone and just saying, hey, my first few events may not be like exactly how I want them to be, but if I showcase something, that’s a start and that’s what I need to do. So I, I knew that if I did start, I needed to start correctly. So in February, I got my LLC and I registered with the state of Georgia and became an official business. And so I launched off by doing my daughter’s first birthday party. And it was a very Hungry Caterpillar theme. And she eats all the time, always. And Brian has seen her plenty of times and she’s always eating. And so she and.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:13] Terry, she gets along very.

Dana Austin: [00:51:14] Well. Yes, yes.

Loice Hayes: [00:51:16] And so I showcased that. And from there things blew up blue like it was it was crazy how many notifications I got, how many messages I got. And so I was sitting there like, wait, I don’t have inventory. I don’t have this yet. I don’t like how is this even happening? And so what I realized was that I needed to hit the ground running. So start a business and be prepared to move and move fast, because if you just. Are genuine with the people that you’re meeting and are genuine with the people that you have relationships with, then those people, when they see the first thing that you do that is really going to help you in the long run, because that’s exactly what happened. And so I was ready to move quick. So as soon as I finished that event, I continued to build my website. I hired a virtual assistant to build that for me. I hired someone to help me with events I started. Really. I think that’s around the time when I started meeting up with Ryan and Cartersville Business Club.

Loice Hayes: [00:52:32] And so I knew that if I wanted to continue to grow, I had to continue to network. And so I’m a very personable, like I’m very personable and I love people, but I get really shy in large groups. So when I started going to Cartersville Business Club, I was like, I don’t want to talk like, no, I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to, I don’t want to be here and there. But one thing that I learned was that if you just share a little bit of your story, the rest will fall into place. And so when you start a business, start it with for something that you’re really passionate about and then be prepared to move fast. Don’t just be prepared. Don’t just start it and and expect things to happen. And yes, I got all of those phone calls and I got everything, but it’s because I built those genuine connections to begin with, and I was able to really grasp the attention by helping people trust that I could do these things for them. So. Yeah. I think.

Dana Austin: [00:53:37] It also.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:38] Helps that you have the cutest assistant in the.

Dana Austin: [00:53:39] World. Yes.

Loice Hayes: [00:53:40] So she’s 18 months old now, and any time I go to the Cartersville Business Club meetings, I take her with me. And so everyone always wants to hold her and hug her. And it’s so fun. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:52] Well, I’ll ask this because obviously, like you said, you’re new to the to the networking. In essence, do you have a positive testimonial about networking you can share?

Loice Hayes: [00:54:00] Absolutely, yes. So two of them actually. The first one is definitely hands down Cartersville Business Club. The second that I joined that I, I have done close to 15 events from referrals from Cartersville Business Club alone. And the people that are there are just so genuine, so kind and so honest. And so if you have something in your community that allows you to go and find a mentor or find somebody that will help you be marketable in your events, that’s definitely something that you should do. And then the other one is your online presence. And just really making sure that you focus on the connections that you build there. So hiring a virtual assistant is probably the best thing that I ever did, because she takes care of all my social media marketing. She does all of my Instagram posts, my my reels, all of my videos, and those are the things that entice clients to go on there. But backtracking a little bit to the networking is the Cherokee Connect. If you guys aren’t part of that, that’s definitely something that I would consider joining with Cherokee Connect I have gotten. I would say, and this is not even an over exaggeration. I think about 50 to 60% of my clients have come from Cherokee Connect, and that is an online. It’s on Facebook. It allows you to meet. And how many members are on there? I can’t even keep track.

Dana Austin: [00:55:50] You can, you can.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:50] You can go on there and join without having to pay. But it’s worth paying the.

Dana Austin: [00:55:54] Yes, paying.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:55] The $99 for the year because then you can, you know, there are certain things that you can post as a free member, but obviously if you pay, you can post more. Exactly. But it is very, very active. And when people are a lot of people, it’s mostly people go on there and they ask looking for certain services. And that’s where you can can tag people and it’s very, very active.

Dana Austin: [00:56:13] So yes.

Loice Hayes: [00:56:14] So if people post that they’re looking for a backdrop for a certain event or they’re looking for a balloon Garland or they’re looking for a table settings, Brian is always like the first to say, Lois Hayes. Lois Hayes celebrations to remember. And so you if you build those connections and you have connections with the community, they will tag you in all of those things that is on Cherokee Connect. And yes, at least 50% of my business this year has been from there. And people that have stemmed from there as well too. So if you have your online presence, have your online presence, be in a group like that because they are it’s your they also allow you to advertise on there. So if you want to post and say, hey, I have this coming up, would anybody be interested in doing this x, y, z. And so it’s definitely a great spot for networking. You can.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:10] Do more of that when you do actually pay.

Loice Hayes: [00:57:12] When you pay the $99, by the way.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:14] You’re welcome. Josh Bagby he’s the one.

Dana Austin: [00:57:16] Yes. Cherokee Connect.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:17] So which I’ve never met in person, by the way.

Loice Hayes: [00:57:20] I haven’t either, but I’ve talked to him a few times, and he’s very kind.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:24] Yeah, well, I know he’s been on some shows on here before, but I’ll have to get him on my show, so. Awesome. Well, Lois, thanks for sharing a little bit of your story and stuff, but don’t go away. We’re not done. We’re moving over now to my friend. That’s all I got to say is my friend, you know, but Dana Austin, an author, a speaker, and you actually just kind of a new title as well, right? So you’re the now the director of Global Chamber Atlanta, right? Yes, yes. Awesome. Congratulations on that.

Speaker6: [00:57:52] Thank you so much, Brian.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:53] So we go to church together. We’re friends. But I just know that you have a passion for people and helping others. And I know that you do a lot of things, especially with authors and things of that nature. We’ll talk about the Puerto Rico thing here in a minute. But why she talked about that. But give a little bit of a background on why you do what you do and why you’re so passionate about others.

Speaker6: [00:58:13] First, I want to thank you for being the great connector that you are and having the foresight to bring the three of us business women, women of God together, not knowing that this would be such a synergy. So I’m excited about that. I’ve been sitting on my hands for so long.

Dana Austin: [00:58:34] Well, they.

Brian Pruett: [00:58:35] Say you save the best for last. Not that any of that. But, you know.

Dana Austin: [00:58:38] I’m just I’m just.

Speaker6: [00:58:39] The cherry on top. You guys are the Sunday. But my background is nursing. I’ve been a nurse for. If I say it okay, I’m going to say it 30 years. And in that capacity, I’ve served in many roles and clinical research and clinical trials and helping to develop drugs and devices, including cancer treatments at Wellstar, working right next door to Northwest Oncology for the research center. So but what I realize is that all the things that God has allowed me to do in my life have been connecting and building blocks to do what I’m doing now to show up as an integrated person. And there’s so much that has been said that I really want to touch on. But I’ve always been a writer, loved writing, and I remember growing up, oftentimes my my family members and friends would say, could you review that for me? Could you edit that? Could you write it even? And it just was second nature for me. And but at some point, you know, as an odd. Developing teenager. You just don’t think you’re good at anything. So I stopped writing until 2004, when I resumed that again. And so I’m happy and proud and give God the honor to say that I’m an award winning, best selling author that has now become a writer’s coach. Helping writers or become entrepreneurs. Not just authors, but entrepreneurs on the business side. So I’ve been doing that for four years now, and we host a writers conference in Puerto Rico every December. The one that’s coming up for our Transformational Writers Conference.

Loice Hayes: [01:00:25] Is that why you want me to come to Puerto Rico?

Dana Austin: [01:00:28] Yes, yes.

Speaker6: [01:00:29] And I know Shay’s coming, and I’m sure Brian’s going to go. Well, you know, I connected you three.

Brian Pruett: [01:00:35] We also need to get Anna involved with her. Lois.

Loice Hayes: [01:00:38] Yes, definitely. Anna is amazing.

Speaker6: [01:00:40] Awesome. So we host our Transformational Writers conference December 7th through ten. And one of the best resorts. But what what I did in the last few weeks, with the help of some incredible friends and members of my Global Chamber board, Stephanie Austin and Nicole Floyd Turner, is that we establish a nonprofit entity called the Transformational Writers Academy. So it’s new for me, and I heard everything you said. If you knew you need to collaborate, if you knew, you need to connect with somebody who’s doing what you’re doing or how you can partner. So I’m connecting and looking for support and developing grants because we also adopted one aspect of what we do is youth at risk and helping our young people recognize who they are, their ability, their purpose, empowering them to walk and have a better appreciation and understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging as they become authors. We want to create an anthology for them so that they are published authors, and they have a greater confidence about who they are. They can leave a legacy, they can learn what a legacy is, right? But really empowering our youth at risk in the mainland of the United States.

Speaker6: [01:01:58] Since I’m based here in Atlanta, but also in Puerto Rico, in San Juan, there’s so much that I’d like to say. But what we do and what we looking for is to find people that want to support and help develop. Our young people. And it’s not just young people that we help, right? Because all of our writers, except for two, have been adults. Our youngest author that we helped to get published is eight years old. Oh, wow. Our oldest author is 86 years old. So we go from 8 to 86 and everywhere in between, and we’ve got bestselling, we’ve got award winning, we’ve got people in this conference. We have six global chamber members, executive directors that will be speaking in Puerto Rico. So Global Chamber Atlanta is a chamber of commerce, but it is for profit. So I had that up and I’ve been doing that for a while bringing business leaders together, entrepreneurs connecting them. But I’m learning so much from you all today. It’s just been such an opening and eye opener for me, and an encouragement to keep going on, to build a team, to ask for help, to seek collaborations. And I got.

Brian Pruett: [01:03:14] More connections for you, so don’t worry.

Speaker6: [01:03:16] Oh my gosh. And to be ready to run.

Dana Austin: [01:03:19] Yes. Be ready.

Speaker6: [01:03:20] I’ve got I’ve got my sneakers on.

Brian Pruett: [01:03:23] So. Just I mean, you talked about your nursing and that stuff as well. So obviously you’re very, very passionate about helping others. Why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Speaker6: [01:03:36] Why is it important for me to help the community.

Brian Pruett: [01:03:38] To be a part of the.

Speaker6: [01:03:38] Community? Oh, to be a part of the community. I couldn’t exist without the community. And I know Lois mentioned her church, our church, we’re very active in it. Our church is very active in the in the community and in supporting us as members individually, collectively. Even this evening, our church, Marietta Adventist Church, we’re hosting a women’s weekend retreat. But it’s in the day. So you come in the evening, this evening, and then tomorrow in the day and then workshops. And it’s dealing with grief and loss, not just loss of life but loss. And so we want to extend that invitation. If you want to come, we’ll still go ahead and accept people. Tonight we’re at Marietta Adventist Church in Marietta and we start at seven till nine. So there’s a plug and and the community is who I love to serve. One thing I know that we all have in common is a heart of service. The more you give, like the song says, the more you give, the more it comes back to you. And it’s just incredible to see how it works. So I just also believe pouring from my cup. So I have to talk about tea. There you.

Brian Pruett: [01:04:46] Go. She’s great at women’s teas too, so go ahead.

Speaker6: [01:04:50] I said. Brian’s going to ask me about that. So. I became a certified tea consultant several years ago. And you’re going, what on earth is that? Well, that’s a person who wants to learn every single aspect about tea. And I would host tea parties at my home for the ladies. I love events. I love, love events, and I love tea.

Loice Hayes: [01:05:09] So this is perfect.

Speaker6: [01:05:12] Well, my best selling award winning book is On tea. It’s tea with strings. Vignettes. Tea with string vignettes. Culture. Custom and custom. So I started hosting this event for ladies girlfriends, because I didn’t want them to be shy about having more than one bonbon or one scone. Have what you want, as many as you want, as many cups of tea as you want. Let’s celebrate life and laugh and love together. So I did that for ten years and in the process I was hosting tea parties, including at Not on Wall. What’s the. Yeah, maybe it’s Carolyn Wall. Yeah. Down in Decatur. And we would do 200 people one Mother’s Day, 400 the next. And I thought, oh, let me back this up a little bit. That’s a lot. That’s a lot, even with a lot of hands. Right. So then eventually I moved to the mountains, I moved to L.A. And a friend of mine kind of. Forced my hand. Held my hand and made sure that I got a place. That I can open a tea shop. Like I didn’t even look for it. I didn’t even look for it. And I thought, well, I guess I guess I’m going to have to do this. And we did. And we were the first minority owned, black owned female business up in Ellijay, which I love.

Speaker6: [01:06:28] You always hear me talk fondly about it. And then I had been writing, but not wanting to publish what I wrote, because I didn’t really feel so secure about it, even though I always people came to me about writing. So I sat on my book for ten years. Wow. So much so I had to research it again because things change. And then finally, my sister being an inspiration. One of my sisters, I should say, because I have several, wrote and released her book in like four months. I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me, let me revisit my book. And so she inspired me and she just did it. She jumped. And so I did that, released the book and had the experience with the tea shop. And it all comes together because it’s about celebrating people and creating a space where people can come aside and be celebrated. So yes, the tea book and there’ll be another one, this one, that one’s tea with string vignettes, culture, customs and recipes. The next one will be 101 tea places to visit around the world to experience around the world. And I’ve been to them.

Brian Pruett: [01:07:37] Lois is waiting for that so she can read the book.

Loice Hayes: [01:07:39] Taking notes, taking lots of notes.

Brian Pruett: [01:07:41] By the way, Lois, my mind is spinning on events for this too, so we’re going to be doing some more stuff. I can just I can see it. So. All right, so let me ask you this, Dana, you the chamber talk a little bit about what the chamber. And I’m assuming it’s downtown. Well.

Speaker6: [01:07:58] Well I’m happy to share more about the chamber. Global chamber Atlanta and the headquarters for Global Chamber is actually in Arizona. And we have 525 metros around the world, which means we have a not just a footprint, but a set of footprints, somebody leading out in that particular part of the world. And we help to make business connections around the world just as easy as making across the street. That’s what we do, and we love it. And so we are, because we’re a global chamber. Atlanta, we cover 29 counties. Yeah. Whereas you might have Cherokee County Chamber, Gilmer County, Cobb County Chamber, DeKalb County or the city. Even so, that’s their jurisdiction. But because we’re global, we have a broader reach for our metro, and we function a little bit different because we’re really making these major connect actions locally and abroad. So here’s one example. So one of my members, he wanted to open a school technology in several countries in the continent of Africa. That’s been his goal. He joined Global Chamber September. And by February this year he had two venues schools open in the continent of Africa, all through global chamber and connections. It’s who you know, not what you know.

Dana Austin: [01:09:25] Yeah.

Speaker6: [01:09:25] And we know.

Dana Austin: [01:09:26] You. Yes.

Brian Pruett: [01:09:28] So is there is there a physical location to the chamber has or is it.

Speaker6: [01:09:32] No, we don’t actually have a physical location. We’re mobile okay. But we’re hosting an event. Thank you for asking. Sure. Our next event that’s coming up is going to be November, Tuesday, November 14th, and it is our Global Chamber Innovation Summit. And you can find us at Global chamber.org under events. Register for that. You’ll want to be there. So we’ll have innovators coming demonstrating, speaking, talking, making connections with Global chamber.org. And that event is going to actually be in Atlanta. But you know we know Atlanta also to be right there by the battery. So right there the battery at the Rich Heart Global Studio one of the best studios for filming and music and events here in Atlanta. And then as I mentioned, our writers conference for those who want to meet industry experts, our theme is Escape and create for our global. Sorry, I’m combining the two. That’s because our global chamber leaders are also speaking at our Transformational Writers Conference. They’re coming in from all over. We’re excited. And you can also roll out of that in January. We’re going to have our 90 days to manuscript. We help you to get your manuscript done in 90 days. We’re finishing up one right in this cohort. Now. They’ve got two more weeks. They finish October 26th and they would have accomplished that. But, you know, it’s like anything you would say set your mind to it, set a goal and then make a commitment to yourself. First make a commitment to God and then to yourself first.

Brian Pruett: [01:11:06] So after you guys go to her event on that Tuesday, that Thursday is our expo. So you can come up and check out the expo. Awesome.

Loice Hayes: [01:11:12] That’s going to be fantastic.

Dana Austin: [01:11:13] So awesome.

Brian Pruett: [01:11:15] All right. So you just gave a little bit of it. But if somebody’s listening and wants to be an author and thinking about writing a book, just give a little bit of advice on what to do.

Speaker6: [01:11:22] Sure. You know, only there’s a small percentage of people, I think it’s less than 30% that actually say, hey, I’m going to write a book, get started on it, and a smaller percent that actually finish it. So I want to applaud you if you’re thinking about writing and not sure where to start. And you’re saying, I know I’ve got a story inside to tell, you’ve got a story inside to tell that people need to hear each of you. And the best thing to do is first to recognize you want to do it and then reach out for a coach. I coach people along with my. Team that I’m developing to write this book. And so our website is it’s a little bit long right now, but you’ll understand because it’s transformational writers conference.com. Okay. And we’re going to be moving over to Transformational Writers Academy that’s being developed right now. But in the meantime it’s Transformational Writers conference.com. And once you make that decision we have a process a method that we use to help you be successful. It’s called the Austin ikigai method. And ikigai is a Japanese word for that. Connotates clear in your purpose. Clear in your purpose. And then Austin, that’s my last name. So the Austin ikigai method takes in consideration your passion, your mission, your vocation, and your calling and brings it all together. And we help move you through all of that as a writer. And it gives me the greatest pleasure to help people birth this book. You know, I guess you can even say on the on the health side, I’m a writing doula. Helping you birth that book and bring it to life, and to let the world see and hug on it. Like your 18 month old promoter. Yeah.

Loice Hayes: [01:13:11] She’s great.

Speaker6: [01:13:12] Yeah, she’s.

Brian Pruett: [01:13:12] Actually the boss.

Dana Austin: [01:13:13] She is. So.

Speaker6: [01:13:14] So that excites me to the most. And I thought, wow, I didn’t know I could enjoy something to that level. But when I see people dreams coming alive and that I had a small part to play in it and that I knew it was God whispering in my ear saying, go, go forward. Do it. Even if you’re afraid, just do it.

Brian Pruett: [01:13:34] So you know if you need another good person for your team. I don’t know if you remember me talking to this, but Annette’s an editor and she edits. So you need editors. You.

Speaker6: [01:13:44] Absolutely.

Dana Austin: [01:13:45] So.

Speaker6: [01:13:45] Okay. And that I’m calling you. I’ll see you. I’ll see you tomorrow or tonight. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [01:13:49] There you go. All right. So share a little bit of information about where people can find information on the the chamber, as well as finding the information on your books and if they can, how they can get Ahold of you.

Speaker6: [01:14:03] Sure. So for the chamber global Chamber, you can find us at WW Global chamber.org. And there’s a wealth of information on there. I say look through it. Check out the events. You can even check each continent and find what you’re looking for. But find Global Chamber Atlanta on there. Follow us there. Follow us on social media. We’re on Facebook for Global Chamber Atlanta and on LinkedIn we have the Global Chamber. It’s listed as the Global Chamber. Follow us there. You can find out what’s coming up, what’s going on on our website. But we post a lot of fun things around the world on LinkedIn and on our respective Facebook pages. Likewise, you can find us on you can find me on Facebook, social media. Actually this is under my Dana Austin speaks. We’ve got to transition everything to the to the nonprofit. But we’re working on it. But Dana Austin speak. That’s who I am across the board. So I’m a public speaker as well. If you need me for any of your events to encourage, to motivate, to light up the place.

Loice Hayes: [01:15:14] Do you ever coach on public speaking?

Speaker6: [01:15:16] Because I’ve not I’ve, I’ve not done that.

Dana Austin: [01:15:20] New.

Brian Pruett: [01:15:20] Business idea. There you go.

Dana Austin: [01:15:22] Oh.

Speaker6: [01:15:23] Coaching on public speaking. I have been asked a lot of questions about it, but that might be something to explore. I hear you, I see you, and I’m not letting you out of Puerto Rico, okay?

Brian Pruett: [01:15:38] All right, so let me ask you this as well. So you talked about having the passion and things like that and being part of the chamber, obviously networking.

Dana Austin: [01:15:48] Right. Yes.

Brian Pruett: [01:15:49] Do you have a positive testimony on networking?

Speaker6: [01:15:52] Yes, I have several actually, but this one I’m going to share is I went to Egypt for the first time this year, and so naturally I reached out to our CEO, Doug Brunk, and our vice president, Sasa Tarabanko, who’s actually in lives in Puerto Rico. I’m like, who do we have in Cairo? And it’s just it never fails. We have someone in Global Chamber everywhere he goes, oh, reach out to Oscar. Here’s his information. It’s always a soft. Connection that we make. So I reached out to Oscar. He emails me. We communicate. Tell him where our group is going to be staying in Cairo, and he and his wife says, we’re going to send a car to pick you up. Okay. I just like the sound of somebody sending a car for me.

Dana Austin: [01:16:36] That sounds good.

Speaker6: [01:16:36] Like, I know that doesn’t happen every day, you know? And and they. And the vehicle came and picked me up and took me to meet them at a beautiful restaurant, a beautiful restaurant that represented Egypt. And so we sat. And, you know, my mom has always taught us is that when you’re going to someone’s house or to their space to take a gift for them. So I had a copy of my book and maybe something else. I signed it and gave it to them. We sat there for three hours one day for dinner, but better conversation. And I learned that Omar is actually Omar. Sorry, he he export fruit for Egypt. Oranges in particular, right? I’m thinking this is like desert land where they’re growing these oranges. You know what he told me? The ground, underground water from the Nile. Wow, wow. Makes them the largest exporter for oranges. Wow. Okay. Whenever I meet someone, my mind is saying, just record. Just listen. Because I’m looking. Listening for the same reason you do, Brian. How we can connect. Same reason you do. How we can make a connection, how you can provide resources. Right. So that was incredible. I could have finished that connection and been okay with it.

Speaker6: [01:17:53] And it had it had nothing to do with what I do in my business role or my leadership hat or whatever, even as a coach. So we travel from Cairo to Aswan, and then we cruised over to Luxor and then back to Cairo. We flew back on the plane. I sat across from a lady who was from Spain and she says, oh, I love your outfit. So we start talking about clothes. You know, women, we always talk about clothes and shoes and and places to go to eat, right? Come to find out, she had to divert her trip back to Cairo because Spain was running short on produce and fruit, and she needed to go meet, try to make a connection. Well, I didn’t know her, but I knew I knew somebody that could help her out. So within two days they had met up and the rest is history. So that’s a global connection for sure. But of course things happen right here locally on the same level. It’s too many to count. And I know I’m looking forward to exploring Cartersville. Is it Cartersville and Cherokee? Yep. I’m just going to have to put some miles on that vehicle. There you.

Brian Pruett: [01:18:57] Go. And they also just gave me a good trivia question. So thanks for that I appreciate that. So now this is awesome. All right so one last question. If people want to find out where they can get your books, how can they find your books.

Speaker6: [01:19:07] They can find my book on Amazon Amazon. And it’s listed under T with strings vignettes. Or they can find it under our Transformational Writers conference page, under shop and the books and merchandise and registering for the conferences there as well. And we’re happy to meet up, and we’ll be having some more book launches for our authors soon, so we’ll need some volunteers to help with book launches and planning for this event. So if you want to be connected, come on board. Come on.

Brian Pruett: [01:19:37] I think I think you’re in the right room.

Speaker6: [01:19:38] Yes, I know I’m in the right room at the right time.

Dana Austin: [01:19:42] Yeah, right.

Speaker6: [01:19:43] Like sometimes you can be in the right room at the wrong time, but we’re in the right room on the right day. All the right people at the right time. All because of God.

Shay Traylor: [01:19:51] Yeah. It’s called divine appointments.

Dana Austin: [01:19:53] Yes.

Speaker6: [01:19:54] Yep. As they say. Won’t he do it?

Dana Austin: [01:19:56] Won’t he do it?

Speaker6: [01:19:57] Won’t he do it? Won’t he.

Dana Austin: [01:19:58] Do it? We’re just going to break out into.

Brian Pruett: [01:20:03] All right, Lois, I’m going back to you just for a second, because I forgot to ask this. If somebody wants to get Ahold of you for your services, how can they do it?

Dana Austin: [01:20:08] Yeah.

Loice Hayes: [01:20:08] So you can reach out to me. I am on Facebook under Celebrations to Remember, LLC. I’m also on Instagram under Celebrations to Remember. My email is events by Lois. And Lois is spelled a little different. So it’s events by Lois E so it’s spelled like Lois, pronounced like Lois Lane. So events by Lois at gmail.com is my email. Or you can give me a call on my business number and that is 706 6098388. So those are the ways you can reach us celebrations to remember. Awesome.

Brian Pruett: [01:20:46] Thanks. All right guys. So as we wrap this up this is what I like to do as we wrap the show up. So I want each of you to think about and share either a quote, a word, or just a positive nugget to share for people listening to finish today, 2023 and beyond with So Shay. Go ahead. What you got.

Dana Austin: [01:21:03] Before.

Shay Traylor: [01:21:04] We do that to redeem.

Dana Austin: [01:21:05] Myself. Okay.

Shay Traylor: [01:21:07] The the golf tournament is put on by the gathering of friends. It’s their eighth annual golf tournament and silent auction. The silent auction is open to the public tonight from 6 to 8 at the Tavern of Towne Lake. All right. The golf tournament is tomorrow at the Town Lake Hills Golf Course. Registration for that golf course is closed. Like I said earlier, the spots are all filled. But if anybody under the sound of my voice can come out tonight and do the silent auction between 6 and 8, that would be awesome.

Brian Pruett: [01:21:45] All right, now you now you redeemed yourself.

Dana Austin: [01:21:48] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right, so.

Brian Pruett: [01:21:51] Give us your positive wisdom.

Shay Traylor: [01:21:52] My positive wisdom is with God. All things are possible. Without him, nothing is possible.

Brian Pruett: [01:22:00] Lois.

Loice Hayes: [01:22:02] So again, talking back to one of the things my pastor said. So he talked about how God is always found in relationships. So he’s God speaks to us personally and gives us our calling, but it’s our responsibility to share that with the world and build the relationships around us. So if we can share that and find people that encourage us and continue to share that passion of ours, it’s just going to flourish from there. So if you can find your people that way, you have a responsibility to influence those people that are the closest to you, and you can use that influence to encourage others to be their best version of themselves. So just really building those genuine connections and being your true self when it comes to being a business owner.

Brian Pruett: [01:22:55] Dana.

Speaker6: [01:22:55] Absolutely. I actually have two, but one of them is higher than the highest human thought can reach. Is God’s ideal for his children. Oh, and I could not. I would be remiss if I didn’t share this particular quote, that there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you. Dr. Maya Angelou.

Brian Pruett: [01:23:20] The other thing I like to do as we wrap up is the thank you is a lost art these days. So thank you for what you’re doing for the the specifically the cancer community. Lois, thank you for what you’re doing in the community as itself and all the celebrations. And, Dana, thanks for what you’re doing as well, but also specifically for the authors. Everybody out there listening, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.