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What are you called to do? Join Jerod as he explores this big question with guest speakers from diverse backgrounds, including doctors, teachers, parents, and surgeons, as they share their personal stories.
Jerod owns a coffee shop in Anniston, AL, that is created to connect people with their calling through great-tasting, specialty coffee.
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Ready? Yes, sir. All right. Mrs. Sierra, Smith Rosson. How are you today? Good. How are you? Doing good. So you are our mayor in Addison.
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And you were previously a councilwoman. Yes. And I think that's when I met you before you were a councilwoman. You were running for a council. Yes. And I think I did. We had the coffee truck. We did an event for you. My campaign event. I met you once or twice before that, but that was when we really got to know each other. Yeah. So I'm super proud of you. Okay. It's been fun to watch your journey so far. And it's really, really fun to think about what's to come. So thank you for being here. We got a lot to talk about. So what I don't know a lot about you is like your upbringing, where you grew up, how you grew up. I know you went to Addison High School, but just start.
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Actually, I don't want to start with you. I want to start with your grandparents because I've heard a lot about your grandparents. Yeah. But I haven't heard the stories from you. Yeah. So is that a good place to start with your grandparents? Tell us about your grandparents. Sure. So my grandparents are John S. Nettles and Gertrude Nettles. They, my grandmother's originally from West Virginia, grandfather from South Carolina, but they met in college in West Virginia and moved during the Atlanta student movement to Atlanta, Georgia.
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And he was called to be the senior pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in the late 60s. And so that's how my family migrated from West Virginia, South Carolina, all the way to Alabama. And so obviously think about Addison, Alabama in the late 60s in the midst of a civil rights movement. And he was a mighty leader and started at a very young age where so there's been stories that have been told to me from 14 years old and marching and speaking up for what was right and just to moving to Addison in his 30s and taking that position of leadership, you know, in the faith community. He took that very seriously. He was the president of SCLC in the state of Alabama and did a lot of community work in Addison. He served on the Alabama board of pardon and parole and he did that for a very long time before his death in 1999. And so I was born in 1999 and he passed away in 1999. I was born February. Earlier that year he died December 12th, 1999.
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And so I've been told that, you know, we have very similar spirits in that sense. And my grandmother carried that baton for a long time and we still attended SCLC meetings in 17th Street Baptist Church with Reverend Reynolds, who was the pastor. With Reverend Reynolds, who was the pastor. He was also the pastor who went hand in hand with Pastor Bob McLean at the library in Aniston to integrate it. And they were beaten outside of the library. And so just a lot of history there, a lot of history that I grew up around equality and addressing injustice. And of course, as a kid, you don't realize how that's shaping your future because you're not really thinking of the importance of it. But I could definitely say that it has shaped, you know, the way that I view the world. And I'm grateful that my grandmother, you know, afforded me the opportunity to be in those spaces at such a young age. She probably didn't think it would shape me the way it is today, but it definitely left a lasting impression of my life. Yeah. What's, do you have like a first memory where you remember like that you want to make a difference in the world where it wasn't just falling along with politics or anything like that, but like, hey, this is not right. And because of the way I was raised. Yeah.
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So I think there were probably instances when I was way younger, but I think the first instance that really comes to my mind was so I grew up in innocent city schools, kindergarten through fifth grade.
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My grandmother got remarried and she moved to Columbus, Ohio where my, I called him new green daddy, but he was a senior pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio.
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And my mother, she had me when she was 16. And so at the time my mother was, I believe she was pregnant with my brother. So I have a sister and a brother. I had two sisters, one on my mom's side, one on my dad's side. And anyways, my mother was pregnant with my brother. My little sister Chloe was about three years old. And my mother said, I want to, you know, raise my children. I want to do it. You know, I want to be the mom that I, that I, you know, need to be. And so otherwise my grandmother would have taken me with her.
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And so unfortunately things transpired over the next couple of years. And I was placed into the foster care system. And so, and we wound up moving into a home with our foster parents who later got custody of us, full custody.
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And what was meant to be 30 days turned into like seven years for me and 10 years for my siblings. And so that that's, that's a journey within itself. But I say that to say after fifth grade, I lived in Oxford. And so I went to Oxford city schools since sixth grade through 10th grade, moved back to Anniston, like the end of 10th grade and graduated out.
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And I immediately saw the difference in the level of education I was receiving. And I was like, I'm going to do it. And the level of education I was receiving.
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And I was concerned because I was like, these school systems exist within maybe 10 minutes of one another, if that.
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And obviously demographically things are on the opposite ends of the, you know, the spectrum, but I just, I felt as if something was wrong with, with that. You know, I went to Oxford and we had access to MacBooks and labs and proper heating and air. And I mean, the environment around us was suitable for learning.
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And they had the resources to really, really pour into the students. And that's not to say that there weren't issues. There's always issues in whatever organization you're a part of, whatever institution you're a part of. But education wise, the resources that our students had access to were, I mean, they were phenomenal. And so moving back to Anniston and, you know, we're having textbooks that are years old. And, you know, at the time we didn't have Chromebooks. I believe Anniston got Chromebooks maybe two years after I graduated. And I graduated in 2017.
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I remember vividly one time we had to leave out of our science classroom because there were mushrooms growing on the wall. Not a science experiment. Not a science experiment, you know, not a science experiment. And, and so, and, you know, during the hot months, it'd be super hot, hot. During the cold months, it'd be super cold. And it's hard for young people to be able to be in an environment that is not conducive to their learning. And so I don't mean, I don't say this to say that everything about Anniston city schools was bad at the time because kindergarten through fifth grade,
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stellar experience. I mean, my upbringing in elementary school was top notch. I would have not wanted to go anywhere else. I would have, you know, put my children in the school system at that time.
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But they were light years behind the school system. That was just 10 minutes down the road. And that bothered me because I believe that our kids deserve just as much. And we deserve access to quality resources that allow us to learn and learn freely.
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And so I started going to council meetings. I started going to school board meetings. I started speaking up to my teachers. You know, I would be in class saying, you know, this is not right. This is not right. And I know my teachers probably still laugh to this day, but I, from the beginning of time or beginning of my life, I've always seen myself in those spaces speaking up for those who probably felt like they couldn't. And so I remember one time in particular, I went to a council meeting and a former counselor, city counselor, and I can say this now, because he and I had served on the council together. And I think that he's a great man.
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I think that he may have used the wrong words. But I remember him saying that the schools were innocent city schools were full of poverty stricken children and hopelessness. And so for me, it was how dare you, you know, how dare you when you're not in the classroom, when you've not taken the time to, to meet these students and see what we are capable of, or the level of obstacles that we face in the classroom, you know, that, that makes it hard to learn or the things that we're experiencing when we are at home, you know, that you don't just go to a classroom and just learn that's that that's what would happen in a perfect world. But that that's not what our life was like. And so I went to a council meeting to speak up during the public comment section. And I remember saying to the council, you know, as leaders, you guys can do better, you know, you can support us in ways that are tangible, whether it be financially or, or just show up, show up at our basketball game, show up at our football games, come to the classroom, let us know who you are. At that time, I probably had never seen any elected official in our school system.
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Maybe one or two every now and then. But that was because I was really into politics and into our local government. But outside of that, there was no true sign of leadership to that level inside of, you know, our school system or so I felt at the time. And then I turned around after speaking to the council and I said it's same thing to the community. You guys have to show it for our kids. You have to show it for us. You have to show it for me. And, and you know, the saying that it requires a village.
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I understand that way more now as an adult than I did as a child. It really does. It really does, you know, require a village to, to raise our children, to expose them to more, to help them expand their horizons. And so in that moment, it was like a call to action, not just to myself, not to the leaders, not just to the leaders of the community, but the community as a whole. We all have a part to play in this and we all could do better. And I think at that point, it was almost solidified. It's like I knew at that point what I was supposed to be doing. What age? You think that was? I was about 16, 17 years old. That's awesome. And I actually still have the clipping from Aniston Star.
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I had this messy bun in my hair, this green, I had jeans on this green shirt. And I look back at it. That was back when I was just so brave. And, and, you know,
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I don't want to say naive to the world, but the world wasn't, I didn't view it then what I see it as now, because I've had some experiences and some bruises along the way. But I, I was so fearless, like so fearless. I'm like, we deserve better. And you guys can give it to us. I think you're still that way. Yeah, I do feel that way. I do feel that way. Now you've just seen the obstacles. Yeah. A little, a little, a little less motivating to go after it, but you do create. You mentioned Pastor Bob. So two different Pastor Bobs. I always say that Pastor Bob McLean at Living My Faith is my pastor. But the story that I was talking about the library is another Bob. Because he would have to be older. Well, your pastor, Pastor Bob McLean, I've known him for years.
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He probably doesn't remember me, but I grew up going to Christian Center, which was on Wilmer down by the Salvation Army Christian Center. And we used to do joint meetings with his church and we would go to his church. They would come to ours, just awesome people. Yeah. But maybe think of him. Yes, I love them so much. Yeah, they're awesome. So I did not know you were in the foster system for a while.
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I bet that was hard to do. I bet that was challenging, even as a kid. Yeah. Yeah. Were you and your siblings together? We were. That was the fortunate thing about this experience. My brother, when we wound up going into the care of our foster parents, who later got full custody of us, my brother was like nine months. My sister was three and I was about nine or 10 years old. I think what was more difficult for me was that I was already of age where I've had a foundation laid for me. And I knew who my mom was. I knew who my dad was. I knew who my family.
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And so my sister and my brother, my brother is a baby baby. So the first nine years of his life, 10 years of his life was raised by this family,
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which significantly shaped his experiences. And same with my sister. The next 10 years of her life, till she was about 13, shaped her experiences significantly.
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So we definitely had, we come from different perspectives on that just because of our ages. But I would say it was difficult for me to navigate because it was so different than how I was raised the first decade of my life.
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My experiences were vastly different. My childhood was vastly different than what I was exposed to when I
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was no longer in the care of my grandmother. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
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Your empathy and compassion with people.
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I'm sure a lot of that comes from that time. And I can see that in you. Yeah. That's awesome. So in high school, did you immediately realize the issues, spoken from the council? Did you automatically know politics is what you wanted to do as you started to get towards graduating high school? Or I wouldn't say I was interested in politics. Like I was 11 years, well, no, because you could be a pastor as well. Because you have that in your history too. I definitely don't want to be a pastor and no shade to all the pastors, but that is a heavy calling. I mean, that is heavy, heavy. And as a leader, you have to learn how to suffer well. And that's something that I've learned. I don't know if it was necessarily politics. I think it was just leadership in general. But I love the way that you could shape policy to help people. And I think that was a level of leadership that I wanted to get into, which is what made me study political science when I went to college.
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But yeah, I think it was just a natural thing.
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I don't know if I thought so much about it at that age. I do remember, funny enough, I do remember telling one of my predecessors that I was going to run for his seat when I got older. Funny enough, I didn't know that I would run like three or four years later and then run against him. But that's just how God works sometimes. So I think I've always had the intention to come back home and to run for office because Aniston is just so near and dear to my heart. And I believe that change starts with people who have lived experiences in this space. And so yes and no. It's like I did want to get into politics, but I don't know if that was like fully the plan. Yeah. So when you left high school, did you go straight into college? I did. Let me ask you this. I know you also had a ton of people in Aniston area that rallied behind you and supported you even through college and stuff. Yeah.
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Who are some of those people in Aniston and what kind of impact did they have on you? So and when I say these people, there's no specific order. I know there's a ton of them. You can't remember all of them. Yeah, but I want to say, so Deborah Foster, I call her my aunt.
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She has been a constant in my life since I was born, literally.
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And if I could identify a mentor, it would be her on a personal and professional level. You know, how to carry myself like a young lady,
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how to deal with the political, the politics of it all, how to network, how to fellowship, how to build relationships. When to be quiet and when to speak. And then also on a personal level, that's my girl. I love her so much. And we have that familial relationship. And so I would say she has been such a constant. And anytime I told her I was going to do something, it's never been a, "Are you sure?" Or, "Maybe you should wait." Or it's always been, "Okay, and I'm going to help you figure out how we're going to get it done." From my wedding to running for office, to anything in my life, she has just always been a constant.
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I have my, I like to call them the, I feel bad for saying this.
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I call them the, they don't know that I call them this, but I call them the old lady gang. They're not old. They're not. They're older than me though. But I think of people like Millie Harris, Ellen Bass, Gene Hollingsworth, Joanne Pope, Ridgeley Smith, women who, Linda Jenkins, I mean, women, when I tell you, those women have been so supportive to me, so supportive. They have encouraged me. If I say that, "Hey, I just need to talk. I just need some space to feel heard. They're there. We'll go to Millie's house and have some cheese and some crackers and laugh and talk about all types of things." And I enjoy that.
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Vicki Floyd with the Legacy Club, also a constant, since I was like 15 years old, she always put me up on the stage with the Legacy Club. At the time, we were building out different parts of the organization like Georgia, Gadsden, Mississippi. I think it was Mississippi, but we were branching out outside of Calhoun County. And we would travel everywhere with her and she would make me speak all the time. And I say make like it was forced, but it really wasn't.
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But we had really good conversations.
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And she's also one of those people that I could go to and say, "Hey, this is what's going on and I just need some sound advice." And she's been that way for the past 10 years of my life. Yeah, public speaking, that's huge. That's one of the biggest skill sets you can... And the Legacy Club built me for that. Outside of growing up in a Southern Baptist church,
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a Southern Baptist church, where my grandfather was the pastor for nearly 30 years
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and being forced to do speeches all the time and quoting scripture and praise dancing. And those are the things that I was exposed to, which I'm grateful for. I'm so grateful for all those experiences and my upbringing.
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I would definitely say the Legacy Club kind of reinforced that for me. And Pastor Bob and Jackie McLean, my spiritual... Even when I was not a member of their church, you know, they've always been just spiritual advisors for me and spiritual parents. And they're so non-judgmental, but they can correct you with love. And because I honor them in their wisdom, like I receive it in love. And so I know I'm missing people. But those are the people that just like jumped in my head. I was just curious, especially the ones in the area, in the innocent area, that have been rallied behind you and been cheerleaders. It's been really cool to watch that community. Yes, yes. That's behind you no matter what. No matter what, yes. If you decided to resign tomorrow, they would still be behind you. Yes, yes. It's really awesome. So you graduated high school. You went straight to college. You went to Spelman first? Spelman College. What was that like? The greatest institution in the land. There is no other institution that is better than Spelman College. I will argue anyone down about it.
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It was an amazing experience. So Spelman is a HBCU. It's the number one HBCU. I like to tell people that. Number one. But it's an all-women's college. And so... And it was almost like every woman there were like the valedictorian, the SGA president, the creme de la creme in their perspective homes. And so I was in a space where I really was surrounded by nothing but excellence and empowered me in so many ways because we would be sitting in the classroom
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and I would just be like in awe of the conversations that were being had that I could really learn from. And I think for the first time in my life, I felt seen in a way where I was like thankful for who I was, but also super excited for who I was becoming at Spelman.
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And I think Spelman also affirmed what I already knew about myself leadership-wise.
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I think I just needed to cultivate what that looked like while I was there. And so I had internships and met so many people, made so many connections. And from there, it was just like, it all makes sense. It sounds like a master's business commission. Like you just go and... I'm serious. Every day. That's awesome. I'm serious. It was a powerful experience. If there's any point in my life that I could go back to, it would be college. Freshman and sophomore year to be exact. Not just because we had so much fun, but because I learned so much about myself. So much about myself. It was the best experience. And to this day, those connections have been lasting.
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There's nothing like a Spelman woman. I tell people that all the time. That seems to be one of the most beneficial things about college is the networking. Yes. You never know what opportunities that'll lead to in the future. What did you study there? Political science. Political science.
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And then you graduated there? In 2020 during COVID. Came back here. Came back home. So I graduated. Funny enough, I announced my candidacy in January of 2020.
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And technically still in college.
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But I knew I was going to graduate in May.
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So announced in January, COVID hit like March, beginning of March. And wound up not being able to graduate in person.
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So it was like a virtual thing. We wound up doing it the next year, so 2021. But yeah, so graduated technically officially from Spelman in May and ran an eight month campaign from January all the way to August.
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You had already decided before you graduated, you were going to come back here in our classes. I knew I was going to come back home. So I was coming back and forth consistently. It was an everyday almost thing.
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From Atlanta to Aniston.
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So out of all the opportunities you could have taken out of college, I'm sure. Put them in different ways. And at one point I was going to go the corporate route. I had an apprenticeship with, it was called Advancing Black Pathways. And it was through JPMorgan and Chase, almost forgot it. And so I had a, I think it was about six week internship, JPMorgan and Chase, one of their facilities in Columbus, Ohio.
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The corporate world is probably not for me, but it was a really great experience. That's awesome. So what made you decide to not just move back here, but run for office?
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So that same summer that I had an internship with JPMorgan and Chase, I was recommended by Congressman Hank Johnson, who serves the 4th District of Georgia. I did an internship with him. I was recommended by him to do the, I'm trying to remember the name, the Congressional Black Caucus Boot Camp.
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And it was established really to help people learn how to campaign, run campaigns and a bunch of, amongst other things. And I was the youngest person there. I was like 19 at the time, or I was 19 or 20. It was the summer of 2019 to be exact.
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And I was the youngest person there. My cohort was probably like 40 individuals.
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Don't quote me on that number.
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But I was surrounded by such excellence. Like I really was. It was in Washington, DC. Well, it was, we traveled back and forth from DC, but where we stayed was like on the outskirts of DC. So it was a thing was like Virginia.
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And so I was the youngest person there, of course. And some of them were already elected officials. Some of them were already political operatives who've been consultants or, you know, have had all this experience in the political world. And there was, we had, there was a challenge that they gave us. And all of us had to write a speech or those who were interested. And we have like a certain amount of, there was a timeframe that we had to write this speech. And the speech had to be, I believe the speech had to be like four minutes long or something like that. And basically whoever had the best speech by vote would get to speak at the Capitol the very next day. So. That's a lot of planning tone. Yeah. And so I did not think that I would, you know, get chosen. But I was like, because some of them were already elected officials. I'm sure I had years of experience public speaking, but there was one thing that I knew that I could speak on and it was Aniston.
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And so I remember, and I wish I still had a copy of that speech. I remember getting up and talking about Aniston and I mentioned the names of the, the young men that have been murdered senselessly
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due to, you know, gun violence in the city of Aniston. And some of them being my classmates and some of them being my age or even younger than me.
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And, and, and just really the overall culture of Aniston and the vision that I had for its future. And I got a standing ovation after that. And I was afforded the opportunity to speak at the Capitol the very next day. And I believe I still have a picture of, of when I spoke at the Capitol the next day on my Instagram, I think on Facebook too.
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But I don't know what it was. So after that experience, I was like, oh, I'm going home. Like I'm going home and I'm going to, and I had the mindset of, okay, I may not win because I knew that I would be going against a four term incumbent, but I'm going to give it a try. And at least, you know, my running will shake some things up. It will make people know that young people actually do care and that we care about the future that we're going to inherit. And it matters to us what happens with it. And so that was the initial goal. When I won, I was like, okay, well, here we are.
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And that, you know, changed drastically over the next or the last five years and in year six now. How old were you when you ran for Capitol? So I was 20 when I announced, I turned 21 the very next month. So I became the city council when I was 21. Yeah, that's awesome. And that's when I met you about that time. Yes, yes. I think I knew of you before then, but we actually met then and we did an event for you at Zen Park, which was fun. I remember that.
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Were you, I think you already, you say you didn't know if you would win or not, but how did you feel internally? Did you? So I didn't know that I was going to win until, like I didn't have an indicator that I would win until the general election was over and I was in a runoff with the incumbent. Because there were four of us in the war three race. And from the general election, I had the highest amount of votes. And so I knew that I had a real chance at this. And I think that's when it settled in my mind, because that was August.
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And the runoff election was October. It was August 25th, the general, October 6th, the runoff. And so I had a strong indication that I could win this thing. But the months leading up to that moment, I was terrified. I was absolutely terrified. I was like, I'm terrified of rejection in some ways.
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I think I was terrified of what it meant for me that if I jumped out on faith, doing this, what would be my, how would I pivot?
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And so I had a lot of things running through my mind. And I was also terrified of being torn apart. I was strong mentally. I've always had a really good head on my shoulders. But politics is nasty. It's brutal. And you have to really have thick skin. And so I was so terrified of what that looked like for me, especially being so young. And so I had to have a certain level of protection mentally, physically, spiritually around me that I feel like other people would not necessarily have to have. And so I think there was just a level of fear for a very long time. But one thing I've learned is do it scared, do it afraid, do it even when you're fearful. And the Lord will, it'll help you figure it out. Whatever that looks like, it'll happen. I told my son that. Well, you were there. He did the plan. Yeah, he did so good. He's done stuff like that several times. I try to keep him on stage whenever we have a chance. He did so good. But he told me the night before, he's like, "Daddy, I'm a little scared." I said, "Yeah, you're supposed to be. That's normal." He said, "You can still do it, right?" He's like, "Yeah." Yeah. And then he jumped up there and did it like a pro better than I would have. Yeah, yeah. He did a really good job. He really did. He did. But yeah, even when you're scared, you just gotta go for it. Yeah. Were you immediately...
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So you won, you became the board councilman, councilwoman. Did you immediately get the vice mayor position? So... Is that the same? So when I was officially elected October 6th, we did not get sworn in until like November 2nd of that year. That same day is when I was sworn in as the vice mayor, so the council appoints the vice mayor. And so they did the same day. At what age was it? 21. 21. Yes. That's awesome. Yes. I had no idea that it would lead up to where we're at today, but I thought it was an honor that my peers thought of me highly enough to allow me to be the vice mayor, especially being such like a young'un and being so new to the council.
[00:35:32:10 - 00:36:16:18]
I took every experience I could, learning from Jack at the time, he was the former mayor, who was my mayor at the time, from watching him at council meetings, watching him at city events, having those one-on-one conversations with him, because I knew there would come a time where maybe he wouldn't be able to be there or he would need me to fill in for something. So I really soaked in any opportunity I got. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. They put a lot of trust and faith in you. I think you'd already built that some because the way you presented yourself growing up through high school and speaking at the council meetings and stuff, but that's great. So you then became mayor by default through being vice mayor? Yes.
[00:36:19:01 - 00:36:23:03]
Or first, let me go back and say, was being a councilwoman what you expected?
[00:36:25:11 - 00:36:29:05]
Yes and no. I don't think you really can...
[00:36:31:08 - 00:37:18:03]
You really don't know how things are going to go until you do it. I feel like I grew a lot from my beginning years to my last couple of years in office as a city councilor, mainly because I had such a innocent way of thinking that anyone who is serving in some public capacity or any capacity of that nature, that they were all doing it for all the right reasons. There was also a level of respect that I had for so many people that I grew up around. And so it was interesting for me to see the shift of me having those relationships as a young child
[00:37:19:14 - 00:37:35:03]
with a bright future versus me having those relationships as a young woman who is now the city councilor. So that was a hard shift that I had to navigate because I could no longer see people from the lens that I once did.
[00:37:37:15 - 00:38:33:13]
I've also learned that everyone has faults and everyone lives in a glass house and everyone has experienced something. And so while I don't think city council wise, I found it to be challenging to debate policy or to create policy, I think more socially for me, there was a strong learning curve. It was significant because I had to take away everything that I once knew, throw it in the trash and learn all these new things. Yeah. So you did that for how many years before the transition? I guess three years. Five years. Five years. Oh yeah, they extended the term. Yeah, they extended the term to offset the presidential election. And so then Mayor Draper resigned? Yes, in May of 25. By default, you became mayor from Vice Mayor. Yes. At 26?
[00:38:35:08 - 00:38:46:05]
Was that a surprise to you? So it was. So funny enough, and I feel like I have to say this story because I think that everyone thought it was calculated and it genuinely wasn't.
[00:38:47:10 - 00:40:00:15]
And I know Mayor Draper wouldn't mind me saying this. He had been having some health issues for quite some time. And that was at least two or three years. And he was extended another year. Yes, yes, yes. And so it was the week before we all found out he had sent myself and the interim city manager at the time of texting that he was not feeling well and asked me to take care of the council meeting. Of course I did. Well, I knew that Thursday we had the Chief Lidaga Trail ribbon cutting, which was his baby. Like that's something he had worked really hard on. And funny enough, I had voted no on that. And I had my own reasons. And so I filled in on Tuesday as the Vice Mayor would. And then on Thursday he told me he could not make the ribbon cutting. And I was like, okay, something's not right. Because Jack is not a quitter. He is a very selfless man. And I knew that if he could, he would have shown up. And so I knew then something probably wasn't 100% okay.
[00:40:02:08 - 00:40:05:04]
I think he either called me or sent me a text. He said he would call me on Monday.
[00:40:06:07 - 00:40:29:15]
And he called me on Monday. And one of the first things that came out his mouth was I'm resigning. We talked about, because we were what, three months out from an election. And I was terrified of what that would look like. Would people think it was staged? Would they think it was all these things? And Jack was like, I could really care less about what people think. I've got to do this.
[00:40:30:17 - 00:40:35:06]
And he did it for all the right reasons. And so I respected him and supported him for it.
[00:40:36:08 - 00:40:43:06]
For me, it left so many questions in my head about, again, what would people think? Is this something I can handle?
[00:40:44:20 - 00:40:52:23]
We wound up getting an opinion from Legislative Review from Montgomery on what were the next steps that we needed to take.
[00:40:54:07 - 00:40:58:12]
And we could, the Vice Mayor could assume the role or we could appoint someone.
[00:40:59:15 - 00:41:07:02]
Didn't make quite sense to appoint someone, considering I've been the Vice Mayor for such a time as this, literally.
[00:41:08:13 - 00:41:36:12]
And also, it was an opportunity that I feel like was necessary. Not just, I don't even think it was about proving to other people that I could do the job, but proving to myself that I could do the job, that I could handle it. And so it was kind of like this nice little three-month trial run.
[00:41:38:16 - 00:42:07:17]
And it was probably the most productive three months I've had in my life in quite some time. Because I felt like I had to prove something. I had something to prove. Again, not just other people, but to myself. And so I think it was like early May, all the way until August. And thankfully, thank you, Jesus, I didn't have to go through a runoff. And I was elected outright. When he called you and told you that he was resigning, where were you at?
[00:42:11:02 - 00:42:13:12]
I may have been on break at work.
[00:42:16:16 - 00:42:35:20]
Did you go back to work or did you take the rest of the day off? Well, I was in such shock. Yeah. I was in such shock at the time that I don't even know if it really registered to me what was going on. I think I probably didn't think too much about it until I got home. And then I was like, oh, this is really happening.
[00:42:37:02 - 00:42:57:03]
And then, of course, you have your phone calls, city attorney, phone calls with other city councilors. And at the time, we were really the only ones that knew. I know that the interim city manager at the time knew and maybe a couple city employees, but we didn't know what direction up until that Wednesday that so he told us on a Monday,
[00:42:58:12 - 00:43:01:16]
we finally knew exactly what we were supposed to do that Wednesday.
[00:43:03:01 - 00:43:28:00]
It became public on Thursday that he resigned. And then on that Friday, it became public that I was going to assume the role of mayor. That all happened within one week. My life completely changed in one week. I mean, I thought being the vice mayor and the city councilor was one thing, but when I assumed the role of mayor, it was like a different level of responsibility.
[00:43:29:12 - 00:44:39:05]
One that I take seriously, but I could see how it could feel heavy. Yeah, for sure. And you were still working a normal or a full-time job at that point. Which I think so by law, I could have maintained the job. You can have an office of profit and you can be a regular employee. And so it was impossible. That Friday, when it was all become, it became public that Monday, I returned to work. And because I worked at another municipal government, I had to keep everything separate. It was impossible. Yeah. It was, you had people coming in wanting to bring up Aniston to me at my full-time job. And I was so overwhelmed. I said, you know what? I said, I'm just going to have to make this decision to make sure things are both ethically and legally sound. And I've made a commitment to Aniston. And I think this is my time to show them my commitment. And so I wound up resigning from my full-time job and focused on the city ever since. The city of Aniston, that is. Which is another full-time job. It is. 24 hours a day.
[00:44:41:02 - 00:44:47:00]
So you were in office as vice mayor, taking over mayor until August and then ran for reelection.
[00:44:48:03 - 00:45:00:05]
And then were elected. Was elected mayor, which was great. You had a huge, huge team behind you supporting you. I did. It was amazing on Facebook and out in the town everywhere. It was awesome.
[00:45:02:08 - 00:45:13:12]
When did you get married? Because you got married in there somewhere, right? Everything happened. And I don't think anybody knew you were getting married. Or it's just like, oh, she's married. I really tried to maintain private personal life.
[00:45:15:04 - 00:45:19:20]
But we got married. So we actually got legally married in July of 24.
[00:45:21:09 - 00:45:26:01]
And that was just a private thing that he and I did with our pastors, Bob and Jackie McLean,
[00:45:27:01 - 00:45:28:19]
after church one Sunday. We had on jeans.
[00:45:29:19 - 00:45:44:10]
It was actually the day Joe Biden announced that he would not be running for reelection. I think that's so funny. That's how I remember our anniversary every year. We got legally married then. And then we had a wedding in November with our friends and family of 24.
[00:45:45:13 - 00:46:32:04]
But yeah, it makes me laugh when people say that because they're like, we did not know. And I didn't think I could have kept it as private as I did, but I really did. Because I've learned that my home life is so sacred. And there are some things that I've got to keep a priority. And those were one of those things. And I never wanted that to kind of get in the midst of what I do professionally. You know, they intertwine in a lot of ways. But that was one thing that I wanted to have for myself. Well, he's a really cool guy. He's fun to talk to. He is. No, he's like, do you want me to come to the podcast? I can be on it. He should have. I'm like, no. One of the second one of them. He will have you here for three hours. That's OK. So you've been mayor now.
[00:46:33:10 - 00:46:41:02]
Elected a mayor for almost a year, right? Going to be a year. Well, officially elected mayor.
[00:46:42:23 - 00:46:45:19]
August. Anyways. Just a few months. A few months, yeah.
[00:46:48:11 - 00:46:50:23]
Is being mayor what you thought it would be?
[00:46:53:09 - 00:46:54:03]
I know it's...
[00:46:55:16 - 00:46:57:12]
It wasn't just your position that changed.
[00:46:58:15 - 00:48:43:04]
Almost the whole council turned over. New city manager, new positions all through the city. Everything changed, yeah. And a lot of it happened right when you took office as mayor from Vice Mayor. It seemed really chaotic for a little while in the city. But you handled it with so much grace and poise and made it a seamless transition. I started to hear city employees saying, it sounds like she's doing great. Everybody's happy. Um, was it everything you expected it to be? Even though it was a surprise to start with? Yeah. It was challenging. I would say from May all the way until October of 25, it was constant anxiety. I have to be as transparent as possible. I think I lived in a state of constant anxiety. My husband will tell you, I was probably on edge. Publicly, people probably couldn't tell because I've learned to mask that in some spaces and take care of my duties and my responsibilities as I should. But I think I was so overwhelmed with the unknown. And so it took a lot of trust in God. It really did. And, okay, Sierra, you're doing the right thing. This will shape out the way it needs to. You know, God's going to put the right people in the right place, but it was constantly reaffirming myself and like encouraging myself and having those constant internal conversations. But I think it felt chaotic every day in my mind and in my heart, but I knew that troubles don't last always literally. And there was going to, you know, at some point we're going to be like, okay, we can all breathe.
[00:48:45:22 - 00:48:51:18]
So I would say, yeah, from, from about May to October, it was definitely like, oh my gosh.
[00:48:52:20 - 00:49:00:11]
But then once October hit closer to November, when we were sworn in, we knew who our city councilors were going to be. We hired a city manager.
[00:49:01:20 - 00:51:34:17]
You know, we, we had a new fire chief and I say, unfortunately, unfortunately, because I love chief Phelps and I think so highly of him. I hate, you know, how we lost our former fire chief. And that was, that was a hard loss for us. Very hard because he was, he was such a good fire chief. And so that hit us too. Yeah, it was all of that. Yeah. Chief Waldrop. I mean, he, he was, he was a part of the heartbeat of what makes Aniston Aniston. And so that was a hard pill to swallow. And, you know, Rashiva, our HR director, you know, retired recently and she'd been with the city for 20 plus years. Our police chief retired recently 20 plus years. Even Mr. Folks, you know, 30 years of service to the city of Aniston, you know, prior to that, he was the part director, then he was the city manager. So everything that we once knew to be Aniston was transforming, but I thought that was such a blessing because it was kind of bittersweet because, you know, you're going to miss everyone. But also I think that there was such a unique opportunity to shape Aniston in a new way. You have new leadership, you have young leadership, you have pretty much a brand new council. You have a brand new city manager, you have brand new directors. And so I think that that gave us a sense of like, okay, let's do this. Now we can, we can change things up a bit. Yeah. And I think all the, all the change at once, even though some of it was sad and you had to see some people leave and even all that together created some excitement. Yeah. Yeah. Just for change sake, if nothing else. So it was a really cool time to see as a business owner, especially, you know, we're right there in downtown and we've seen it all. Yeah. Well, we've been there the past three years now. Yeah. We dealt with the challenges of getting open and have seen all that change as well. Everything's streamlined now. And as the proof is in the pudding, there's businesses opening up left and right. I think it's just been super fun to watch. Everything evolve. Yeah. Especially with, with you steering the ship, if it will be. Trying to at least. Yeah. What's, what's one of the hardest things is Mayor, you think? I'm probably trying to make everyone feel, oh, I don't know.
[00:51:36:01 - 00:52:08:02]
So the first thing that came to my mind was I value people a lot. And so I want everyone to feel important. And so trying to be equitable in that has been very difficult because you can only give so much of yourself, but I really do try to be as intentional as I possibly can in every area from our unhoused population to South Aniston, West Aniston, the East side of Aniston. I genuinely do try to give so much of myself. That can be hard because I'm only one person.
[00:52:09:15 - 00:52:19:09]
And, you know, the job doesn't always allow me to do that. So I would say that's a challenge. The second challenge is being misunderstood.
[00:52:22:03 - 00:52:26:02]
In this day and age, you have a lot of people who
[00:52:27:18 - 00:52:31:21]
the easiest thing for them to do when they hear something is to go on social media,
[00:52:34:02 - 00:52:55:06]
not research anything, not gathered all the relevant facts, not asked the right questions, not shown up to a council meeting, not reached out to me personally, because I'm very accessible, like very accessible. In some ways, I think I should reduce some my accessibility because I think I'm overly accessible sometimes. But I think sometimes while I have a lot of love,
[00:52:56:12 - 00:53:03:22]
I think it to me that overwhelms the hate that I receive. It is disappointing when I see things
[00:53:05:03 - 00:53:19:19]
on social media that are just absolutely not true. And I think that's been somewhat difficult. I have really thick skin and I've really learned to let things roll off my shoulder. But,
[00:53:20:20 - 00:53:40:23]
you know, being anointed or being called for something does not erase my humanity. And I'm quoting a pastor who said that to me recently, that I'm still human and I still feel and I still think. And so that does because it's like the information is at your disposal.
[00:53:42:06 - 00:58:07:06]
It's here and yet you still desire to make up things. So that's been a challenge. And that's not just with me. That's across the United States. That's across the world. Because we're in this day and age where it's just so easy to type something and spread and misinformation spreads easier than anything. Like, oh my gosh, I can go on Facebook and say the sky is red and genuinely people will be on there arguing about it. I'm serious. Social media is so divisive. It's like we can all see the same thing. We can witness the same exact thing, but everyone is leaving with different perspectives. So that's kind of been difficult to navigate, but I think I'm learning and I think it gets easier as you grow, but I don't know if it'll ever just be like okay to me. I guess you can say. Yeah, I mean, because I wouldn't do it to anybody else. I don't think you'd want to grow that thick skin. Yeah, yeah. None of it bothers you at all. Yeah. What's the, what would you say so far is the best thing about being there? I would say actively seeing the changes. It's so rewarding knowing that you're able to provide a better quality of life for people. We're not where we need to be, but we're not where we once were. And I think we have some pretty big things that are coming up that I think are going to make so many people proud. And I, you know, you have to maintain a level of confidentiality, which I do really well with, but I'm so excited. Like I'm genuinely excited for the future of, of Aniston as it relates to healthcare, as it relates to infrastructure, as it relates to economic development, even as it relates to our school system. I think that we have so many amazing things coming forth that, you know, when I decide to step away from leadership in Aniston, I can say, this is what we did and this is how we change people's lives. And I think that's the whole point of it all. So that's what I'm most excited about right now. And Aniston has, it's a different place than it was like, you said when you were in high school, you know, you had even friends in school that had been murdered. And it was a lot rougher in 2015 through 17. Yes. Yes. I was before, we moved to South America for a while, but before that, we lived in Aniston and it's different now than it was then. And unfortunately, that stigma stayed with it for longer than it should have. And there's a lot of negativity we all hear about Aniston. But just the other day, I was with United Way, we got to tour, in one day, probably 10 different nonprofits, the majority of them in Aniston. I think only two were not in Aniston. But we went from nonprofit to nonprofit that are doing just amazing things in our city. There's resources everywhere. If you're struggling with anything, there's people there to help you with love and compassion. There's programs to get you in housing, there's programs to get you safe from domestic violence. There's programs for children that need help. And it's all in Aniston. The majority of it's in Aniston. That's got to feel, even all the negativity you hear about the city, knowing that that's there, that's got to feel good to be a mayor where all that's going on, seeing the change start to happen. And that's not to say it doesn't come with challenges. Because you have to deal with the effects of the fact that there are so many resources here. But I think Aniston should be proud that we genuinely live by the principle of helping and loving our neighbor. We genuinely do. And we may not be the best of the best, we are in my eyes. But Aniston has a reputation of being willing to lend a helping hand. And I think that's something we should be proud of. Yeah, it's been so cool. Even with the, it's no secret that there's a homelessness problem. There's a shelter now, which is great. A lot of those people won't stay in the shelter. But even to see the compassion grow for those people, also resources grow for those people. If they really want help, there's help there. And you guys I know have worked really hard to help see that happen and make that happen. So that's really cool. As a business owner, who's
[00:58:08:12 - 00:58:59:05]
the first couple of years we were open, it was my biggest stress. Yeah. Was dealing with people having mental problems. Yeah. Or drugs. Yeah. We don't have to deal with that anymore as much. I've maybe had two instances the last probably year compared to many before. So there is a change happening. And there's a balancing act with that. When we decided to invest into Martha's Hope, it was with the intent and it is still the intent. And I know this is also the intent of the officials at Martha's Hope and even United Way to help people get from point A to point B. You're dealing with a lot of people who are struggling with substance abuse disorders, who are suffering from chronic homelessness, mental health issues, which is a
[00:59:00:08 - 00:59:42:00]
epidemic across this entire nation. It's not just anything. And so the balance of offering those resources, providing quality care, but also knowing that there are some challenges that come from that. And I'll give a prime example and I've been pretty open with this. And have great relationships with our local nonprofits because you invest in a shelter here, which I really don't like that term. I would love to see it as a transitioning center. Which is what it's meant to be. It's an emergency shelter. It's what it's meant to be. Yeah. I forgot where I was with that.
[00:59:43:23 - 00:59:52:04]
I just had a whole brain moment. Yeah. Getting people from point A to point B. Yeah. So you're balancing the transitioning center, the shelter.
[00:59:55:00 - 01:00:17:07]
And when we invested into this, it was with the idea that we're going to be able to get people from point A to point B. What I don't think that we accounted for, and maybe that was just being slightly naive, was when you create something, people come.
[01:00:18:11 - 01:02:25:01]
And so trying to deal with capacity of that, the influx of individuals that are coming in, who need help? They need help. And our job is here to help them. But it does put a strain on our resources, our law enforcement, even resources that we have available. And so trying to find out or trying to figure out a balance between the two has been difficult. And I know other cities that provide these resources are kind of struggling with the same thing. It's national. There's no answer for it. So I don't know if we have, obviously there's no one size fit all approach to this. And I don't know if we even have a real answer to this, but I know that we have nonprofits and leadership within the city that are committed to addressing the concerns of people who are not a part of the unhoused community, whether that be business owners or families who want to enjoy public amenities, but also making sure that we're being compassionate to our neighbors and those that may be struggling. Because you don't, you know, everyone has a story and you don't, it's easy to say, well, just go get a job. Or it's easy to say, well, they can go get help because help's there. But as someone who has family members that have experienced or are in active addiction or recovering addicts or have been homeless or maybe struggling with mental health issues, it's not always easy to say, nor is it easy to do. So I think I just have a different level of compassion for them because I know that one wrong thing, it could have been me. And with my experiences in my childhood, it statistically probably should have been me, you know? And so for me, sometimes it's all about opportunity. What opportunity can we give them to change their lives? And the reality of it is some people don't want to change. So balancing that too is difficult, but it's one of the hardest jobs that you have, I think, as a mayor.
[01:02:28:18 - 01:05:10:00]
So I feel like we're so blessed and lucky to have you in Aniston. I'm not sure how long that's going to last because you're so talented. And so do you have any, I don't know if it's proper to talk about this while you're mayor, but do you have any aspirations for the future as far as, I know you're still studying, you're studying law now. What do you think your future might look like? Yeah, I struggle with that. And what I've been telling myself is don't think too far ahead, because I'm such a futuristic person. I think I've always been one step ahead of myself or probably 10 steps ahead of myself. And so I'm really trying to focus on being more in the moment and enjoying what I'm experiencing because it is monumental. And this is something that I can be proud of. I have this issue with, and other people may experience the same, where you can accomplish something and you don't feel accomplished. That's a trait of a successful person. Yeah. So I'm trying to, but I'm trying to appreciate that. I'm trying to appreciate where I'm at in my life and the things that I've experienced and accomplishments I've made. I'm in law school right now and I'm projected to graduate in December of 28. So I've got about two and a half, three years. Well, yeah, two and a half years left of law school. And my hopes would to be a licensed attorney when I sit for the bar and hopefully February of 29. And to be honest, I can't tell you, I cannot tell you what life is going to look like at that point. I'm trying to give myself some grace and saying, I don't have to have it figured out right now, but I really don't know. I'll be 30 years old when my term ends. I will have given a decade, literally. I announced my candidacy at 20, was elected at 21, a decade of my life. All of my 20s have been devoted to Aniston. I've given so much of myself, my youth, and while I'm proud of it, and I love this city so much, I don't think that Aniston is where I will be for the rest of my life. And so I'm open to what the future holds and I'm open to pivoting when that time comes. And if three and a half years from now, when my term ends, if I feel that my leadership is still needed,
[01:05:11:01 - 01:06:52:17]
I'd run again. But if three and a half years from now, I feel like we're on good footing and I can pass the baton and we have someone in place that can continue that leadership. I'd also be willing to say, okay, I've done what I've been tasked to do. I've completed my assignment. Would I run for office again? Probably. I think it's in me. Do I know what that would look like? I don't know if it'd be the legislator or maybe Congress. I have no clue because the political landscape could be completely different at that time. Things change drastically. And so I'm open to whatever that looks like. I would definitely want to focus on building a legal career and maybe getting some experience as an attorney, which may be difficult being mayor, as we have seen with former mayors who are also attorneys. But I also think I'm superwoman sometimes. But I also don't want to put too much on myself. So I'm open to whatever the future looks like, but I'm also committed to ensuring that Aniston gets the best out of whatever decision that is made. It seems to me, from my perspective, you've done a really good job of focusing on this and what you have, your task at hand, and not getting distracted by the bigger picture. Even though those, I know there's people out there hollering at you. Come over here. We're really grateful to have you in Aniston, so thank you for that. What would you say to, let's say, 10-year-old Sierra? Oh, cool. Because
[01:06:54:12 - 01:07:36:10]
you're still way young. Yeah. Like you said, you've given 10 years to this, and you'll still be 30 when you've given your 10 years. So you still have a ton of opportunity ahead of you. But what would you say to... So at 10 years old, I will have just transitioned out of probably one of the most transformative and traumatic situations of my life. At nine, I lived in the Salvation Army. We moved to Heflin for a very short time, and that is when I went into the foster care system,
[01:07:37:10 - 01:07:44:01]
and I think I celebrated my 10th birthday with my foster family, who again had custody of me.
[01:07:45:12 - 01:08:38:05]
So if I could go back to that Sierra, it would probably be, it gets better. Like it gets better. And it's not as painful as it seems. And I think that everything happens for a reason. I look back at the things I experienced, why I felt like it was unfair for a child. I think that if I had not had those experiences, I would not be who I am today. 100%. And I would not be as compassionate, as empathetic, as understanding, as willing to be a public servant. All those things were necessary. They were. Yeah. Do you think that's where a lot of your drive and motivation comes from, some of that? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure.
[01:08:40:16 - 01:09:45:17]
On a scale of one to 10, where would you put yourself as far as where are you at when you felt, where do you feel like you're called to, or are you walking into what you're, feel like you're called to do on a scale of one to 10? 10. 10. For sure. For sure. Where are you supposed to be? 100%. There was probably one point in my life where I was trying to figure out whether I was going to run for mayor or another position, because I was being pulled in different areas. And I was genuinely like, to me, it was a win-win. I could really produce change in Aniston either direction. But my focus was not about a higher title or position. It was, I was more so focused on how can I make a direct impact into the lives of the people in Aniston in a way that's fulfilling to me, in a way that I feel like this is rewarding, no matter how painful it may be, how challenging it may be, how frustrated I feel sometimes,
[01:09:46:21 - 01:10:11:06]
what is going to be, where am I called to the most and where I can make the greatest impact. And when I tell you I prayed and prayed for like a year straight, an entire year straight, I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. And I stopped asking people their opinions. I stopped, you know, outside of my husband, you know, I just stopped really talking about it.
[01:10:12:16 - 01:10:19:10]
And I just asked God to kind of help me figure things out.
[01:10:21:07 - 01:10:39:19]
And in some odd way he did. And I don't know if I can identify like the exact moment where it was like, okay, this is what you're supposed to be doing. I don't know if there was an exact moment. But every day that I'm in this position, even when I feel daunted by it,
[01:10:41:02 - 01:12:09:19]
like I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. And I think that's why God has given me so much strength to handle what I deal with on a daily basis. I'm young, I'm a woman, a woman of color at that. And I am faced with a lot of things that my predecessors did not have to endure. I remember specifically, when I was running for office, I had a campaign page. And, you know, you can do advertisements, political campaign advertisements. And so my reach was significant in the southern part of the United States. So people from Arkansas and Mississippi and Georgia and Louisiana, just like random, you know, people were commenting on my stuff. And the hate, it was like insane. The names that I was being called from the N word to an illegal alien, I was born in America. I mean, just volatile things, you know. And so even despite all that, I still had this like hunger to serve. Because I easily could have said, I'm not going to deal with this. Like I could have easily said, I don't want this. Let me go live somewhere else and probably live a stress free life. You know, not that life is going to be stress free regardless of what you do. But definitely less stressed than what I deal with on a daily basis. But for whatever reason,
[01:12:11:15 - 01:12:50:04]
it's like God just, he strengthened me every day, like every day when things would come up, when I would feel overwhelmed or unsure. There would be some gentle reminder or he would send somebody or something as small as I'm in the grocery store and someone comes up to me and say, you know, thank you, you know, or I'm proud of you or seeing a child, you know, like, oh my gosh, that's the mayor, you know, because I was once a little girl who was like, just obsessed with knowing leaders and seeing them in our spaces. And so I know how exciting that can be for a child.
[01:12:52:02 - 01:13:55:18]
So I don't know if there's, you know, ever been a point where I was just like, this is not what I'm supposed to be doing. I think I'm constantly affirmed that, that I am where I need to be enduring what I need to endure, learning what I need to learn, experiencing what I need to experience. And my voice matters and I'm here for a reason. And I'm on an assignment for a reason. And I like firmly believe that firmly. Yeah. I know you spent a lot of time, you probably have less time now to spend doing it, but you spend a lot of time pouring into other young women. Savannah that works with us when she's in town, Savannah Strong. She's always super grateful to meet with you and talk with you and you're an inspiration to her. I know she'd be a good vice president when you were president. Yeah, she would be. She'd be a good president too. Yeah. Either way, you work with each other. She's studying in law too. So, but I've seen you pour into a lot of young women and you're an inspiration to young women. What would you say to a young women, woman such as her or even younger that is considering politics or
[01:13:56:21 - 01:15:51:02]
feel like they're called to fight injustice, which is essentially what you're doing? Twice as hard to have half as much. I would say it all the time. I have to work twice as hard to get half as much. I have to fight on a daily and I won't name specific instances, but I could name probably 10 instances even on a local level where I feel like I have to fight to be heard. And it's not for me personally, it's for the city, but it is all well worth it. Because I think that anytime you acknowledge that fight and you acknowledge the injustice that comes from it, you're shaping a future that makes it easier for the people that come behind you. And times have changed significantly. And I would say in some respects in a positive direction, the things that my grandmother faced or even Deborah Foster as the first African-American female to serve on innocent city council, the things she faced at that point made it easier for me to serve in this capacity. Even Millie Harris, serving as long as she did for 12 years, there was a fight for her. And so for me, it's fight on regardless because there's a little girl 10 years, 15, 20 years down the road, or a young boy who is going to be grateful that you did that they don't have to fight to the level that you're having to. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. I know you're busy. You probably got a hundred text messages and phone calls. Again, we're so happy to have you as our mayor. So proud of you. You're doing amazing things at even such a young age here.
[01:15:53:03 - 01:16:02:21]
Yeah, the future. Who knows what the future holds for you, but it'll be super fun to watch. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for spending time with us. Thank you. Let's do it again. All right. All right.