Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Clock Into Your Calling exists to encourage believers to live out their faith in everyday life, making Monday through Saturday feel more like Sunday morning. Each episode inspires consistent faithfulness, breaking the divide between “sacred” and “secular” by showing how God uses our work, relationships, and daily routines for His glory. Through stories, practical wisdom, and biblical encouragement, you’ll be equipped to live intentionally, steward your gifts well, and embrace a kingdom mindset over culture. Our goal is to empower you to take faithful steps right where God has placed you.
Ian Hess:
What is going on guys? Welcome into another episode of Clock and Tear Calling. I'm so thankful that you guys are investing some of your time in being here with us today. Your comments, your likes, your subscribes. I know that's just something that could be only a few seconds for you, but it helps me reach more people. And I'm so thankful for just you guys leaving that feedback for me.
Ian Hess:
Stay tuned to the end for a challenge question. And if you're not already on the YouTube flip over to that for the video version of this podcast. So today's topic we got calling not just a career. I'm joined here by Carol Beck. She did sales and marketing when she started her career right out of college. Stay at home mom of four, not were adult children then, but now they're adults now, children. And now she's a franchise co-owner of the local automotive shop, Christian Brothers Automotive. Welcome to the podcast, Carol Beck.
Carol Beck:
Thank you for having me, Ian. Yeah, I'm really excited for our conversation today. We're going to be talking about your phases of your career and really what you've been learning through that to really align with our mission statement of this podcast, which is living out our faith in the Monday through Saturday and why it really can't stop on Sunday. So I want to ask you, so a lot of us see you at church. We know what you do now, but who are you outside of church? What are some of your hobbies, your passions? What do you like to do outside of church?
Ian Hess:
Going to the gym. yeah. Okay. Yeah, just trying to you know, get a little healthy longevity Socially, I love catching up with my friends So I know you haven't been in Florida for too long you lived in many of the major cities all around the US What have you been finding is your favorite part about Florida so far?
Carol Beck:
Well, I think the beaches being so close, so you just get up one day and you're like, I feel like I need to touch sand and feel waves and, you know, enjoy the sun and just having the theme parks. can kind of feel like last night we went to Disney Springs just to kind of feel like we're on vacation. Yeah. So we have the pleasure of a city. But yeah. Yeah. I mean, Florida really has it all when you think about it and hot weather.
Ian Hess:
So we got our conversation for today, calling, not just a career, living out our calling every day. want to ask you, rewinding back a few years, can you tell us how you came into your faith and how you came to basically where we are today?
Carol Beck:
Yeah. I don't remember not believing in Jesus, to tell you the truth. I I was brought from the time I was a little bitty baby and
Ian Hess:
You know, who knows all what goes on in those nurseries, lots of praying over little souls. And it was just an everyday part of my life. We were three time a weekers. went Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And my mom was very involved. She was always volunteering. So, yeah, that was kind of like an extension of our home, to be honest. yeah, that was my upbringing. Was there a time where maybe high school?
Carol Beck:
college, any season of your life where you may have stepped back from God or maybe you had a break in your faith or were you really consistent? You're like, that's all I know how to do, like three times a week, maybe not three times a week all your life, but we're super involved. Well, I had an experience with death, like seeing death upfront when I was nine. It was actually my sister, she was eight. So half my childhood at the...
Ian Hess:
I mean, figure I left to go to college at 18. Right. So it was like right in the middle of my childhood. I get hit with the sobering idea that like it's not just old people that die. Right. Like this is real. We literally we shared a room we shared a bed. So like we wake up one morning together and I go to bed that night. She's not there ever again. So it's very kind of sobering for a nine year old. So.
Carol Beck:
immediately, like I knew, like, this is all very real stuff. Plus, I got to see, like, the body of Christ, like, ministering to my family. We were constantly prayed over, meals brought to us, like, just really ministered to. So, it's, I took in a lot of that. And I just remember thinking about the Lord, like, all the time, constantly. I don't know that I always obeyed and walked.
Ian Hess:
the walk. So kind of like where are you going with that question? Yeah, definitely. mean, in high school, I put a greater emphasis on maybe some social aspects of my life or, you know, trying to figure life out on my own, not really involving God. Yeah, I definitely did. Yeah, for sure. College too. Just stuck that in there at the end. Yeah, it's so hard. mean, and those are I feel like the
Carol Beck:
pivotal years, especially when you get out of college, think it really sets the trajectory of your life and who you get around, what you get involved with. And it's tough those ages of your life because you're not just trying to do what's right all the time. You're just trying to fit in. You're trying to be the most popular one, be cool, be liked. there's a lot of opportunity to stray away from your faith. And, you know, ultimately we see where you are now, life bearing so much fruit and it's clearly evident anyone who's came in contact with you just for a little bit, I'm sure they left with a little bit more joy.
Ian Hess:
I know that I do when I see you on Sundays. I want to ask you, so as we kind of ease our way into this topic today, what obstacles do you think people, so for you, it sounds like even from an early age, you were implementing your faith into your daily life, which I think is so awesome, but I don't think that everyone's like that, where their faith is just, you know, I'm waking up on Monday, right? It's like, okay, maybe I'll make it waking up on Sundays with that in mind. I get a little worship going in the house. But what do you think keeps people from compartmentalizing their faith?
Carol Beck:
to like a Sunday and not implementing it to a Monday through Sunday. and I think I did that too. Okay. Just because I was thinking about the Lord all the time. you know, my concept of salvation, the salvation that I had received, like, that was very secure and solid. But as far as the sanctification part and the growth and the development, no, and it is because we compartmentalize. You know, on a Sunday, you're...
Ian Hess:
you're around worship, you're around a great message, you're around prayer, you're around other believers. And so that's a feeding of your spirit. But it's kind of like, it's being shoveled to you, you know, you're kind of being fed that way. lot easier. Monday through Saturday, you're responsible for that feeding. So what are you feeding yourself? And yeah, no, think I've fallen in the same traps everybody else has. I mean, we didn't have social media grown up. But I would have been a doom scroller if that.
Carol Beck:
You know, I've never heard that before. If there was doom scrolling, I would have been one back then. There's no doubt in my mind. Yeah. whatever everybody else was into, that's what I would have been into as well. But I did find other ways to like definitely waste time or definitely kind of solve my own problems instead of, you know, turn them over to the Lord. Yeah. So what and let me ask you just because
Ian Hess:
what do you think is keeping somebody from maybe in their life? What brought you to invite God into your Monday through Saturday, knowing that you could have been in those seasons of it was just Sunday for me? How did you get out of that and invite him in Monday through Saturday as well? I think that came with the process of sanctification, right? Like when you're finally able to hear your spirit, but you don't really hear it until you've kind of really fed it. So a lot of that just came with maturity.
Carol Beck:
my husband and I, when we started going to a church that back in the day, they called them contemporary, contemporary worship, you know, so now we're clapping, now there's drums in the church. Like it was a lot more alive and active than anything I had ever experienced or known. A lot of young people at that time, we were very young and they were our same age and we kind of did life together. We all kind of had, you know,
Ian Hess:
a lot in common, had our babies at the same time. And we were just kind of like doing life together. yeah, we've we learned a lot from each other. And I think that my spirit began to grow and develop for sure more in my mid to later 20s than it did when I was younger. Yeah. I know, like just getting involved and getting around some people that doing life similar to you at any age. I feel like it really makes a difference. And I don't think that there is a
Carol Beck:
cap to that and who your friends really do determine your future and what's constantly being fed into your brain. it's so important, so cool that you did that. So let's go right after college, sales and marketing. So I want to ask you, maybe you want to share a little bit about what positions you were involved in and then I have a specific question for you based on that. I just want to give some context here.
Ian Hess:
So my first job right out of college, I was the group sales representative for the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, which is one of the top five zoos in the country. Thank you very much. Nobody. Yeah. Just in case you were doubting her. Top five zoos. Yeah. And what was your favorite animal at the zoo? probably the white tiger. You guys had nobino tiger. White tiger. That's why it was top five. Yeah. Yeah. The other ones don't have a white tiger. For sure. No, for sure. And then we would...
Carol Beck:
I got to travel to like the American Bus Association, the National Tour Association, like things like that. So that was my first job and didn't make a lot of money, but it was a lot of fun. So you were doing that a little bit. other positions were you in that season of life? we touched a little bit about Dewberry, sales and marketing for a civil engineering firm. Well, that happened because we moved. So my husband and I got married, moved up to the Washington DC area.
Ian Hess:
And I had a couple other positions, but the one that stuck the most was with Dewberry, it was Dewberry and Davis at the time. It was an engineering firm, civil engineering all the way through to architecture. yeah, I just put together like proposals, kind of help prep for presentations, that kind of thing. And I did that for, I guess about four years.
Carol Beck:
So in that season collectively in your sales and marketing era, you will, because we have like three areas we're touching on right here, like those three seasons of your life where you're doing completely different career, In a result driven environment, like sales and marketing can be, how did you keep your faith at the center in these different atmospheres that you found yourself in? Just staying connected again.
Ian Hess:
constantly staying connected, and then I was responsible for feeding myself, right? So, we had a great radio station then. I would listen to a lot of leaders through the radio. Just had a lot of great friends that I would process things with, obviously reading the Word of God for myself, and taking that to others, being involved in Bible study, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah, that was how I did it. It's just like kind of being renewed and transformed by...
Carol Beck:
the Word of God and wanting to live that out. Yeah. I like that. I like that how you talk about the defeating yourself aspect because it has to be more than Sundays as we've shared a couple of times. What for you, what does like proper spiritual diet if you will look like, like what does that look like for you? Like what are the most important things that you do for yourself to know that you are spiritually filled up and ready to go after the week with purpose? Yeah.
Ian Hess:
As soon as I wake up in the morning, I don't have to make myself do this. My spirit default is just reaching straight for the Lord. And I'm not saying that as like, I've got like this great discipline. It's just that's that I have this hunger. And if I wake up and I'm not thinking about Him or wanting to include Him in my day anyway, I feel untethered.
Carol Beck:
I feel like I'm not attached to something like I'm just kind of floating around and it's good. It's kind of frightening. And when I feel like that, then all these thoughts can come into intrusive thoughts into my mind about, you know, what are my kids? What's what could happen today? What phone call could I get today? What's going on with my kids? What's going on with, you know, our business or my husband or just anything important in life? And all that starts to creep in. So I kind of have to reach.
Ian Hess:
first thing in the morning and talk to Jesus, invite him into my day. Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool term you use there, tethered. I like that. Yeah. Was it there a sport called tetherball? yeah, I played tetherball. That was so random, but I was just, I remember playing that in middle school. And then when I heard you use that word, I was like, that's a good analogy though, because we're connected. And I think that's what he calls each and every one of us to be is connected. Because I think apart from that,
Carol Beck:
You can be a victim of your thoughts that you're having, because we're all going to have those thoughts. mean, our pastors and our leaders at our church do a great job of holding every thought captive and every worry that could come in. And I know we all worry, but it's what you're doing with that. And I think that, you know, as a mother of four kids, I can only imagine some of the worries. And we're going to talk about some of the motherhood season in a moment here. I'm like, you know, your kids are listening to maybe this, well. I won't embarrass any Yeah, you're your kids.
Ian Hess:
But yeah, that's awesome. in sales and marketing, I think that there could be a huge drive to be performing. that's how I get a promotion. That's how I get status. get feedback from my boss. I'm doing a good job when I'm selling. Has that thought ever crossed your mind? And what did you do kind of when you were in that season in your sales and marketing?
Carol Beck:
And you kind of had that feeling of, I can only get promoted. I can only make more, get the bonus if I'm performing. How did you keep God at the center and operate with integrity? Well, I was fortunate in my sales environments. I was never competing with other people within the office. Like I'm sure that can be a real challenge. did interview for some positions like that and I knew right away like that is not for me. That is just not going to work out. So I never
Ian Hess:
I just had to show up to my job with excellence and that was it. I never had to keep reminding, let's keep, let's make sure that we keep our faith as we're competing against other coworkers or whatever. I never really did have to face that, but I did have to show up and deliver excellence.
Carol Beck:
And I hope that is what I did for the amount of time that I was there. I'm sure it was. And so let's transition to our next season here. I like I'm going on this journey along with you. So I was like, no, it's going to be fun. So stay at home, mom. You described it as your longest career. And I'm probably your most rewarding. I don't want to say that for you, but probably not the easiest. I don't want to assume that.
Ian Hess:
your kids, they're adults now, but they did not start that way. So in your ministry of motherhood, and I'm sure that was so, so tough, shout out to all the moms out there. Cause I know that's not, I know I was a crazy kid. like, if I know I'm crazy and I was allowed to deal with, I could only imagine what these moms that have, you know, cause it was only me and my brother. And I know that's a lot on its own, even one kid, right? So you have four kids, right? So what did you learn about
Carol Beck:
of that consistent faith. I think one of the most beautiful and truly rewarding things about parenthood is that a lot of it's done behind closed doors. no one's really seeing your faith. No one's really seeing how you treat them behind closed doors. So what were you learning in those unseen moments of motherhood that really helped you in your faith? I remember actually, before I even was expecting, I remember being at church.
Ian Hess:
And it was Mother's Day and a friend of mine was the soloist and she sang this song just about a mother teaching or talking to her baby about teaching them to like love the Lord above all else. And it hit me, man. The bug hit me and I was like, I am ready to have me a baby. Like, I cannot wait to teach somebody about Jesus. Like that was so exciting for me.
Carol Beck:
And ironically enough, one year later, it's Mother's Day. Now, my first one was due on the 10th. She ends up being born on the 3rd. So Mother's Day that year was on the 10th, 10th or 11th, but it was that following weekend. And I was joking with the pastor because they were having baby dedication that day. And I said, look, I'm this far along. Can't I just like stand up there? I mean, look.
Ian Hess:
She's like, or the baby's like very much alive. And he's like, yeah, no, we like them to be out of the womb when we dedicate them. Catch us next year. So like, okay. So she ends up coming a week early. My parents come in town. We show up at church on Sunday. I've got this baby that's just a week old. My girlfriend, I had no idea this was going to happen. She gets up, she sings the exact song. So now I'm holding this baby.
Carol Beck:
literally sobbing, like my tears just falling on top of her. couldn't control them because like this, miracle had become true. yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. So what, tell me, you know, no name dropping here, but what were some of the challenges that you faced and maybe the tough seasons of being like, how did you keep your faith intact and still continue to feed yourself as we've been talking about even during this time of
Ian Hess:
I think you said three kids under three, three and under. Yeah, three and three and under. That's like a tongue twister. is a tongue twister. Three three and under. What were you doing in that season? Yes, losing my mind. You're losing my mind. So it's funny, I was losing my mind, but I loved it. I loved the chaos of it. I really did. And to this day, I would go right back and I would do it exactly all over again.
Carol Beck:
I did have a little interesting twist I didn't plan on. So when my youngest was about 18 months, I've got a baby on hip, basically. I don't even think she was that old. She might've been just like, yeah, maybe she was close to 18 months, something like that. Very, very little. I found out my dad was dying with cancer. We found out pretty unexpectedly and that he had like, they said a year, but it ended up being about three months to live.
Ian Hess:
But in the midst of all that, for a while before we knew about my dad, my mom had been showing signs of like something was off, something wasn't completely right. So turns out she was in the very early stages of Alzheimer's, which lasted, it ended up lasting about 20 years. So was a very long, slow journey that she walked. We started noticing it when she was in her 60s and she died at 84. So she lived a long time.
Carol Beck:
with that illness. But now, my dad, who we always considered her caregiver, essentially, she was very much functioning at that time, was going to leave. And what was going to happen? So my dad did pass away in January. And my mom was pretty adamant, like, I'm not leaving my house. Now keep in mind, I was the daughter. have, at this point too, I have a sister and I lived the closest to my parents, which was eight hours away.
Ian Hess:
That's not close at all. Not close at all. Not close at all. And, you know, my mom was determined. She's like, no, mom, I'm not leaving here. I'm Louisiana born and bred and this where I'm staying. Yeah. So, you know, we kind of try to go in fix it mode. Tried to bring some doctors in. It is very difficult walking that journey with somebody trying to. for that long too.
Carol Beck:
Yeah, and you want to keep their dignity, but then the doctors won't talk to you outside of their presence. But there's things you really want to say. And it's just a very difficult time. That was a very, very hard time. So my sister and I kind of tag teamed and she would kind of do doctor's appointments where she'd be the bad cop. And then, know, I was kind of a good cop. But all the while, like my mom's maintaining, no, I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere. So it got harder for her. And neighbors were calling.
Ian Hess:
telling me, like she thinks the drug store is like in the town next to us. And I realized, I was like, okay, it's not their job to take care of her. It's actually mine. But I am eight hours away. So I'm starting to figure out like, how do you legally go through proceedings where you take over somebody's affairs? And it was very, very scary and definitely leaning on the Lord. And all of a sudden, it hit me. The next door neighbor's house had been up for sale for quite a while.
Carol Beck:
And where were you living at the time? We were living in Plano, Texas. my mom was in South Louisiana. And the next door neighbor's house just happens to go up to the ceiling. And I just felt God really nudging me saying, this is it. This is the plan. And so I called my mom. And I had this whole speech, because I knew how adamant she was about not moving. So I had this whole speech. And I was like, mom.
Ian Hess:
I could use help, you be so helpful and with the kids, the kids and you and I could take walks and you you grew up next door to your grandmother and you have these great memories. Let my kids have the memory of growing up next to their grandmother and just to grab a word from that movie, was it Jerry Maguire? Don't ask me, I'm the worst. I can't remember but it's like, I had to write hello. I didn't even have to go into all of that.
Carol Beck:
But God had really prepared her heart and she was ready. she said, yes. So, sold her house, moved next door to us. And it just, I love how God literally cares about our dignity because all of her friends knew what was going on and they knew that this move needed to happen for reasons outside of me needing any help. In fact, they would call me and they were like, please tell me you're not gonna be leaving your kids with her. I'm like...
Ian Hess:
Don't worry about any of that, you know, it's fine. But it gave her the chance to stand tall. Yeah, that's her friends and say, know, Carol needs me and I'd love to live close to my grandchildren. And one day I might need help myself and this will make it easier on her. So it was a beautiful way to have to depart because I know that broke her heart to have to leave. Right. And then she moved.
Carol Beck:
next door and then life really got interesting because now I've got these little kids that are maturing and growing and just being kids and I've got an adult that is going backwards in maturity and I'm having to take care of her too. So like I go to take the nine-year-old to a birthday party and it's like, where's Nana? We haven't seen her in a while. The door's unlocked. We can't find her.
Ian Hess:
And my daughter's like, I'm gonna be late. And I'm like, I'm sorry, we can't leave till we find Nana. And she was fine, she was walking the dog and had forgotten to lock the door. But it was starting to get a little scary. Or I'm at my son's birthday party at the ice skating rink with a bunch of first graders. And I get a phone call from a caregiver I had hired that day and then she's like, she wants me to leave. You can't leave.
Carol Beck:
I've had an ice rink with a bunch of first graders. This is my son's birthday party. Like you can't leave. So, yeah, life got really, really interesting. And I just love though, you know, I did just have to throw it all out to the Lord. I, that was not like me going through any kind of method. I was at the bottom, like absolute bottom.
Ian Hess:
I would wake up and I'm like trying to remember if I was on top of all of my kids things that they had going on and then at the same time it's like, gosh, when was the last time I my mom's refrigerator because there could be three week old food in there and she's hungry, she'll just like eat it. know, so yeah, I was really caregiving at that point for, you know, more than just my kids. And just watching God work like he...
Carol Beck:
He finally, I had a discussion with myself, but I was actually talking to the Lord, and it was my spirit talking back to me. And I just looked in the mirror and I was like, what are you waiting for? Because I knew she really needed to be in a place where she could be better cared for. And I answered back, I'm like, I'm waiting until she doesn't even know who I am so that when I do take her someplace, I don't have to feel the guilt and the shame and the anger that she might unintentionally bestow on me because nobody wants to be in a situation like that. And then I remember hearing...
Ian Hess:
God's sake, so it's about you. Is that what you're saying? Wow. So then I was like, okay, I hear you. No, it's time. It's time. And as crazy as it is, that was a beautiful experience. I'd be volunteering for VBS in the morning with like kids all over me, Carmen all over me. And we're singing like, my God is so good. You know, so strong and so mighty. There's nothing my God cannot do. And I'm having to believe that in a couple hours as I go riding around North Texas, trying to find like the perfect place for her.
Carol Beck:
which I did and she lived out her years there. That's amazing. Good. That was probably special though for your kids to grow up next to their grandmother too. Yeah. Just to have that family close by. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, that's special. Yeah. I do have to say there were a lot of moments in there that tested my faith to the limits of me not always acting out as a daughter of God should. I can remember
Ian Hess:
one time in specific that being in the van, I've got all my kids in the van, my husband's in the van, my mom's in the van. So the school bus then? Yeah. Because like, I know how long I was in the van. We're all in the van. And my mom said something just out of her condition that was, like to a healthy minded person who could read the room, you wouldn't have said that. I was very, I was in a very tense moment. I couldn't find something and I'm like digging around and...
Carol Beck:
There my mom says something, which again, somebody with a sound mind wouldn't have said at the moment. I just, wah! And I'm just like, lost it. To where like, George looks at me he's like, stop. And my poor mom, probably scared her completely to death. The kids, I'm sure, were, you know, not happy to have to listen to that either. And later, I had a relative in my life who I just deeply, deeply miss, but I remember later her telling me,
Ian Hess:
what a great daughter I was. And I was like, she has no idea. She did not see the girl in the van that like lost her mind on her mom. Like, I mean, what is one of the commandments, right? Honor your mother and father. But here was a woman who deserved honor beyond the fact that she was my mom, but she was somebody who didn't have complete control of all of her mind. And
Carol Beck:
I lost it on her and I was like, she does not know me. And then I read, I waited a second. I was like, no, she knows me, you know, and, and I don't think she was speaking to the girl that lost it in the van. I think she was speaking to the daughter she knew I could be and that she knew I was capable of being and her speaking that life into me and assuring me that I was that even though I knew I wasn't, inspired me to want to be that. That's amazing. Yeah.
Ian Hess:
We all need those people in our life. Yeah to see what we're not at the moment like and just to share that You may not have represented yourself. Well, then right there and I know that's not who you are and I think that's so that's such an easy place to give Encouragement and feedback from to because I know that's not who you are Yeah, right and they can see something that you may not see at the moment. Yeah, that's awesome. There were many of them Yeah, yeah, do you have it? So I don't want to
Carol Beck:
go move on to quickly. Do you have any other thoughts on the motherhood or any other ministry of that or stay at home mom? Any other thoughts there? Only that I knew that's what I was created to do. I knew 100 % of the time and I'm sure my kids were sick and tired of like, I would make everything a sermon. I really would. That's just an apple mom. No, it nourishes your temple. And when your temple is healthy, you can sustain ability. Okay. That's not a lie.
Ian Hess:
No, that's not a lie. Yeah, it was a lot of that. You know, I literally one of mine one time was like, I don't need any more of your pearls of wisdom. I have too many pearls. I'm good. Well, have too many pearls. All right. But let me ask you one more thing before we move along here. How was the transition to like the business world to the to the stay at home? I don't want to say world, but that season of your life, what was that like for you? that a big adjustment?
Carol Beck:
So to be very fair, like my husband handles like the more business side of things. I mostly handle the relational side of things. And I think I've just taken mothering to a different level. Just ask the guys when, you know, three day old donuts are sitting on the table. I'm like, no, no, we're not doing this. Are you talking about the guys at the shop? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They're like, it's still a donut. That's something I would do. That's why I can relate.
Ian Hess:
I'm just like, listen, let me Google how long you can eat donuts for after the date. That's what I was thinking about. That's what I would do. So yeah, I think I kind of, I don't know. I don't want to say I'm mother of them too, because I think they'd be like, oh, no, you're not my mom. But it's more relational for me now. OK, that's awesome. So we talked a little bit about it. Now, current position
Carol Beck:
So you guys are, or you and George, your husband are owning a franchise location of Christian Brothers Automotive. That's amazing. First of all, such integrity that they operate with. know that you just even call them for questions sometimes and they just happily give it to me. And shout out to George real quick, because he's always offering the shop up for so many small groups. I'm just offering that space. That's such an amazing, I mean, he's an amazing man.
Ian Hess:
allowing him to do that more than just the business side of things, know, not getting anything out of for his business. And then I know I've been to a couple of small groups at Christian Brothers at an auto shop. I know that's so cool. so if anybody's been to the mechanic, I know sometimes there can be a lot of stereotype of mistrust going along there. Sometimes when it's tough, because as a consumer of that kind of service, you know, I don't know the ins and outs of my car, my engine, like that's what I come to you for.
Carol Beck:
And I know that being an automotive shop, you can kind of take advantage of that. so how do you, you guys owning that automotive location and also being a Christian business as well, how do you build a culture in there that operates with integrity and relational trust? So for us, we started, well, the business itself, you know, has
Ian Hess:
like the golden rule, like, you know, do unto others, like treat others how you want to be treated. That's kind of like the verse of the franchise. Really, it's like painted on our shuttle. It's on our website. We've got it painted on a wall just as a reminder. But in terms of like our particular shop, as we were being vetted and they were vetting them, they were vetting us back and forth, there'd be questionnaires and stuff to fill out. So we had to kind of fill out a verse that we would claim the business on. And for us, it was Matthew 633.
Carol Beck:
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will work out. Essentially. So we just narrate, we just simplified that by saying, do the right thing. Yeah. All the time. And everything else is going to work out. when the business was physically being built and the foundation was laid, one of my daughters and I headed over there with a Sharpie and we had a bunch of verses and certainly that was like,
Ian Hess:
the main verse we wanted on the floor, but we wrote a lot of other things and like blessings and stuff like that that we wanted over the business. really cool. That was the start. So whenever something comes around and a decision has to be made, like how is it going to handle like that's the first filter, you know, well, the treat others how you want to be treated. First of all, you want to be heard and you want to be understood. And then you want to be treated fair and honest and transparent. Right. Right.
Carol Beck:
And then also for us on the business side of it, seek first God's kingdom. Like what is the right thing to do in this situation? Yeah. That's so cool that, and I love that the, the sayings from the recess playground when you were like six, come back now, like treat others how you want to be treated. And it's funny how like childish that sounds, but the amount of times we don't do that.
Ian Hess:
is very, often, know, myself included, you know, if I don't get enough sleep, I could lash out in a moment. like, that's like such a simple thing that we all really can do. So fundamental. So simple. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that. That's what you guys were doing, even preparing yourself and preparing your heart for that business to be, to be launched. think that's so important. So, I know that running, well, I don't know that cause I've never done it, but I assume that running a business
Carol Beck:
with believers can be hard. mean, a lot of the principles that determine your guys' success in a secular setting are not what determines your success from a spiritual and a non-secular setting. how do you guys deal with when you guys look at like your profit, your reputation, your success, your growth without getting consumed by those results and like the secular mindset of that when you run a Christian minded business.
Ian Hess:
Well, I will tell you this, George is a driver of excellence, period. And people that have worked with us, they figure out very early on, if you're mediocre, ho-hum, like, is good, I'll be fine, I'll settle for this. Yeah, you and George are just not, it's just not. And it's never going to be a severance of like, get out of here. It's just like, you know what, we love you. This is just probably not the best setting.
Carol Beck:
Yeah, we have to deliver excellence. have to deliver excellence for our customers. I mean, that's what the whole business is about. Without it, we don't have it. Without it, the technicians have no work. Without it, the front office people have no work. you know, we have to deliver that level of excellence. Our market demands it and we're here for it. George holds everybody accountable to that. Yeah. And
Ian Hess:
You know, we have to be trusted not only by our clientele, we have to be trusted by the people that work for us. Oh, that's good. And we found out early on when we were interviewing how horribly these people were treated. Horribly. It really was a shock. Call it our naivety, but it was a shock. George had always worked in corporate America and had that for like 30 something years.
Carol Beck:
there was a decorum just to how people were treated. mean, I'm sure there was like, things that went on that you wouldn't, that God wouldn't always smile about, but there was still a decorum and a way and a system and how things were treated. Some of these folks that we're interviewing, when we hear their stories, we're just like, are you kidding me? We've even seen message threads of how people were spoken to. That's tough.
Ian Hess:
Yeah. And so we understand when somebody first comes to work for us too, like we have to earn their trust as well. Like they have to earn ours, we have to earn theirs. Like that relationship has to be very secure because they have to look out for their career, their families and everything else they've been lied to, they've been strung along. And they have to know they can trust us, but it's that same level of trust we also have to give the customers. So we just try to always...
Carol Beck:
focus on that whole transparency thing. Let's be real. Let's talk real. have something to talk about. George is always approachable. Let's just talk about it. Let's hear the whole thing. I want to hear how the whole thing happened. Because everybody knows, everybody who works for us, we've made this clear in interview process and it's just clear in our culture that there's a big heavy name in our name. And it means more to us than just a name.
Ian Hess:
So if anybody does anything to make that name less than what it is, it's kind of a one strike. We just can't have it. We'll still love you, send you on your merry way. But we can't have you tarnish the name of our business, which happens to the name of our God.
Carol Beck:
That's good. think you guys have been doing such a great job leading that place. The intentionality is not unnoticed. I enjoy going there just the intentionality with everything that you guys do. And you make a good point. actually talked to somebody the other day. were like, Christian, is the guy's name Christian? Or is it just like they're Christ followers? And I was like, no, it's a Christian based business. Christian Brothers Automotive. But yeah, think there could be, if this guy's name Christian and he wants to start an automotive business,
Ian Hess:
So I want to ask you, so we talked a little bit about your different seasons. So you've done a lot, it sounds like. a lot of different, you've worn a lot of different hats in different times. And I want to ask you though, what do you think happens when believers as yourself, and you've done this before, start to integrate your faith from your Sunday through your Monday through Sunday?
Carol Beck:
your ministry widens like and you don't even realize it. I I was at the grocery store the other day and I just saw this lady walking toward me. I cannot look at another human without smiling. I mean, yeah, you all. Yeah, I can attest to that. Well, I think it's weird not to like it just doesn't work for me. And so she stopped and she said you smiled at me and then I thought, goodness, that's my teeth. And then she goes, nobody smiles at people anymore. And thought, well,
Ian Hess:
Oh, you know, it just, that's just natural for me. if you're walking into a store and you know, by your perception, there's footsteps somewhat behind you. I you can either let that door slam and you just keep walking. You can take two seconds and hold it open and to see people's reaction is like, Oh, thank you. People would have thought you just bought them a house. Just where you open the door for them. just recognized a human was behind me and I didn't want a door to slam.
Carol Beck:
Like, they really understand how that's so worthy of your praise, but yay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that's awesome. think it, you know, and that it's sad, but also kind of rewarding at the same time that it doesn't take a lot to make somebody's day now. And that's sad because a lot of us aren't doing it and you don't see that oftentimes, but it's good for the somebody who wants to start making a difference. They know they don't have to give up, you know, a whole week.
Ian Hess:
just to go serve somewhere. Like, hey, just start with that. Start with something you're already doing. I'm already going to the store. You only, you've waited five, maybe five extra seconds max to make somebody's day. And that's, that's how it may, it's not such a little thing, but you never know how that could just change the trajectory of someone's whole day. Well, it's interesting. I've heard all kinds of sermons on calling, right? And you'll hear different pastors define the word calling very differently. I think at the end of the day, if you're a believer, your calling is to
Carol Beck:
you're working for the kingdom of God, To like, heaven credit, right? And so one saying I've heard, and I'm not the author of this, I don't know who is, I'd give him credit, but it was something about like your calling happens when the deep gladness of your heart, so whatever in your heart brings you great joy, meets the deep hunger in somebody else. And that can come, that can look...
Ian Hess:
so many different ways. So that can be taken to the workplace, that could be taken just in your everyday life, your family, your interactions with friends, strangers, people in the parking lot. anywhere. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that's really cool. But yeah, so I want to ask you a question. I like to give the audience some encouragement at the end of every episode and something that you're walking through. So what would you, you talked a little bit about this and you may have already
Carol Beck:
Maybe you just want to reiterate maybe some of the stuff that you said, but what encouragement would you give to someone who is in their Monday through Friday, maybe their job, maybe their life, they're going about their life, but they don't think that their job and their work is spiritual enough. And they just think it's kind of mundane. I'm not making a difference to the kingdom. I'm just getting, I'm just collecting a paycheck. I'm just paying my bills, whatever you're living with. What encouragement would you give to someone that to remind them maybe that their work is more, sorry to cut you out. Their work is more than what it may seem.
Ian Hess:
Yeah, no, I couldn't wait to get this out. The first thing I would say is like fight the lie. Yeah, that's a lie. Yeah, that's just a complete lie. So fight that first of all. And second of all, what I always say is and I didn't create this saying either. I don't want to please anybody. I don't know. create this Carol Beckley. I'm just giving myself credit third person here. I'm kidding. But it's this. The thing isn't just about the thing. Everything's about everything. So whatever it is you're doing.
Carol Beck:
It's not just about that. It's not just so it might be something in the moment that you consider mundane. One of my daughter's first jobs was something people would probably consider mundane. she was the one, when the phone calls would come in and people were infuriated, she took it on as a challenge to take that infuriated person and completely turn it around. The way she would talk back, the way she would...
Ian Hess:
That's cool. Ask them questions back and to where they would like, want to talk to you every time I have to talk to somebody on this issue because nobody's ever helped me like this before. Did she have a mundane job? She would tell you, that's why she's not there anymore. But she made an impact while she was there because she just was kind to people and enjoyed taking their frustrations and turning them around.
Carol Beck:
that can be applied to anything you do. sometimes you got to get out there and just do things. So, okay, you're doing something mundane for a while, but God's working through it and he's leading you somewhere. And I love the encouragement, like in Proverbs, where it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. And then I think there's a verse in Isaiah, like Isaiah 30, 21, that says something about whenever you walk from the...
Ian Hess:
east to the west, like there'll be a voice behind you saying, is the way, like go this way. And so, God's going to get you where he wants you to be. Don't take on that responsibility right away. Like sometimes do the mundane and be the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit in you be evident to the people around you when you're in the mundane and God will lead you to something bigger. That's so good. Yeah. He's preparing you for something bigger. Yeah. Lean into it. You never know. Yeah. One of my greatest
Carol Beck:
phone calls I ever got. Actually, we was through Facebook. So it was a message. Wasn't we didn't we talked later? it was a message. Then we talked later. Oh, gotcha. But this was the message. And it meant so much to me. It was somebody I worked with. And I remember I did a short stint as a travel agent. There's a lot of little I didn't go into all that with you. But didn't see that in your resume. Yeah, really, really short. One year. But anyway, we talked about the Lord all the time. And she always had a lot of questions. And
Ian Hess:
She believed in God and all that for sure and had it like a religion. But definitely there was a plan of salvation and a path for her life that she wasn't walking in. And she just, talked a lot about that and lost track. didn't have things like, we didn't even have email back then. We didn't have texting. We didn't have social media. So when we're reconnecting, when all these social apps come up, right now we're reconnecting. We reconnected through Facebook.
Carol Beck:
one of the sweetest things I read in her message was she's like, I'm a Christian. She was like telling me and the very last sentence she goes, I totally get it now. And it brought me all the way back to 20 something years before when I had a very mundane job. And, you know, we had these conversations and it's just something that God used. So, that's amazing. Well, I got one question for you guys as we end every episode with a challenge question for you guys.
Ian Hess:
something that you guys could take and implement into your own life to kind of assess what's going on in your life. Especially this question today, hopefully does that for you. And I want to ask you guys what atmosphere area of your life that you're going into right now, just in your daily life that you could be leaving God out of it. Maybe you're leaving him in the car. Maybe you're leaving him just at home and you're not being present and being spirit led in that moment. For me, I know sometimes it could be the gym. There's one gym I go to, the music is so loud and they can easily bring me back a lot of years. And I know it's so-
Carol Beck:
Interesting how's how that goes sometimes and how music can bring you back? But I want to ask you what atmosphere are you not inviting God into and what can you do to change that? What can you do? Maybe a prayer before a prayer during put on some worship music in that atmosphere to be spirit led in that moment and to make every room that really that you go in different because you allow God to go with you and use you in that atmosphere. So as we end every episode that just a reminder that you guys have been given a purpose only you can fulfill.
Ian Hess:
So don't settle for the ordinary, but step into the extraordinary that God wants to do in your individual unique life. Carol Beck, I almost said Ms. Carol. I knew I was gonna almost do it once. Thank you so much for investing some of your time into this. I know someone's got something from this that you're so encouraging, the light that you truly are. And also Georgia, you guys are doing at that industry is so special. I'm so excited to see how you guys grow through that. Thank you for having me. Am I the first female on your podcast? Yeah.
Carol Beck:
was history. Yes, you're a pioneer. All right, guys, thanks for being here. God
This transcript captures the entire conversation between Ian Hess and Carol Beck. If you need further assistance or specific sections, feel free to ask!
Would you like me to generate a thumbnail for this episode or create a social media post to help promote it?
Here's the full transcript of the episode featuring Ian Hess and Carol Beck:
Ian Hess:
What is going on guys? Welcome into another episode of Clock and Tear Calling. I'm so thankful that you guys are investing some of your time in being here with us today. Your comments, your likes, your subscribes. I know that's just something that could be only a few seconds for you, but it helps me reach more people. And I'm so thankful for just you guys leaving that feedback for me.
Ian Hess:
Stay tuned to the end for a challenge question. And if you're not already on the YouTube flip over to that for the video version of this podcast. So today's topic we got calling not just a career. I'm joined here by Carol Beck. She did sales and marketing when she started her career right out of college. Stay at home mom of four, not were adult children then, but now they're adults now, children. And now she's a franchise co-owner of the local automotive shop, Christian Brothers Automotive. Welcome to the podcast, Carol Beck.
Carol Beck:
Thank you for having me, Ian. Yeah, I'm really excited for our conversation today. We're going to be talking about your phases of your career and really what you've been learning through that to really align with our mission statement of this podcast, which is living out our faith in the Monday through Saturday and why it really can't stop on Sunday. So I want to ask you, so a lot of us see you at church. We know what you do now, but who are you outside of church? What are some of your hobbies, your passions? What do you like to do outside of church? So currently,
Ian Hess:
Going to the gym. yeah. Okay. Yeah, just trying to you know, get a little healthy longevity Socially, I love catching up with my friends So I know you haven't been in Florida for too long you lived in many of the major cities all around the US What have you been finding is your favorite part about Florida so far?
Carol Beck:
Well, I think the beaches being so close, so you just get up one day and you're like, I feel like I need to touch sand and feel waves and, you know, enjoy the sun and just having the theme parks. can kind of feel like last night we went to Disney Springs just to kind of feel like we're on vacation. Yeah. So we have the pleasure of a city. But yeah. Yeah. I mean, Florida really has it all when you think about it and hot weather.
Ian Hess:
So we got our conversation for today, calling, not just a career, living out our calling every day. want to ask you, rewinding back a few years, can you tell us how you came into your faith and how you came to basically where we are today? Yeah. I don't remember not believing in Jesus, to tell you the truth. I I was brought from the time I was a little bitty baby and
Carol Beck:
You know, who knows all what goes on in those nurseries, lots of praying over little souls. And it was just an everyday part of my life. We were three time a weekers. went Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And my mom was very involved. She was always volunteering. So, yeah, that was kind of like an extension of our home, to be honest. yeah, that was my upbringing. Was there a time where maybe high school?
Ian Hess:
college, any season of your life where you may have stepped back from God or maybe you had a break in your faith or were you really consistent? You're like, that's all I know how to do, like three times a week, maybe not three times a week all your life, but we're super involved. Well, I had an experience with death, like seeing death upfront when I was nine. It was actually my sister, she was eight. So half my childhood at the...
Carol Beck:
I mean, figure I left to go to college at 18. Right. So it was like right in the middle of my childhood. I get hit with the sobering idea that like it's not just old people that die. Right. Like this is real. We literally we shared a room we shared a bed. So like we wake up one morning together and I go to bed that night. She's not there ever again. So it's very kind of sobering for a nine year old. So.
Ian Hess:
immediately, like I knew, like, this is all very real stuff. Plus, I got to see, like, the body of Christ, like, ministering to my family. We were constantly prayed over, meals brought to us, like, just really ministered to. So, it's, I took in a lot of that. And I just remember thinking about the Lord, like, all the time, constantly. I don't know that I always obeyed and walked.
Carol Beck:
the walk. So kind of like where are you going with that question? Yeah, definitely. mean, in high school, I put a greater emphasis on maybe some social aspects of my life or, you know, trying to figure life out on my own, not really involving God. Yeah, I definitely did. Yeah, for sure. College too. Just stuck that in there at the end. Yeah, it's so hard. mean, and those are I feel like the
Ian Hess:
pivotal years, especially when you get out of college, think it really sets the trajectory of your life and who you get around, what you get involved with. And it's tough those ages of your life because you're not just trying to do what's right all the time. You're just trying to fit in. You're trying to be the most popular one, be cool, be liked. there's a lot of opportunity to stray away from your faith. And, you know, ultimately we see where you are now, life bearing so much fruit and it's clearly evident anyone who's came in contact with you just for a little bit, I'm sure they left with a little bit more joy.
Carol Beck:
I know that I do when I see you on Sundays. I want to ask you, so as we kind of ease our way into this topic today, what obstacles do you think people, so for you, it sounds like even from an early age, you were implementing your faith into your daily life, which I think is so awesome, but I don't think that everyone's like that, where their faith is just, you know, I'm waking up on Monday, right? It's like, okay, maybe I'll make it waking up on Sundays with that in mind. I get a little worship going in the house. But what do you think keeps people from compartmentalizing their faith?
Ian Hess:
to like a Sunday and not implementing it to a Monday through Sunday. and I think I did that too. Okay. Just because I was thinking about the Lord all the time. you know, my concept of salvation, the salvation that I had received, like, that was very secure and solid. But as far as the sanctification part and the growth and the development, no, and it is because we compartmentalize. You know, on a Sunday, you're...
Carol Beck:
you're around worship, you're around a great message, you're around prayer, you're around other believers. And so that's a feeding of your spirit. But it's kind of like, it's being shoveled to you, you know, you're kind of being fed that way. lot easier. Monday through Saturday, you're responsible for that feeding. So what are you feeding yourself? And yeah, no, think I've fallen in the same traps everybody else has. I mean, we didn't have social media grown up. But I would have been a doom scroller if that.
Ian Hess:
You know, I've never heard that before. If there was doom scrolling, I would have been one back then. There's no doubt in my mind. Yeah. whatever everybody else was into, that's what I would have been into as well. But I did find other ways to like definitely waste time or definitely kind of solve my own problems instead of, you know, turn them over to the Lord. Yeah. So what and let me ask you just because
Carol Beck:
what do you think is keeping somebody from maybe in their life? What brought you to invite God into your Monday through Saturday, knowing that you could have been in those seasons of it was just Sunday for me? How did you get out of that and invite him in Monday through Saturday as well? I think that came with the process of sanctification, right? Like when you're finally able to hear your spirit, but you don't really hear it until you've kind of really fed it. So a lot of that just came with maturity.
Ian Hess:
my husband and I, when we started going to a church that back in the day, they called them contemporary, contemporary worship, you know, so now we're clapping, now there's drums in the church. Like it was a lot more alive and active than anything I had ever experienced or known. A lot of young people at that time, we were very young and they were our same age and we kind of did life together. We all kind of had, you know,
Carol Beck:
a lot in common, had our babies at the same time. And we were just kind of like doing life together. yeah, we've we learned a lot from each other. And I think that my spirit began to grow and develop for sure more in my mid to later 20s than it did when I was younger. Yeah. I know, like just getting involved and getting around some people that doing life similar to you at any age. I feel like it really makes a difference. And I don't think that there is a
Ian Hess:
cap to that and who your friends really do determine your future and what's constantly being fed into your brain. it's so important, so cool that you did that. So let's go right after college, sales and marketing. So I want to ask you, maybe you want to share a little bit about what positions you were involved in and then I have a specific question for you based on that. I just want to give some context here.
Carol Beck:
So my first job right out of college, I was the group sales representative for the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, which is one of the top five zoos in the country. Thank you very much. Nobody. Yeah. Just in case you were doubting her. Top five zoos. Yeah. And what was your favorite animal at the zoo? probably the white tiger. You guys had nobino tiger. White tiger. That's why it was top five. Yeah. Yeah. The other ones don't have a white tiger. For sure. No, for sure. And then we would...
Ian Hess:
I got to travel to like the American Bus Association, the National Tour Association, like things like that. So that was my first job and didn't make a lot of money, but it was a lot of fun. So you were doing that a little bit. other positions were you in that season of life? we touched a little bit about Dewberry, sales and marketing for a civil engineering firm. Well, that happened because we moved. So my husband and I got married, moved up to the Washington DC area.
Carol Beck:
And I had a couple other positions, but the one that stuck the most was with Dewberry, it was Dewberry and Davis at the time. It was an engineering firm, civil engineering all the way through to architecture. yeah, I just put together like proposals, kind of help prep for presentations, that kind of thing. And I did that for, I guess about four years.
Ian Hess:
So in that season collectively in your sales and marketing era, you will, because we have like three areas we're touching on right here, like those three seasons of your life where you're doing completely different career, In a result driven environment, like sales and marketing can be, how did you keep your faith at the center in these different atmospheres that you found yourself in? Just staying connected again.
Carol Beck:
constantly staying connected, and then I was responsible for feeding myself, right? So, we had a great radio station then. I would listen to a lot of leaders through the radio. Just had a lot of great friends that I would process things with, obviously reading the Word of God for myself, and taking that to others, being involved in Bible study, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah, that was how I did it. It's just like kind of being renewed and transformed by...
Ian Hess:
the Word of God and wanting to live that out. Yeah. I like that. I like that how you talk about the defeating yourself aspect because it has to be more than Sundays as we've shared a couple of times. What for you, what does like proper spiritual diet if you will look like, like what does that look like for you? Like what are the most important things that you do for yourself to know that you are spiritually filled up and ready to go after the week with purpose? Yeah.
Carol Beck:
As soon as I wake up in the morning, I don't have to make myself do this. My spirit default is just reaching straight for the Lord. And I'm not saying that as like, I've got like this great discipline. It's just that's that I have this hunger. And if I wake up and I'm not thinking about Him or wanting to include Him in my day anyway, I feel untethered.
Ian Hess:
I feel like I'm not attached to something like I'm just kind of floating around and it's good. It's kind of frightening. And when I feel like that, then all these thoughts can come into intrusive thoughts into my mind about, you know, what are my kids? What's what could happen today? What phone call could I get today? What's going on with my kids? What's going on with, you know, our business or my husband or just anything important in life? And all that starts to creep in. So I kind of have to reach.
Carol Beck:
first thing in the morning and talk to Jesus, invite him into my day. Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool term you use there, tethered. I like that. Yeah. Was it there a sport called tetherball? yeah, I played tetherball. That was so random, but I was just, I remember playing that in middle school. And then when I heard you use that word, I was like, that's a good analogy though, because we're connected. And I think that's what he calls each and every one of us to be is connected. Because I think apart from that,
Ian Hess:
You can be a victim of your thoughts that you're having, because we're all going to have those thoughts. mean, our pastors and our leaders at our church do a great job of holding every thought captive and every worry that could come in. And I know we all worry, but it's what you're doing with that. And I think that, you know, as a mother of four kids, I can only imagine some of the worries. And we're going to talk about some of the motherhood season in a moment here. I'm like, you know, your kids are listening to maybe this, well. I won't embarrass any Yeah, you're your kids.
Carol Beck:
But yeah, that's awesome. in sales and marketing, I think that there could be a huge drive to be performing. that's how I get a promotion. That's how I get status. get feedback from my boss. I'm doing a good job when I'm selling. Has that thought ever crossed your mind? And what did you do kind of when you were in that season in your sales and marketing?
Ian Hess:
And you kind of had that feeling of, I can only get promoted. I can only make more, get the bonus if I'm performing. How did you keep God at the center and operate with integrity? Well, I was fortunate in my sales environments. I was never competing with other people within the office. Like I'm sure that can be a real challenge. did interview for some positions like that and I knew right away like that is not for me. That is just not going to work out. So I never
Carol Beck:
I just had to show up to my job with excellence and that was it. I never had to keep reminding, let's keep, let's make sure that we keep our faith as we're competing against other coworkers or whatever. I never really did have to face that, but I did have to show up and deliver excellence.
Ian Hess:
And I hope that is what I did for the amount of time that I was there. I'm sure it was. And so let's transition to our next season here. I like I'm going on this journey along with you. So I was like, no, it's going to be fun. So stay at home, mom. You described it as your longest career. And I'm probably your most rewarding. I don't want to say that for you, but probably not the easiest. I don't want to assume that.
Carol Beck:
your kids, they're adults now, but they did not start that way. So in your ministry of motherhood, and I'm sure that was so, so tough, shout out to all the moms out there. Cause I know that's not, I know I was a crazy kid. like, if I know I'm crazy and I was allowed to deal with, I could only imagine what these moms that have, you know, cause it was only me and my brother. And I know that's a lot on its own, even one kid, right? So you have four kids, right? So what did you learn about
Ian Hess:
of that consistent faith. I think one of the most beautiful and truly rewarding things about parenthood is that a lot of it's done behind closed doors. no one's really seeing your faith. No one's really seeing how you treat them behind closed doors. So what were you learning in those unseen moments of motherhood that really helped you in your faith? I remember actually, before I even was expecting, I remember being at church.
Carol Beck:
And it was Mother's Day and a friend of mine was the soloist and she sang this song just about a mother teaching or talking to her baby about teaching them to like love the Lord above all else. And it hit me, man. The bug hit me and I was like, I am ready to have me a baby. Like, I cannot wait to teach somebody about Jesus. Like that was so exciting for me.
Ian Hess:
And ironically enough, one year later, it's Mother's Day. Now, my first one was due on the 10th. She ends up being born on the 3rd. So Mother's Day that year was on the 10th, 10th or 11th, but it was that following weekend. And I was joking with the pastor because they were having baby dedication that day. And I said, look, I'm this far along. Can't I just like stand up there? I mean, look.
Carol Beck:
She's like, or the baby's like very much alive. And he's like, yeah, no, we like them to be out of the womb when we dedicate them. Catch us next year. So like, okay. So she ends up coming a week early. My parents come in town. We show up at church on Sunday. I've got this baby that's just a week old. My girlfriend, I had no idea this was going to happen. She gets up, she sings the exact song. So now I'm holding this baby.
Ian Hess:
literally sobbing, like my tears just falling on top of her. couldn't control them because like this, miracle had become true. yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. So what, tell me, you know, no name dropping here, but what were some of the challenges that you faced and maybe the tough seasons of being like, how did you keep your faith intact and still continue to feed yourself as we've been talking about even during this time of
Carol Beck:
I think you said three kids under three, three and under. Yeah, three and three and under. That's like a tongue twister. is a tongue twister. Three three and under. What were you doing in that season? Yes, losing my mind. You're losing my mind. So it's funny, I was losing my mind, but I loved it. I loved the chaos of it. I really did. And to this day, I would go right back and I would do it exactly all over again.
Ian Hess:
I did have a little interesting twist I didn't plan on. So when my youngest was about 18 months, I've got a baby on hip, basically. I don't even think she was that old. She might've been just like, yeah, maybe she was close to 18 months, something like that. Very, very little. I found out my dad was dying with cancer. We found out pretty unexpectedly and that he had like, they said a year, but it ended up being about three months to live.
Carol Beck:
But in the midst of all that, for a while before we knew about my dad, my mom had been showing signs of like something was off, something wasn't completely right. So turns out she was in the very early stages of Alzheimer's, which lasted, it ended up lasting about 20 years. So was a very long, slow journey that she walked. We started noticing it when she was in her 60s and she died at 84. So she lived a long time.
Ian Hess:
with that illness. But now, my dad, who we always considered her caregiver, essentially, she was very much functioning at that time, was going to leave. And what was going to happen? So my dad did pass away in January. And my mom was pretty adamant, like, I'm not leaving my house. Now keep in mind, I was the daughter. have, at this point too, I have a sister and I lived the closest to my parents, which was eight hours away.
Carol Beck:
That's not close at all. Not close at all. Not close at all. And, you know, my mom was determined. She's like, no, mom, I'm not leaving here. I'm Louisiana born and bred and this where I'm staying. Yeah. So, you know, we kind of try to go in fix it mode. Tried to bring some doctors in. It is very difficult walking that journey with somebody trying to. for that long too.
Ian Hess:
Yeah, and you want to keep their dignity, but then the doctors won't talk to you outside of their presence. But there's things you really want to say. And it's just a very difficult time. That was a very, very hard time. So my sister and I kind of tag teamed and she would kind of do doctor's appointments where she'd be the bad cop. And then, know, I was kind of a good cop. But all the while, like my mom's maintaining, no, I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere. So it got harder for her. And neighbors were calling.
Carol Beck:
telling me, like she thinks the drug store is like in the town next to us. And I realized, I was like, okay, it's not their job to take care of her. It's actually mine. But I am eight hours away. So I'm starting to figure out like, how do you legally go through proceedings where you take over somebody's affairs? And it was very, very scary and definitely leaning on the Lord. And all of a sudden, it hit me. The next door neighbor's house had been up for sale for quite a while.
Ian Hess:
And where were you living at the time? We were living in Plano, Texas. my mom was in South Louisiana. And the next door neighbor's house just happens to go up to the ceiling. And I just felt God really nudging me saying, this is it. This is the plan. And so I called my mom. And I had this whole speech, because I knew how adamant she was about not moving. So I had this whole speech. And I was like, mom.
Carol Beck:
I could use help, you be so helpful and with the kids, the kids and you and I could take walks and you you grew up next door to your grandmother and you have these great memories. Let my kids have the memory of growing up next to their grandmother and just to grab a word from that movie, was it Jerry Maguire? Don't ask me, I'm the worst. I can't remember but it's like, I had to write hello. I didn't even have to go into all of that.
Ian Hess:
But God had really prepared her heart and she was ready. she said, yes. So, sold her house, moved next door to us. And it just, I love how God literally cares about our dignity because all of her friends knew what was going on and they knew that this move needed to happen for reasons outside of me needing any help. In fact, they would call me and they were like, please tell me you're not gonna be leaving your kids with her. I'm like...
Carol Beck:
Don't worry about any of that, you know, it's fine. But it gave her the chance to stand tall. Yeah, that's her friends and say, know, Carol needs me and I'd love to live close to my grandchildren. And one day I might need help myself and this will make it easier on her. So it was a beautiful way to have to depart because I know that broke her heart to have to leave. Right. And then she moved.
Ian Hess:
next door and then life really got interesting because now I've got these little kids that are maturing and growing and just being kids and I've got an adult that is going backwards in maturity and I'm having to take care of her too. So like I go to take the nine-year-old to a birthday party and it's like, where's Nana? We haven't seen her in a while. The door's unlocked. We can't find her.
Carol Beck:
And my daughter's like, I'm gonna be late. And I'm like, I'm sorry, we can't leave till we find Nana. And she was fine, she was walking the dog and had forgotten to lock the door. But it was starting to get a little scary. Or I'm at my son's birthday party at the ice skating rink with a bunch of first graders. And I get a phone call from a caregiver I had hired that day and then she's like, she wants me to leave. You can't leave.
Ian Hess:
I've had an ice rink with a bunch of first graders. This is my son's birthday party. Like you can't leave. So, yeah, life got really, really interesting. And I just love though, you know, I did just have to throw it all out to the Lord. I, that was not like me going through any kind of method. I was at the bottom, like absolute bottom.
Carol Beck:
I would wake up and I'm like trying to remember if I was on top of all of my kids things that they had going on and then at the same time it's like, gosh, when was the last time I my mom's refrigerator because there could be three week old food in there and she's hungry, she'll just like eat it. know, so yeah, I was really caregiving at that point for, you know, more than just my kids. And just watching God work like he...
Ian Hess:
He finally, I had a discussion with myself, but I was actually talking to the Lord, and it was my spirit talking back to me. And I just looked in the mirror and I was like, what are you waiting for? Because I knew she really needed to be in a place where she could be better cared for. And I answered back, I'm like, I'm waiting until she doesn't even know who I am so that when I do take her someplace, I don't have to feel the guilt and the shame and the anger that she might unintentionally bestow on me because nobody wants to be in a situation like that. And then I remember hearing...
Carol Beck:
God's sake, so it's about you. Is that what you're saying? Wow. So then I was like, okay, I hear you. No, it's time. It's time. And as crazy as it is, that was a beautiful experience. I'd be volunteering for VBS in the morning with like kids all over me, Carmen all over me. And we're singing like, my God is so good. You know, so strong and so mighty. There's nothing my God cannot do. And I'm having to believe that in a couple hours as I go riding around North Texas, trying to find like the perfect place for her.
Ian Hess:
which I did and she lived out her years there. That's amazing. Good. That was probably special though for your kids to grow up next to their grandmother too. Yeah. Just to have that family close by. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, that's special. Yeah. I do have to say there were a lot of moments in there that tested my faith to the limits of me not always acting out as a daughter of God should. I can remember
Carol Beck:
one time in specific that being in the van, I've got all my kids in the van, my husband's in the van, my mom's in the van. So the school bus then? Yeah. Because like, I know how long I was in the van. We're all in the van. And my mom said something just out of her condition that was, like to a healthy minded person who could read the room, you wouldn't have said that. I was very, I was in a very tense moment. I couldn't find something and I'm like digging around and...
Ian Hess:
There my mom says something, which again, somebody with a sound mind wouldn't have said at the moment. I just, wah! And I'm just like, lost it. To where like, George looks at me he's like, stop. And my poor mom, probably scared her completely to death. The kids, I'm sure, were, you know, not happy to have to listen to that either. And later, I had a relative in my life who I just deeply, deeply miss, but I remember later her telling me,
Carol Beck:
what a great daughter I was. And I was like, she has no idea. She did not see the girl in the van that like lost her mind on her mom. Like, I mean, what is one of the commandments, right? Honor your mother and father. But here was a woman who deserved honor beyond the fact that she was my mom, but she was somebody who didn't have complete control of all of her mind. And
Ian Hess:
I lost it on her and I was like, she does not know me. And then I read, I waited a second. I was like, no, she knows me, you know, and, and I don't think she was speaking to the girl that lost it in the van. I think she was speaking to the daughter she knew I could be and that she knew I was capable of being and her speaking that life into me and assuring me that I was that even though I knew I wasn't, inspired me to want to be that. That's amazing. Yeah.
Carol Beck:
We all need those people in our life. Yeah to see what we're not at the moment like and just to share that You may not have represented yourself. Well, then right there and I know that's not who you are and I think that's so that's such an easy place to give Encouragement and feedback from to because I know that's not who you are Yeah, right and they can see something that you may not see at the moment. Yeah, that's awesome. There were many of them Yeah, yeah, do you have it? So I don't want to
Ian Hess:
go move on to quickly. Do you have any other thoughts on the motherhood or any other ministry of that or stay at home mom? Any other thoughts there? Only that I knew that's what I was created to do. I knew 100 % of the time and I'm sure my kids were sick and tired of like, I would make everything a sermon. I really would. That's just an apple mom. No, it nourishes your temple. And when your temple is healthy, you can sustain ability. Okay. That's not a lie.
Carol Beck:
No, that's not a lie. Yeah, it was a lot of that. You know, I literally one of mine one time was like, I don't need any more of your pearls of wisdom. I have too many pearls. I'm good. Well, have too many pearls. All right. But let me ask you one more thing before we move along here. How was the transition to like the business world to the to the stay at home? I don't want to say world, but that season of your life, what was that like for you? that a big adjustment?
Ian Hess:
So to be very fair, like my husband handles like the more business side of things. I mostly handle the relational side of things. And I think I've just taken mothering to a different level. Just ask the guys when, you know, three day old donuts are sitting on the table. I'm like, no, no, we're not doing this. Are you talking about the guys at the shop? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They're like, it's still a donut. That's something I would do. That's why I can relate.
Carol Beck:
I'm just like, listen, let me Google how long you can eat donuts for after the date. That's what I was thinking about. That's what I would do. So yeah, I think I kind of, I don't know. I don't want to say I'm mother of them too, because I think they'd be like, oh, no, you're not my mom. But it's more relational for me now. OK, that's awesome. So we talked a little bit about it. Now, current position
Ian Hess:
So you guys are, or you and George, your husband are owning a franchise location of Christian Brothers Automotive. That's amazing. First of all, such integrity that they operate with. know that you just even call them for questions sometimes and they just happily give it to me. And shout out to George real quick, because he's always offering the shop up for so many small groups. I'm just offering that space. That's such an amazing, I mean, he's an amazing man.
Carol Beck:
allowing him to do that more than just the business side of things, know, not getting anything out of for his business. And then I know I've been to a couple of small groups at Christian Brothers at an auto shop. I know that's so cool. so if anybody's been to the mechanic, I know sometimes there can be a lot of stereotype of mistrust going along there. Sometimes when it's tough, because as a consumer of that kind of service, you know, I don't know the ins and outs of my car, my engine, like that's what I come to you for.
Ian Hess:
And I know that being an automotive shop, you can kind of take advantage of that. so how do you, you guys owning that automotive location and also being a Christian business as well, how do you build a culture in there that operates with integrity and relational trust? So for us, we started, well, the business itself, you know, has
Carol Beck:
like the golden rule, like, you know, do unto others, like treat others how you want to be treated. That's kind of like the verse of the franchise. Really, it's like painted on our shuttle. It's on our website. We've got it painted on a wall just as a reminder. But in terms of like our particular shop, as we were being vetted and they were vetting them, they were vetting us back and forth, there'd be questionnaires and stuff to fill out. So we had to kind of fill out a verse that we would claim the business on. And for us, it was Matthew 633.
Ian Hess:
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will work out. Essentially. So we just narrate, we just simplified that by saying, do the right thing. Yeah. All the time. And everything else is going to work out. when the business was physically being built and the foundation was laid, one of my daughters and I headed over there with a Sharpie and we had a bunch of verses and certainly that was like,
Carol Beck:
the main verse we wanted on the floor, but we wrote a lot of other things and like blessings and stuff like that that we wanted over the business. really cool. That was the start. So whenever something comes around and a decision has to be made, like how is it going to handle like that's the first filter, you know, well, the treat others how you want to be treated. First of all, you want to be heard and you want to be understood. And then you want to be treated fair and honest and transparent. Right. Right.
Ian Hess:
And then also for us on the business side of it, seek first God's kingdom. Like what is the right thing to do in this situation? Yeah. That's so cool that, and I love that the, the sayings from the recess playground when you were like six, come back now, like treat others how you want to be treated. And it's funny how like childish that sounds, but the amount of times we don't do that.
Carol Beck:
is very, often, know, myself included, you know, if I don't get enough sleep, I could lash out in a moment. like, that's like such a simple thing that we all really can do. So fundamental. So simple. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that. That's what you guys were doing, even preparing yourself and preparing your heart for that business to be, to be launched. think that's so important. So, I know that running, well, I don't know that cause I've never done it, but I assume that running a business
Ian Hess:
with believers can be hard. mean, a lot of the principles that determine your guys' success in a secular setting are not what determines your success from a spiritual and a non-secular setting. how do you guys deal with when you guys look at like your profit, your reputation, your success, your growth without getting consumed by those results and like the secular mindset of that when you run a Christian minded business.
Carol Beck:
Well, I will tell you this, George is a driver of excellence, period. And people that have worked with us, they figure out very early on, if you're mediocre, ho-hum, like, is good, I'll be fine, I'll settle for this. Yeah, you and George are just not, it's just not. And it's never going to be a severance of like, get out of here. It's just like, you know what, we love you. This is just probably not the best setting.
Ian Hess:
Yeah, we have to deliver excellence. have to deliver excellence for our customers. I mean, that's what the whole business is about. Without it, we don't have it. Without it, the technicians have no work. Without it, the front office people have no work. you know, we have to deliver that level of excellence. Our market demands it and we're here for it. George holds everybody accountable to that. Yeah. And
Carol Beck:
You know, we have to be trusted not only by our clientele, we have to be trusted by the people that work for us. Oh, that's good. And we found out early on when we were interviewing how horribly these people were treated. Horribly. It really was a shock. Call it our naivety, but it was a shock. George had always worked in corporate America and had that for like 30 something years.
Ian Hess:
there was a decorum just to how people were treated. mean, I'm sure there was like, things that went on that you wouldn't, that God wouldn't always smile about, but there was still a decorum and a way and a system and how things were treated. Some of these folks that we're interviewing, when we hear their stories, we're just like, are you kidding me? We've even seen message threads of how people were spoken to. That's tough.
Carol Beck:
Yeah. And so we understand when somebody first comes to work for us too, like we have to earn their trust as well. Like they have to earn ours, we have to earn theirs. Like that relationship has to be very secure because they have to look out for their career, their families and everything else they've been lied to, they've been strung along. And they have to know they can trust us, but it's that same level of trust we also have to give the customers. So we just try to always...
Ian Hess:
focus on that whole transparency thing. Let's be real. Let's talk real. have something to talk about. George is always approachable. Let's just talk about it. Let's hear the whole thing. I want to hear how the whole thing happened. Because everybody knows, everybody who works for us, we've made this clear in interview process and it's just clear in our culture that there's a big heavy name in our name. And it means more to us than just a name.
Carol Beck:
So if anybody does anything to make that name less than what it is, it's kind of a one strike. We just can't have it. We'll still love you, send you on your merry way. But we can't have you tarnish the name of our business, which happens to the name of our God.
Ian Hess:
That's good. think you guys have been doing such a great job leading that place. The intentionality is not unnoticed. I enjoy going there just the intentionality with everything that you guys do. And you make a good point. actually talked to somebody the other day. were like, Christian, is the guy's name Christian? Or is it just like they're Christ followers? And I was like, no, it's a Christian based business. Christian Brothers Automotive. But yeah, think there could be, if this guy's name Christian and he wants to start an automotive business,
Carol Beck:
So I want to ask you, so we talked a little bit about your different seasons. So you've done a lot, it sounds like. a lot of different, you've worn a lot of different hats in different times. And I want to ask you though, what do you think happens when believers as yourself, and you've done this before, start to integrate your faith from your Sunday through your Monday through Sunday?
Ian Hess:
your ministry widens like and you don't even realize it. I I was at the grocery store the other day and I just saw this lady walking toward me. I cannot look at another human without smiling. I mean, yeah, you all. Yeah, I can attest to that. Well, I think it's weird not to like it just doesn't work for me. And so she stopped and she said you smiled at me and then I thought, goodness, that's my teeth. And then she goes, nobody smiles at people anymore. And thought, well,
Carol Beck:
Oh, you know, it just, that's just natural for me. if you're walking into a store and you know, by your perception, there's footsteps somewhat behind you. I you can either let that door slam and you just keep walking. You can take two seconds and hold it open and to see people's reaction is like, Oh, thank you. People would have thought you just bought them a house. Just where you open the door for them. just recognized a human was behind me and I didn't want a door to slam.
Ian Hess:
Like, they really understand how that's so worthy of your praise, but yay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that's awesome. think it, you know, and that it's sad, but also kind of rewarding at the same time that it doesn't take a lot to make somebody's day now. And that's sad because a lot of us aren't doing it and you don't see that oftentimes, but it's good for the somebody who wants to start making a difference. They know they don't have to give up, you know, a whole week.
Carol Beck:
just to go serve somewhere. Like, hey, just start with that. Start with something you're already doing. I'm already going to the store. You only, you've waited five, maybe five extra seconds max to make somebody's day. And that's, that's how it may, it's not such a little thing, but you never know how that could just change the trajectory of someone's whole day. Well, it's interesting. I've heard all kinds of sermons on calling, right? And you'll hear different pastors define the word calling very differently. I think at the end of the day, if you're a believer, your calling is to
Ian Hess:
you're working for the kingdom of God, To like, heaven credit, right? And so one saying I've heard, and I'm not the author of this, I don't know who is, I'd give him credit, but it was something about like your calling happens when the deep gladness of your heart, so whatever in your heart brings you great joy, meets the deep hunger in somebody else. And that can come, that can look...
Carol Beck:
so many different ways. So that can be taken to the workplace, that could be taken just in your everyday life, your family, your interactions with friends, strangers, people in the parking lot. anywhere. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that's really cool. But yeah, so I want to ask you a question. I like to give the audience some encouragement at the end of every episode and something that you're walking through. So what would you, you talked a little bit about this and you may have already
Ian Hess:
Maybe you just want to reiterate maybe some of the stuff that you said, but what encouragement would you give to someone who is in their Monday through Friday, maybe their job, maybe their life, they're going about their life, but they don't think that their job and their work is spiritual enough. And they just think it's kind of mundane. I'm not making a difference to the kingdom. I'm just getting, I'm just collecting a paycheck. I'm just paying my bills, whatever you're living with. What encouragement would you give to someone that to remind them maybe that their work is more, sorry to cut you out. Their work is more than what it may seem.
Carol Beck:
Yeah, no, I couldn't wait to get this out. The first thing I would say is like fight the lie. Yeah, that's a lie. Yeah, that's just a complete lie. So fight that first of all. And second of all, what I always say is and I didn't create this saying either. I don't want to please anybody. I don't know. create this Carol Beckley. I'm just giving myself credit third person here. I'm kidding. But it's this. The thing isn't just about the thing. Everything's about everything. So whatever it is you're doing.
Ian Hess:
It's not just about that. It's not just so it might be something in the moment that you consider mundane. One of my daughter's first jobs was something people would probably consider mundane. she was the one, when the phone calls would come in and people were infuriated, she took it on as a challenge to take that infuriated person and completely turn it around. The way she would talk back, the way she would...
Carol Beck:
That's cool. Ask them questions back and to where they would like, want to talk to you every time I have to talk to somebody on this issue because nobody's ever helped me like this before. Did she have a mundane job? She would tell you, that's why she's not there anymore. But she made an impact while she was there because she just was kind to people and enjoyed taking their frustrations and turning them around.
Ian Hess:
that can be applied to anything you do. sometimes you got to get out there and just do things. So, okay, you're doing something mundane for a while, but God's working through it and he's leading you somewhere. And I love the encouragement, like in Proverbs, where it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. And then I think there's a verse in Isaiah, like Isaiah 30, 21, that says something about whenever you walk from the...
Carol Beck:
east to the west, like there'll be a voice behind you saying, is the way, like go this way. And so, God's going to get you where he wants you to be. Don't take on that responsibility right away. Like sometimes do the mundane and be the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit in you be evident to the people around you when you're in the mundane and God will lead you to something bigger. That's so good. Yeah. He's preparing you for something bigger. Yeah. Lean into it. You never know. Yeah. One of my greatest
Ian Hess:
phone calls I ever got. Actually, we was through Facebook. So it was a message. Wasn't we didn't we talked later? it was a message. Then we talked later. Oh, gotcha. But this was the message. And it meant so much to me. It was somebody I worked with. And I remember I did a short stint as a travel agent. There's a lot of little I didn't go into all that with you. But didn't see that in your resume. Yeah, really, really short. One year. But anyway, we talked about the Lord all the time. And she always had a lot of questions. And
Carol Beck:
She believed in God and all that for sure and had it like a religion. But definitely there was a plan of salvation and a path for her life that she wasn't walking in. And she just, talked a lot about that and lost track. didn't have things like, we didn't even have email back then. We didn't have texting. We didn't have social media. So when we're reconnecting, when all these social apps come up, right now we're reconnecting. We reconnected through Facebook.
Ian Hess:
one of the sweetest things I read in her message was she's like, I'm a Christian. She was like telling me and the very last sentence she goes, I totally get it now. And it brought me all the way back to 20 something years before when I had a very mundane job. And, you know, we had these conversations and it's just something that God used. So, that's amazing. Well, I got one question for you guys as we end every episode with a challenge question for you guys.
Carol Beck:
something that you guys could take and implement into your own life to kind of assess what's going on in your life. Especially this question today, hopefully does that for you. And I want to ask you guys what atmosphere area of your life that you're going into right now, just in your daily life that you could be leaving God out of it. Maybe you're leaving him in the car. Maybe you're leaving him just at home and you're not being present and being spirit led in that moment. For me, I know sometimes it could be the gym. There's one gym I go to, the music is so loud and they can easily bring me back a lot of years. And I know it's so-
Ian Hess:
Interesting how's how that goes sometimes and how music can bring you back? But I want to ask you what atmosphere are you not inviting God into and what can you do to change that? What can you do? Maybe a prayer before a prayer during put on some worship music in that atmosphere to be spirit led in that moment and to make every room that really that you go in different because you allow God to go with you and use you in that atmosphere. So as we end every episode that just a reminder that you guys have been given a purpose only you can fulfill.
Carol Beck:
So don't settle for the ordinary, but step into the extraordinary that God wants to do in your individual unique life. Carol Beck, I almost said Ms. Carol. I knew I was gonna almost do it once. Thank you so much for investing some of your time into this. I know someone's got something from this that you're so encouraging, the light that you truly are. And also Georgia, you guys are doing at that industry is so special. I'm so excited to see how you guys grow through that. Thank you for having me. Am I the first female on your podcast? Yeah.
Ian Hess:
was history. Yes, you're a pioneer. All right, guys, thanks for being here. God