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Looking for inspiration, insightful advice, and a supportive community to help you navigate your business journey?
The Carolina Women's Collective is your one-stop shop. This biweekly podcast, hosted by Booth Parker, features interviews with a powerful network of female entrepreneurs and business leaders, sharing their inspiring stories, actionable advice, and industry expertise.
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[00:00:00]
Welcome to the Carolina Women's Collective Podcast.
Today I am joined by Francesca Carter. Francesca has quite the impressive corporate career. She has worked internationally and held key positions for such companies as Hard Rock International and Starbucks. She is also a single mom. Her story and her how is one rooted in mindset, as you will soon learn.
Welcome to the podcast today, Francesca.
Thank you, booth. I am just so honored and delighted to talk with you today. Well, I am
excited to share your story and let everyone [00:01:00] hear all about you. So I am going to go back to the beginning, so to speak, and start there. And most students, especially women, play it safe with their job choice right out of college.
But a few years after graduating from NC State. You decided to go abroad. Tell us about that experience and how it shaped your next steps.
I'm gonna take us back a little further actually. So, from a young age, I've always had a fascination with London. It's where my mom went to school to learn how to speak English and where my parents eventually met.
So when I was in college, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad, and I jumped at the chance to spend a summer in London. For me, when I spent that summer in London, it was instant, it was love it for sight. And after that summer, I made a personal promise and commitment to myself that [00:02:00] one day I return in some capacity to live and work.
So. Fast forward to, gosh, age 26, I think it was. I was living in Orlando, Florida. I was working for a student travel operator and I was in a regional manager role for them when I developed a relationship with Hard Rock Cafe. So part of my role at that point was to assemble travel packages for students.
Traveling on grad trips, which meant developing relationships with restaurants and city attractions. So Hard Rock quickly became one of my absolute favorite restaurant groups to partner with. So I did quite a bit of business with them living in the same city, as Hard Rock International. at the time I had the privilege of getting to know some of their leadership team.
So back in those days when I was younger, I was never one to miss an opportunity. I. Um, to mix and mingle and participate in several industry events. Um, it was important for me because I was in a new city. I didn't know a [00:03:00] lot of people. and that was really a way for me to get my name out there. Um, and you know, like I said, meet several of the industry contacts.
So one day I received a call from the Hard Rock International Corporate Office. telling me I should pop into their office to chat with them about a new role that they had developed, um, which was going to be based out of their London office. So at the time, hard Rock International was based in Orlando, Florida, which is where I was living, and they had a satellite corporate office, um, that was positioned in London.
So right when they said London, that was music to my ears. And so I kind of drew in that inner voice that had been, you know, talking to me for the last several years, telling me, you're gonna find an opportunity. There's going to be something that's gonna land on your plate, that's gonna take you back to London.
And this was my chance. Um, so at that point I knew very little about the restaurant world. As I said, I was working in the student travel industry, so this was all quite intimidating and very, very new for me. From that first interview, [00:04:00] I was absolutely hooked on the brand. I loved everything about it. I was certain that my next move was gonna be in some capacity within this organization.
Um, at that time, their VP of sales, his name was Kevin Kirby, um, he facilitated the interview with me when I went in. Um, after that day, I went through a series of interviews, um, and then I heard nothing. I heard absolutely nothing. So if anyone knows me, well they know that my area of expertise is in the area of nagging and following up.
Um, so every single week I called, I'd follow up, I'd send an email, I'd leave voicemails, and I'd get, we're still in process. From either Kevin Kirby or the HR team, and sometimes I wouldn't get an answer at all. So I started feeling really discouraged as anyone would. Um, but I persisted and with my, you know, weekly cheerful voicemails until one day I finally got the call and that call changed everything.
So the call came with an offer letter, next steps from my UK Visa in a [00:05:00] very, uh, generous relocation package. So I finally got the yes, and I couldn't get my bags packed fast enough.
That is awesome. So your position at, at Hard Rock International, it, it really kicked off a career in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
So you're based in London, you move, and you're based in London, but your role was 90% travel across nine countries. So can you tell us about that position, the places it took you, people you met, network connections, doors opening, all the, all the things.
Yeah, absolutely. It was quite a whirlwind. Um. It was just the, the best time of my life.
Um, I remember day one landing in London. I had three huge suitcases and a huge backpack. Um, that was the part of my life that I brought with me. I remember exiting Heathrow Airport, pushed all my black, my bags into a black cab. Um, I gave them the [00:06:00] address to my new temporary home for three months. Um, part of my relocation package was a corporate apartment.
It was called Chelsea Cloisters. Um, and it was an area of London called Kensington, which was a few miles away, um, from the office that I would be working out of for Hard Rock. So, um, I remember getting into this apartment. My four big American biggie sized bags barely fit in to this very small city center.
Uh, studio. Um, but I didn't care. I was in London. I was excited. That's all that mattered. Um, I was pinching myself. Um, I didn't know a single soul. So day one I take myself out to dinner. Still on a high, nothing but exhilaration and excitement. Um. Popping around corners saying hello to everyone on the streets, like the good southern gal that I was, um, received some really bizarre looks as of saying hello to a complete stranger, was totally frowned upon, which I knew nothing about.
Um, and then, you know, [00:07:00] reality started to set in. I remember tucking myself in, uh, that first night and the panic that sort of overwhelmed me. I had left all that was comforting and familiar back home. And here I was in another country, completely alone. I remember getting up the next morning, I called my mom, um, and I had a few tears and a little bit of a trembling voice and I said to her, what have I done?
I don't know that I can do this, and you know what if I'm not good enough? So I started down this road of this negative self-talk out of fear. And here comes my mom, you know, with a very stern Italian voice and she whipped back at me. You know, you've got this work hard and show them what you're made of.
And that's exactly what I did. Um, so being the only Blondie American gal in the office didn't do me any favors, and certainly didn't lend itself to making fast friends with anyone. But I was certainly determined. Um, I [00:08:00] pulled up my bootstraps. I dug in and I worked my tail off during the time I was there.
Um, I learned from everyone around me and ever so slowly I started to gain the trust and respect from my peers, um, as well as the new friends that I met. Um, you know, it was important for me to lead with humility, um, and show everyone that I had a very strong work ethic and I worked alongside my team on every project versus.
You know, barking orders. Um, I was responsible at the time for driving group sales and events into the Hard Rock Cafe venues across the nine countries, as you said. Um, I supported and led 14 brilliant group sales managers and their teams, and worked alongside operations to pull off some really incredible events, um, throughout the hard rock cafes in Europe.
So a typical week for me in those days, it wasn't uncommon for me to kick off my Monday. [00:09:00] Um, for example, in Edinburgh for a concert we put together inside the r the HRC venue there. Um, the next morning I'd make my way to Barcelona on a 6:00 AM flight for a Shakira PR event that we led. Um, the next day I'd find myself in Rome on a, uh, a charity concert, um, that was held in the Hard rock on via au.
And then I'd close out the week heading to Dubai because Hard Rock was the VIP sponsor for their backstage for the pink concert. So I was all over the place all the time and it was the biggest thrill of my life. Um, I also spent time in China, um, so I spent time at trade shows there and worked on projects to attract the inbound groups from China to our venues across Europe.
Um, I had the opportunity to help create retail pieces and the famous. Um, hard Rock Cafe pins to attract these groups. Um, you know, each day was such a tremendous learning journey for me and, and one that I'll always, always be grateful for. The [00:10:00] time that I spent there was certainly fast and furious and many of the connections I made.
There are still some of my very dearest friends today.
That is amazing. That is amazing. And so you, you do all this for a few years and then you make the move to Dallas, Texas and you become a mom along this, this journey, part of your journey. And you take a role with Starbucks as a district manager, and you stayed with them for almost 10 years.
And when you were with Starbucks, you talked. All the metrics and goals and growth that Starbucks ever put in front of you. Tell us about the shift from hard rock to to Starbucks, London to Texas, and your role at at Starbucks, and how you achieved being the number one performer in so many categories for the company while also being a mom to a young child.
Ooh, that's a loaded question. I was 31 when I became a mom. Um, and boy [00:11:00] was that shocking. So, um, life went by very rapidly. Um, you know, especially when I was working at that pace in London, um, becoming a mom was not something I had planned. Um, but I truly, truly believe it was God's way of telling me.
That it was time to slow down my life, um, and shift my focus. Um, having my son was an absolute gift, and it was also a major turning point for me, though I had some really big decisions to make. Um, you know, one of the questions was, was I going to continue living in London and have my mom moved there to help me raise my son while I was traveling?
You know, traveling at that pace, it's, it's very, very difficult to, to do well in, in, in both being a mom and giving all that you can to your career. you know, or was I going to pause my career aspirations to pivot and become the the mom that I knew I wanted to be? Um, so the [00:12:00] decision that I had to make was really deciding to either move back to the states or, or stay where I was and, uh, you know, call in for some help.
So I knew in my heart that I would have one chance to get this right with motherhood. So I made, I did make the decision to come back to North Carolina to be close to family and friends for the birth of my son. I. So a few months after he was born, I started thinking about next steps. So I was responsible for caring for my son, um, as a single mom.
Um, and I had no idea what my next step was gonna be. So I remember going on daily walks. Um, we lived in this really cute area of town in Wilmington called Mayfair. Our apartment was close to shops and restaurants, and every day I'd put 'em in his big green stroller and we'd walk over to Starbucks. I had been following, Starbucks, their wild success throughout the years, and I remember one day sitting in the cafe and I grabbed one of the business cards.
At that time, they had business cards for their local dms [00:13:00] sitting on the condiment bar. I grabbed the business card, I sat down, took a sip of my coffee, and I, in that moment I said to myself, this is my next move. This is where I belong. Um, and I did just that. So I went after it and I went after it hard.
Um, I was off to the races. I devoured every bit of information I could find on the company. Reached out to anyone I could find on LinkedIn, um, that was somehow affiliated. One day I came across an old friend that was connected to a Starbucks district manager in Houston. And really through that connection is how I landed an interview.
Next thing I knew, I was on a plane. I was flying to Dallas and I was sitting in front of a regional director in Dallas. Um, being interviewed. You know, looking back, I truly don't recall what I said in the interview. Um, but I knew that I wanted to work there and I knew I wanted that job. Uh, yet again, I found someone who was sitting across the table from me who was willing to give me a chance and believed that I could learn the business.
And this certainly wasn't the first [00:14:00] time in my career that that had happened. You know, as I look back throughout my career, there was always that person. That gave me the chance that believed in me and sometimes believed in me more than I even believed in myself. So what was scary about this role is I had never been on the operations side of the food and beverage business yet my role with Starbucks, this new role was as a district manager of licensed stores.
So in this role, I was charged with leading operational excellence across, you know, anywhere from 18 to 25 stores at a time, and leading without authority. So Starbucks is a wonderful organization and I've never seen a company invest in the training of their leaders like they did. They absolutely invested in me.
Um, spent years in different training programs, uh, attending different training platforms in Seattle, um, to really not only teach me how to be a leader in operations, but be a leader in humanity. I remember one of my mentors [00:15:00] at Starbucks taught me a really important phrase, and he said, people don't care about what you know until they know that you care.
And I truly carried that mindset with me throughout my, you know, eight plus years at Starbucks. And it really became one of my foundational principles in my life. So during my time at Starbucks, I was the turnaround kid. So I would always raise my hand and take on the most challenging districts. I took a lot of pride in, um, coming in and taking a, underperforming area or an underperforming pod of stores and figuring out a way that I could turn them around.
So that gained a lot of attention. And, um, several visits from Starbucks leadership. Um, I certainly worked hard, but I was always able to balance my responsibility of being a mom and when I was home, I was present for him. So I was always, I think another important thing too is you know, you always have to be very honest with the people that you work with and [00:16:00] work for and tell them what your priorities are.
Um, I was very honest with everyone that I worked with and I always. Told them that my priority and job number one was being a mom. The great thing about Starbucks and the the group that I worked with is they appreciated that and they encouraged me to do whatever necessary to ensure that I didn't miss any of the important moments with him.
So at the time. I do have to give credit to the most amazing nanny in the world of amazing nannies. Um, I was blessed to have her, um, her name's Nicole, and she's still a dear part of our family today. Uh, she and I at the time became partners in raising Carter. She knew each day was a juggling act for me and she'd swoop in and ensure Carter had her attention and care and teachings when I had to be away for work.
You know, one of the things that got me through the days were FaceTime, you know, she would FaceTime me during the day. She'd send pictures of this growing baby boy. Um, and I [00:17:00] was able to achieve the balance that I needed, to ensure I kept on top of being both a top performer at work and being a loving mom to my son when the workday was over.
So, you know, for me, I've always had the belief that it's hugely important for kids to see their moms work and be able to see how they manage all the things. 'cause the reality is that whether you're a single mom. Or, you know, a, a mom that's married and has a career and children we're always tasked with doing all the things, you know?
Um, I remember another mentor of mine at one point said, be a duck. I. And I sat there totally perplexed and had no idea what he meant by that. And you know, he went on to explain, you know, ducks effortlessly glide across the water. So gracefully, what ducks don't show us is how fast they're moving underwater.
Those little duck feet are moving as fast as they can, you know, it just looks effortless to us. And that really stuck with me. So, you know, [00:18:00] throughout my life I've made it look. Really easy. You know, people can post whatever they want on Facebook and create the life that they want for people to see. Um, but it's been very hard work.
It's been late nights, it's been strategizing on next steps. Um, it's been rolling up my sleeves and diving into something I knew nothing about multiple times over. Um, and it's been a lot of sweat and some tears along the way. Um, but I think. The differentiator is getting up every single day in the morning with a positive mindset and being determined to get it done.
That's awesome. That's awesome. So after being with Starbucks, I think you said about eight and a half years in total, you. You were still traveling with them and you wanted to slow the travel down a little bit, and you made the move to Zoe's Kitchen as the national director to help the company grow in their catering sector sales.
So you were in charge. This is an [00:19:00] overwhelming number to me. You were in charge of growing the catering sales for 260 stores. And yet again, you outperformed goal after goal after goal given to you. How do you just continue to go about this in a new company, learning that company and just knocking out all those achievements?
Yes. Um, so again, common thread, right? I seem to, um, be in search and constant search of and take on these roles that, I'm definitely not a subject matter expert in, and, and this was absolutely one of them. So this role came about. Um, I, there was a former regional director at Starbucks that had left the company and gone over to Zoe.
Zoe's kitchen was based here, um, in Dallas. And she, you know, randomly reached out to me one day and said, Hey, there's this role. And, you know, I remember laughing and saying to her, and why are you calling me about this role? I know nothing about catering. [00:20:00] So she convinced me to come in. And, you know, again, I think it's a feeling that you get when you walk through the doors of an organization.
Um, it either pulls you in or, you know, you're just. Not enthralled with it. It's one or the other. There's never a middle for me. so I went in for the interview and, you know, at this point in my career, I was proficient in both sides of the restaurant world from a sales and operations perspective.
But again, I knew very little about running a successful catering segment. I went through a series of interviews. I ended up getting the job, and once again, I found myself in a little bit of unfamiliar territory. So I dug in, I studied, I listened. Um, I hosted. Numerous calls, um, and asked a lot of questions.
Um, I met with catering sales reps. I met with ops directors. Um, I really sought to understand the obstacles and the pain points and how I could make some changes to [00:21:00] implement better processes, uh, put the right people in the right roles, uh, restructure my team and grow our catering segment to what ended up representing 35% of total company revenue.
Which at that time was truly unheard of, um, in the restaurant world. you know, it was truly, I, I think in that role as well as the other roles that I've had, it's truly about seeking to understand and listening to what people are asking for. When you truly stop and listen, not listen just to respond, but truly listen to understand, um, you sort of take things from a different perspective and
you compose action items from a different position. So, you know, was I able to achieve everything I wanted to implement in that role? Not everything, um, but a, a lot of it. Yes. Um, and it ended up being very successful for me.
That's amazing. Just amazing. Everywhere you go, it just. Grows and grows and good things happen.
[00:22:00] So, but I do have to bring up one thing that greatly affected the restaurant industry, and that of course was covid. So how did Covid affect your role in the restaurant industry and your career and your future?
Gosh, COVID, I still can't believe that we all lived through something. Just so crazy. Um, you know, COVID I think forever changed, uh, the food and beverage industry, certainly during the height of Covid.
It completely devastated the industry. Luckily, during that point in time, I was one of the fortunate ones in the role that I had. IW my role would've been the absolute first to be eliminated, um, about a month prior to Covid. making its scene here in the us Zoe's Kitchen was bought by Kava.
Kava was based and still is based in Washington DC I. And that [00:23:00] was not an option for me to uproot myself, uproot my son, and relocate as, as badly as you know, at some points in my life. I wanted to come back to the East coast. This was just not, uh, the opportunity for me to do that. I had just no interest in moving to DC so luckily I was enjoying a nice severance package when Covid hit, and so I had a few months to.
You know, stay home with my son and Revel in all of that and try to find some positive in every day. And, while he was home learning because they weren't in school, I was able to be alongside him and go through that journey with him. So I was very appreciative of that time that I had. But being out of work after almost eight months, I did end up taking a job out of necessity back in the restaurant world because it was what I knew.
Um, you know, at that point, jobs were scarce and I needed to provide for us. So any paycheck was better than the absence of a paycheck. [00:24:00] What I quickly discovered was that I was completely burned out in the restaurant industry, so my heart wasn't in it anymore, and it was time for me to seek some change.
That's when you took a big risk and you made the change to a whole new industry when you accepted your position at Janus at Sea. So tell us a bit about that company, and again, you immediately rose to the top there as well, knocking out all the goals. Um, but tell us about that pivot into a new industry.
Yeah, so man, Janice has been such a gift for me. Um, Janice at Sea is a, uh, luxury outdoor furniture company. So clearly, you know, we've been talking about my career for these last few minutes and, um, furniture was not anywhere in my resume. Um, so yes, I took a massive risk, um, making a job change. So. First of all, I [00:25:00] quit a job without having one waiting for me.
Um, and I did this in my mid forties, so it's not that I'm in my mid twenties, you know, spry young thing. Um, but I was done and I knew, um, when I was maxed out. So at that point I was working six to seven days a week. I was missing time with my son. I was missing milestones. So on my birthday that year, I wrote my letter of resignation.
Um, I worked out my three weeks and I tapped out. I was done. Um, so I took a few months off to decide on next steps. Took a few trips with my son, kind of got back in with him, reconnected and. Um, began interviewing with a few companies. You know, at the end of the day it was still on me to provide, so I couldn't take that too much time off to make those decisions.
Um, I had received two offers from, uh, two different restaurant groups, but, you know, after Covid and after working the way that I did that, that year, I, I just, I couldn't bring myself, um, to [00:26:00] being excited about either one of them. So. I had a friend, and again, this is where relationships, this is a consistent theme throughout my career as well.
Relationships are important, very important. So I had this dear friend of mine, one of the first friends that I met when I moved to Orlando, Florida. His name's Jeremy Gainey and um, he has worked for Janice at Sea for 18 years. And so I was able to follow his career journey with them. Um, and you know, he called me one day and said, Hey.
He had tried to recruit me, I think 10 years prior, and I was, I was with Starbucks at the time and was making my way up within that organization and just didn't have the courage, um, to make a complete industry switch at the time. Um, I. He called me when the time was right and said, Hey, the Dallas market is opening up.
You know, this is a rare opportunity that Dallas opens up. You know, do you have any interest in interviewing? This is gonna, he pretty much said, this is gonna be your last chance. If you're gonna jump, you need to jump now. [00:27:00] So I jumped, um, and I remember interviewing with our VP of sales who absolutely did not want to hire me.
He told me everything I would dislike about this job. and he came from a really good place. I understood where he was coming from because at that point I had held several leadership positions. I'd been a director, and the next logical step for me for role progression would've been vp I.
But the thing is that I was tired. I was beat down and it wasn't what I wanted as a single mom in my mid forties. So my desires had changed through the years. Um, you know, that big job title and that role was no longer I. Important about me. It was no longer about titles. So I really was looking for something fresh and new and fun, and I was ready to be a, an independent contributor again instead of leading a team.
While leading a team is, you know, It can be fun and you know, you do have the opportunity to develop people. [00:28:00] I felt like at that point I had done it for so long and, um, I wanted to be responsible for my own numbers again, and I knew that I wanted that job with Janice and I let him know that he was not scar me off.
So finally, um, after several interviews and a few months in, they finally extended the offer and, um, I accepted. So yet again here I was in this position where I was scared to death. I knew nothing about this industry. Um, and quite frankly, I had taken an enormous salary pay cut. This was a sales role.
Tried and true. Um, so my salary had been karate chopped. Um, it did have a pretty big upswing for commission potential, but none of that was guaranteed. Uh, so I took a chance. Um, the first few months, it was a pretty drastic lifestyle change. Um, and there were moments where I said, God, what have I done? Uh, I'm never gonna learn this.
How am I, you know, I didn't understand the quoting system. I didn't understand industry [00:29:00] terms. It was all just so new. but once again, I just, I locked in. I asked a lot of questions. I did a lot of self-teaching, uh, and I have a great boss who took me under her wing and didn't let me fly until I was ready.
So, you know, looking back it was hands down the best career decision I've ever made, despite my fears initially. So within months I was making way more commission than I had ever imagined was possible. And that very first year I doubled my take home pay. Um, you know, within the last three years I've been rookie of the year.
I finished second in the company globally, and I've remained consistently in the top tier of the organization since my first full year. So absolutely a win for me and, you know, hopefully a win for them too.
Yeah, sure does sound like it. That's, that's truly amazing. And what I'm like repeatedly hearing is your mindset and your approach.
Um. For how you've accomplished your goals and making single mom life work. So if you could give moms some [00:30:00] advice, how to step out of their safe zone and go after goals for themselves while still being a present mom, what would you tell them? I mean, I
would tell them it's possible.
You know, I would also tell them that your kids are watching, you know, I hear moms say all the time, oh, I can't go back to work because then I'm not gonna be present for them. Or, you know, I, I won't be able to be the class mom or join the PTA. And you know, the reality is, yes, there are sacrifices. You may not be able to do all those things, but when your kids are watching you, they're learning your work ethic, whatever that may be, whether you have a strong work ethic or not so strong work ethic, they're still watching.
you do have to sacrifice to juggle a career while being a mom. Um, it's a juggling act every single day, and I will never be dishonest about that, but that's life. And kids, you know, will soon learn as they grow, um, that the universe isn't always gonna give them what they want just because it's their [00:31:00] desire.
They have to roll their sleeves up. They have to understand that the cavalry isn't coming in to save them. Uh, they have to work hard. And that comes a lot easier if they see the achievements that their moms have had along their career journey purely by working hard and telling themselves that they can do it all instead of all the reasons that they can't do any of it.
You know, I, I always tell people, start small. You know, it can be very intimidating. It can. It can crush you at times, right? But if you start small, you make a checklist. I've always been a big fan of checklist since I was little. My mom still makes fun of me 'cause she said that I never released the checklist.
I always have one. So make a checklist of what you want for yourself. Do your research. Know what you're talking about. Um, invest in your relationships at work and don't be afraid to ask for help. You know, one of the things that I struggled with being a new mom, especially. I didn't know how to ask for [00:32:00] help.
I just didn't know how to ask. But what you realize really quickly is it truly takes a village. It takes a village of moms. It takes a village of grandmas. It takes your community. So never be afraid to raise your hand and ask for the help when you need it.
I love that. And you, you, another theme of yours is relationships.
So you have met so many people over the years in your travels and in your career, and you're one of those people that truly stays in touch with people and you maintain a relationship and you're have an amazing friend to your friends. What is your key to maintaining quality relationships with so many people?
Gosh, I, I've been so incredibly blessed and so lucky throughout my life. You know, I, I grew up in a, a military family. My dad was a Marine and we moved every three years. Um, and I. I still get [00:33:00] anxiety thinking about that first day in class. 'cause I was always the new kid. Always the new kid, you know? And I had to start over so many times and make new friends everywhere.
I, I went and, you know, it. As much as I disliked that growing up and I, it still gives me anxiety. Even when my son has his first day at school, I have anxiety for him. 'cause I can remember being the new kid and what that felt like. Um, but what that taught me, I think as an adult and even, you know, as a child.
Is, in order to have good friends, you have to know how to be a good friend. So, and that means keeping up with people and staying in touch and picking up the phone, calling people to check in. You know, some of the best friends you have are those that you don't have to talk to every day. You can pick up the phone after 10 years and pick up right where you left off.
And I'm lucky in that regard because I have those friends, um, and they've been [00:34:00] with me through. You know, all, all the things in my life through the trials and tribulation and the laughter and the tears and, I wouldn't give that up for anything. we live in a world now where we rely so much and, and too much, in fact on social media and texting.
Um, and I think we've in some ways lost the art of conversation and lost, you know, the importance of picking up the phone and actually talking to your friends. Uh, I make it a point that, you know, every year or every few years I'm doing the trips I'm taking, I'm seeing my friends, I'm getting in front of them and never losing touch.
You know, I think people are the most important investment that anyone can make yet we don't emphasize that enough in our circles.
That's really, really good advice. 'cause social media, I mean, it, it has its pros, but for sure there is a disconnect with the conversation piece and the getting in front of others.
So that is really, really great advice. So I've got one last [00:35:00] question for you. Um, if you could give anyone listening whether they are 18 or 65, 1 piece of advice for living their life to the fullest, what would it be?
Just one. Huh?
Well, you can get more than one. Just one. Okay.
I'm a big advocate of acting in the now.
You know, don't put off doing something tomorrow that you can do today. today is a gift, right? So I, I look at my life and, you know, I, I had a, a father that died at the age of 36. And all he wanted to do was live. And I remind myself of that every single day. That tomorrow is not a guarantee, you know?
And so I encourage myself and others, right? Take the trip, buy the shoes. Eat the damn cake. Right? We work so hard in our lives and it's important to gift ourselves with the time to travel, you know, [00:36:00] experience new cultures, um, challenge yourself to meet new friends. it will truly allow you to appreciate what we have here in this country.
Um, I'm a big, big advocate of, of travel. I think it's one of, the best ways to learn. And you know, my biggest piece of advice is don't wait until retirement to to see the world. It's a big, beautiful place. And, challenge yourself to have an existence outside of the bubble that you live in. It's absolutely the best gift you can give yourself.
I.
I love that you're making me want to go plan a trip when? When I get finished here. Good. That's the point. That's perfect. Perfect. Well, this has been an amazing interview. Your story is so inspiring and all the moms especially can learn so much from listening to what you had to say today. So thank you so much for your time.
I greatly appreciate it. Thank you, booth. I've loved chatting with you.
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