Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
Finding Your Path: From Journalism to Education with Steve Scheidt
Ever wonder how your earliest experiences shape your entire worldview? Steve Scheidt knows firsthand. After spending his first five years in Nairobi, Kenya, his return to the United States came with a startling question at the Chicago Zoo: "Why are all the animals behind bars?" Having only known wildlife in their natural habitat, Steve's perspective was forever changed by these formative experiences.
From those unique beginnings, Steve shares his journey through athletics, education, and family life that led him to his current role at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management. His story weaves through college rowing practices at dawn, the warmth of Italian family gatherings centered around food, and the unexpected path from journalism student to education professional.
The conversation takes a profound turn when Steve reflects on parenting and the accelerating nature of time as we age. "You don't want to be the person saying 'I wish I would have done that,'" he advises, emphasizing the critical importance of being fully present in each moment with loved ones. His observations about how technology affects today's students compared to previous generations offers thought-provoking insights about connection in the digital age.
Throughout the episode, Steve's warmth and wisdom shine through, particularly when discussing the value of meaningful relationships and genuine human connection. His final message about kindness and inclusion serves as a powerful reminder that how we treat others ultimately defines our legacy as we measure our lives not in months, but in decades.
Join us for this heartfelt conversation about worldview, presence, and the moments that truly matter. Whether you're navigating career choices, parenting challenges, or simply seeking to live more intentionally, Steve's journey offers valuable perspective that will resonate long after the episode ends.
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is, as always, your host, mike Bono. I have a great guest from us today. He comes to us from Cleveland, ohio. He works at Case Western University at the Weatherhead School of Management in the Graduate Admissions Program, and that is Steve Scheidt. Joins the show.
Speaker 2:Steve, thank you for joining me yeah, it's fantastic to be here, boy with uh, with that intro. Uh, you really uh build things up. That's fantastic and much, much appreciated, I might say that's what I like to do here.
Speaker 1:I like to build people up on this show. That that's kind of what I like to do here. Um, you're originally from ohio and you grew up in the, I believe, in the suburbs. Which town did you actually grow up in? Tell the folks a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Well, I consider myself a Clevelander in Ohio and, even though I wasn't born here, originally a Chicago native, but I say Cleveland by way of Nairobi, kenya. I'm originally from Chicago and when I was very, very young one years old at the time my father had an opportunity to work and travel to Nairobi, kenya to get some international experience. It was supposed to be a year of international experience and somehow he convinced my mom who was then pregnant with my sister at the time to move to Nairobi, kenya and relocate the growing family there and spent the first, well, essentially the first five years of my life in Africa before eventually coming back to Cleveland. And then, and uh, and then you know, settling down and living and working here. But but that that was my beginning. My, my worldview started with um nairobi, kenya.
Speaker 1:so that's uh, and I'll never forget that that is just an awesome start to everything you know. Going thinking it was just going to be talking about the suburbs of Iowa yeah, I threw you for a loop there.
Speaker 2:But everyone's journey, as you know, whether it's people are born and raised in the same place or maybe have had different world experiences and have traveled the state, the country, the world, you just appreciate different ways of living and different ways of being when you have a chance to experience that. For example, when I came back from Nairobi, I was still not even in elementary school and went to the Chicago Zoo and one of the first questions I asked was why are all the animals behind bars and in cages? Because I didn't know any different. I just thought you go on safari and you see lions and zebras and elephants and all those things, and we have pictures. You know, we got pictures and they're just right next to the car. But that's your worldview and it's shaped by the people, the conditions, the images around you at the time. And that was my worldview and I didn't even know what a zoo was. So can you believe it? And here we are, back in Cleveland and we've got a phenomenal zoo, and so I think everything does come full circle.
Speaker 1:That would be a big culture shock, I guess. If you're used to seeing a mountain safari and then all of a sudden you're in a zoo, like what the heck's going on here?
Speaker 2:Like, why are they all locked up? Yeah, and you know what? Uh, the one of the things that I I'll, I'll never forget and that I always take with me is that some of the these creatures, you know, these, these animals that I got to see up close in the natural habitat, in the wild, you know, some of them are endangered and likely at some point, you know, will be, you know, be extinct, and that's just kind of one of the things that you think about, like that not everyone is going to have the opportunity, whether a zoo or in the natural environment, to see some of these creatures that you know. Again, I sort of grew up with, you know, many, many, many years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great start, you know, and to everything especially you know getting that experience and growing up. But I believe you also, once you got back to the States, you played some sports growing up. You know which sports did you play and you know how did that help shape you into where you're at today.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and we'll fast forward a lot because we're going way back into the vault here. I've got to start telling some compelling stories if this is going to get some traction. No, I'm just kidding. But in all seriousness, whatever the activity, whether it's athletics or some co-curricular activity, as far as what I got involved with early and I'm really glad I did my dad introduced me to the game of golf when I was in middle school.
Speaker 2:That's not maybe particularly exciting for a lot of people, but guess what? Most of us at some point or another are going to get invited to a golf outing or we've got a golf fundraiser and you got to know how to do it, but anyway. So I just thought that was a fantastic sport because you you get individual, you know skill set, development and contribution, but you're part of an aggregate team, uh, so you kind of get the best of both, but you're you're not necessarily playing with your teammates at the same time, which is kind of ironic, which is what it is very interesting. As far as sports, when you think about it, but relative to the other sports. So golf, I'm so glad I got introduced to the game of golf and then later coach golf at the high school level and ended up also rowing in college in between there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a big golf guy, love the golf. Not very good at it, but I love the game of golf Actually, believe me. You know two of the sponsors of the show are golf companies with Schenken Golf and Sweet Hand Sports. So yeah, I love anything golf. My grandfather on my mom's side actually held his pro card for a while, so got me into golf for a little bit. Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good, good, and actually back in the day, this is just part of my fun fact. At least it's fun to me. For a second, I've actually, speaking of golf have witnessed two different holes in one. One was in high school a teammate I'm sorry, a competitor. I wish it were a teammate, but it was a competitor. He got a hole in one and uh.
Speaker 2:But the irony is and I like to tell this part of it because it kind of pains me the ball was sailing in the air. It was a beautiful looking shot and we all thought it was gonna end up okay and I was the next person to hit on the tee. So I bent down while the ball was in the air, teed up my ball and everyone started cheering as it went in the cup and as I was teeing up my ball. So technically I didn't see it, but for all intents and purposes I did so anyway. That was the first one.
Speaker 2:The second one, um, was, uh, seeing my, my dad, get a hole-in-one and that was really cool too. Um, but my, my dream, bucket list, number one on my bucket list is being able to get a hole in one and playing with my dad and having him see my hole in one, just like I saw, just like I saw his hole in one. So that would be. That's my dream bucket list. So I got to get a lot more golf in uh this summer and fall just to get enough par threes to have that chance.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. When I was oh, I think I was going into my freshman year of high school there was a little par three course right where I grew up in a little town in Follinsby, west Virginia. We would go from time to time a little nine-hole par three. You can kind of work on your short game a little bit and I hit a hole in one there. Uh, myself, I shanked it real bad off the off the rip and I was like, oh man, and I kind of like turned away. But there was the green, was next to a hill. It bounced off the hill, rolled down and just couldn't have played it better if I tried to play it this way. It rolled right into the cup and my buddies had to tell me that I hit a hole in one like cause I was already turned around and like walking back to put my club away and be like, oh and I gotta go find this ball and ended up hitting a hole in one and it was pretty cool.
Speaker 1:The, the little course that it was, went to the local paper paper and actually had my name in the paper. My parents still have the paper clipping. I hit a hole in one at the little local nine-hole par-3 course up on Highland Hills in Follinsbury, west Virginia. So it was a pretty cool experience. Haven't hit one since, haven't even came close to hitting one since, but it was just one of those freak bounces that I had that kind of worked out for me.
Speaker 2:Well, you've got a story that many, many golfers wish to tell one day, so we'll keep trying. I will keep trying, and I appreciate you sharing your story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. And you did grow up, I believe, in an Italian family. So what was it like growing up after, when you got back from Africa and everything like that, but growing up in an Italian family? As a fellow Italian myself, I always love to hear how it differs, but it's the same, you know.
Speaker 2:It seems like yeah, and I guess I'm 50% Italian by birth. Okay, my mother made me in Palumbo and I know you asked about coming back in the Italian family, but this is important for context. Mother's father, um, back in the day, was a restaurateur and owned a different, you know, restaurants called palumbos, so they would serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and italian food. But, uh, but I guess, growing up in at least through my uh, my mom's side, because my dad is a german, croatian but just the whole idea of uh, of having people come together over food you know whether that was homemade meatballs with a pinch of this and a pinch of that, no recipes written down. You know from, from, uh, from different aunts and grandmas and people and uh and and just only certain smells of the kitchen that you can get from those. You know particular people, particular people preparing the meals.
Speaker 2:It's just amazing when you think about the things that people pass down, and so what I remember is just having a very, very enjoyable times and meaningful conversation and experiences over, you know, home cooked meals and just appreciating that time and and really, you know that understanding that we, we can do that and we should learn from from different cultures who spend hours at the dinner table or at the lunch table, um, even during the work day, um, over a good conversation, if it's uh, if it's fruitful, and you're connecting with that person. So I think just making meaningful connections is just in life, is probably one of the most important things, if not most important, because in the end, well, we're kind of all going to be nearing a half century I'm almost there right now but it's really just about the quality of the relationships you have with people and making a mark, and that's what I was taught is just. It's all about people and making sure that you're one of the good people when you get talked about.
Speaker 1:Thousand percent on that one. It's always about it. It always seems to revolve around food. When it comes to Italian tier, I am a smidge under, I always say I'm a smidge. I always say I'm full blood. It always seems to revolve around food. When it comes to two Italians here, I am a smidge under, I always say I'm a smidge. I always say I'm full-blooded, I'm a smidge under full-blooded Italian. My dad is full-blooded Italian, my mom is half Italian, half Slovak, so it's about 75% Italian.
Speaker 1:So grew up in a very big family and it was always Sunday sauce, as we called it it was. My grandmother's would cook basically all day, starting from after church in the morning until it was dinner time and then we all met at one table and it was hours. You didn't feel like you were at the table for hours, but just course after course and just plate after plate and just conversations going on everywhere. Everyone was kind of having a different conversation but the same conversation at the same time and it's just a great experience for anybody to witness that To this day, like my wife, even every Sunday we have sauce and we don't.
Speaker 1:We moved to Ohio. I'm about two hours away from the Italian portion of my family a little closer to my wife's family here, but every every Sunday we know it's it's sauce day and Sunday sauce and she keeps that tradition going and it's just me, her and my son. I think it's the only time we actually sit down at our dinner table to actually eat a meal together. With our work schedules and my son's school and extracurriculars, we don't always get to eat together, but Sundays for sure we make sure that we sit down to a meal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're there for hours just sitting there picking at stuff and just just talking and catching up on our week and it's just a great thing to to have happen and I I wish a lot more people had that experience to sit down to a meal, uh, with someone right and and this observation isn't particular to like the, the ital Italian community, but one thing I do think it's it always kind of tickles me when I think about it is after a huge meal of spaghetti and and you know, and meatballs and sausage and this and that, and you're all ready to go, and you're ready to go back home and you're you're kind of getting wrapped up. The the hosts usually have a anian, you know meal makes you a sandwich just in case you get hungry on the way home. Just just just in case you get hungry or in case you get stuck in traffic. Just just take this dessert. Just you'll need this, uh, in case you need it. I just thought it was always funny that, uh, just to get from point a to point, you need a sandwich.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you mentioned that, because my wife is still always shocked Every time we visit my family back home, whether it's a holiday, just get together, we can get together all together. They're always sending us with leftovers. Does your family just not like leftovers? Why are they always giving us leftovers? No, that's so we can eat it all the way home. That that's. That's literally going to be the snack for the ride home. Now we have a little bit bigger of a commute than most people do when they're coming from an italian family. But, um, she's, she's still. I mean, it's been 10 years and she's still just like. They're just always giving us leftovers. I was like like, yeah, that's just, it's either a sandwich and some dessert or it's something that's left over. And I was like, yeah, that's actually meant to eat on the way home, that's not, that's not. There's no way that's supposed to make it home.
Speaker 2:Right, and I'm convinced that there's. There's going to be another version or a category of food or snack that is meant for the from the front door to the car, in case you get hungry. Yeah, front door to the car, because we've already got the car to the way home covered with that, that extra snack. There's still that walk to the car, because that can. I mean there can be some long walks, driveways can be long and not everyone has digested the dinner. It's just, yeah, you can't. You might need something for that.
Speaker 1:That walk to the car, yeah that I I really feel like that's gonna be a thing here very soon. I I hope it is like well, again 10 years we've been together. My wife's just still shocked. She's like I don't know like how you eat that much and you stay as thin as you are. She's like I don't understand it. Where does it all go? I was like I wish I had an answer for you. I really do. I was like, but since I've met you I've put on about 60 pounds, so let's not say I'm still thin here.
Speaker 2:I don't know, I might not say that too often out loud, but but hey, maybe, maybe it's fun that you guys go out and do stuff. Yeah, that means that you, that means you're enjoying some stuff and some food, that's absolutely for sure.
Speaker 1:Getting back to a little bit more about you, I believe you went to the university of Dayton for both undergrad and your graduate school. You know why did you pick Dayton and what are your degrees in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, going back, and it's interesting because my son is a senior in high school, so it's just fitting that you ask that question. I'm thinking back on my own high school, I'm sorry, college decision days. I'm sorry college decision days, but I was the kind of person that you know. I wanted to be close enough to a home where I could get back on a weekend and get some things done or maybe get some good food to bring back or laundry, you know the thing. So I wanted to be close enough to Cleveland where that could happen.
Speaker 2:And you know, interestingly, back when I went to school, you kind of went into a counselor's office and there was some brochures and you looked at brochures and whatever looked good. That's kind of you know where you went. But fortunately, though, I had a good counselor and the brochure was a very good brochure, because one of them was Dayton, and so I just I explored it was in Ohio, it was close enough and size was, you know, conducive, convenient, not too small, not too large, you know. So I just felt that connectedness, that closeness that you know, that you kind of want in a college, just like you can get in the high school setting.
Speaker 2:But really I spent time on campus and I didn't know what I wanted to major in going into college, so that wasn't a decision, I just had to be, you know again a place where I feel like I could just thrive and be me, and you know, I did the overnight and where you had to spend the night in the dorm and go to class and and, and you know the dining hall and all that, which was great because you really got to see, like, what life is like, at least a little bit what life is like and, um, you know, in the dorm and that type of thing.
Speaker 2:But I just sat on a bench, you know, the next day before I was getting picked up and felt like I could just be me, you know, there in that setting, and I think it was important too to have a faith-based, you know environment to go to school as well. That would provide a strong, you know, well-rounded foundation. But yeah, so Dayton was undergrad and stayed there for two more years for graduates, so actually six years. But Cleveland ever since has been my home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I get that with, you know, because I went to Bethany College in West Virginia. It was close enough to home, to where I could go home if need be, get a good meal, you know, visit family, get some laundry done for sure, if need be get a good meal, you know, visit family, get some laundry done for sure. But it was far enough away that I could kind of build my own path. If you will, had a swimming scholarship to swim there in college. That was a big part of it too as well, especially after coming off a pretty bad shoulder injury and Bethany keeping their scholarship for me, which shoulder injuries for swimmers is pretty much the kiss of death, it seems like. So they allowed me to be a quote unquote manager of the team my freshman year so that I could rehab and still keep my scholarship because being part of the team, which was I thought was awesome of them to do and, like I said, yeah it was. It was close enough to where, like I said, if I could go home if need be, and far enough away that you know the parents couldn't get there quickly if they, if something were not going to their liking and I had some time to plan out. You know the the old college excuse if things were not going to their liking. And I had some time to plan out. You know the old college excuse if things weren't going the way they thought it should be going out there.
Speaker 1:But kind of like you, I went in with a different mindset. I thought I was going into business administration, as my major Quickly realized that, you know, economics classes weren't really my forte. So I ended up switching my major to broadcasting, journalism and communications and earned an accounting minor in the process of the time being. For the first two years that I was a business major there, I thought that was, it was going to be. The path and I think that's something that most college students will realize is you think you have a plan going in and that plan is probably probably going to change some way, shape or form. I think is like a lot of people that I've talked to have gone in with one goal in mind and have ended up leaving with another and it's worked out fantastically for them. So did you kind of have that with your college career? And I know you were also an athlete there too as well. We'll get into that in a minute.
Speaker 2:Well, with the major in college. I think that's one of the things that even now you know. Nowadays people are asked all the time what's your major, what do you want to study? I, I didn't know going in, and advice that I got going in was hey, just start taking classes of things that you enjoy and see what happens. Maybe that'll be a major. And at the time I really enjoyed writing and what, whatever type of writing that was for for for class To me. I had a knack for it and I started taking some courses in addition to the regular core courses and all of a sudden I had a journalism major. So, okay, well, that's junior senior year and I wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen with that. I did join the campus newspaper, which was a wonderful experience uh, twice weekly, totally student produced campus newspaper. And again, for those that are a little bit younger, you know who listen or your audience like newspaper, what, what?
Speaker 2:but, yeah, well, at the time it's still the same concept you know you got to produce and this day it would just be like the e-newspaper, but anyway. So my point is I took those classes and I had that major and that's how I decided to pursue journalism. But then senior year came around and didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to do post-undergrad. And again, for those that are in a similar spot, or maybe going to be or have kids, that are kind of at that age where you're graduating and you're not sure of your job and the market and stuff, graduate school is always a great option, whether it was when I went to school some time ago I was going to say decades, but okay, some time ago or now and it was an option for me and I, well, at the time I sort of joke and say that I didn't see that dream job at GQ magazine knocking on my door, writing feature stories and traveling the world. It was probably going to be covering the Strawberry Festival at Solon Times, which was probably pretty exciting in some years, depending on the harvest covering the strawberry festival at Seoul, and you know Seoul and times um, which which you know was probably pretty exciting, you know in some years, depending on the harvest, but I didn't know what I wanted to do, uh, but they said, hey, why don't you stick around and you get a graduate degree in the you know, in communication, organizational communication, take a lot of different graduate courses and this and that and, but you get to teach for two years. You have to teach the COM 101 class that the freshmen or you know the required course that was. You have to do that you know and teach that every semester.
Speaker 2:So I thought, okay, that was great and that's kind of how I stayed on at Dayton for my graduate degree and the education bug, if you will bit me there, that's how I got into education admissions, helping people find their path or journey and make those connections and providing that bridge, that pathway, if you will, to help people get to their next threshold and what they want to do. It was all of I. I stayed on graduate school and taught and was in education and then have been in education as far as an industry ever since yeah, that I mean I back.
Speaker 1:It was still in the early 2000s. I worked with the newspaper, which quickly shifted to the e-newspaper, the e-letter as they called it out at Bethany Also ended up being the sports director for the radio station out there, so I actually got to announce every home football, baseball, basketball game, any sporting event that that happened there from about 2009 into 2010,. You heard my voice on the radio and on the streaming platform. My class kind of helped produce and get the TV station and the streaming services up and running for the next generations. We quickly realized that there was a lot of students that were coming from out of state to play sports there and their parents couldn't get to to watch them. So what better way, uh, to reach them is to start that streaming platform and add everything out there. And it's really grown and I I still follow it to to this day, you know.
Speaker 1:And after graduating in 2012 and realizing that it's now 2025, almost 2026, and it's been that long since I've been in college, it's great to see something that kind of started with my class and what we did and it's built up to where it is today. It's an awesome feeling to see up to where it is today. It's an awesome feeling to see and being able to watch the swim team. If I want to catch a meet and I can it's a quick go to a link on the website and I can watch the event to watch my alma mater swim. It's great for everybody to be able to see. And do you guys kind of have that with? Like you said you were, like I said you were, part of the rowing team at Dayton. So what was that portion like with the sports and the school, with being an athlete and a student at the same time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the rowing team, the decision to pursue a crew, I guess, as they say, uh happened during the orientation uh week, you know, at freshman year, and uh, when different clubs were setting up tables all over campus and whatnot. I saw this very, very long. Uh, well, what's called a racing shell, the boat, you know, that houses the eight people and uh, and when you see it up close you realize, like boy, this is like well, it has to house eight people, so it's gotta be a pretty big um you know vessel or whatnot. But I just saw that and, um, a couple of people, really nice people, said, hey, are you new here? Uh, you're looking to join something. Have you ever considered the crew team? I said, tell me more.
Speaker 2:You know, and that's kind of how it started, um, and at the time it was a club team. It's it's been varsity for many, many years and actually it's one of the stronger uh programs around um, so we were kind of one of the early teams, um, at the, I guess, the inception of the program. But anyway, I any type of organized activity, whether it's a sport or a or a group, but but in this case it was a athletic activity. But I would always encourage that for anyone, whether it's, you know, varsity or or otherwise, because you get to be part of something that requires coordinating, literally coordinating activities and efforts with other people at the same moment in time, when you're rowing on the water. And it's just such a precise sport that, looking from the shore, if you ever see people rowing in the an eight person or four person or even just a single, uh you know boat or shell, uh, it looks effortless but what's happening is grueling on the water. But to have the opportunity to even freshman year, uh, well, I say opportunity now but to wake up before 8 am class and to go down to the river, get in the boat, go up and down the river several times, mind you, this is it's dark and you see the sun rise over the city of dayton, so you see some like beautiful things, um, all before an 8 am class and then when everyone else is finishing their omelets and heading to english, you're, you're, just you, you got done, you know, on the water for an hour and a half of the grueling activity and still have to be ready for that class.
Speaker 2:So it just puts you in a different frame and I think, ultimately, anytime anyone can do that the discipline, the focus, the structure, the organization, the being part of something that requires other people to help you and you to help other people Wow, can you be part of something better than that? And I was fortunate to be part of that program for four years and it's one of those unique sports that not many people get exposed to, because most people, let's face it, it's not. It wasn't at my high school, it wasn't at a lot of people's high schools, it's not, probably not going to be at a lot of people's colleges, but, uh, but rowing or crew, uh for those who know it's, uh, it's, it's an unbelievable life experience. Um, just because of the, the lessons that you learn about, you know, camaraderie and focus and grit and all those great things yeah, uh, I get that about the early morning workouts at uh, the, the swim team out bethany.
Speaker 1:We were in the water at 6 am every morning and you know we'd we'd get that hour workout in and end up swimming probably close to uh, me being a sprinter was like a mile and a half, two miles and then getting into the showers, getting back and then we're off to, like you said, the 8 am 8.30 classes and people were just getting up and, you know, getting their coffees and starting their days. And you know a lot of people ask me, like how do you get to this 8 am class? And you're like bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, it seems like, and you're just, you're more awake for somebody who hasn't had any coffee yet. Like how do you do this? Like I've already swam two miles today, like I've been up since 5.30 to get myself to the pool and to the natatorium on time so that I can be changed and ready and in the water and start my workout at 6 am. And you know I wouldn't change it for anything because it helped me start my day.
Speaker 1:I got to be with my teammates, not only the male teammates but the female teammates, because everybody was put into individual lanes based on the strokes that you did and the if you were a sprinter, if you were distance. So you got to to be with some different uh, some different people, different teammates and you know, bouncing ideas off of each other early in the morning in the freezing cold water. Uh, those pools were not, not heated that that well as they should be. If you're wanting to get in and go as fast as you can, I don't want to stay in cold water that long. That's my kind of thought process behind it. But you know, get that wake-up call and to think back to it now, a lot of people don't like these cold plunges and everything like that and it's supposed to revive the body and I think that's kind of what I was doing early on in my career at swimming at Bethany.
Speaker 2:Man, you were like way ahead of the curve, just like just totally light years ahead of that curve and with the cold bath and stuff, I like that transition. That was a good one. I've actually never done the cold, the true cold plunge, where you're jumping into that barrel and you're doing the whole thing and I don't know how long you stay in there.
Speaker 1:But Like I even like if my shower is not to the right temperature that I like it, it starts getting cold. It's time to end the shower, but you know it's it. Yeah, I think back to my younger days and you know, getting in the pool, I think was a max of like I think 75 degrees was the was the warmest I got, which sounds warm, but when you're talking about water like that's, that's pretty cold. But when you're talking about water like that's, that's pretty cold. So, yeah, like I can't do the cold plunges now, like the cold water just just bugs me to death right now.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, let's just hope you don't have to encounter that anytime I try not to the best that I can.
Speaker 2:I'll keep an eye out for cold water so that way you don't have to encounter cold water. I appreciate it. Yeah, we don't want that causing a ruckus.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Like me here, you are a proud dad and husband. So like me, here you know you are a proud dad and husband and I always am interested to hear how other people balance that. You know work life, home balance, and how does that work for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm really glad you brought that up and because it's really the fabric and the part of well, I mean, any of any of us who are lucky to to be a parent. You know that, that responsibility to, of course, to be a parent, you know that, that responsibility too, of course. But but you realize that whether and we have a son, our only child, but you know, if you have one, two, three, whatever, when you, when you're balancing just any thing or a number of things, but if you have another human being, you know in in the picture, that's like that's a's 100 dependent on you for everything literally, like getting to and from food, this and that and everything in between. You just realize the magnitude of that.
Speaker 2:But one thing I will say is, and I think that anyone who moves on in life, as you get older, you start measuring time in longer increments, like has it been three years, has it been five years, has it been 10 years? Wow, you don't start saying it's been two months, it's been six months, you start saying years, years and decades and all of a sudden you're 40 and 45 and 50, and and my point is, if, if you're, you know if you're a parent or if you're a family member or whatever. Um, you know, time moves on, but seemingly moves on more quickly as you get older and almost to the point where you feel like the the accelerators on and you have to buckle up. And then and then all those times that you think, oh yeah, we'll get lunch, we're gonna get lunch one of these days. We're gonna get lunch. You keep, you're gonna get lunch.
Speaker 2:For 10 years yeah and I know the question was you've got a son, you know, and how do you balance? You know that, but but I guess the the bigger point is, um, you know, be present and and like actually be present in the moments that you have, like looking at like what just popped up on your phone, but be present with that person, cause there's something powerful when two people are, you know, or any number of people are experiencing something. So you just want to make sure that there's the humanness of it all, there's a connectedness, and that you're actually like experiencing life with that person. And there's going to be technology and digital stuff here and there along the way, but, but it's scary when there's no blueprint. Be technology and digital stuff here and there along the way, but, um, but uh, it's scary when there's no blueprint or roadmap or instruction manual.
Speaker 2:And I joke about that with my wife all the time and and even when we first brought him home in the carrier, we videotaped it from the car ride home from the hospital and we sat down in the living room and I think I said something like you know now what you know? Like, oh, like, what do we do now? Like, oh, my gosh, like this is like it's a big moment, but but you know, everyone has those those types of moments If it's a new job or if it's a family or a life change. But my point again, life is like it moves quicker as we get older. So you, just you don't want to, you don't want to be the person saying I wish I would have done that, I wish I, you know, would have done that. Like you don't want to be that, like people keep saying that to me and it's like I, I want to, I want to follow that advice absolutely, I used to, I still remember, used to, like my parents are.
Speaker 1:But I'm like, oh, don't, don't take this for granted, it's going to go faster than you think it. You know life hits you, hits you harder than you than you think, you know it comes quicker than you think. And to to think back to you know the, the, the wife and I, I and we've we've been together 10 years. And just saying that, you know we haven't been married for 10 years, but we've been together for the better part of 10 years now. And that's just to think like I can still remember the, the first day, like I used to be, like I used to ask my grandpa, like how do you remember the first day you and grandma met? And you can still recall that day? It's because it goes back. It seems like it was yesterday that we met each other and we got together. And when you're with the right person, I don't think you realize how long it's been since, since you got, since you were together.
Speaker 1:And um, I always say, you know, I have, uh, my son, he is, he is a stepson to me, uh, his, his biological dad, not the picture. So we don't even, I don't even say like to say, say, stepson anymore, um, but you know, I also have two other bonus kids and stepdaughters that are grown older. One just graduated nursing and became an RN. So it's just the nostalgia of things and thinking, wow, yeah, I'm in my 30s, almost my 40s, and I technically have three kids. I never thought it would be to that point and you know, I don't know when it happened or how it happened, but here I am 10 years later, uh, with a little bit more gray in my beard than I had, uh then before, for sure, um, but it I wouldn't change it for the world.
Speaker 1:Uh, and you were right be present, being present with whatever is going on, no matter what it is, um, sporting events, schooling things, anything, or just being together at at the house and being present with that person. If I'm, if I'm around my son and we're hanging out or doing anything at all, like I pretty much turn my phone off, every electronic that I have, just so I can just be there, cause I know the time's going to come when he's not home anymore and he's off doing his own thing, and I, as as a dad, you don't want that day to come, but you know, as as a man. You want him to grow as into his own person. So it's kind of a kind of a balance you have to have to have with that too as well.
Speaker 2:It's just it's it's great to see him grow and it it become his own man yeah, they say, um, you know, you're the center of the tent, their center of attention, like for for their whole lives.
Speaker 2:And there's that one moment where they say where your kids might say, or whoever you know if you're a guardian or whatever, um, oh, you can just drop me off, like a little bit further down the drive, like like down in the street, not in front of the house, just like down here, and then you, you kind of like, don't become the center, so to speak.
Speaker 2:But you know, it's all part of the journey and um, um, you know, yeah, there's there, I guess you, you want to, uh, to instill, you know, behaviors and characteristics and emotions and skills that can help prepare young people or whoever, to become independent and decision makers. And, boy, it's not easy, but you get to in some way relive, like childhood or high school and or whatever it might be, through the, through the eyes of someone else. But you realize that, boy, we thought it was tough when we were in school. Every generation they always says, oh, it was so tough when we were in school, but now, with technology and instant information, and, boy, it's tough. I give a lot of credit to schools, especially like elementary high schools, but certainly, like you know, especially like elementary high schools, but certainly, like you know, the higher education, because it's a formative time for people and young people and we have to be support structures for that growth and development absolutely.
Speaker 1:My wife and I joke around all the time like you couldn't pay me to go back to and be a high schooler. These days, versus what we did when we were, there was just the instant gratification and the instant everything's there. It's to the technology age. I don't envy them. I would not want to do it now, knowing how it was when I grew up in the 90s and the early 2000s, and you know it was a much simpler time and yeah, we joke about it all the time and my son's just like but we have everything right here. It's like, yeah, but do you like?
Speaker 1:I mean, I still remember my dad when I would get home from school like is your homework done? Yeah, you came home from practice. All right, get out of the house, I'll see you at dark. Like you know, we didn't have phones or video games or things that we were tied to. But I guess they're making memories in their own ways and in different ways, and you know they'll be telling their kids that, oh, it was so different when I was growing up. It was simpler then, you know. So I'm sure everyone thinks it was simpler in their time.
Speaker 2:It's funny because I think our kids and I'm thinking of my son's, a senior in high school they'll be telling stories about you know what we had to get to school? Put our phone in a pouch the entire day, we couldn't get it until the end of the day. And then the kids are like no way you had to put your phone in a pouch, no way. That's what they're talking about and it's happening because this is the first year that, at least in my son's school, that's happening, but I know it's been happening, you know, at other places for a while. But this can you imagine a world like one year you have access to that device all day tech you know conceivably or you don't have access to it.
Speaker 2:I think it might. This might be interesting. Like all these younger students, these children, or whatever you want to call it, are without their devices during the day. That might be a good thing, but it's just interesting because it's think about what would you be like if someone said, hey, from from 8 to 3, 15, uh, you gotta put your phone over here and you can't touch it. Like just think about that. That's for the, for their kids. This is what their life is like when you do that and just so I always think of what would that be like if we impose that on us right, that's a.
Speaker 1:That's a big change. You know, you don't realize how much you use your devices and technology and all that nowadays until it's until you can't, you know, or you're not allowed to use it or anything like that. So, yeah, it's definitely, definitely a big change With you being there at Case Western Reserves University. You actually worked with former guests of the show we talked about this a little bit before we got started and Cole Schneider, but also, formerly of Case Western, the wonderful manager of the podcast, johnny Fitty Falcone. What was it like working with these guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say uh, total chaos. No, I'm just kidding that's so good.
Speaker 2:I'm just kidding, um, honestly like these, both.
Speaker 2:Both of these guys are just, uh, phenomenal people, um, and I know they're both affiliated with the show in different ways, uh, but, uh, you know, when you, when you, just when you have quality human beings, you know the people that you can talk to and actually like, ask like substantive questions and and have a good conversation.
Speaker 2:You know you've got I, um, you know someone who's good to know and you want on your side, but, uh, but I'm very, yeah, fortunate to uh have had the opportunity to work with, uh, john, uh, johnny Falcone, who's part of the podcast, and Cole, a guest uh on the show, and um, but, uh, yeah, just great, great guys and um, they say you know, you've heard of this, uh, that you're known by the company you keep and yeah, um, so I'd be, I'm proud to to know, know these guys and uh, but that's just a good, it's a good message.
Speaker 2:You know, just just be around people that you want to. You know, um, either learn something from or get you in that didn't make you feel better, that didn't pick you up, that inspire you and um, because, yeah, because you want to surround yourself with those people, even if that's not like all day, every day, but it's just like parts of your day, parts of the you know the week oh yeah, I mean I think johnny and I talk on a daily basis, uh, whether it's via text or or call um, it's always super early.
Speaker 1:We both know we're early risers and it seems like my phone's going off with the text message tone before my alarm sometimes with Johnny and getting texts about what's going on, what ideas he has for the show and everything like that. And a lot of times it's just us just shooting the shit and just kind of bouncing ideas off of each other. And I think you need those people around you for sure. And you know a lot of former guests still, you know, message me to this day. A lot of them are, you know, some are former college athletes, some are still college athletes, some are pro athletes. I follow everybody that has been on the show, um, um and, you know, try to keep up with as many people as I can, but we're we're coming down near episode 260, 261. So it's getting a little harder and harder to try to keep up with everybody.
Speaker 2:Let me, uh, let me ask you something. I mean, you've, uh, you've talked to a lot of people and a lot of different topics and a lot of different things. You know, what do you know? Like what trend do you notice among the people that you're talking to as far as, um, if you had to like extrapolate like high level life lessons, like what are the things that you're just even hearing from time to time from your guests about how they live, what they do, lessons they've learned, anything just like kind of emerge as like high level takeaways from all these conversations you've had?
Speaker 1:Oh man, Um, there's so many, um, a lot of it. It comes down to, um, to kind of along the lines of what you were saying being present and just being in the moment and not trying to look too far ahead into the future, because if you start looking that far ahead, you're going to miss stuff that's happening right now. That's been a lot of the big things that I've noticed and just a lot of like. Even you know, like I said, I've talked to a lot of former athletes, a lot of current athletes, professional athletes and that, and you know having dreams and goals and everything like that, but knowing those don't define you. If, if you have to take a loss, take a loss and learn from it, it's, it's. You're not losing your learning. Um, that has been, you know, a lot of the biggest things, but the main one is always, you know, just be present, just don't think too far ahead, because you're going to miss what's happening right in front of you.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, and and and just like thinking and planning and this and that, yeah, the moment is the moment and and that's yeah, and then the moment is gone.
Speaker 2:You know five seconds ago, you know now because, but that's okay, because you experienced it and it's worth experiencing it, and this whole thing called life that we're on, it's a privilege and it's a journey.
Speaker 2:And, as they say, someone told me once, when you're networking, like in an event, you don't want to sit on the aisle, like on the end, because you miss out on, like a chance to meet someone. So you sit where you have someone on either side of you, so you have two chances to meet someone. Or when you're in line in a buffet, anywhere assuming it's an event where you should be meeting people, you know that's a great chance to talk to the person in front of you or behind you, like, these are built in ways to like have warm conversations, um. But again, the lesson is just, you know people, you know you, you can connect with people in ways that are low pressure. That you know have. You know, uh, potentially, you know high, uh, high value, high outcome. You just have to look for the opportunity and sometimes it pans out. Sometimes it doesn't, but why not right, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Why not Absolutely. And yeah, that's always how I've tried to live and grow my careers as somebody who's been working at becoming, uh, you know, a full-time stand-up comedian, uh, for the past 13 years. You know it. It's definitely a grind, not for the faint of heart, but I'm not looking too far ahead. I'm trying to stay grounded in everything that that I'm doing with this. But uh, steve, I just realized how long we've been sitting here and talking. We are running down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we can. No, no, we're good. Well, yeah, that's fine. Well, this session maybe we'll we'll wrap up this episode, but you got the wheel, you got the command.
Speaker 1:So I would say well, I have one more segment I have to get in here near the end of the episode. Anybody who's listened to it? It is the Fast 55, and that is five random questions from the wonderful manager of the podcast, johnny Fitty Falcone. These are kind of rapid fire for the new listeners out there. Steve, you can't elaborate if you need to, but if you already have someone who's worked with Johnny for these questions, we'll go ahead and we'll start the Fast 55.
Speaker 1:Alright, let's do it Alright. Question number one Would you rather be a famous sumo wrestler or a famous keyboard player? Keyboard player Okay, Number two what's the best place you've ever visited?
Speaker 2:Maui, maui.
Speaker 1:Okay, Question number three what's the last book you read?
Speaker 2:what's the last book you read? Uh, becoming a resident leader. Okay, well, actually no the well. That was the textbook, the. The book was uh, resident leadership by richard boyatzis okay, yeah, what?
Speaker 1:question number four who is your favorite actor ever?
Speaker 2:actor ever robin williams.
Speaker 1:that's a phenomenal answer. On that one, I don't think anybody would disagree on that one. For sure, that's a phenomenal choice. And last but not least, if you had to be either the color brown or purple, which color would you be? Purple, purple, it's a good choice. It's my favorite color. I'll go with that one. I'll go with that one. That was a fast 85. I feel like, since he's worked with you, he took it a little easier than usual for people on that one. But yeah, it's just a fun way we like to try to wind down the episode here. But, steve, I do give every guest this opportunity at the end of the show. If there's anything you want to get out there I know we've already talked about a couple good messages in there, but if it's that, or if it's something for case western reserves, anything you want to get out there, I'm going to give you about a minute and the floor is yours all right, thanks, no, appreciate being on here.
Speaker 2:I would say to anyone, at any stage of their lives always remember to be kind, be good. Don't do it because you expect kindness in return. Make sure that you treat other people, uh, with inclusion and welcome, and make people feel safe. Uh, that's what I would say. That's how you should treat people in life. And if you're looking to expand your other parts of your life, your academic parts, your leadership, of course the weather head in case can assist you with that. But just make sure that you be good, because you'll start measuring time by decades and you want to make sure that you've got a lot of good things to talk about when you talk about those decades that are going by.
Speaker 1:That's phenomenal and I always love it when guests have a good message at the end of the show. I love to end the show that way. I'm all for helping people get out what they have to get out. When guests have a good message at the end of the show, I love to end the show that way. I'm all for helping people get out what they have to get out. But when it's a good message like that, it's a great way to end the episode and, on that note, that is going to do it for this week's episode of the ride home rants podcast. I want to thank my guest, steve Scheidt, for joining the show. This was a lot of fun to get to sit and talk with you, learn a little bit more about your story and everything that you got going on. Really appreciate you coming on, as always if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just because you didn't. That's going to do it for me and I will see y'all next week.
