You gotta do this whole thing. Welcome to the family. No, no, no. Don't worry. I'm ready. Actually, actually, this no, this is this you should catch this part too. So it's like we have to say all the parts, guys. Pastor Steve is gonna kill us. Welcome to the family business, and you're here with not specifically the Alessis, but we are the team behind the family business with the Alesssies. I'm Alan Paul. I help produce the show along with my friends and team members Jonathan Roman and Ashley Munoz. And we wanted to tell you a little bit about the business behind the family business. Now, we are a podcast where family is everybody's business, and we help Pastor Steve, Pastor Mary, and the entire Alesi clan tell the stories that they can't tell on Sundays. But you may not know the stories that happened in this very podcast booth that we're here in right now. So I wanted to get my friends to tell you some of the things that happened outside of the podcast booth before the cameras come on. So you can see like how this really happens. And so Jonathan is here. Tell us a little bit about what you do and you know how you make the family business operate.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh, my name's Jonathan. I've been with the church with the family business now 20 years. So uh it's my great privilege to sound to sit behind the soundboard and make sure that all the audio gets captured for this podcast.
SPEAKER_03And Ashley, you have your name comes up every single episode. But tell everybody in our podiums what you do.
SPEAKER_01Hi, I'm Ashley, and I help do all the video side of the podcast. So when you watch it on YouTube and you enjoy the expressions on the podcast, the stunning quality, it is my hand that helps put that together.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so we have some questions that did come in about our podcast. So some of you in our podient, as um PS calls it, we always have these moments in the studio where people will say, okay, well, was that planned? Uh, did he really mean to say that? Did
Pastor Barry really mean to say that? We all, by the way, call them Pastor Mary and Pastor Steve because they are our pastors and our bosses here at the church. But in the studio, they're just being themselves. And so we wanted to answer some of those questions. One of the questions that came up, I'll direct this over here to the tech team, was how
are topics selected? How do we come up with the ideas behind each episode? So either one of you want to take that on.
SPEAKER_02Well, I I think pastors have 25 years plus of topics that they'd like to discuss that that have come up throughout their years of ministry. And this podcast has finally given them an avenue to release them. So uh, how are they deciding on those topics? They have a a list of things that they talk about on their patio. It's it's real. They do go home and they they talk about things, they are a real couple, a real family, and through that process, they decide: hey, this is something that our audience needs to hear. This is a topic that America needs to hear because America is dealing with it. So, from issues of race to how to parent, how to be a positive influence in your community. That's all things they're talking about. And finally, uh, as a member of this this business for so long, to see them have an avenue to share it is is so refreshing.
SPEAKER_03Ashley, I know you have got a question from somebody that actually was in the filmmaking and the production space. They wanted to know
do we script all this stuff? Do we come up with like the actual words and the phrases? And I mean, this is professional quality. I can tell you, like, I would watch this if uh if it was on, I don't know, uh, Netflix. So, like, do you know a little bit about this? Like, do you do we script the stuff together? Do we put the whole episode like line by line together?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I actually had a a film student come up to us, uh, well to me, and they they love the podcast, they always tune in and they asked me, they were like, hey, it's the content's incredible. How do you guys script right? How do you guys come up with you know the episode structure? Like, do you guys sit down beforehand? And I told her, there's no script, there's no line by line, there's no telepromp going on. It's just an honest conversation that we just have uh insight to now because it's on film, because it's on audio. And they were kind of surprised to see because they were like, Well, it's so like the content is so like perfectly it's like it's content heavy. And they were like, it's just a conversation. I was like, it's just a conversation. And like John said, there's 25 years of wisdom coming out in these conversations. We just have the privilege of getting it on video and handing it out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, okay. So this is kind of like where I get to ask a question that I I've wondered for a while. What would be your favorite if you had to pick one? I'll go first. Okay, so I'll go first. My favorite moment of the family business so far. Um, gosh, there's so many to pick from.
But I have to say, when Pastor Steve came in at the end of the Christmas episode, and they were talking about how he picks gifts or how he chooses how to put out the gifts. And, you know, as you as we said, this is all very well professionally done. But every once in a while things come up that we didn't plan. And Pastor Steve came in in the middle of it and decided to let them know exactly how he feels about the Christmas gifts that he gets.
SPEAKER_01So it definitely was not scripted.
SPEAKER_03Not scripted, definitely not. Anyone else have one that's a favorite for you?
SPEAKER_02I have a favorite. It's um the episode that pastors were doing on dealing with difficult people. Oh, and it was a powerful, powerful time. And we cut the first uh episode. It was like, yes, this is great. And Ashley, she's crying in the corner, and we're like, wow.
SPEAKER_03I'm trying to capture, like, oh, this is so beautiful to me. While Ashley's over there sounding, oh, I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_02Oh, sorry. Oops. So that's a maybe not my favorite, maybe the most memorable. Most memorable, yes.
SPEAKER_01I would say, yeah, that was probably one of the most memorable um filmings we did because you you film something and you're listening to it and you're like, this is great wisdom, this is incredible, people are gonna love this, people need this. But to be sitting in the studio and have them talk about something that was directly affecting me and to feel like, wow, I just heard that. I'm I'm working, I gotta hit stop record, which I don't even think I did. I don't remember what happened that day. But for them to finish that episode and the the wave of relief that came over me and what everyone else who ended up listening to that episode, that was one of our more popular episodes. I mean, that was a memorable day for me. So I think that might have been my favorite too.
SPEAKER_02And when the camera cut, the ministry did not. Yes, yes. So, yes, we finished the podcast, but Pastor Steve and Mary are Pastor Steve and Mary, and they went into work as Ashley's pastors in that moment. So for me, it's just a beautiful thing to see. Yes, we're capturing content, we're we're doing uh all of this work, but the ministry is still happening. So um, we hope that you feel that authenticity when you're listening to this podcast, that what we're saying isn't just words, it's stuff we live by, and when it's time to put it into practice, we go into action.
SPEAKER_03That's so powerful because the family business is ministry. And sometimes it's really interesting because we've been, as a producer of the show, my job is to really set the tone of the show. And Pastor Steve has been very clear, even as we're saying pastor right now, it feels weird because we are not just for church-going families. What we share and what they share in the podcast booth is for anybody because it works for every family, no matter what your family's doing. But because it comes from the heart of ministry, it always touches, and we've gotten so many comments from people saying, I listen every week, I watch this, this has helped my family. I wait for the comments andor the topics to come out so I can apply it to my life. So that's really why we do what we do behind the scenes, because we want to make sure that happens. Speaking of, there is a great story of how this even this studio came to be because we get to shoot and record in a very nice spot. You're just seeing, you know, the area of the control room, but what you see over every Sunday or every uh Wednesday is our actual room where we record. So, John, you got a great insight into how this all came, you know, together in the family business so we can record here.
SPEAKER_02Six or seven years ago,
we are recording a live album in our church. And it was a great night, powerful. But whenever you do that sort of thing, you have to bring in equipment, you have to bring in recording engineers, you have to bring in uh a recording truck. And uh after that recording, Pastor went to dinner with the recording engineer that was brought in for the recording. His name is Danny Duncan, uh, multiple time winning Grammy Award uh recording engineer. He's he's the top of the top. And he looked at Danny and said, Hey, what do I gotta do to make this happen in my church? And that night, the the the dream was birthed to have this studio. So uh as we renovated our sanctuary, we did what we called the flip. Yeah, we turned our sanctuary completely around, we we redid it, we uh put in all new lights and sound, but we also invested in this space that we're in now. And the idea originally was to create a space where we could create more of our own content musically, yeah. But that birthed this opportunity to have this podcast in this room, and we went all out. We I I I met with Danny. Danny, what do we need to make this studio top quality? Pastor said he wanted some podcast mics. That was his first uh inkling of this. Yeah, he said, I I I want I want podcast mics. So that's five years ago before we the vision of it. So we got the top uh mics, we got the the board, we have the interface, we have uh the the friends over at Venuflex designing acoustically a room that just sounds so good. So when you're um listening to this, it's a studio designed so well, and now the content that's being produced matches the level of the studio. And honestly, it's probably starting to exceed the quality of our studio. Uh we wish it was bigger so we could do more in here. Yeah. Um, but that's how it all started. About six years ago, a dinner turns into what you're listening to every week now and the quality uh of it.
SPEAKER_03And you know what's so powerful about that? It's the same way that we actually birthed the podcast name and the thing because I was uh doing this podcast. I've been in the church here for almost third, almost, I want to say 15, 16 years now, but uh as a musician. But I also started a podcast on the side, and so we're at a staff retreat up in Georgia, another area that pastors had the vision to build, to help build, you know, build our families and build our ministry. And he looks at me at some point, I don't even remember how the conversation came up, but he started talking about podcasts. He's like, hey, uh you do podcasts, right? Like, I don't remember how it was a blur. Like your moment was a blur for me, too. It was like, from one second, I went from being just the musician and and and helper with the the worship in the band to just, just okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Alan is just a musician.
SPEAKER_03For the record, that is not true. I just feel this is my role. That was my role. I felt this is where my role is. That's my I like that better. Thank you. And I go from that to being a podcast producer like that. And then the name came up like an hour later. An hour later.
SPEAKER_02I'm taking credit for it. I think it was my idea to call it the family business. It had a much more uh mafia feeling feel to it at the beginning, the Italian thing.
SPEAKER_03But we should have had like a little, yeah, we should have totally had the good the same good photos thing with the back-to-back and the butt yeah, that was the that was how it happened. Like all these things with the family business kind of just came together because of what we believe is obviously divine vision and what we saw God doing in our lives individually, bringing us to this church, bringing us into the family business, and then bringing us into this podcast. And that's where it comes down to you as you're listening and watching. This is all designed. What we do behind the scenes is so that the things that we will never see, perhaps, are
gonna happen in your family. That's what their heart is. The Lessie's heart is that every family gets even greater insight, more encouragement, that these things that we're sharing that we get to hear first. We always get to hear it. Ashley gets to see it a bunch of times when she's editing. So we're getting this wisdom, whether or not you do. But we know that you're getting even more. And we don't know what impact this has unless you tell us. So, whenever you see a social media post about this, let us know what you thought about the episodes. Let Pastor Steve and Pastor Mary and Chris and Stefan, Lauren, and Gabby and Michelle and Chris Muina, we want them to know that you're being impacted by this. So the more you share, the more you like, the more you put messages, send them, DM. We read them all. We find out from you how this is impacting your family. So it's a privilege to work with these amazing people. You hear our names every single episode,
and so now you know the faces and the people behind the family business. So anything you want to share before we uh this is uh this is our maybe our last chance to be on camera. So this is your chance.
SPEAKER_02I just think it's powerful. The the intersections that we all came to brought us to here, and we're just hoping those same intersections happen for them. So uh we look forward to you enjoying this podcast and and it being, we would say a blessing, but we hope it it it encourages you and it makes your life better.
SPEAKER_01I would say that I I'm so privileged that I get to hear it first, like Alan said, and I just hope that everyone else my age sees the well of knowledge that they could just pull up on their Spotify and be years ahead of what they could have been, because we had a podcast where two people who have 25 years of wisdom in building a beautiful family just sat down and said, Hey, we're gonna give this to everyone else. So I feel privileged to have it and thankful that we get to share it with everyone else.
SPEAKER_03I gotta do one quick correction because we're saying 25 because our church the business is. The business is 25. Yeah, and I'm thinking now that they hear this like, no, we've been married over 35 years. No, we're saying for the church and the family business 25 years. Uh Pastor Mary and Pastor and Pastor Mary and Pastor Steve have been married for 30, I want to say 35. Is that 35 are coming up here? You put your name on that one. No, I'm not. Okay, I try my best. But this is 30 plus. That's that's that's the safest way to do it. Okay, you can see why we stay behind the camera, not in front of it. But this has really been amazing. Again, thank you for being a part of our podience as we call you guys. We love you. We thank you so much for being a part of the family business. As we're recording this, this is mid-season, but season four is coming up. And I hope that you will subscribe, follow, do all those things because and share, please. All we just share the podcast. If you just tell one other person in your family or in your friend circle about this podcast, I guarantee you they will thank you later on. So this is us signing off as the business behind the family business. Take care. We'll see you next episode.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I think Pastor does a better job closing it out.
SPEAKER_03Well, I I'm I'm I'm a producer, not a not a host.
SPEAKER_01I'll edit that part out. Okay.
SPEAKER_00You've just enjoyed another episode of the Family Business Podcast with the Lestes, and we can't thank you enough for being a part of our podience today. Now that you've learned more about us, here's how you can join in in the family business. First, make sure you're following our podcast right now and download this episode so you can hear it at any time. Second, think of someone you know that might need or enjoy this episode and share it with them. You'll be helping them and helping us to spread the word about the family business. Third, go to AlesiFamily Business.com and tap the Ask the Alessies button. This is really cool. You could use it to record a voicemail comment or question, and we can add your voice to our conversations. Finally, while you're on our page, tap the reviews tab and you'll see a link to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. We love reading your reviews and we might even share them on the show. Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time at the Family Business with the Alesssies because family is everybody's business.