Empowering Legacy: Bishop Donald Hilliard Jr.'s Journey | A Black History Month Special

Embarking on a transformative journey requires resilience, faith, and a touch of divine guidance, which we delve into with my inspiring guest, Bishop Donald Hilliard Jr. In this episode, we intertwine personal branding with spiritual enlightenment, as Bishop Hilliard shares his journey from early legal ambitions to a profound commitment to ministry and community service. His story is a rich tapestry of resilience, encompassing the challenges of modern ministry and the joy of service. As your host, Grant McGaugh, I also share a piece of my life, revealing how a close encounter with mortality reframed my purpose, urging listeners to embrace each day with renewed vigor and hope.

We then pivot to the significance of unity and hope in a world rife with political strife, drawing wisdom from the likes of Alex Haley and the civil rights era. The discussion spans the necessity of critical thinking in faith to the life-giving force of hope. As we gear up for the Longevity Conference, I underscore the vital role of self-care for those of us dedicated to supporting others. Join us as we celebrate the evolution of the church, revel in the joy of communal energy at physical gatherings, and cherish the inclusiveness of digital connections, ensuring this enlightening journey reaches every willing heart and open mind.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand.

Speaker 1: 0:04

I am your host, grant McGaw, ceo of 5-Star BDM, a 5-Star Personal Branding and Business Development Company.

Speaker 1: 0:14

I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development, using compelling personal stories, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are Developing. Your 5-Star Personal Brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions for me or my guests, please email me at grantmcgauth at 5-Star BDM. Be for brand, be for development and for masterscom.

Speaker 1: 1:18

Now let's begin with our next 5-Star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome to the Follow the Brand podcast. I am your host, grapgolf, ceo of 5-Star BDM, and we help you to build a 5-Star brand that people will follow. Today, we have an extraordinary episode where we delve deep into the life and legacy of a man whose faith, resilience and leadership have inspired countless souls across the nation. We will journey together through the remarkable story of Bishop Donald Hill Jr, a beacon of hope and a testament to the transformative power of answering a higher call. In the realm of leadership and spiritual enlightenment, few voices resonate as profoundly as with as much authenticity as that of Bishop Donald Hill Jr. Today we have privilege to embark on a journey to the life of a man whose dedication to family, faith and community has not only reshaped his own destiny but has also illuminated paths of countless others seeking guidance and purpose. Our exploration today is more than just a narrative. It is a reflection of the profound impact of spiritual dedication and the unwavering pursuit of purpose, from his early days contemplating a career in law to a profound spiritual awakening that would dramatically alter his path. Bishop Hill Jr's life is a vivid illustration of divine calling and the courage to follow him. As we uncover the later of Bishop Hill Jr's journey, you will hear of his Damascus Road moment, a pivotal experience that not only defined his vocation but also ignited a deep-seated passion for ministry and community leadership. His story is a powerful reminder of the resilience required to navigate the complexities of modern ministry and the proportional trials that test our faith and fortitude. But this episode is not just about the challenges. It's also about a celebration of the joys and triumph that come with the life dedicated to service, family and spiritual growth. Bishop Hill Jr stands site. It's a balancing leadership with self-care, ministry, family bonds and building a community. That is a part of our faith and our mission. Our invaluable lessons were us all, regardless of our faith or profession. So as we embark on this journey together, let's open our hearts and minds to the wisdom and experiences shared by Bishop Hill Jr of resilience and the unending grace that guides us through life's crossroads. Thank you for joining me as we delve into the inspiring life of Bishop Hill Jr on the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Welcome everybody to the Follow Brand Podcast. I'm your host, grant McGaw, and today we are going to take it on a different track. We're going to talk about what I say is the elephant in the room. What is that? What is life really all about? Is it just a mindless journey through one challenge after another, or is there a more of a spiritual component? Is there more of a reason for your challenges? Is there more to the story that appears to you and your understanding. We're going to talk to one of America's best. We're going to talk to Bishop Hill Jr. Here's to Donald Hill Jr. It's going to be on our show today. I'm so honored to talk to him, about his program, that he has coming up, about church that he has built and about him personally. So I'd like for him to first introduce himself.

Speaker 2: 5:45

Thank you so much, Donald Hill Jr. I'm honored to be with you today. God bless you 100%.

Speaker 1: 5:53

I grew up in Omaha, nebraska. I alluded to that a little bit earlier. I went to Zion Baptist Church. I was baptized by Reverend James Allen and touched me a lot. I was 12, 13 years old. That was my first foray into really understanding the word you have and I went through your bio and I saw that you were going on a track to become a lawyer, but you had a lot of church roots. But then you deviated, you pivoted. Let's talk about that first. Talk about your journey.

Speaker 2: 6:25

Well, I was, thank God. I grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and found faith there, raised up in a Christian home but I expected, joined the church at eight years old in Amy Church and then at 15, our family moved. When I was 13, we moved to the summer. There were no Amy churches. So I joined the Baptist church there and had a real, real experience with Christ and was baptized as Baptist do by total immersion, methodist sprinkled you, and so I was baptized at 15.

Speaker 2: 7:00

And but my plan and the family plan was to go to law school like my cousin, my first cousin and I was went to college in the prelaw program and began to run away from ministry for like three years. In my freshman year, at 18 years old, I just ran right into the calling and I accepted the calling, had a major Damascus road experience you know, saw a light and everything. It was very, very dramatic. Accepted the call, met with my pastor and I preached my trial sermon 48 years ago, january 9, 1976. And that began my journey, slash, career in ministry.

Speaker 2: 7:44

I changed my major from prelaw to religion and psychology and went to Geneva College there in New Falls, pennsylvania, for my first three semesters and transferred to Eastern college it's now Eastern University in St David's, pennsylvania and majored in religion and sociology with a minor in psychology, graduated there in 1979 and became a student at Princeton theological seminary that September. So it's been. It's been quite a journey and you know I enjoy the journey, I enjoy ministry, I enjoy pastoring. It's a, of course. I think ministry is the job that calls you. If you call it and just decide on it as a career, I don't think those people last long.

Speaker 1: 8:33

Let's talk about that, the longevity, because and I'm going to go into my own history, right is I look back and the church and the 70s and 80s for me and, as I look at it now the year 2023, the congregation is shifting, is changing the mindset that people are different from where they were back then. Help us understand what that looks like from your lens, because you've got to pivot and change as well through time. And how does that help you when you look at what you're going to talk about even further around longevity in the ministry?

Speaker 2: 9:15

Well, if you're going to have longevity, you have to. First of all, you must be able to pray and prayerfully make the necessary pivots. There's a scripture in the Psalms with David says I thought on my way and I turned my feet to. That testimonies. I think my journey, our journey, has been a series of pivots. You have to know how to pivot with the time.

Speaker 2: 9:41

The church that I came to in 1983 is completely different than the church that I pastor in 2023. We are in an increasingly secular society. It is increasingly godless, even though we may be spiritual, but it is not necessarily Christian spirituality or it is not necessarily God based, and so we have to be aware of what's going on. There's I think it was Tillich that said you need to have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Now, of course, nobody does newspapers, but you need a Bible in one hand and an iPad in the other. So you know what's going on.

Speaker 2: 10:24

There's also a scripture that says the sons of Isacar knew the times and what Israel ought to do. Today's pastor must be able to know the times and the seasons. When you're talking about the 90s, the 80s and the 1970s 80s, you know, pastors wore robes when they preached. Now you know, half the pastors are not in robes, they're in jeans and hoodies, and so it's a far more casual approach, and I'm not against it. But whatever works to get the message across, to lift people, I have three. Three things that I try to do through our church is to love, lift and liberate the people, in the name of Christ.

Speaker 1: 11:11

What you just said there, that the original word still stands true. Yes, today that has not changed. You know that our trappings may be a little different, the people may walk, talk a little different, but the essential message is still there. What advice would you give to preachers and pastors that are getting started in ministry today, in 2024?

Speaker 2: 11:38

First of all, make sure you're called, because if you do not have a real call, I mean what you can literally say. This happened, I know. That old Negro spiritualist said I know the Lord, I know the Lord, I know the Lord is laid his hands on me. You need to know that the Lord laid his hands on you or you will not last. You need to be. I believe that you know you need a calling, you need a commitment, you need consistency and you need honesty and integrity. You need to have a clash and lights and cameras and all that stuff. That's a side piece of it, but you need consistency and sincerity because you know if you're called by God, god is a just God, god is the righteous God, god is the holy God and we ought to do our best to live the life that we preach about.

Speaker 2: 12:40

However, letting the people know that we are not perfect beings and we will err I just posted in Twitter last night that the old black pretense beacons used to pray Lord, touch me, blah, blah, blah. Then he would say something like forgive me of my sins. Thank you for grace and mercy, and I'm quoting thank you for grace and mercy, because mercy suits my case. It suited the case of those old beacons in my childhood, it suits the case for you and it suits the case for me, mercy. And so I think that we need very large doses of mercy and grace, because in the pews of our congregation, in every pew, there's pain, in every pew there's a problem, in every pew there's pathology, and the gospel Jesus seeks to intervene in human affairs and, if we let him, we need to point the people to Jesus, not us. Point the people to Jesus and not us.

Speaker 1: 13:43

Wise words, wise words indeed. And as I think about that and I think about what you've been able, you've accomplished a lot. You started in the ministry a while ago and you grew like a congregation in these times You've got three churches, I believe. Now you've got a membership. I think it's around 1000s, 5000 or so. This is accomplishment. This is a great accomplishment. You are recognized by other pastors across the country. I think you're in the top 20 pastors in America. I think this is great. What is your sequence of what do you think you have been such a great servant of the word.

Speaker 2: 14:28

Well, thank you, but I didn't know. I was in touch with you, I didn't know, but thank you. I think again, the secret is longevity. I've been at this for a while. I can preach by eating a sandwich and do an electric slide at the same time, but I still need the anointing. So while I can just pull up something from the file and preach it, I always try to have a word for the Lord.

Speaker 2: 14:54

I think that people see me as sincere, they see me as having integrity and I think and they see me as a learned man. You know I didn't just wake up and put some oil on my head and go out and preach. You know I've been trained. I've been to school. I was a student of Dr Samuel DeWitt, the late Dr Samuel DeWitt Proctor. I was a mentee of his and his doctoral program. I've taught seminary, I've taught college. I'm an author of 14 books and all of these things are accomplishments. But if the people don't sense your sincerity, you know they're not going to follow.

Speaker 2: 15:37

And one of the things I want to say tonight, in our service tonight, is that this is teamwork. Jesus sent them out two by two, and so, yes, I've done, but with the help of God. A lot has occurred, but it's all a team effort. I've always had good parents. May they rest in peace. I've had a good family network my uncles, my aunts, my precious mother and my father, and now my wife and my children. You know the network. I've got good leaders that have undergirded me and those old leaders that when I came to the church it supported me. All of them are now in heaven, but we are not. Alex Haley says, if you see a turtle on the top of a fence, you know that it didn't get there by itself. Somebody helped it, and so I give God praise. We've had a very blessed career. You know I could retire today if I wanted to. It's been a very blessed journey, but I enjoy what I do. That's very important.

Speaker 1: 16:46

That's your own living testimony, living testimony of that word, and I like that. It would just gotta be here today. Most people, by the time they hear this, it will be a little later and it should be Black History Month, it will be. And then we just gotta have Martin Luther King Jr's his birth gains, his recognition, and I hear what you're saying. He was an educated man, he was a learned man, he understood his calling and that is how he preached his word.

Speaker 1: 17:19

In today's world, we're in a similar I wouldn't call it civil rights of the same type but we're in cultural challenges that seem to have re-vurbated, reborn in a different way, but it's the same kind of cultural challenge and how we understand and love each other or we wanna divide one another, and it's important for us to understand where all this is coming from in a divisive world and talk just about having this type of resilience that it takes to walk this walk, to do what it takes, because a lot of people don't.

Speaker 1: 18:01

I talk about this a lot. So if you were back in the time of Christ and Jesus, those particular possible. Their lives were not easy, they were not simple lives. A lot of people, I think, feel like all right, I have a separate word of God. I got God in my life, I'm gonna have an easy, I'm on easy street. They realized it's a challenge, it's a road. This is a way to navigate through these difficult times. Talk to us a little bit about where you see today's times as what they were like in civil rights, what right now, and how has that helped your ministry Well?

Speaker 2: 18:34

we are certainly the road that we are on. We are in a very dangerous time Politically. You know, we are in an election year and it's not really looking. It's looking interesting and this is an interesting road, the old song said. Nobody told me that the road would be easy, but I don't believe he bought me this far to leave me.

Speaker 2: 18:59

We need, indeed, resilience, we need push forward, we need a team, we need people that are going to push us forward, to help us to be resilient, as they all, those civil rights leaders 99% of them are in heaven. They work together, they prayed, they sought God. We need resources of refreshment to keep us keeping on. You know, people used to say keep on keeping on. We are in a very and that has helped me. And then, as a leader of predominantly black people, I want to try to keep the people refreshed, to keep hope in their view and to remind them that God is a God that opens doors and God closes some doors, and we need to be thankful for the open door and thankful for the closed door. The door sometimes is closed because God is protecting us. There is a door that is open because God is prospering and moving us and also protecting us. So he opens up the door to get us out of one season into another. I submit to you, brother, we're in a very unique season and we need to be aware and that's one of the challenges.

Speaker 2: 20:14

You cannot be a church person, a Christian, and leave your mind at the door. Mindless Christianity is not good. You need to bring your brain to church. You know if the pastor is talking and he or she is not making sense, you have a right to say that don't make no sense. I'm sorry, I know for mad, not grammatically correct here. That doesn't make any sense. The gospel may not make sense, naturally, but ultimately your spirit knows it's making sense and the Lord wants to transform our minds and to keep hope alive. You can live without water, you can live without food for a period of time, but you cannot live without hope for three seconds. You have got to have hope. But I'm going to take this next breath Hope that I'm going to go forward, hopefully I'm going to be blessed, hope that I can be lifted, hope that I don't live and die in this constant state of depression.

Speaker 2: 21:06

I think you're probably getting ready to ask that, but I had a massive. I had a cardiac arrest. August 17th, five months ago, thursday, I had a cardiac arrest. My heart flatlined. I had an interior depribulator put in. Last October, a year ago, 2021., 2022 had a depribulator put in. I had a heart attack, 2023, and the depribulator, you know, shocked me back, lifted me off the bed, shocked me back and so I don't know how much time I have left, but the time I have left, I want to live it for God. I want to die with my boots on. I want to go forward in the name of the Lord.

Speaker 1: 21:49

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Speaker 2: 22:28

You're stand up five star teacher today and I have a word here to and I want to be known as someone who refreshed people and gave people hope and help them believe in themselves and know that they matter and that, when I'm off the scene, that that man helped me, that he tried to encourage me, that he tried to inspire me, and I try to inspire even through my art, through my painting. My painting has an optimistic you know, most of my paintings have had some kind of yellow in them or to lift people from where they are and to encourage people to, to soar and to go higher and to to even though, with all this going on Russia and Ukraine, palestine and Israel, all this going on we need to remember that God is large and God is in charge and that's my calling to teach and preach and demonstrate that. In the name of the Lord.

Speaker 1: 23:30

And well, amen, amen for that. That is the word and that is a testimony of faith and I love that about you. In this discussion, I want to help our audience to understand the importance of healthy living, of keeping a sound mind, mind, body and spirit to be able to weather these storms. I know it's cold outside in a certain place. I know I'm in Miami, floor is not that cool, but you understand what I'm talking about. You've got to be resilient.

Speaker 1: 24:04

In these days and these times there are going to be so many people, so many factions, so many associations, so many you know different organizations that want you as a part of their organization. They want your vote, they want this, they want that. But what are you doing for yourself? What do you need from for you to be healthy in these times, because you'll be felt depleted. I love that word when you just say it refresh, and you've got to be able to refresh yourself. You talked about refreshing yourself through art. I think that's great. You have a great family. You can find refreshment through the word. Talk to our audience about how they can maintain themselves from mind, body and spirit, one of the most important colleagues, I think, is a calling to self care.

Speaker 2: 24:54

I am not a If there's, if there's, if there was. Among the top three things I've done wrong over this career is I've worked too hard, pushed too hard and didn't take breaks like I should have taken. I am a confessed workaholic. You know how when you go to Alcoholics Anonymous, you have to say your name hi, my name is John Doe and I am an alcoholic. So my name is Donald Ligert and I am fighting through workaholicism. I enjoy work, I like work, but even when I'm relaxed, I'm like wait, I could be writing a sermon, I could be, but you need to be able to take it all the way down, and that's what this heart attack has taught me.

Speaker 2: 25:37

If you look on my Facebook page, youtube page, twitter page and you go back to August, you see me coming out of the hospital with my wife. You see me in September rolling my granddaughter in the stroller and I have what's called the healing journey, and I talk about the importance of getting your heart checked, making sure your cholesterol is in order, making sure that your stomach is paying attention to the sides. Come up, all that red meat, white sugar, white bread, white rice all that stuff is not good for you, all those carbohydrates. I've lost 45 pounds since July and it's very important. I need to walk more for the strengthening of the heart and it's very important that you rest, because life can be difficult, life can be stressful and you've got to take care of you. You've got to drink enough water, you've got to eat the right food, you've got to exercise. You've got to pray, meditate, trust, read the Bible, listen to good music that calms the nerves, and be around people that are going to push you and encourage you and help you and not hinder you, because not everybody's concerned about you. You need the right team to be around you, and I find great refreshment in my grandchildren.

Speaker 2: 27:02

When you have children, you think that you can't love them anymore. You adore your children, I adore my daughters, but when I had those grandchildren it was a game changer. I'm like Lord. I didn't think I could have any more love that I have for my children. But those grandchildren just bring a whole another and they refresh me.

Speaker 2: 27:24

You've got to make sure your heart rate stays a certain way, make sure that you're not allowing stuff to eat at you, and that's something that I fight with. I fight with worry. I worry about the kids, I worry about people in the church, and that's not good. Worrying is also a sin. Don't talk about it. But if you trust God, how are you going to trust God and worry? But I'm working through that and I think.

Speaker 2: 27:49

One more thing I want to say too Today's pastors be honest, be transparent, let people know you ain't God. God is God and you're not perfect. There's a hymn that says come thou found, and there's a person at hymn that says prone to wander, lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Take and seal it, pour that courts above and we are prone to wander away from God and we need the Lord to reign us in, not only in the spiritual sense, but reign us in so we can take care of ourselves. You can't help anybody else if you're weak and you're not healthy and strong yourself 100%, 100%.

Speaker 1: 28:32

We are all mortal in the body. There is no doubt about it in you all. You're going under the same conditions as anyone else. It's just how you're going to fight that battle. You're going to talk about longevity. Pretty soon, here in the spring, you're going to have a gathering, and we want to make sure that people know about that and that they can get some of this refreshment that we are talking about, so we can continue, first, to shield ourselves and to grow and to prosper. Talk to us a little bit about this event. You got to go on.

Speaker 2: 29:06

I started this event in 2019 and it is a conference that speaks to my journey with longevity. I've been in this thing 48 years as a preacher, 40 years as a pastor, and this conference is going to be dealing with longevity and business. We're going to be bringing in people who are both pastors and business persons Longevity women in ministry, longevity men in ministry, longevity in business matters. It's going to be an amazing conference there in April. I'm sure that the date will probably be up on your screen somewhere. I want people to register now. It's been refreshing. It was supposed to be in October but because of the heart attack in August, I had to move it to April and I'm looking forward to people coming and being delegates, to not only be refreshed by the speakers, the amazing speakers. My own daughter is going to be speaking on mental health. She's a mental health therapist.

Speaker 2: 30:06

Pastor Ishmael Wilson and his wife, pastor Rochelle Wilson, own five dry cleaners and their pastors and parents to five children, and they're going to be talking about how do you make all of that work? We've got great pastors coming in talking to us about keeping our lamps trimmed and burning, staying on the cutting edge and being and you know, success brother is not necessarily a big church, because the new big now is small. The new big is small and I never intended to have a big church. I came to a church of 125 members and I wanted to be a faithful, committed pastor Wanted to Lord, to bless the church. I want to be faithful in what God called me to do. Because I was faithful and the Lord added to the church. Such a should be saved. But this conference is going to be great. I look forward to and I'd like people to register today. They go to Donaldhearorg register today. It's going to be an amazing gathering and let me know that you heard about it on your podcast. Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 31:15

They're on the follow the brand Now. Is this event going to be online? Is it in person? Is it both? Where's it?

Speaker 2: 31:23

going to be located. It's going to be located at this point at the Cathedral International Earth, amboy, new Jersey. It's going to be located there and it's live. But nowadays you've got to be both. You've got to be live and online. So we are not sure how that's going to happen, but my team is not worried about that. But we'll be live and online. I mean, people normally say, well, if you tell the people you're going to also be online, they'll just be online and won't be there. I don't think that's fine, but I think people will come. We need to be together to share each other's energy, but we are going to have an online presence as well.

Speaker 1: 32:05

Awesome, and your rights. There is a difference of being face-to-face with someone. There's a certain amount of presence and essence that's just not in the room. So if you have the ability to go physically to Perth, emboy, I would say, do so. But if it's not in your purview, your geography, what not? Still, let's share the wealth. Now you've got some other church. Tell us where these other two churches are located.

Speaker 2: 32:37

The Cathedral International is the main campuses in Perth Emboy. 25 years ago we started a chapter of our church in Asperg Park. 20 years ago we started the numbers maybe all a church in Plainfield. Then we have 18 years ago we started our Spanish church, which is right there on the campus in Perth Emboy. So we worship at 930, the main church and the other three locations worship at 1030. I used to travel to all of them. I would start at the Cathedral in Perth Emboy at 730 and 11, and then I'd get in the car and be driven to Asperg Park for the two o'clock service. Then I'd get in the car and be taken to Plainfield and I would preach that service. But then it just became unrealistic for me physically to be able to maintain that. So I have staff pastors who are on the spot and they're preaching and they're pastoring the people.

Speaker 1: 33:31

That is awesome that shows your tenacity and the drive that you have, but also the ability to teach others. It's all about you. We've got to get back and better prepare this next generation to inherit the mantle and be able to carry the words forward. That's important. Now I'm going to leave you one more question. It's not really a question, it's just a testament a little bit. Now. I'm from a very large family in Omark, nebraska. We've had about 2,000 different members. They're Bryant Fisher family. We celebrated our family reunion every year annually since 1917. So we're going into I believe it's our 107th year. I'm a big believer in family. I know you're a big believer in family. Leave us just a little bit about the importance of family as we go forward in 2024.

Speaker 2: 34:27

Your family is your first ministry, and I am grateful that I can say that, as we were raising these daughters, I made my calendar adjust to their calendar, so therefore, I didn't miss any games, any soccer matches, any tennis matches, any art, you know piano recitals, even proms All of those things, because your children are with you for 18 years and you need to pour as much as you can and do all you can to keep that family strong and together, and they are the light of my life. And it's not just you know the children, but also I've got 35 first cousins. My father was one of 13 children, and you know, and we have a family chat. So we're, you know, the family, the huge family. We're online together, and then, with my immediate family, we're online every day, two, three, four or five times a day, putting the grandbaby online, and you know we're talking to her. I think that family is everything to me. It really is. I've had a successful career, but family it was my family that was around my bedside when I had that cardiac arrest, when I my family when I had eight hours of cardiac surgery my family and you know. A lot of times, though and it's good to hear what you're saying about your family.

Speaker 2: 35:54

It's hard to have a good immediate family if you haven't seen it growing up. But then many of people who haven't seen it growing up, they determine that they want to have what they didn't have growing up and so they work hard. It takes energy, it takes resources. You know it takes. You got to pay for braces and ballet lessons. You got to pay for private school. You got to pay for piano. You got to pay for a little league. You got to do all of it. But the most important thing is sitting around that table every night, consistently breakfast around that table, taking those kids to school. I think that and I miss it quite frankly a lot of my friends. They love being an empty nester. I don't. I would love to have. I am happiest when my family is around me, even if we're not doing anything. I am happiest when the family unit is together.

Speaker 1: 36:52

I agree. I have to agree. I'm an empty nester now, like with my parents. I go visit them still and God is going to have them in Omaha, nebraska. Go to my kids' do live here locally in Miami, florida, and we get together and we have the tax. And you got to do that because it refreshes you and enlivenes you and you see what's going on. A two year old grandbaby and I tell you all she had to do was just look at me and see that. Just give her everything. You know that's just how that goes. So that's an effort. Before I leave, let the audience know how they can contact you via website. Drop it on us so we can continue to have this dialogue with you as you go forward in your journey.

Speaker 2: 37:34

I'll hear you, junior dot, or I'm also on Facebook, twitter, instagram and LinkedIn. I encourage them to connect and if you ask me to follow you, I'll follow you back.

Speaker 1: 37:47

And you heard it from the man himself, and I want to ask your audience to continue to follow me at five star medium. That's the number five star. That's be for Excuse me, brandy, the for the best of it, the for masterscom. This has been wonderful. This is how we kick off our 2024 season and I look forward to seeing all of you very soon. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Thanks for joining us on the follow up podcast. Thanks to all the fact productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel. We'll continue to build a five star brand that you can follow.