Off the Court: Tara Mueller's Journey Beyond Volleyball

Ever wondered about the journey of a professional athlete? Get ready to be enthralled as we sit down with Tara Mueller, former Husker volleyball player, and listen to her captivating journey through the world of sports. Starting her volleyball journey at the tender age of 11, Tara takes us through the challenges she faced, the opportunities she missed, and the incredible support she received from her father, offering invaluable insights for parents and children navigating the sports world.

In our final we'll hear about her transition into real estate, leveraging her competitive nature and deep knowledge of Lincoln. As we wrap up our conversation, Tara shares her return to coaching volleyball and her plans for a Halloween-themed fun run with Fleet Feet. No matter where your interests lie, this episode promises a riveting ride through Tara Mueller's extraordinary life journey. You're definitely not going to want to miss this!

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to another episode of Stay Modern with Murray, brought to you by Murray Custom Pollers, where we build your dream home together. Now sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride with your host, matt Murray.

Speaker 2 0:15

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for joining us on this episode of Stay Modern with Murray. Today, our special guest is former Husker volleyball player, Tara Mueller. Tara, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 0:25

Yeah, thanks for having me, I know we had to reschedule this weird.

Speaker 2 0:28

Usually we do these on Fridays.

Speaker 3 0:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2 0:30

More relaxed. Yeah, but I know that you said you just got back from traveling. Yeah, so did I. We went to the. We had our GAF shingle manufacturer. They have annually. They take us to a chief's tailgate Cool, it's like a VIP tailgate game, everything. Yeah, it's a Sunday night game, but it's a whole weekend deal. So I'm also a little exhausted.

Speaker 3 0:49

Yeah, I feel you yeah.

Speaker 2 0:51

But no, tell us a little bit about it. So we were just talking. So I wrestled at the university from 0207 and then co-chair for a few years, and you were 07 to.

Speaker 3 0:59

I was 07 to 10.

Speaker 2 1:00

Yeah.

Speaker 3 1:00

It was my senior year. That's a little bit of overlap, but yeah.

Speaker 2 1:02

Yeah, a little bit, both Husker athletes.

Speaker 3 1:05

Yes.

Speaker 2 1:06

So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 3 1:07

Yeah, so I grew up in Scottsdale, arizona and I was just saying we were talking a little bit. I got into volleyball when I was 11. My neighbors who we moved into next door they had a super athletic family and their kids we were the same age and their twins were going to this volleyball tryout. I'm like what's volleyball? I don't know what this is. So they're like Tara's tall, she should try this. So my dad brings me on this tryout. I show up not even knowing what this court is or what I'm supposed to do, so I hated it. I was like this game sucks just because I was terrible at it.

Speaker 3 1:48

And my dad noticed all these girls they had us diving on the ground. They're tossing balls, these girls are diving. I didn't come in with knee pads, I didn't know you needed knee pads. So my dad literally leaves in the middle of the tryout, goes to, I think, a gas station or whatever convenient store or something goes by, comes back with these blue knee pads I think they were like for construction or something. I'm not sure, but that was my first pair. So I made it through the tryout and my friends, they ended up making the 12s because they do it like by age. So they made the 12 ones team and I made the 12 twos. So I'm like all right, well, this sucks, like I'm not playing with my friends. But my dad's like all right, just try it. If you don't like it after a little bit, like you don't have to do it. So I'm like okay. So I obviously stuck it out through that season. And then my friends, the next year they made the 13 ones team in the club and I made the 14 ones.

Speaker 2 2:45

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3 2:46

Yeah, so I guess I picked it up pretty quick, yeah, and I was like all right, I can get down with this game Like this is cool.

Speaker 2 2:52

That's awesome.

Speaker 3 2:53

That was like the start of all of that.

Speaker 2 2:55

So were you playing other sports.

Speaker 3 2:58

Yeah, I mean, and this was when I was younger, so I mean I did soccer and basketball and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 3:05

Were you athletic in those other sports?

Speaker 3 3:07

I was a little bit of a Bambi on ice, but I grew into it.

Speaker 2 3:14

Right.

Speaker 3 3:14

Yeah, I was in high school I still well, I think my freshman year nope, not high school. Middle school I did basketball and then when I got to high school, I did track, I did high jump and then recruiting just started to get so heavy with volleyball. It was like you're really good at this, like you should probably pick a sport. So that's when I switched over to just volleyball.

Speaker 2 3:37

So the reason I asked that is I'm dealing with that stuff, shit right now. He's only nine, you're gonna be 10. And I have heard horror stories, but I was always the advocate for multiple sports, multi-sport athletes and starting young and letting them enjoy it. But multiple questions for you. But do you think in this day and age somebody could start at 11 years old with never having played a sport and make it?

Speaker 3 4:04

I think I'm with you on doing multiple sports and just being an athlete, but it's so crazy with how young kids are getting recruited now and how that process starts so young Like. I feel like kids are almost feeling funneled into a sport and I get it with how big recruiting is. So I think that at least until high school, multiple sports play some sports. Yeah, do it all.

Speaker 2 4:34

So what I'm nervous about and I never thought about this until I got him into sports is positions. You know because I just wrestled. If you get out there and you beat your person, you're on the team.

Speaker 3 4:44

Yeah, good point.

Speaker 2 4:45

But you know he's only nine and he joined a team this year that he wasn't on the year before and they'd already had the same kids on the team for three to four years and so he struggled being able to play the position he wanted to play because they already had their chosen players for that position. So he got stuck playing some other positions. And then now football. Luckily we weren't gonna put him in tackle football but we did, and thank God we did because he wants to be quarterback and he luckily just they just kind of like take numbers out of a hat to play quarterback. But you play in the same organization up until middle school, I think, and I can tell that they pretty much take you from your first year until your last year playing the same position. So if you don't get in there at a young age, you already have kind of lost a position that you want to play.

Speaker 3 5:37

Yes. So I agree with you. I do think like once you get into a position, I feel like, especially in volleyball, you can kind of tell the way somebody moves and size and height, all this stuff kind of what they look like or what position they should play or could play. And then you get put into that position. But I mean for me I don't know if you know this, but so I was an outside hitter and I did USA like junior national team all that training stuff growing up. And I was this was my junior year in high school and I'd been playing outside and at the tryout the coach brought me over. He was like we were going to Thailand for the world championships and he actually asked me. He was like so we want you on the team. Do you want to be a part time outside hitter or full time libero?

Speaker 1 6:31

And I'm like full time bro.

Speaker 3 6:32

Let's go Like I mean, I'm good at hitting and it's fun, but defense and just picking up balls I love that. So I loved that opportunity, but that was the only time I really got to play that other position.

Speaker 2 6:45

Do you like it?

Speaker 3 6:46

Oh, I love it yeah.

Speaker 2 6:48

I've done that.

Speaker 3 6:51

I would say now I can't jump anymore. So, yes, just because of my knee, but I did enjoy hitting. So I think that I would have missed that piece of it, but I think playing that other position for that time was so much fun.

Speaker 2 7:08

Right.

Speaker 3 7:08

And that's the same thing like with I love beach volleyball and so I kind of get in that libero defensive mindset because there's so much court to cover, so I can get back in and just dig balls, read and they're still hitting.

Speaker 2 7:21

So are you still playing? We'll get into that.

Speaker 3 7:23

Yeah, we can get in that. Not really anymore, but when I lived in Colorado I still I played a bunch of doubles all the time. Yeah, I have.

Speaker 2 7:31

It's so unique. I never think I realized how much pressure there was going to be. Being a parent, I truly feel like. So. I have one son and I truly feel like I have a gifted son and he's got a lot of the same attributes even more athletic ability than I did. He's taller, he's going to be a big boy and trying to navigate, what you like. My dad was my coach in every sport, so if I wanted to play, it was like you know, I was going to start. I was really dedicated, I was really good athlete. But you know, from a young age I personally and myself chose wrestling. I gave it as my year round sport and then I just played the other sports because I wanted to, but I always had my one chosen sport. With him, every sports is favorite sport and we're at nine years old and he's already overlapping all three sports year round. Basically, I mean, it's already that serious.

Speaker 3 8:22

It's crazy, but he's nine Like I love that. He still loves all of them. They're all his favorites. I think that's awesome. Yeah, nine years old it is.

Speaker 2 8:31

But it's, you can already start to see the kids that are maybe starting to focus on one or two sports. Yeah, they're starting to maybe excel a little bit more.

Speaker 3 8:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:40

He's really good at all three sports, but if he continues playing all three sports at this level, he's either going to get burned out or he's not going to excel at the sport that he ends up choosing.

Speaker 3 8:49

Right.

Speaker 2 8:49

And it's already to the point where it's like you got to choose, but he's only doing three. He doesn't wrestle because he doesn't have time for it.

Speaker 3 8:57

Yeah so.

Speaker 2 8:57

I wrestled and he doesn't wrestle and I'm not going to force him to.

Speaker 3 9:00

Yeah.

Speaker 2 9:00

But it's super tough that the sports are starting to overlap more and more and more. Uh-huh. The last month he's been doing three sports.

Speaker 3 9:07

Yes, and even for me coaching club, um, when I've been back here, I coach for VCN and um the. This was a couple of years. I coached the 17s team, and these girls are they're 17 years old, Like you're. Some of them are committed to play volleyball in college, but they come from I don't know where you live, but a lot of them come from small towns and they kind of have to play all the other sports too, and then they're late to practice or they're missing things, and so, as a coach too, I'm like, yeah, you, I need you on the court, but like this girl is here every day all practice, you know, like that's, I don't know, it's interesting.

Speaker 2 9:48

Yep, you know it is tough. No last comment, then we'll get off. They promote multiple sport athletes. They put it in their literature and they do promote it, but, like you said, if you miss a damn practice you're punched for it. Yes, and that is his other main sport that's in season. So I thought we were promoting multiple sport athletes.

Speaker 3 10:08

I know, I know it's kind of catch 22. Exactly.

Volleyball Career and Overseas Experience

Speaker 2 10:12

Yeah, no, I know that you were an impressive volleyball player. We're actually talking about some of the post career sand volleyball events that we played in that, whenever you showed up, it was literally like Taylor Swift at a cheese game. I promise you it was like dude. You know, terramular is here Now tell us about your collegiate volleyball career, and even in high school, if you were. Sounds like you were that impressive in high school, so um, well, so I played for Desert Mountain.

Speaker 3 10:40

Well, that's uh was my high school, and so I was my junior year. We won state junior senior year back to back, and so I was Arizona player of the year my junior year. And then, um, so that summer was when we ended up going to. No, this was before Thailand. Thailand was my senior year, so my junior year was a championship. So the summer after my school season, and I ended up breaking my wrist and so I got sent home. So what am I going to do? They don't need you, you know. And so I missed part of my senior school season. Oh, well.

Speaker 3 11:14

And we still came back in one state and you know, come on, like I missed too many games, that I wasn't player.

Speaker 2 11:23

Oh man.

Speaker 3 11:24

I'm just like but it's all good, but literally they were like you didn't play in enough games to be this. That sucks and I'm like all right, whatever. But so I had an awesome high school career too. We won our first state championship for our school.

Speaker 1 11:38

That was really cool.

Speaker 3 11:38

Yes, yeah, and then college. So my freshman year, that was when um our seniors were Sarah Pavan, christina Hotelling, tracy Stahls and Maggie Griffin. Yep, like are you kidding me? I think two of those were national players of the year, all of them, all American. You know like it's just like you know same.

Speaker 3 12:00

So that year we ended up actually getting upset by Cal and like the regionals, and it was that kind of sucked. But so 2008 was supposed to be kind of a rebuilding year for us. And so we who was our? Trying to think, oh, it was the Nebraska girls. So our seniors were Jordan Larson, amanda Gates and then Rachel Schwartz, and so this was the year we ended up playing out Washington to go to the final four and we lost the first two sets, came back, won that in five and then that year, the final forwards in Omaha. So we had to come back. It was so cool. Matched up against Penn State and, like same situation, lost the first two sets, we're down. We ended up coming back battling in five, ended up losing in five, but that was like that was the best, best game.

Speaker 3 12:53

And so for my career, 2008 was my best season. Yeah, yep.

Speaker 2 12:59

And then what'd you guys do after that? I can't remember.

Speaker 3 13:02

I think I was like, oh, nine in 10.

Speaker 2 13:06

My mom follows you guys intently, but years blend together for me.

Speaker 3 13:09

I know 2010. It was kind of a repeat because we went to Washington again, but we ended up losing that one, I think in four. I don't know if we went to five in that one, but it was kind of like we were all replayed. Yeah, it was kind of crazy, yeah, but I mean still awesome. That's the same thing to go to the final four.

Speaker 2 13:30

So Arizona player of the year. What other accolades you got? You want to?

Speaker 3 13:33

I was an All-American that sophomore year and then did. I think the USA stuff is probably the coolest on top of any, like personal award just being able to play for the junior national team. That's awesome. And go to Thailand and compete in the world championships like that. I think, over the individuals. That's one of my favorite.

Speaker 2 13:54

What age were you when you did that?

Speaker 3 13:56

Turning 17. That's crazy. Yeah, because I have a summer birthday.

Speaker 2 14:00

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, that's super cool. So then you graduate.

Speaker 3 14:04

Yeah.

Speaker 2 14:05

And then what?

Speaker 3 14:06

So I actually, after I graduated, I was like I'm so done, I was so burned out. I'm like, okay, I need a break. So I actually worked at the venue for like eight months.

Speaker 2 14:20

Nice.

Speaker 3 14:22

And if I didn't watch volleyball, if I didn't play it, I was cool and I was happy and I was fine.

Speaker 3 14:28

And then Sydney Anderson actually called me and she's like hey T, there's this super fun tournament. It's called Adult Nationals, like it's in Salt Lake City. Do you want to play with me? And I'm like Sid, I haven't touched a ball in like seven months. No, and she convinced me to go. So Adult Nationals is like you have your junior nationals growing up as you play. So it's the same thing, but all adults. So it's a little bit wilder but it's really fun. So you get the players that have been playing overseas, that are back in town, you get kids that just graduated. Like it's a little bit of a party, but it's still really competitive Volleyball. So I was like all right, sid, I love you, fine, I'll go. So I got there like a few days early. I'm like I need to step on the court. I need some reps here, let's see. I remember like putting my shoes and knee pads back on for the first time. I'm like, wow, this feels weird. But it felt good.

Speaker 3 15:20

The second I started playing. I'm like man, I love this game. Like what am I I? Instantly I was like what am I doing? And this is I'm so passionate about this game. So it was actually at that tournament I met an agent who represented some of the players who were back from overseas. So I met him and was talking to him and it kind of went from there Like I paired up with him and that was the start of my five year career overseas.

Speaker 2 15:49

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3 15:50

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:51

So how did you guys do in that tournament? Had a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 15:54

Yes, yes, we had a lot of fun, yeah.

Speaker 2 15:58

So then you went. So he was your agent. He represented you, yes.

Speaker 3 16:02

Yeah, so he works with a company and so you sign a contract with them and then he basically this is. You know, I'm new to the whole overseas thing. So I'm like, all right, you tell me what, what, what. Yeah, how does this work, you know? And so he uses his contacts and he's like, all right, this team needs an outside hitter in this country. They need an outside. Here's what they can offer. Here's what you can compare and take.

Speaker 2 16:26

Right.

Speaker 3 16:26

So I ended up going to Switzerland my first year. Oh wow, and it was. It was actually really good because Switzerland is I love Switzerland. It's a beautiful country, people are amazing, but the volleyball is like kind of average. They have a couple of really good teams and then the rest are like pretty average Gotcha. So for me like getting back into it.

Speaker 2 16:49

I was like yeah, this is a good warm up.

Speaker 3 16:51

Yeah, exactly. So I ended up my first season over there. Believe it or not, I had never sprained an ankle playing volleyball my entire career, until my first year overseas. So, and it was our second game we were we were playing the number one team, zurich Valero, who's like they have the most money, so they get the best players. Basically is how it works. And we took them to five and it was like 10, eight or something in the fifth and I hit this wrist away shot and I just landed on the blocker on the other side and so that sucked and hurt because I'd never done it before. So I was out for a little bit and I just I loved my team so much and they took care of me so I ended up resigning with them for the next year.

Speaker 2 17:39

Gotcha.

Speaker 3 17:40

So went back for two years with that team.

Speaker 2 17:42

Gotcha yeah. So you did two years in Switzerland.

Speaker 3 17:45

Yep. And then after that I was like, okay, I kind of got my groove back. I want to play at a higher level now. So that's when my third season I ended up going to France.

Speaker 2 17:54

Gotcha.

Speaker 3 17:54

So they're a little bit, a little bit stronger. So that was my also my longest season. So Switzerland was eight months long, okay, and France was 10.

Speaker 2 18:03

A 10 month long season.

Speaker 3 18:04

Yes, like you're, you're there for 10 months.

Speaker 1 18:07

Holy cow.

Speaker 3 18:08

Yeah, so they get you out there. You do pre-seasons like two months, but you got to be out there or a month and a half or something. And it's a grind when you're over there because, like, in, every country is different. So, like Switzerland, we had two days every single day. I mean, that's all you're doing, that's you're getting paid to do this, right. So the first practice would be like a serve and pass, kind of defense, right. And then the second one would be like the whole teams in were scrimmaging and were playing, but this is every day. And then France, we had lifting. Well, you have lifting also, but France, we would have lifting. And then we had one long practice. It was 11 to four every day.

Speaker 2 18:50

Five hours long.

Speaker 3 18:51

And the weirdest thing yes, the weirdest thing. So like you have to adjust to these schedules and different routines and it was so hard, the first practice in France. We were getting after it for like two and a half hours, I want to say I think it was literally like 130, and our coach was like all right, lunch break. And I'm like lunch break, I'm warm. Like what do you mean? So everybody literally like gets in the stands, takes a 45 minute lunch and then it's like all right, back on the court. All right, we're doing six on six. I'm like I'm sorry, I'm ice cold. Now what, that's weird.

Speaker 3 19:31

And then after that we would have lifting. So it's like, yeah, holy cow, but you do that for a couple of months and you get used to the routine, but it's so different yeah.

Speaker 2 19:41

So in your two months off did you come back to the States? Yep.

Speaker 3 19:44

Yep. So when I was playing overseas, I'd actually come back to Lincoln and Maggie Griffin is one of my best friends and so I would stay with Maggie for like two months and we would just like vibe out. I'd still, I'd practice, like with her we'd play Sam volleyball. She had her club going on so I could still like get in the gym, but it was just like.

Speaker 2 20:02

What two months of the season did you have off?

Speaker 3 20:05

I would usually get done March, so it'd be like April, May, June it was, so I'd be back. Kind of summer-ish Kind of summer-ish.

Speaker 2 20:15

Yeah, exactly, that's good. Yeah, at least you didn't have to come back in the dead of winter or something like that.

Speaker 3 20:20

Oh no, I might not have come back here.

Speaker 2 20:22

That was not the case.

Speaker 1 20:23

Yeah.

Speaker 2 20:24

So I might have gone back to Arizona. So year three was France.

Speaker 3 20:27

So year three was France Yep, and then after that I did Puerto Rico for two years.

Speaker 2 20:32

Okay, and how is Puerto Rico compared to my favorite? I?

Speaker 3 20:35

love it. I just I love the culture, I love the people, I love the beach, but they're also the culture. Translate onto the court, like they're very intense, very fiery, and I love that. So they were so much fun to play with and it was competitive volleyball.

Speaker 2 20:54

Right.

Speaker 3 20:54

And I think the thing with Puerto Rico too is we're so close. So I'll back up just a little bit After my first season in Switzerland we ended in March and the Puerto Rican season ends later- Okay. So they had actually fired somebody just before playoffs and ended up picking me up, oh shit, so I went down there. I literally flew home from Switzerland, flipped my suitcase, flew down the next day.

Speaker 2 21:19

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 3 21:20

Had to play in a match that night with my new team and I'm, like you know, jet lag. I'm tired, I'm dehydrated and I just remember like they run a different tempo. I'm connecting with a new setter and I remember hearing like the owner in the stand and he's like Come on, you know when they're speaking English, they're talking to you, so I'm like, all right, I got this. But so that was my first taste of Puerto Rico.

Speaker 2 21:44

Holy cow.

Speaker 3 21:45

And then back to Switzerland, france, and then after that I was like I got to get back down to Puerto Rico. So it it's just, I love it down there and it's super competitive and my last season we ended up going to the finals. Oh, wow. So that's even more fun.

Speaker 2 22:00

Yeah, yeah. So then you get to the end of year five, and what made you stop?

Speaker 3 22:06

So I, when I was 15, I had surgery on my knee. I tore my meniscus. Not a big deal, but they couldn't repair it at the time, so they just cut out the torn piece. So easy recovery, easy to keep playing on when you're 15 through 23 years old you know like it was fine.

Speaker 3 22:27

But even my last two seasons I started getting bone contusions, like I would jump and land and like I could literally feel it's my medial meniscus, so that inside part I could literally feel my bones crashing to each other. And so my last season I got one really bad and I had to sit out for a little bit and because if you keep playing on that like you can, it can fracture all different directions, so took time off and then I was like this hurts too bad, like and I'm kind of small, believe it or not like for a volleyball player right now, so I have to rely on my jumping Like I'm. I was a really good jumper and I just couldn't get my explosiveness like pushing off of that anymore, so I was like never thought I'd be the player.

Speaker 3 23:17

I was always really healthy, really strong. Never thought I'd be the player to end a career because of an injury. That sucks, but yeah, so that's why I stopped.

Surviving Hurricanes in Puerto Rico

Speaker 2 23:26

And then. So then you came back to the States. How did you end up in Lincoln?

Speaker 3 23:29

Yeah, so actually from my last season in Puerto Rico, I ended up. I was dating a guy at the time down there and loved it so much we were living there, so he was American, but he was living there, working there, gotcha, and so it was September of 2017, and then that's when the hurricanes hit.

Speaker 2 23:52

I was going to ask you about that.

Speaker 3 23:54

That leads into us going to Colorado and then coming back here. Yeah.

Speaker 2 24:00

So you guys had to get out of there because of the hurricane.

Speaker 3 24:01

Yeah, so we were down there and Irma hit end of September and Irma was like hyped up to be don't get me wrong, it was a huge hurricane.

Speaker 2 24:12

Right.

Speaker 3 24:13

But it was just kind of going over the north part of the island and it was a lot of wind. There was still a ton of destruction, yep. But so we went down south to Ponce, so we were able to get away at least from that one, and then coming back up to San Juan. When we got back it was like, I mean, trees the size of this room uprooted, holy cow.

Speaker 3 24:37

I'd never even like I have pictures standing next to a tree and look the entire roots of it or as tall as me, not even joking. I don't know how that happens. It's crazy. Yeah, so, irma. A week later, maria hit and Maria brought the water, which is scary, right and so, and this was, I don't know. I don't know why these storms have to start at night too, like it's literally like 10 pm and Maria was going across the entire island. There was nowhere you could get away from it, so it was just like hunger down and hopefully having enough food and water, because you're not getting it.

Speaker 3 25:17

Like no power, no running water. Holy cow. And so you better have enough Right. And you live on an island, so, like I remember going to the store trying to find water to stock up and there's shelves are empty, so I ended up buying a bunch of those like Gallon Arizona ice teas.

Speaker 2 25:38

Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 25:39

Dumping them out, filling them with water before the water shut off. So that was like our supply that would be scary. Yeah, so that one. It was like our front door was a double door and so with every gust, like water would come in. So we're like, all right, this one's a little more serious than Irma. So we're like literally like started putting towels underneath the door. We're trying to like squeegee it. It couldn't like the water was just coming in Right.

Speaker 3 26:12

And so, after the storm ended, literally the next night, our place was. There was a kind of a connected like upstairs, but the people who owned it, it was an Airbnb.

Speaker 2 26:25

Gotcha.

Speaker 3 26:25

And so it had a punch code so we were able to get out of our flooded place and go up there at least for a couple days, to like we honestly we were like scavenging for supply, like maybe there's food in here, maybe there's a water gun here, you know, and like we have to. Kind of we got a game plan now and so, but it was like after the storm ended, the water in the street kept rising I don't know it was insane and so the water kept getting higher and we're like all right, we gotta make moves here.

Speaker 3 26:58

And yeah, and so we stayed up there for I think, three days and then we were like, all right, we need to get to. So there's an area on West San Juan is called Tendado and that's where all the nice hotels and stuff are, and we knew this one, the Vanderbilt cause. Keep in mind, there's no communication here, like no cell phones. There's no way to get in touch with anyone, like- All the stuff you don't think about.

Speaker 3 27:24

All the stuff you don't think about. Yeah, so it's literally what you can see in front of you and hear. Because those three days after we started to, you could hear the looting, you could hear the gunfire, like you. And so we're like, okay, people, we started to see them coming up and down our street. So we were like, okay, if we can get to the Vanderbilt, we know there's a FEMA shelter there at least. So we literally it was like going into game day, like it was like a movie.

Speaker 3 27:51

Oh, for real. And we, I remember packing my backpack and cause that's all I could carry at the time, cause the water was so high. And I remember like having the thought I'm like, if this is all I can take out with me, this is all I have right now, and I'll I can still feel the adrenaline, like when we were going out there, cause we're like, okay, we're going to go to the beach the beach was north of us we're not going inland, cause inland was where all the crazy stuff was happening. We didn't know it was on the beach, but we're like that sounds better than that, way, you know. So we get out on our street and I just I remember thinking I'm like, do not cut yourself, cause there's like, oh my God, the smell of the water too.

Speaker 3 28:42

It was literally like sewage just smell and all of the stuff there was there was metal, there were trees, there was shoes, bucket, like whatever you can think of just floating out there.

Speaker 3 28:56

And I just remember that I'm like do not cut yourself, cause we are not getting help right now and you're going to get an infection, you know. And so we got out on the street we're a dog at the time too, he had a husky, so literally he's carrying her like, oh, like literally, cause we're like she can't even walk right now. So we get to the sand and we're like all right, it's like two miles down. And I remember walking past this restaurant, when you have those on the beach that have the steps down to the sand, the steps were almost as high as me, cause the water had just washed off all the sand, like the bottom cement step was just like hovering in the air, holy cow.

Speaker 3 29:43

It was. It was insane. So we ended up making it there. It was still sketchy, like people are. People are looking at you like everybody's kind of unsure, like what's going on and we're like I don't know, like I don't trust anyone right now you know, so we made it to the hotel could see all the FEMA people.

Speaker 3 30:04

We actually went to the front desk and we were like we just hiked out here from Ocean Park and we were like can you guys, can you help us? You know it all. And they were like we can get you into a room if you want and they're running on generators at this time. Well, half of the hotel was.

Speaker 3 30:20

And this is the Vanderbilt's, a very nice hotel, and they even felt bad. Like the manager came out and talked to us and was like we're so sorry we're not operating to our expectations, and we're like are you serious? Like you have running water here, Like we're good, you know. So we ended up getting into a room best shower I've ever taken in my entire life.

Speaker 2 30:44

So how far was it? Do you know?

Speaker 3 30:46

It was about two and a half miles.

Speaker 2 30:48

And how deep water.

Speaker 3 30:50

It was waist deep.

Speaker 1 30:51

Oh, my God.

Speaker 3 30:52

For about not the entire way, but it was waist deep for about three blocks till we got to the beach. Yeah, yeah, so that's like a slow walk through that too, you know, carrying a dog.

Colorado Trip Due to Flight Cancellation

Speaker 3 31:05

Carrying a dog, yeah, like, oh my God. So they had some food. They did like they catered in food and best tacos I ever ate in my life, the shower I've ever had. So, from this, jay's birthday is the end of September, so I already had a trip planned from like a month ago to go to Colorado to do this stuff with him. And I have some family down there too. I have cousins that live there, and so I get I don't know how, but I got somehow got a text on my phone and it was like your flight's been canceled and I'm like, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 31:44

That's a match.

Speaker 3 31:45

Yeah, imagine exactly. But they were like if you can be at the airport tomorrow morning, we can get you on a humanitarian flight.

Speaker 1 31:53

Holy cow.

Speaker 3 31:54

And they gave you a number code. It wasn't like a normal letter number confirmation code, it was just numbers. There was like seven numbers and we're like we'll be there. I don't care how we've got to get there, but we will find a way to get to the airport. So, and it was I swear it's because I had already had that flight booked that we were able to have the option to get on this humanitarian. It was crazy. So we were like, well, we had to try and go back to get more of our stuff because we're leaving and we're not coming back.

Speaker 1 32:25

Right.

Speaker 3 32:27

So we ended up hiking back and there was actually a bunch of people like helping in bigger vehicles. There were people like in trucks and stuff like helping drive through. The water had gone down a little bit now because we were there for a few days, and so people were like driving people as close as we could get, but our street was still flooded. So we were able to go back and get some more stuff, pack some stuff up and get back, and then from the hotel we could actually drive, and so it was so nuts. I remember we got to the, we made it to the airport and everybody's there had been people like camping out there, like they're trying to get on planes, trying to get off the island. I don't know how long they had been there. You know, and everybody. I can understand a little bit of Spanish, but when you're in that kind of situation too and it's hectic, I'm like okay, I don't, I don't understand this point.

Speaker 3 33:20

And so I ended up. Well, we left the car. First of all, we left our car just outside the airport because we're like what are?

Speaker 1 33:29

we going to do? It was pure chaos.

Speaker 3 33:30

Right, yeah, and so we grabbed everything that we could, went in. I just showed somebody this number that they had given us and they were like, oh yeah, go. I got to go over that way, like to this counter. So I showed them it and I'm like I don't know what's going to happen, Like what is this? We get there and the person at the counter and this was Southwest shout out to Southwest, like they were the only people coming down at this time. That's crazy.

Speaker 3 33:57

And she literally asked us. She's like where to when do you guys want to go?

Speaker 3 34:01

And I'm like yeah, and I'm like what do you mean? She was handwriting boarding passes and I was like wait, we can go anywhere. So for a second I'm like should we go to like Fiji or something, I don't know? Like I'm not going to lie, that crossed my mind. I'm like we can go anywhere right now and but I'm like, all right, I had this plan, this trip planned in Denver already. Let's just, let's go to Denver. And I had family there too, gotcha. So that's how we ended up. And they asked us they were like how many bags do you have? And we had like we had like six bags and they're like okay, cool, we got. You put them on. Nothing was you know, all free.

Speaker 3 34:42

They just a humanitarian flight, and so I remember getting on the plane there were, I think I counted 19 wheelchairs boarding the plane because all of the older people who needed medical supplies that weren't able to get it they were the first ones you know off, but it was like crazy. So we ended up going to Denver staying with my cousins, and then I ended up living there for three years.

Speaker 2 35:11

Yeah, did you guys just stay.

Speaker 3 35:12

Yeah.

Speaker 2 35:12

From that trip. You just never left.

Speaker 3 35:14

Oh yeah, he's still living in Denver, yeah, so we'll still like reminisce about the hurricanes every now and then, but and you did.

Speaker 2 35:23

You coach there, I did. What did you do that for years? I did.

Speaker 3 35:26

Yeah, so when when I first moved down there, I knew front range, so I had a couple of connections with the front range volleyball club down there and so I started coaching there. And then I actually I was like when we got our own place I was like, okay, I need another job here other than this. So I actually started working for enterprise and out at DIA. Man, that's a, that's a grind, that's a job Like especially had an airport like that.

Speaker 3 35:54

So I did that for a while You're outside. Oh my God, in the wintertime there it was rough. Like I'm not going to lie, they run you into the ground. And so I was like, okay, I'm kind of over this. So I had a, a staffing company, actually reach. I think they reached out. I don't know how the connection happened. I think it was through volleyball. I actually had a connection with somebody who worked for this company and they recruited me over. So I switched and then I did staffing for a little bit for this company called Ronstad, so it was in the tech center.

Speaker 2 36:28

Okay.

Volleyball, Real Estate, and Life Updates

Speaker 3 36:29

So this was me and Jay have now broke up, I have my own place, but you know, we're still good, and so I did that for probably like a year and a half, and then still coaching on top of that. And Denver has a really big it's a huge community of people that play Sam volleyball year round and it's competitive. So they have two big spots where they have indoor courts as well, and so you can you can play year round, so they have outdoor indoor, so it's so much fun. And then in the summer times they'll do mountain tournaments. So, like every summer I'm playing in Breckenridge and Aspen Stevo, oh, and like it's just, it's so much fun, it's good volleyball, so I loved it. I still miss that all the time.

Speaker 2 37:16

So this is after your knee injury. You can still play Sam.

Speaker 3 37:19

I can do Sam.

Speaker 2 37:20

Yep, just cause not enough, not as much jumping.

Speaker 3 37:22

Yeah, it's the wool, it's the softness too, yeah, like the court, it's just all that pounding.

Speaker 2 37:28

Right.

Speaker 3 37:28

Yeah, so I can still do Sam.

Speaker 3 37:30

Yeah, yeah, so you stayed there, for I stayed there until, yeah, so I ended up moving back to Lincoln in 2020 and that's when I got into real estate. So I was like you know, pandemic hit, need a little change, you know. So I came back here and I ended up getting my license for real estate, which I, which I love. It's so much fun, it is really competitive and it is really tough, especially being new. But I was like I know Lincoln, you know, I have, I know people here, like I have enough connection still, like we can work this out. So it, I loved it and so it, I started out pretty good. And then, you know, you go through your ebbs and flows and it's, that's how it is at the market and everything.

Speaker 3 38:20

So from there I was like I kind of need, like you know, something else you know in the meantime.

Speaker 2 38:25

Yep.

Speaker 3 38:27

So I applied it Lulu lemon, and so I started working there part time on top of doing real estate as well, so I was only there, like two days a week or so.

Speaker 3 38:35

Real estate was still my main thing, and then I did this for about on top of coaching too, I did coach a little bit of club too. And then it was tricky with real estate though and coaching club, because so much happens in the evenings and your weekends and I'm like the traveling and with club I'm like I need to be here on my weekends, and so I kind of stopped coaching because of that. And then Lulu lemon about a year into it, they opened three new positions, so they kind of restructured the management basically, and so I applied for the community specialist position and it. I ended up getting that one, and so I'm now full time there and it and I love it.

Speaker 3 39:26

Yeah, thank you, it's. It's a lot of fun, and so I was doing some events, um so like, for example, we have one coming up or teamed up with fleet feet.

Speaker 2 39:34

Okay.

Speaker 3 39:37

Um, and they're a running shoe store, yep, and so we have a fun like Halloween run we're doing this Sunday actually, so they'll be there, cafe Botanico will be there and everybody like dresses up in costumes and then run like a mile and a half. And then we'll do like a private shop event. So I get to do stuff like that, Um first supporting the good life havesy, I'm running it. You'll, you'll see us.

Speaker 2 40:00

We have a tiered line.

Speaker 3 40:02

We're, we're close to the finish.

Speaker 2 40:03

That's awesome. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Slash, not looking forward to it. Yeah, I signed up a year ago and kind of remembered like a month ago. Yeah.

Speaker 3 40:13

So you won't catch me running, but at least distance, I'll see you there. Yeah, you'll, you'll see us, yes.

Speaker 2 40:20

That's funny.

Speaker 3 40:21

We're going to be Barbie themed.

Speaker 2 40:22

So silly question. So you're going to be Barbie Johnson, edie at all through that world? Through Lulu lemon or she opened up boutique store at some point and I thought she was selling Lulu lemon. I could be completely incorrect.

Speaker 3 40:36

You could be completely right though, cause there's um. We do have strategic partners, so I know, like some orange theory um body fit training, they do sell our stuff in the stores.

Speaker 2 40:46

Yeah, yeah, maybe we built her house.

Speaker 3 40:50

Oh, that's awesome yeah.

Speaker 2 40:52

Well, you have a super cool story, so now you're not. You're not a club coaching.

Speaker 3 40:58

So I'm actually I'm going to get back into like a just a fun team. So I'll be back with VCN, which is Maggie's club, and so I'm going to do her fall league. So it'll be twice a week in the evenings. No travel, it's cause I'm like it's fun to get back in the gym, you know. So I'll have like seventh, eighth graders, yeah. Yeah so it'll be good.

Speaker 2 41:20

The reasons that you just talk about are the reasons that I have not got back into wrestling yet is cause I call Turkey.

Speaker 3 41:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2 41:27

And I fear that if I get back into it and put the shoes on, I you know, I just have so much going on.

Speaker 3 41:32

That's fair.

Speaker 2 41:33

And injuries and wanting to get back into it and wrestle. I just don't know if it's a smart idea.

Speaker 3 41:38

I start coaching in December, so I'll have to be posted if I really get dragged back in so kind of a funny story.

Speaker 2 41:44

I don't know if you've you heard or not, but I got my real estate license two weeks ago.

Speaker 3 41:48

I did, actually it will, because aren't you with Remax?

Speaker 2 41:51

Yes.

Speaker 3 41:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2 41:53

Yeah.

Speaker 3 41:53

I saw your little shout out email, yeah, yeah, so congrats you know it's been a long time coming.

Speaker 2 41:58

I should have done it a long time ago, Because we just you know we just yeah, you brought it to us so much in custom home building so, but that's just why I got it Just to not to get into the full real estate world. Yeah, to do the Murray product and represent that product. But yeah, so how did you take the studying and the test and everything? Was it good hard? So many differences, yeah.

Speaker 3 42:20

The study was fine, I would say so getting a feel for the test was the biggest thing for me.

Speaker 2 42:28

Yeah.

Speaker 3 42:29

Like so I failed it my first time and I'm like okay, now I know what I'm getting into.

Speaker 2 42:34

Yeah.

Speaker 3 42:34

And then I passed the national my second time, and so then I just had to go back and pass the state.

Speaker 2 42:39

Yeah.

Speaker 3 42:40

But it is, it is tricky, yeah, yeah, just taking that test.

Speaker 2 42:44

That's what I said. There were some questions. I I took the VAN Ed study.

Speaker 3 42:48

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:48

Of course, and there were some questions on there that I just I had no clue about.

Speaker 3 42:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:53

Like the ones that I knew. I knew, yes, the ones that they asked, that I had never read any relevant information regarding that. It was. It's kind of disheartening because I'm like man, I studied the shit out of this material and took the test multiple times.

Speaker 3 43:06

Exactly.

Speaker 2 43:07

And I have no clue what you're talking about.

Speaker 3 43:08

Yes, so I remember that. I'm like I don't. I didn't see any of this.

Speaker 1 43:13

Yeah.

Speaker 3 43:14

Like in the studies. Yeah, exactly In the 66 or whatever hours of studies that you have to do.

Speaker 2 43:20

Yeah. So now that you're full time, lululemon, are you still practicing your real estate?

Speaker 3 43:25

So I kept my license, but I'm in a. I moved it into a referral state now. So I don't have the fees because I'm just, I'm not exact, I'm full time you know with Lululemon so. But I did want to hang on to it at least, and so I can still refer people to agents. So I had a couple of good agents I know.

Speaker 3 43:45

That's awesome, I got another one, and so I can do it that way, and then having it in the referral state, if I do move somewhere, I can still pick it back up.

Speaker 2 43:55

If.

Speaker 3 43:55

I want to get back into it.

Speaker 2 43:57

Yeah, well, that's awesome. Yeah, glad to hear that Cause. Yeah, I'm only two weeks in but it's been a hectic. You know the right when you get license, they send you so much stuff you don't even know how to make heads or tails of it. Yeah. And then you have the MLS and the CenturyLink and then the training you have to do for the MLS and the CenturyLink, and then your remax training and the summit, or whatever they call it, coming up.

Speaker 3 44:22

Yes.

Speaker 2 44:23

And it's just all the fees the national, the state, nar, the Lincoln real estate. It's overwhelming.

Speaker 3 44:31

It is overwhelming. Yeah Well, you're in a good brokerage.

Speaker 2 44:34

Good.

Speaker 3 44:35

A lot of good people there, awesome yeah.

Speaker 2 44:37

So how long have you had your real estate license?

Speaker 3 44:41

I was. I did it for about two years. I want to say Okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 44:45

Cause I remember when we were hosting the I think we was a parade house on on Traylee Road, yeah and you walked in and I was like I really I didn't know her, and then you were a realtor and I was like yeah, yeah, exactly. That's the first time I realized you were a realtor.

Speaker 3 45:01

Yeah, that was what a couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 45:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah, traylee, that would. Yeah, that would have been the one at the at the end of the road. So yeah, yep, two and a half years ago, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yep, but that's awesome. So so we'll talk about your referrals later.

Speaker 3 45:19

Yeah, I got you yeah.

Speaker 2 45:22

But any final thoughts, anything you'd like to say, any funny stories? Not about me, of course.

Speaker 3 45:27

Oh, I might. I might have to think about that one, so not off the top of my head, awesome, but this has been fun.

Speaker 2 45:34

Yeah, I really appreciate it. I know you've been traveling, I know you're busy.

Speaker 3 45:38

Yeah.

Speaker 2 45:38

But I appreciate it. We will see you at the Good Life, haftie. If you make it to the finish line, I'll come over and say I can help carry me across.

Speaker 3 45:45

Yes, I don't worry, I'll help you over that line.

Speaker 2 45:47

Awesome. Well, I thank you. I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 45:49

Thank you for your time, thank you.

Speaker 2 45:51

But thanks everybody for joining us on this episode of Stay Modern with Murray and Stay Tune for more exciting episodes. Thank you.

Speaker 1 45:59

If you have questions or topics you'd like us to discuss, you can email them to infoatmurraycustomhomescom. If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to Stay Modern with Murray on Avalon's Spotify, or check back on our website and social media regularly for the latest episodes.