Episode 13: Our Love of Community

Join Kristelle and Jace in this electrifying episode of Stories, Success and Stuff, where community and success collide, and where you'll discover how to unlock your potential through the bonds you build with your community.

In this lively conversation, we're diving deep into the art of building relationships and the game-changing power of a supportive community.  Whether you're chasing career dreams or personal aspirations, discover why having your community in your corner is essential for long-term success.

We’ll be delving into stories from our personal lives on how community saved one of our lives and built the foundation for this business. 

But wait, there's science behind this magic! We’ll touch on how, scientifically, being part of a tight-knit community is absolutely essential for your growth.  We're talking tangible results here, folks!

Hold on tight, because we're shining a spotlight on real-world heroes, programs like the Jeremiah Program and Hope Village, that are turning lives around and showing us that communities can be the driving force behind jaw-dropping transformations. And don't forget the cherry on top – giving back. It's not just about feeling warm and fuzzy; it's the secret sauce for keeping that success engine revving in the long run.

So, if you're ready to tap into the incredible power of community, hit that play button!  Subscribe now and let us walk with you on a path that's not just about personal growth but making your community and the world a better place. 

Don't miss out – your journey to success is already underway!

A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza Moon & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza Moon
Producer: Jace Downey
Video/Editing: Justin Otsuka

Watch episodes at siarza.com/siarza-podcast
Follow us on FB, IG, TT, YT and TW @siarzatheagency
Follow Kristelle @kristellesiarza
www.misskristelle.com
Follow Jace @jacedowneyofficial
www.jacedowney.com

Transcript

Jace: 0:00

I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand more times as long as we continue, we can survive alone. We cannot thrive alone. We can't. And that's not any personal thing. Humans were designed and developed in community. Back in the day, we were surrounded by community all the time. If I start singing in the middle of this, I apologize in advance. Why? Why would I start singing?

Kristelle: 0:27

Because now that song's in my head, I apologize, you'll be talking and I'll just be over here grooving to a goofy movie.

Jace: 0:34

Stand out up the crowd, even if you gotta shout out loud.

Kristelle: 0:38

I got scared there for a second because I didn't know where that. It sounds like it's from the goofy movie. I was afraid that I lost my 90s card there for a hot minute.

Jace: 0:46

I'm not gonna lie. I was like maybe I'm the only one, but then when Justin was like, he was like no, I know what this?

Kristelle: 0:51

is yeah, I know what this is. We felt like okay, I'm grounded, I'm not nuts, yeah, I'm like really, because it came on and I was like okay, spotify, we all be like that.

Jace: 1:00

And Ed asked me yesterday. He was like, since you're the first one I'm seeing today, Ed is also our DJ, in addition to our finance manager. He was like you get to pick the music. What era of music do you want to hear today?

Kristelle: 1:12

Oh, that's how what you guys were talking about yesterday, okay.

Jace: 1:15

And I was like I don't know. And he was like okay, and I'm like well, what I was going to listen to was 90s Disney hits, like I'm like going to sing along kind of mood. But I don't think we want that blasting through the office.

Kristelle: 1:34

There's nothing P. There's nothing PG 13 about a Disney movie.

Jace: 1:38

No, I didn't know everybody would want to be one hearing it and then two hearing me sing along to it. I mean, it's so I left it in my headphones today and then I've been, I've been singing all morning. I don't think it's like.

Kristelle: 1:50

it's not like Lullaby music or little Einstein's, where it's like very piercing over time. Right, I'm allowing, I'm going to write that into the company policy that you can sing along music. Yeah, you can sing along music at any time. Um, stories and success and stuff. Today, uh, we, it's crystal. Today we've got a J Stowney as our co-host. A specific topic for today it's going to be community, um and it's impact on success Very excited about that and also maybe even Disney songs and maybe even, and maybe even um the rise and fall of live wire the artist.

Jace: 2:24

Oh, okay, we seem to talk about Disney or reference it enough, because one of the AI generators, in going through our episode, included Disney references in the description I had to take them out. I was like that's not really the priority of this episode robots. But thank you. So now we got, we have a theme going. Apparently it's a thing I don't know if you've heard about the AI hallucinations.

Kristelle: 2:46

Yes, yeah, that must be. They must have been the AI hallucination.

Jace: 2:49

Okay, so just terrifying.

Kristelle: 2:51

Disney actually has a community on itself, true story. Really good topic. So we choose this topic today because um very much a part of the success of CRS. But you have to think about well, okay, so do you consider yourself part of the Disney community? No, I would say that I'm in the peripheral. Okay, I support my friend that's a Disney adult. I'm very much, we all have them in our lives.

Jace: 3:14

Oh my gosh, do we have.

Kristelle: 3:16

Yeah, okay, so tell me about yours, I'll tell you about mine, who's your Disney, I'll tell you yours, who's your Disney adult.

Jace: 3:24

It was an ex of mine, oh, yep, oh, and I should have known, because I went over to his mom's house for dinner or something at one point and the whole kitchen they had, like the cabinets where there's space on the top, it was all lined with Disney um nostalgia items, wow, and there was like all this stuff. There was like a whole board that had pins Disney pins, which is apparently a thing to collect.

Kristelle: 3:48

Yeah, it was like hot air balloons yeah.

Jace: 3:50

Yes, and there were signs all around and I was like, huh, that's an interesting way to decorate your house as an adult person. Yeah, all right. And then later in dating he left for three weeks to do their annual Disney trip. I can understand. A weekend for three weeks, that's a lot. Yeah, they stay on site. They're part of the secret club and you get all these benefits and, if you like, keep raising up higher and higher in the club. They're like secret places within Disney. It's kind of like Scientology in a way, like the longer you're in it, the more you pay, like the more special benefits you get. Oh man, yeah, and he was yeah, it was like a whole.

Kristelle: 4:33

So wait, wait, wait, wait, did he go to Disney World?

Jace: 4:35

or Disneyland. That one was Disney World, I think. I think they were in Orlando.

Kristelle: 4:40

Okay, yeah, but they do both.

Jace: 4:42

Yeah, but yeah, I thought that's too much Well to each their own. I try to live non-judgmentally, but I'm like you're going to take all of your vacation for the whole year to go to.

Kristelle: 4:52

Disney. So I, so my Disney adult is one of my bridesmaids, fiya, amazing woman, and I'm I'm actually very supportive of the Disney adult and I actually started to follow some of the Instagrammers that are Disney adults, like I found out that they had a jalapeno stuffed corn dog before because of the Disney adult culture. It's a culture, 100% culture. And what was really cool about Fiya like she, I see it as her happy place and I get it because when we went after the pandemic because it was super cheap to go you know, very careful, you had to be very careful, of course, but it's super cheap to go and all the hacks and and finding it and enjoying everything with her it was. It was probably one of the best Disneyland experiences I've ever had. But the one thing I thought was really cool she knew the ultimate Easter egg, that it's the ultimate VIP experience. That was like the last thing on her list, cause every, every Disney adult has like if I don't know why we're talking about super community, but I promise I I am like.

Jace: 5:51

I gotta know.

Kristelle: 5:54

So at the end of this massive list, she wanted to go to a place called 21 Royals Yep, have you heard of it? Okay, 21 Royals is like the upper echelon of VIP status, Right and so and I giggle because it sounds ridiculous but when, like, I actually went through this Instagram rabbit hole, looking at 21 Royals, the engineer who runs the place is like one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet, that you feel like you want him as your next door neighbor. And then at 21 Royals they have the 12, the 12 person like 10 course meal, and she went with 12 people. Those are her friends for life now. Yeah, Right. They'll never forget this experience and they're in Walt Disney's, like the experiences and the memories that she enjoyed at 21 Royals. I was just living so vicariously through her.

Jace: 6:39

It was crazy. I can always get behind a big meal, but what it takes to get there is a lot.

Kristelle: 6:48

Oh yeah, she had her curls, like she curled her hair just to make sure she looked perfect. And she looked perfect, perfect for 21 Royals.

Jace: 6:54

Well, I mean even to get access to that, you I mean you have to like dedicate life to being part of that, like the amount of times you have to go, the things you have to collect, the stuff you have to do, the money that goes into it. Yeah, there is something to be said about investing in something you're passionate about, and I think that is indeed where community comes in mind.

Kristelle: 7:15

Yeah, there was a whole point to all this. You don't bring it back around.

Jace: 7:17

You don't bring it back around Not just to admit like hi, I'm Jason, I'm a Disney adult enabler, Like that's.

Kristelle: 7:22

You might. Yeah, it could be the enabler. No, there's very much a thought about it. So what is the definition of community?

Jace: 7:30

Right. What is the definition? Hit me with it.

Kristelle: 7:33

So let's take a look at the Disney adult culture, right, Okay? And the community itself. It's the shared experiences, the shared memories, bringing something back to your values, which is joy. Joy and happiness is very much a Disney virtue, if you will.

Jace: 7:47

I can do that.

Kristelle: 7:49

And also, what is the common bond? I always go back to what is the common bond, yes, and for them it's the mouse. The mouse is the common bond behind all of them. They might not necessarily be hugging all the characters or know all the dance moves to the entire parade, if you will, but it's a really fascinating culture if you think about it. And the culture cultures are defined by, in my opinion, three things. Cultures are defined by language, by traditions, whether that be music, food, in art, and then it's also defined by culture, like the tone, the feelings, et cetera, and that's why I think Disney adults have their own culture which is why they have such a great community to begin with.

Jace: 8:32

And I think there's shared agreements, which I'm gonna add into the definition of community Shared agreements. So, in that space, everyone has agreed to hold space and time for make-believe, which might sound silly or sad or whatever, but it's not. It's beautiful. Yeah, because that's what Disney is. It's make-believe, it's the fairy tale, it's the happily ever after, though they're switching that, which I appreciate.

Kristelle: 8:56

Yeah, and then you got Marvel. Because you know they needed a badass woman flying through the universe, they missed Marvel. Boom, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Don't sound great her title, oh sorry, jeez.

Jace: 9:06

She earned the title. Sorry so, but they've all agreed we're gonna set this time aside to come and wear the princess dress, or whatever it is Disagreting. Yeah, it's a thing I will say, I will admit. Years ago, at a holiday event, the community my sister's part of did this huge event for the family and they had a whole princess makeover room with Disney princesses that they had hired oh my God, yes, and you could go in and do all of these things, and one of them was Belle, who is my favorite. Disney princess in fact, every now and a month, give me a woman who loves to read and does not need your ass around, like, yes, please, thank you, disney princess, like that's my fave. And so she was there. And so my mom and I are standing in line to get a picture with Belle and we get up to the front of the line and she welcomes us and she's looking around for our child that is clearly there to take a picture with her. And I said no, no, it's just us. And she was like, oh, okay. And I was like, no, no, I know you're not really Belle, but I still want a picture with you. And so my mom and I have a picture with a like semi uncomfortable looking Belle impersonator. That's so funny. I'm like why do I have to grow up? Why do I?

Kristelle: 10:22

Why I have to grow up. That's a common question asked in community right.

Jace: 10:27

Why do we have to grow up? And they've decided we don't, not for this, not when we're in this space, not when we're sharing. This time we don't have to. You can prioritize fun and joy and silliness. So yeah, the shared agreements, common language, common language, shared tradition, shared values right, okay, so let's think about moving aside Disney. Let's put that in its mouse ears right here we better, because if we talk about it much longer, we might have a lawsuit of some kind. They are very litigious.

Kristelle: 10:56

No, they're gonna be proud about the fact that we're talking about them. I would hope so, so I always like to refer back to the Albuquerque business community. I know that sounds very oh yeah, that's like a business podcast. Like type of speech.

Jace: 11:10

No, no, no, they've been important?

Kristelle: 11:11

Oh, 100%. So it's the story of CRS. So, 2014, in November, I woke up on my ex-boyfriend's couch and I said I just fucking quit my job and a stable pay. This is the day. This is the first day of my new life and what I didn't anticipate. Out of sale, like I remember the grind right, I knew I had to grind it out. I knew I had to sell my ass off. I knew I had to make sure I had to sell my ass off. Like it was hard. You can get all you want, man, but that was really hard at the beginning and then executing the quality of work was really hard at the beginning and so I remember sitting also.

Jace: 11:51

Sorry, you just slide right off.

Kristelle: 11:52

Yeah, yeah, it's just slide right off. We're just, like you know, laying back on my ex-boyfriend's couch, which was not comfortable, by the way.

Jace: 11:58

Was he your ex-boyfriend at the time? I know that's not super relevant to the story, but I just kind of need to know. No, he was not my ex-boyfriend Current boyfriend, now ex Yep, but you were sleeping on his couch.

Kristelle: 12:06

Yeah, I was sleeping on his couch, got it and I remember what I didn't anticipate from that moment was the amount of community that came afterwards. So we started the company at CRSA at a fat pipe BBQ the coworking space and what I liked about it was that at the time the mayor was Richard Berry RJ Berry and the economic development director was an entrepreneur himself, gary Opendahl. Very much respect those two gentlemen, and so they created this sense of community with not only the Albuquerque ecosystem, but then Stu Rose and Lisa Atkins created this great co-working community called Fat Pipe, and I had visited there once or twice. I was only like two or three months old and I was like I want to be in there, I want my visits to be in there, I want my desk in there, I want to go there at 10 o'clock at night, like this is exactly the community I want to be in. What I didn't realize was that over time, the community ended up being the reason why we're successful today. One of the reasons, one of the major reasons why we're successful today, is because the community built us. We went from one month with three clients, another month with 10 clients, the following month up to 12 to 15. Like, it was just referral after referral after referral and it was incredible and I remember, even specifically so. Last night I was going through my parents' photos and, especially as I'm preparing for the wedding for family photos and then all of a sudden I came across this frame that broke and it was like sitting off and it was faded. It was the Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook front page piece of myself, robert Brown, caleb he also goes by Caleb REV Hill and Donnell Lucero from our team. The four of us were on the cover as Albuquerque's young, new ecosystem, business ecosystem. It was so cute and I don't have the original copy. I mean the original copy had faded. But what was really cool about that was like that was when we first started, that was our community and the community reflected it in that business outlook. And so that's why I was like, okay, we have to talk about community, because, business owners, sometimes we forget about how much the community built us. I think that's huge to take into consideration whenever you think about what made you get to where you are. It's not just your team members, it's not just you, it's the community that built you.

Jace: 14:31

Yes, I love that. And you bring up a really good point where you intentionally sought out the community that you wanted to be a part of. That would align you with your idea of success. You got to know them a little bit, you were checking them out. You were like I wanna be in here with you people and what y'all are doing, you people, you people, you entrepreneur we talked about. Like we're a species, we are at you people.

Kristelle: 14:55

We're a bunch of weirdos, you got entrepreneurs in your life.

Jace: 14:57

Start a support group. Like that's your in for a tough ride, so you didn't just take the people around you. Oftentimes this is a pitfall that a lot of us can get caught in. When we're striving, when we're trying, when we're looking to grow, is we just whoever's around us. We accept and we try to make the best of it. Sometimes we luck out. We have super killer people around us and that's amazing, but it's unlikely that those around us are gonna perfectly align with our goals and our idea of success.

Kristelle: 15:24

Wait, remember. It's also good to put people that don't align with you. I was just gonna say that.

Jace: 15:27

Those are important people for your team, but we're talking about outside of the team, kind of the team that supports the team, if you will, the peripheral folks, and making sure that those folks are around you. Align with what you're wanting? And that might mean going out and finding them. It likely will, and that could be for anything where you're wanting to be successful in business. So you go find people who already are or who are working similar goals, talk to you. Whatever. You have the same values. You have shared traditions. You're making your agreements right. Oh, we're all gonna come to this coworking space and we're gonna rock it and we're gonna do our best to achieve our dreams. Beautiful shared agreement.

Kristelle: 16:08

Yeah, and I even think about you start to build communities around people that, while they share the common bond, the community might not even exist either. Right, you might have to create the community.

Jace: 16:20

Yeah, we talked about the.

Kristelle: 16:21

Asian business collaborative and the Asian business community. They've always seemed so. They never fought against each other, because I remember specifically you were talking about one particular community that was just like they're always against each other. This community, I would say, doesn't know that they're connected or that they share a common bond, but it's also fragmented at the same time. Positively fragmented, because of the 40 different countries that make the Asian community right. So how do you build? It's like a mosaic right. It's just like a beautiful mosaic and that's what community building is. So I also to be back to your point, too, about CR so one of the things that I think was part of the reason why we invested into having a team member, particularly Alexis I know you have a really phenomenal role as marketing coordinator. Really, to talk about community building from a business development type of lens, I specifically wanted Alexis to be in this role of a community developer because I felt like it was really necessary for us to have somebody that can be the point person for the community, take donations, give donations, have the time to volunteer on our behalf, be an excellent representative of us also fits that calm, collected, cool vibe, even though I'm not have that calm Balance.

Jace: 17:42

it's that harmony.

Kristelle: 17:44

I can't tell you how much time, how much I really appreciate that balance. But Alexis is phenomenal at really like outreaching to the community. But I don't think community, I don't think companies think about what that community developer looks like, most importantly small businesses. Yes, people don't realize how much important it is to have the contribution back to the community, because you have to support the community that built you. Yes, which is what we try to do.

Jace: 18:07

You talk a lot about climbing back down the ladder and helping bring people up and holding onto that humble recognition that you didn't get there on your own. Whether we talk about up or down the path, however, we want to look at it, and I find that most small business owners, most people that are working towards their dream, they're not jerks, they're not selfish. It's just really hard and all consuming, and so they keep growing and aligning with new levels of success, and then that becomes the all consuming thing and there can be forgetfulness. To actually pause and incorporate the people that helped you get there each step of the way, and that's something that you do really well. You never forget. You do hold a sense of humility where you're not like look at what I've done and I know we're gonna be talking about ego in one of our upcoming episodes, so we'll dive more into that With this notion like, yeah, look at what we've done and let's make sure we help everyone who brought us here.

Kristelle: 19:07

But we bring in, you bring up a really fascinating pivot point in the conversation though that sometimes not sometimes you, particularly Jayce Downey have brought, who me.

Jace: 19:20

I was like is this the Royal U? I know actually me All. Right, hit me with this.

Kristelle: 19:22

You've brought people together from an area where they least expected to find community right. You know you're the addiction recovery. You have to talk about how like that's a people. Forget too that in places where you feel like you're alone or places where you feel like you need to talk to somebody, that's community building at its core root right and it's some of the most important when you're going through difficult things or you're in an area where I can't tell you.

Jace: 19:54

Like and I know it like, my area that I come from and work in and speak on, is sex addiction. I know that makes people really uncomfortable, especially in our country, but it's a thing and it's highly stigmatized. Highly stigmatized not just the addiction component of it, but the recovery part of it too. And so people end up feeling incredibly alone and you cannot succeed in anything, including well-being, alone. And so I get so many emails of people being like oh my gosh, I heard you speak, I saw a video and I think I'm dealing with the same thing, and it's like it's you and me out here in the world and we're the only two that are experiencing this, and like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's a ton of people, but the hardest thing in that space is indeed community, because there's shame, because there's fear, because there's the stigma that's included in it, and so there's like this notion and I held it too no one will ever accept me. If people really know who I am, they'll hate me, they'll reject me, and so there's this built-in barrier in these spaces where shame's involved and that doesn't have to be additional. It can come from a lot of things that you don't believe there is community.

Kristelle: 21:00

Sometimes I think, though, it's specifically in that space. Sometimes I think that community is more supportive than your own family.

Jace: 21:08

Oh, 100% in areas that are hard to understand, and addiction is one of them, because from the outside you look insane, because you are insane, like the actual operating procedure that's going on internally kind of makes you insane. And I remember when I first recognized, also in 2014.

Kristelle: 21:25

Oh yeah, those were the pivotal years, yeah interestingly enough, in 2014,.

Jace: 21:29

I realized like, oh, there's this issue going on. You were like 27, 28, right?

Kristelle: 21:37

I was 27? Yeah, it's like the pinnacle year Saturn return baby.

Jace: 21:40

Yeah, yeah there you go.

Kristelle: 21:41

There's something to it. I was gonna say like I don't know, like Sailor Saturn or something like that, like Sailor Moon, there's something to it.

Jace: 21:48

Those like 20s, you're like kind of moving into who you are, you're figuring out your kind of big issues. Yeah. So and I found like, oh, there is a community for this and so I was gonna go check it out. And I'm not kidding, I honestly, and I know this is super ridiculous, but I thought I was gonna walk into like a dank basement with a bunch of weirdos in like trench coats who hadn't washed their hair in like three weeks. I don't know what I was thinking, but I just had this mental picture of like oh, people that do a sex addiction are like super gross and whatever.

Kristelle: 22:20

I know it's. Yeah, I was like what am I?

Jace: 22:21

like somehow there's like a dripping happening at all times. I don't know why, but that's part of it. It's damp, there's gonna be dampness for some reason. Anyway, I walk into the room and I literally just stopped and I looked around and I thought, oh, I'm in the wrong place, because it was just everyday people your neighbor, your doctor, your grandma. Oh wow, it just was everyday people and I literally was like gonna, like awkwardly, walk backwards and they were like no, no, you're in the right place. Cause they knew they're like, yeah, we see your face there and we see what's going on. They're like you're in the right place. And so I weirdly sat down and it was so uncomfortable I didn't you know. I was like just at my absolute last resort. That was like we're gonna suicide. And I listened to these people and I realized they're going through the same Something that I thought was completely my own, a suffering, only I don't was shared, and I didn't. I still thought but I'm worse, y'all don't actually know Like, and everybody thinks this. It's embarrassing how cliche this is. We all think, well, no, but I'm the worst one. And what I found there was acceptance, no matter what. I got to be a total mess, I got to be flawed. I got to try again. I got to follow my face when I least thought I deserved love and acceptance. They gave it to me anyway. That's what community is. It saved my life? Yeah, 100%. And in fact, we just gonna cry in every episode.

Kristelle: 23:51

Now it's gonna be our new thing.

Jace: 23:52

I got a text message a couple of days ago from a man who our sobriety dates are one day apart. Oh, that's sweet. And so we always shared a bond while we were in this community because we would celebrate right at the same time. So for years we shared this bond and we just physically this, knowing that we were like brother and sister in this. And I got to know his wife and like they're just wonderful people and we were both very involved in this community. And then I left the community. It wasn't aligned with me anymore. I left Austin. Once I stepped out of the community, I lost touch with a lot of people and I got a text a couple of days ago from him and his wife and I said, hey, we were talking about you over dinner. We've been thinking a lot about you and we figured, you know it's been three years since we've talked to Jayce. Oh, wow, how are you doing? Yeah, how's life? We hold you in our hearts always. You're so important to us, like it was so, so sweet, it just so like, even though I left the community and what, like they're still love there for me.

Kristelle: 25:00

Yeah, but that's a perfect example, though you didn't leave the community, I physically left, you physically left yeah, but mentally you're still very much a part of it and you always will be a part of it, like what my? Spirit is there.

Jace: 25:15

Oh 100%.

Kristelle: 25:16

Right, and when we talk about eventually we're going to talk about identity, right? I think communities shape your ways of friending people. People keep in close to you, people that you keep at a distance, people that if you see them again after five years it's nice to catch up with them, right? You get that text message, I think, very sweet, very genuine conversations or text messages or whatever it is like, that exemplify what a beautiful community is. Along the same lines, there was a I think you've returned that there was a person that I had started to meet. Some of you know that I'm I like to crew for hot air balloons and very much understanding a little bit more about the community in various different ways, because of from crewing, from sitting on the board the Quad A, one of the hot air ballooning associations. One guy said to me hot air ballooning saved my life. And I said what you mean.

Jace: 26:22

It risks your life.

Kristelle: 26:23

Yeah, yeah, I mean, you put yourself in the basket.

Jace: 26:26

You go like 9,000 feet, like how did they do this?

Kristelle: 26:28

And they're just like ooh the wind, it was. It was his escape and I won't share too much of a story out of sake of his privacy. but that's an example of stories like that that you never know what brings you joy, what brings you happiness, what brings you peace, and it can be your community, it can be your tribe or your group of people and you become friends, you become family, like at the wedding my wedding. There are probably going to be five different communities in that room at that museum because of the various different communities I stay in, like the hot air ballooning community, the business community, the CR as a family, then my family and my family friends, and then Spencer's family, spencer's family and then the kickball community. That kickball community is definitely a should show in more ways than one, in a great way.

Jace: 27:19

I was gonna say in wonderful ways, in wonderful ways.

Kristelle: 27:20

Yeah, like communities just really define a person, define a person. They do.

Jace: 27:26

They help define and they help us find our own definition. I think good communities allow. They allow us to be where we're at. They allow us to be who we are. They allow us to figure it out, allow us to stumble and pick ourselves back up, allow us to try on different versions of who we are, Because if we're doing it right, we're continuously growing. I don't know, there'll be a time where I'm like and the end, this is who I am and the end and you're welcome. And this is it. Yeah right, like I guess death, I don't know, and then who knows after that, but they allow that space. So I think that safety component, where you get to be who you are, whatever that means, that is the greatest gift anyone can give us, so that we can ever give anyone. To just allow them to be who they are. Hell even celebrate it if you got it in ya.

Kristelle: 28:17

Yeah, so one of the aspects of community I wanted to kind of talk about was what is the importance of reputation in the community? And the reason why that's so. I wanna pinpoint that for a minute.

Jace: 28:32

Yeah.

Kristelle: 28:33

Because I remember I talked about this in a previous episode like I didn't tell the hotter ballooning community that I own my own business. That's right. I was just a normal gal that would show up in a Ricky Bobby T-shirt with a couple gloves. I swear to God, that's what I would do. I never drove B my Camaro because I didn't want them to be like oh, this bitch has money. I wanted them to have a certain perception of me, which is the true perception of me.

Jace: 28:59

I was like are you saying the Subaru is your spirit vehicle? My Subaru is not only my spirit vehicle.

Kristelle: 29:06

it's the one that can actually chase, go through dirt. Yeah, I can chase with it.

Jace: 29:10

True straw yeah, my extra is definitely my spirit vehicle, for sure 100%.

Kristelle: 29:18

So in that instance, what is the importance of reputation in a community? I want to hear your thoughts on that.

Jace: 29:23

I am just I'm finding I'm immediately swapping the word reputation for integrity.

Kristelle: 29:28

Yeah, oh, that's not. I think that's not a swap, that's like a synonym.

Jace: 29:33

Or direct yeah, like that's what I'm hearing.

Kristelle: 29:34

It's like peanut butter and jelly.

Jace: 29:36

Those are very different things. They hold very different purposes in life. Please explain they're meant to be together. I'm not putting jelly on my peanut butter and banana situation, did everybody just Ha, ha, ha, ha ha. We've come to an impasse.

Kristelle: 29:50

This is the end of the story. Oh no, it's just that we broke up.

Jace: 29:53

Good night, one of us did not make it past this episode. I'm gonna get down on a good jelly. Ha ha, ha ha. I don't think they have to go together. I'm so embarrassed I didn't even know this. Anyways, so we think about integrity and reputation.

Kristelle: 30:08

Ha, ha, ha ha ha. Peanut butter and jelly and a banana.

Jace: 30:11

I don't want any of that situation For me. I want to make sure that who I am in the community is who I am outside of the community, is who I am in my regular life, like I don't want to hide any of the things where I might show. Obviously, if I'm in a professional setting, no, I probably will still sing Powerline as I was doing.

Kristelle: 30:30

I would see that I was like yeah.

Jace: 30:31

I want to have a present, but I can bring the different versions of myself that are not different. So for me my reputation is important. That people go oh yeah, that is who she is Like. When we had our intern with us a couple of weeks ago for recording, she told me afterwards and it was like ah, this is success for me. She was like you're the same on camera as you are off camera. But she was really surprised and I was like yep, and she's like and you and Crystal just talk on camera, like you talk off camera and I'm like yeah, mm-hmm yeah, what are we gonna be like? And now I don't even know how to be professional Like I don't know how to do this. I'm Ron Burgundy and not yes, and thank you for joining us. I need to do the Captain Morgan stance for some reason is what my brain's telling me. Like, I can't kick my leg up that high in this. But anyway, that was really important to me because my reputation aligns with my integrity and someone from the outside went huh, so you're just the same everywhere. And I'm like mm-hmm, yep, pretty much so. For me, that's the importance of reputation.

Kristelle: 31:36

Yeah, no, there's a couple of people even that they have been to the podcast. They're grateful to those folks. Besides their moms, I don't think my mom has been to it.

Jace: 31:46

Girl's busy yeah, mine is too.

Kristelle: 31:48

She's telling stuff going on. Our moms don't even listen, and they said the same thing too. It's like oh no, it sounds like you, that's very much you. And I think, from the reason of reputation like obviously being in public relations reputation is a big major factor into the success of certain outcomes right. Depending if you're doing a crisis or not a crisis, and so I find it very fascinating to me that I very much. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure my reputation is solid. And there's a lot of mistakes that I've made that I beat myself up because of the mistakes that I made that have hurt my reputation, the reputation of the agency, in fact, because let's face it like I very much understand the responsibility of my last name on the wall and I need to make sure that I tell the team and I instruct the team, that how they treat our clients should be how I treat I would treat the client right, and so that reputation in business, or in our business community, is incredibly important, incredibly important, even with people that seem like, oh well, I don't really interact with clients, I don't really interact with certain people and I'm like, okay, you're still a reflection of CRs.

Jace: 33:04

Always.

Kristelle: 33:05

And, most importantly, a reflection of you. I hired you because you're a good person, not just the skill set but, like I would definitely like go up to bat for you. You know, take a bullet for you. Like I'm not gonna. I don't wanna be surrounded around people I'm sure you don't either that are assholes.

Jace: 33:21

You're like I just wanna punch you in the throat. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no.

Kristelle: 33:25

God, no, no, no. That was really relieving to say too. Like you just don't wanna surround yourself around negative people, right? Everybody here is a genuine person at the company. Yes, well, even if they're like a joking asshole or a lovable asshole, that's totally acceptable here If that's who you are and you're gonna own it.

Jace: 33:42

Yeah, also fine. One of my most respected people I've ever worked for. He was an asshole, but he didn't apologize for it and it wasn't personal, he just called it how it was. He did not sugarcoat things and I was like I liked that you always knew where you stood with him. So if that's, who you are also fine. You get to be part of it too.

Kristelle: 34:01

But you're aware of it. It brings up a good point too. Every community has a cast of characters. And there's always a cast of a character that's like the token ass they're really sweet one. There's always the follower, there's always like it's always a really fascinating, you know dynamic whenever you put a community together.

Jace: 34:18

I'm immediately wondering in our team who's who.

Kristelle: 34:22

So that's a well, we'll do a squad podcast part two A squad cast, A squad cast.

Jace: 34:32

Yes, got it in there.

Kristelle: 34:35

Well, yeah, so we talk about, you know, serving the community, how important it is. We talk about reputation. Yeah, we talked about giving back down to the latter. You have a really good, important part to self mastery how important that is whenever it comes to building a community. Talk about that for a minute. Like what? In terms of succeeding, in terms of finding who you are, the definition of yourself, the identity of yourself, can you do it without a community?

Jace: 35:02

Absolutely not Easy answer, you know, and the name is a little sounds like a contradictory self mastery. We are indeed mastering the self, and that cannot be done alone. I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand more times as long as we continue, we can survive alone. We cannot thrive alone.

Kristelle: 35:22

Yeah.

Jace: 35:23

We can't Not any personal thing. Humans were designed and developed in community. Back in the day, we were surrounded by community all the time. We lived in smaller communities, certainly, which made them very personal, but we learned, cried, laughed, celebrated, did our triumphs, did our trials. We did everything in community and it is how we are designed, it's how we've evolved. And now, with the way that our lives are set up in the world and we have gone into little baby units of just you and your family, or you and your spouse or whatever, like not you but just the world, we've cut out the community component. And then we're like why are we struggling? Why are things so difficult? Why is disease up? Why are we more suffering than ever? And it's like, well, we've taken something very natural and cut ourselves off from it. You want to thrive, have an intentional community around you that is in service to you, just naturally by who's involved in the community and that you're very intentionally in service to.

Kristelle: 36:27

So you bring up a point. Let's talk about our 30s for a second. Hear me out, I love my 30s. Oh, I fucking love it. I thought I loved my fucking 20s.

Jace: 36:38

I love my 30s. I'm grateful for my 20s. I agree for my 20s too. I know that I love that, but I'm grateful.

Kristelle: 36:44

So, in our 30s, a lot of my friends, a lot of my family, they're starting to nest, just like I am. They might have nested a little bit sooner, especially if they have a kid. They get married me getting married and having a kid in a very different timeline, but I noticed there's a couple of our friends that I noticed they're not really surrounding themselves around a community, or maybe I just don't see their sense of community. You brought up a really good point. I worry about them. Yes.

Jace: 37:13

Yes, right, anyone who does not have some involvement in a community is a red flag to me. If I'm meeting someone, I'll hear them out, I'll hang for sure there might be reasons for that. There usually are.

Kristelle: 37:26

Like they might not be self-conscious, they might have problems in their lives. I noticed that the people that resurrect themselves out of bad relationships, they throw themselves into a community that they've never been in before or they're looking to join, and when they start to join those spaces, they come alive.

Jace: 37:48

Thriving. Yeah, you've got to do it in community, and we have scientific research behind us, which I love. I'll take anecdotes all day long. There's proof there too, but we actually study this now and we see it in the homeless people experiencing homelessness population, where we're looking to make big change, and even in multi-generational change. The programs that are successful involve community, so it's not just about having a home for someone. That's super important to being healthy and successful is having somewhere safe yes, 100%, but that has never been the solution and they've tried it housing vouchers and all these things. And then the problem just keeps coming back around. And what they're finding, what they're testing and have proof around programs like the Jeremiah program or Hope Village here in town is community has to be a part of it for real change to happen and to stick. So it is required now, in these holistic programs that are working to end homelessness and to end the cycle of generational poverty, it is required that you are part of the community. They have community events, they have community learning and they have everything developed around the community there, because it is the only way that they have shown consistent success with making huge life changes. Wow, yeah.

Kristelle: 39:08

Wow, that's very powerful. Yeah, community changed lives. Yay, be in community. Yeah, be in community for sure.

Jace: 39:16

Only, genuinely only way to succeed.

Kristelle: 39:19

Yeah, I think that's a really good founding element or ending element, though I do want to summarize what we talked about today, like we talked about climbing down the ladder Super important to success, something that we believe in here.

Jace: 39:35

It's.

Kristelle: 39:35

Yorza, being in service to the community for sure. Being in service to the community. It's really difficult to succeed, impossible. The story of the homelessness and just the thought of looking at individuals that might not be in a community. Very important reputation, such a big thing, yep, in terms of building community or, as you said, integrity. Yeah, sands, peanut butter and jelly. We're going to have to talk about that offline.

Jace: 40:03

I was like my life can't be Sands Peanut Butter, because at least 30% of my diet is literally peanut butter on a spoon. Not kidding Girls are real lazy in the kitchen.

Kristelle: 40:12

And, most importantly, how the community helped build C Yorza and our success and we couldn't have built and we tried to give back to the community that built us. I think that's really important.

Jace: 40:21

Absolutely.

Kristelle: 40:23

Thanks for being here with me, as always. Thank you. Thanks to everybody for listening to Stories, success and Stuff. Don't forget to subscribe to your favorite podcasting tool, channels, et cetera. Subscribe to C Yorza at Stories, success and Stuff or you can find more information at CRZAcom. We are very, very grateful for you being here. Our next topic for next week.

Jace: 40:47

I was going to do a drum roll, but then Justin will get real mad at what that does to the microphone.

Kristelle: 40:51

Yeah, I'm going to put on the mic and here he is, I can feel him breathing.

Jace: 40:54

I see you, girl, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it Drum roll, please.

Kristelle: 40:58

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Jace: 40:59

That's way less cool Ego.

Kristelle: 41:03

Ego, the Beyonce song, ego. That's the song that's in my head instead of why I wear.

Jace: 41:11

OK, guardians of the Galaxy, character named Ego is what came into my mind.

Kristelle: 41:15

Oh, that's a good one too. That's really good to see. Very grateful for you all being here and look forward to joining, to having you join us next week on Stories, Success and Stuff.