S3E18: YMI Talking to Louis Holzman from Young Valley Leaders on WDIY

The crossover episode you've all been waiting for...

It's live! Check out our newest episode of YMI Talking with Louis Holzman from Altitude Marketing, Queen City Realty, and WDIY’s Young Valley Leaders. 

This one’s packed with wisdom and advice for young leaders in the Lehigh Valley, from growing up in Allentown to building a strong career and entrepreneurial mindset.

Tune in wherever you get your podcasts now!

For more info on YMI insurance visit our website at ymiagency.com

Or give us a call at 610-868-8762 to see how we can better protect your business and family.

Transcript

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But they're also less about the big fish and more about just your own idea. There's a lot of people here that are interested in, like doing, collaborating and figuring out how to get out there. And again, it's not going to smack you in the face. You definitely have to get up and go out and push that forward and be pretty vocal about it and whatever that might be. And shake the hands, meet the people. But if you do that, it's a very welcoming place of people that that not only want to be involved or want to support, but then maybe introduce you or, you know, allow you to kind of see what that next element of the journey might be. Welcome to Why Am I Talking? A podcast where the guests are so good you'll wonder why the host is even talking. In each episode you will hear one of the leaders of the Lehigh Valleys vibrant business hub. They will tell you the keys to their success, the mistakes they've made, and what they have in store for the future. Here is the host of Why Am I Talking from YMI Insurance? Jimi Honochick. All right. That is me, Jimi Honochick. But more importantly. Emily Ellis, what is up? Hello. Happy Halloween. Happy Halloween. I am so glad that. We do these live and we never rerecord them. Oh, yeah. For sure. This is our first take. This is our first take. I have not butchered this eight times. This. Episode, though, is awesome. Yes, Louis Holzman has his own podcast, WDIY, which is the Young Valley Leaders, and we have our own podcast. Yes, that's what we're doing here. I don't know if you knew that. Oh, yeah. Yes. And. I, I had the idea, like, let's do a crossover episode. Why don't we both going to this podcast at the same time? We'll cross-promote them. I thought this was really cool. Oh, yeah. I think it will be cool. I mean, both of your audiences can tune into each of your stories, which you haven't done before. Yeah. I'm nervous because we we shot this one first. I've never really been on the other side of the microphone. Yeah, people are going to have to deal with listening to me. This is not hard to listen to. He's got a great story and he's deep, man. Yeah. Another deep one. Yeah. Yeah, I like I told you, I, I don't get that deep. So I, I am very impressed by people like Louis. And this episode is that it's really impressive. Yeah. I, I hope I live up to it on my end. I'm excited to hear it. Good. Well, let's dive in. To crossover episode with Louis Holzman. Here we go. Here we go. I am so excited about this episode. I have been trying to make this happen. I think this is going to be, I think is one of my best ideas ever. Louis, I feel like you have tons of great ideas, so it doesn't work for you. But for me, I don't get many great ideas. On this kind of stuff like that. And this is so cool. I mean. You. Are super busy. And just to preface, this is Louis Holzman. You know him? He's got the WDIY Young valley Leaders. He's got his own real estate company. He's, Vice president of marketing at Altitude Marketing. He's everywhere. He's doing all the things. But it's that podcast. You have a podcast? I have a podcast. Yeah. We are doing, like, a crossover thing here, and it's going to be awesome. It is also already awesome. It is. Yes. So thank you for coming on. Yeah. Of course. Thanks for having me. It's, obviously a little different being on the other side of the table. Yeah, let's talk about that. I mean, you are used to asking people and finding out about them and who they are. And can I say, also, like, I've listened to your episodes, you're far better interviewer than me. Like you, I don't know. You're so good at getting. People comfortable and I'm just up here, you know, winging it every day. Every two. Like, I think you do a great job. I've watched some of yours as well. Again, like, I think the biggest thing is about having your own style with, the conversation that you're trying to bring out. Yeah. And people and being able to just be, you know, very conversational and kind of unapologetically about. Yeah, you're keeping it within certain boundaries, of course, but you just want it to be authentic. You want to come off and have them feel like they want to share and whatever those stories might be. So, you know, we all have our own style to pull that forward. How did you get started with it? What was kind of the inspiration and, what made you jump into it? Yeah. Shout out to John Dodds. I'm not sure if you know him. He's, You know, x retired air product executive who's on the board of WDIY. And, I only remember how I got connected with him, really? But, he then I pulled me into what was the marketing committee at the time, and we were talking about, you know, in a smaller group of us in this marketing committee on a quarterly basis, get together for an hour to talk about the messaging and the channels and the reach and how to reach a younger audience. Different demographics disseminate on, you know, through different mediums, like just it start to just bring a level of attraction to the station that, you know, generally is an older and whiter demographic. Yeah. As I was listening to it. And so over about a year and a half, maybe two years of, of doing that, I'm a big doer. And so like, no love lost in the, the quarterly meetings. But after doing that for two years, I was like, it's cool. Like, I don't really, you know, I put in what I'm going to put in here. I need to step back, but not a ton of time, but just with everything else going on. I just didn't have the focus for for that. And he was, you know, understood and receptive. But we continued to stay in touch over that next year. This would have been through 2023. And just talking about kind of some of the same problems or same initiatives and our own personal things going on in life for catch up over coffee. And it kind of hit me in the latter part of 23, I think, as a job, like we're talking about, you know, younger demographic, we're talking about disseminating different channels, we're talking about adding other elements. How do we bring, you know, a new energy in, if you will, let me have a show. I mean, have a show where I'll bring a younger demographic into the station or a video on a video component to or disseminated on Spotify and Apple Music and chop it up into reels on social media. And, you know, just through, you know, my network locally here, like, I'll, I'll start there and be able to have a pretty decent, you know, poll of people to start with of all different backgrounds and stories and religions and race and industries and all different stuff that, you know, either a maybe never heard of a radio station or B if they did, probably haven't been there, and certainly being on it then and sharing it to their group opens it up to a new new avenue. So I, I went to, went a friend of mine also, long time friend played soccer together as kids, but then he's involved in the marketing and advertising world as well. He's a videographer by trade. And I was like, hey, man, I got no budget. I got this idea, like, do you want to be a part of it? And he was he was down. And so he jumped on board and he makes it come to life on screen. And so that's been an incredible, you know, partnership that we've been able and it's really both of our shows. It's not just me. I mean, I'm two people see on camera, but without that happening, you know, you wouldn't see me here. I mean, the station does a good job with that. Of course, but, yeah, that's how I came to life. That's awesome. And talk to me about, you know, starting the podcast. The first couple episodes, did you feel like it just made sense and it was working where you did it? Like, did you have any trepidations, like, give me, give me, just walk me through that. Sure. Yeah. It's it's interesting. I was I was out to lunch, two days ago, with, another, you know, agency called. They got a different agency. And we were just literally eating lunch at Shallbe going back and forth like this. And the podcast came up and I was like, it's no different than what we're doing right now. Yeah. For lunch, just sitting at the two of us going back and forth. I mean, sure, maybe there's some components that don't get my job to like, you know, for the most part, I like it. I try not to, I think similar to how you run your is like, I try not to give people a direction. I want them to be able to tell their stories and have that come forward, whatever natural or authentic way that makes sense. So there's some level of like outline of I'll call it like general questions that I honestly, since season, season one, episode one has been basically the same outline. Yeah, that I've given and it's curated a little bit depending on the individual. The first season, you know, through 2024 were people that I would consider like decent friends that I've known for a while, like know of their backgrounds and what they're doing pretty well. So you can prod or converse in a different way. Then as we moved into 2025 and season two, there is people I know but not nearly as like, well. And so that level of conversation and how that pulls forward is different, but almost like in like a good way because it is very much exploratory. Yeah. Like I'm not pulling for things I like, know about them. I want them to talk about. It's like now like, what do you share? Yeah. So, yeah, it nerves. Yeah, sure. Like, I mean, even coming here this morning, it's like, oh, what has this going to go. Right. Yeah, I very much am on the fly kind of guy. Hit my like value to most organizations is being able to connect, communicate, and do that effectively, and really across a wide, diverse group of people, and understanding where that shared value may live, for the organization, for the individual and then being able to help bridge that, even if it doesn't include me going over that bridge, but figuring out how that pushes the other, the other 2 or 3 or organizations together. So it's it's a little bit natural for me in that way. But it's never just like comfortable, you know. Right. And there's something I think about that. I loved when I sent you, I sent everyone like a preparation deck. And your response last night was like, I appreciate this, but I'm much better on the fly. And I think there's something to that where the conversation is more organic. And like you said, you're able to really develop those connections pretty quickly to make people comfortable. Yeah. Where does that come from? Is that something you've always kind of had? Yeah. It's one of those inherent things that I can't put my finger on. Where it comes from. Yeah. It's a blessing and a curse. Yeah, yeah. You go through life and there's so many people and things and places that you want to do and you want to be a part of, and you obviously can be everywhere. And also, you can't stretch yourself too thin where you're like, you know, go nuts. But ever since I was, you know, in grade school through high school, even in the college, like, I was the person that was involved in a litany of things that weren't necessarily like, related from, you know, SGA to marching band to for sport varsity athlete to theater to, you know, I mean, just like a lot of and so in doing that, that put me in a lot of different social circles. Right? I in with a lot of different groups of people. Also I guess kind of shout out going to school through like the school district, just that in of itself, there's a level of like cultural diversity that and like learning that came through there that inherently, most people don't get in, you know, other surrounding school districts that aren't as confident. There's, you. Know, there's positives and. Negatives that all come with that. But, so those components allowed me to really branch out into understanding, kind of again, pointing back to that shared value or being able to connect and communicate and almost like cross-pollinate in between organizations and groups at that time. And certainly in my younger years, I didn't like it that way. It wasn't realizing that that that I was either A doing that or b doing that at a scale that was larger, grander, like more active than most of my other peers. But then certainly as I got out of college, you know, entered the working world and my first job was I started a technology company was 100% commission like, needed to go out there and make it happen. Yeah, that enabled me to, like, go out there and make it happen. I was going to networking events out the wazoo. In those earlier years and just getting comfortable being uncomfortable, being out there to, you know, meet you ever try had an interest in trying to obviously, you know, sell the product or the service that I was in. But a lot of it was also just professional growth and understanding, like coming into something new. I didn't go to school for anything related to business or marketing. And so I kind of credentials in a lot of ways. Yeah. And so kind of putting yourself out there, figuring it out on the fly, and, and starting to understand, like, how, you know, how to make your, make your own mark in your own wave in this world. I love that you really kind of. You're not afraid. There's a fearlessness. And maybe there is fear there, right? But you're able to push through because you see what happens on the other side. Sure. Yeah. I mean, it's silly, but I think it was, FDR only fear. Yeah. Yeah. So. Right. Yeah. So I, you know, totally. It's I, you know, you wake up, there's a little bit of nervousness like, oh, what if this doesn't happen? I think the biggest thing that I've lived by now, a very good little bit is like, what if you don't do that, right? What if you like, take the easy road out and like, a lot of people do and like, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But, you know, for some of the things I'm trying to do in life, the some of the goals I've set for myself, I know and particularly like the background that I've come from, which isn't anything like super harsh or like in a lot of ways, but just in where I'm trying to move through in levels in life. I know, like it's going to take a lot of doing the hard thing, the disciplined daily habits that just allow you to kind of move yourself forward, cause, maybe some discomfort, because there's some levels of differentiation that and from a cultural standpoint or from like the social circle that you have or maybe had is not as resonant like, or isn't doing some of those same activities as once was. And so then you start to feel a little bit of a pull away from and not don't like a negative way or like, no longer friends with people type of way, but just like, don't have the same things in common as much or not in, you know, involved in the same activities or, you know, doing the, the same things. And so you start to, I don't say feel isolated, but starting to figure out like, okay, that chapter is here. Now I'm opening up and kind of shedding, whether it's habits, whether it's discipline, whether it's social circles, whether it's, you know, whatever it may be for for someone to then move into and rise and grow into that next version of yourself where that other, that other social circle is waiting for you there that like, is sharing similar values or similar mindsets, but you haven't quite grown to that place where that's recognizable or where you've just happened to walk in and meet them, for whatever case that may be. You strike me as someone who is very thoughtful, very mindful. You're aware of kind of what you're going through and you're thinking about the the way it might ripple through your life and through different things. I take things on the fly and just kind of, again, I'm winging life here. Lewis, where does that thoughtfulness come from? Where? Where do you get that deep kind of retrospective thoughts? Boy, certainly evolved. I think a lot of, a lot of it comes down to family. I think, some core values that's instilled, in being raised. And then it's a shout out to my parents that's also a shout out to my grandparents. And, and I can't like, tangibly point to like one example necessarily. But I can just think of like some different I can just think of my mom, like, in my younger years, just like just because you can doesn't mean you should make it like that type of principle. Yeah. And like, and that can be across the board on so many different things between, you know, material things between relationships, between, you know, conversation, you know, and so that's, you know, through my son, a lot of my younger years, it's kind of the delaying of instant gratification. Like we live in a society where that is so tangible. Yeah. Whether it is next day delivery, whether it is the dopamine hit on the like of social media, whether it's like that instant, like pop of, like, feel good, it's like there's, again, not like prodding at anything specifically, but like, I know for me, I, I thought and I have come to learn like, if I can pull back and defer a lot in my life, whether it's a tangible material, good, whether it's a monetary thing, whether it is, almost like a delayed sense of of happiness or gratitude, I'm able to, like, live in the present, in the moment of, of those hard times, of those tough times, because then that's going to really allow me to appreciate those peaks. I try to live my life with not too many hijuelos. Yeah, and it might sound like emotionless or like, you know, I don't wear my heart on my sleeve or I'm not really. It sounds more zen than yeah. I try not to. I try not to let like, like things kind of really impact my energy in a positive or negative way, right? Yeah. There's incredible things. And sure, I get happy sometimes I think I'm really excited about sometimes something shocking like it's like, that's a bummer. And like sometimes I get like depressed. We all have that. Yeah, we go through spurts. But you know, if the highs are too high and the lows until there's like a little bit more of a constant steadiness that you can kind of pull back on, you know, on and rest on those good habits, those healthy habits that you have and the discipline that you live within your life. And then that builds that mental capacity to even if some of it is like in the day to day tactical standpoint, flying by the seat of your your pants, your your morals, your values and the discipline that you have to to to stay on track with those isn't by the seat of the pants. Yeah. And that is what like under guides and underlies everything else as you like, go through the day to day on the podcast or. Yeah. You know, with, meeting at work or with, you know, catching a friend at a happy hour, whatever that might be. I know that you have a lot on your plate, but I'd like to hire you as a mindful consultant. I need you as I'm not qualified. I need this energy. Louis. But let's talk about you. You mentioned your parents, and that's maybe where some of this comes from. Let's talk about you work with your parents? Yeah. How how do you know? You get into that? How is it going? And kind of. Where do you see it going? Let's start the back end. I see it going, candidly, in a place where like that is, my retirement. It is what? You know, I'm in my mid 30s right now. It's what carries me through my 40s and beyond, regardless of if or what other job I may have. I see that, as, you know, legacy being able to pass down from a generational wealth standpoint. And then to, to qualify this, like, I have a tiny portfolio. So this is not something that's like big grandiose or that my parents start or anything like that, you know, where it started was, eight years ago and nine years ago, almost, just like the most economically sound way for me to move out of my parents house after living with them for college. Like, now, it's like, ha! Like, all right, I could go, like, grand and live an apartment like this. But then I was like, oh, like. And I was listening. So professional development? No one that's reading listening audio is finding people that that have what you want or doing what you want, have done what they want. And I've left the breadcrumbs in life for you, like, you got to modify. I take those breadcrumbs and modify it for your life, but it's not like it. Most things aren't like a novel concept that has never been done before. Yeah, so if you can find some of the people and individuals that are replicating in some ways of what you want, then it gives you a path of what you may open your mind up to being with, being able to explore, even if that's not something physically tangible in front of you, or that you know, on a first name basis, particularly with the internet now, like you have expansive opportunities to find that type of not. Yeah. So know like I was listening to some people that allow me to learn about passive income, learn about like what that is like, just what that is like. I think that's like a active versus passive income. That's you don't get taught that in school. Not like most families aren't teaching that either, like most people don't live by that. Like, so, as I understood that concept, I was like, okay, well, that would be great. I understand that again, that the deferred instant gratification, the deferred gratification. Okay. Yeah, I can like, do the hard thing now so I can live easier than most later. And that's kind of where my head was in my early 20s. And so I bought a two unit, rented, one unit lived in the other unit. Yeah. It caught my cost of living. And that was like start to the real estate company. And then from there, pretty much, you know, bought a building a year, a little bit of a bigger building each year. And we have 40 some units in the downtown Allentown area. Wow. And when my parents were like, my, my dad was a public school teacher in the school district, my mom worked, in finance for a manufacturer. So, like, it wasn't like, you know, familial. Yeah, yeah. Knowledge that was brought through here at the time. When I at right after I bought that two unit, my mom was just entering, like, a retirement stage. She was like that two unit I had to fix up. Like, we did all of work, and they helped me with that. And flooring to walls, to paint, to redoing kitchens like bathrooms, you know, tile, you know, all these different types of things. And so it was like, hands on experience and learning experience for us both in those ways. And she was like, oh, I would diversify my retirement. So in that, you know, we collectively went in and got got another one that maybe two years after that, maybe three years after that, my dad was really retired. Covid had had he was public school teacher. Yeah. You know, he wasn't like, quite at the max age, for. But he was just like, ready to do. Right? And we kind of had this real estate thing going on. And it was a nice thing that they could segue into and do something that they, like, cared about, and that we're giving back to our community. Super blessed that neither of them nor I need or use the business as like any income. Like it's not something that we, have to be able to sustain ourselves. It's very much so. A future thinking, for, for, you know, ourselves, myself in a, you know, retirement and asset generation standpoint, but very much so, at the time 2013, 2014, 2015, like Allentown is going through this resurgence. It's just starting people center. It's just being built. And I'm like, man, okay. Like all the institutional dollars and investment are coming in like it's that's great and we need that. But we also need a bottom up approach of all of this housing stock that, we say we don't have any affordable income or affordable housing, but we have a ton of it. It's just 100 years old and 30 plus years of deferred maintenance. Yeah. So that's where our focus has been, like, it's all all building 100 plus year old buildings that have already been cut up into apartments. And we're then going in and restoring them to their. Yes, to some of the historical features, as much as realistic we can or make sense while then adding in, you know, the modern amenities or the modern finishes. And, but still providing a product that, you know, you're, you know, every day. I don't Tony in today, but also ten years ago, 15 years ago, the people that have been here for however long, you know, want and can't afford and, you know, there are certainly challenges, you know, with that in a way, and not just with the tenant population, but just with 100 plus year old building. Yeah. And, And and you know what that takes, to renovate. So there's been a lot of learnings on that. Definitely, you know, it's not just us at this point. We have a great partner, and general contractor that we've established a good relationship with now over the past year, you're not. Doing the flooring right, not doing the. Flooring anymore. Like one of the places I gotta stop after this is. I'm going to go check in on, you know, there's, you know, one, we had a six unit that was went through a fire in 2023. It wasn't a fire when we had it, but we had taken it over and we had a full got. Yeah. And it was, you know, the biggest job renovation job that we've taken on thus far. And so now we're at the point where, knock on wood should be, you know, closing the walls up and getting ready for tenants as we, you know, round out the end of this year. But that's been a year and a half long process that took, yeah, six, eight months longer than I was originally home for. You know, so there's like learnings not only in and the process in which the construction goes or the procedures, but then just in with other people and partners and, and like the cadence and flow of, of, of the work and the communication necessary to make sure you're all aligned on, on how that works. And a big piece now in the businesses, you know, the past two years, my parents have spent, you know, a legitimate 40 hour workweek, like working in the business. And so, my main role, my main day job is without marketing. I'm leading that organization from a sales from marketing standpoint. And so, like, I have a team there, like a whole different set of goals and abilities that most of my 9 to 5, you know, hours are provided given there. And so between the GC and my parents, like, they really or have been hands on in the day to day like, and so we all bring different things to the table. But a big goal of mine now and ours collectively. And we've already started to see the shift a little bit is to get them, like out of being first call. Yeah. And being a little bit more, they can choose what they want to pop in on when they want to pop a little thing here, a little thing they're less of needing to just be like, so hands on. I mean, they're they're retired like they have, you know, you should go enjoy retirement. Absolutely. And that that's that's something that we're working on and getting closer to. And again, as we get towards the end of the year here, I should be able to turn that corner. It's awesome. I want to talk about something that is a theme that I've kind of picked up on. I mean, you know, you went through the Allentown, school district. You're in real estate, which is super local. And, you know, focused on Allentown and specifically talk to me about the Lehigh Valley, your ties to the Lehigh Valley, and just your connection and your general thoughts on it. Yeah. I mean, so the ties to the Lehigh Valley go back generations for my family, particularly my mom side, my dad dad side. My dad was born in Hazleton, I'm sorry Redding. And then bounced around a bunch with it with his family, and found Lehigh Valley through my mom. But my my my mom side. I mean, I have my my my grandfather, who originally from Easton. And so my mom's side is from Easton originally, which, you know, historically in the Lehigh Valley, Easton was the main city up until like the 1900s ish. Maybe 18 like. Late 1800s. But yeah, just by with being on the Delaware and that's how you have rivers and trade and everything passed on and river's that way. I did the canal toys when I was in elementary school, I remember. Yeah, you go so like, you know, Allentown, you had to go off the Delaware through the Lehigh River to get to there. So yeah, Easton was one of three places that the Declaration of Independence was right. Like, it's pretty like the history that we have here is actually pretty, pretty neat. But, yeah, I mean, my mom's family goes back to, you know, there's there's a sisters of the Revolutionary War. Yes, I think it is. And, my, my aunts and and and cousins and I have registered for that because we have ties back to family members that were a part of that at that time. So. Cool. Yeah. It's it's been a bit. Yeah, a little bit. I don't have the whole story exactly. But I definitely have like family heirlooms and old tools and there's like a family Bible that's like this big and like, literally would, like cover. Yeah. So, you know, some old stuff, it's been around for a little bit. And a lot of that history, is it's really intriguing. And, it was passed down, you know, to the way I know it, because my grandfather did, really, he was he was really interested in himself, but in that he created, just like a genealogy memoir. You know, of our family. I guess it ended in the, like, around the millennia, around 2000 or so. Yeah. But, you know, dates back certainly before me. Yeah. So my oldest cousins are in their mid 40s and it predates them. Goes back to, you know, you know, my grandparents, you know, cousins and uncles and parents and everything like that. So I think some of that is a little bit just since over time I've always been aware about it and has been part of, like, conversations. And now you're such an, I would say, integral part of the Lehigh Valley, right? Between the podcast, between, the real estate company, between Altoona marketing, like, you are very involved in the Lehigh Valley. Do you feel that sense of, I don't know, almost, history on you and just the connection now that you have to the. Valley, I do, yeah. It's an interesting relationship because you so much of of community is made up of, of of us and the efforts that we, we collectively put in writing. And so what I love about the Lehigh Valley is, and I've said this from the beginning, I almost look at it like a little petri dish. It's big enough where you have a lot of the industry, you have a lot of the incubators, you have a lot of, you know, the different opportunities, the social circles, the different types, demographics, rural, urban, suburban, cork, tons of different cultures. And so you can find almost anything that you can and like a bigger city, it's just not going to necessarily come out and smack you in the face like it might in the city. You just you have to be a little bit proactive in going out there, and maybe you're searching for it directly, or you're just putting yourself out there and then, you know, yeah, like, wow, I met this person or I see this is isn't thing like go check it out later. And so if you have an idea, if you have a concept like if you wanted to start, this is a great place to start that. Yeah. The cost of living the, the lack of competitive nature. Like, don't get me wrong, there is competition here, and it's a growing area for sure. But again, compared to these like larger metros that the valley is dwarfed by Philly, New York, even DC, Boston, I mean, even got to Pittsburgh in some ways. You just have an ability to start pushing that idea forward. And then you also have the resources with, like being able to find the people that are maybe doing it at another level than you and that you can tap into, whether it's directly with them or being some of the same events or social circles, you know, in, in periods of time, at the end of the day, the big fish here in the valley aren't really that big of fish that we can pay comparatively to, you know, going out into some of these other metros. But that also less about the big fish and more about just your own idea. There's a lot of people here that are interested in, like doing, collaborating and figuring out how to get out there. And again, it's not going to smack you in the face. You definitely have to get up and go out and push that forward and be pretty vocal about it, whatever that might be, and shake the hands, meet the people. But if you do that, it's a very welcoming place of people that, that not only want to be involved or want to support, but then maybe introduce you or, you know, allow you to kind of see what that next element of the journey might be. The total opposite side of this is going to be like, very counter to what I just said. Yeah, I, I've lived in that live and my whole life. I'm kind of in my now my mid 30s single kids are family. Like I'm a bit at a cross hairs. I've always had this yearning of like wanting to find somewhere else that is home as well. Yeah. And understand what that community is and I don't know where I don't have, like, a destination in mind, per se. But I do know that that's something that's been burning in me for, you know, nearing a decade and that, I'm not, like, jumping ship. I know the value will always be home. I'll always have the businesses here like it. So my my balance is trying to figure out how to continue molding and evolving and being active in this community and doing the thing while also being transient and from another place as well. So that's something that like, I just literally sniffing out and kind of working through in my life at the moment, to explore, but but big traveler in general, so that that is where that kind of peaks. I don't want to crush your dreams, but I'm going to do everything I can to keep you here in the Lehigh Valley, because you're such a blessing to this area. And I'm not going to let you leave. Oh, well, I'm not suggesting we will ever, like, fall on stop, leave, you know? Yeah. I always my family here. Also our business here. And and if I would ever go away for a period of time, it literally would just be that I know I would be building a life where I could be transient between both places, on a semi frequent basis to continue this thing. I just don't know exactly what that looks like. And I like that. And I think it ties into your philosophy. You're talking about cross-pollination before. I think you see a lot of times in Lehigh Valley people, you know, they they go through school, they do really well, and then they go somewhere else. And this kind of happened to me. And then you come back to the Lehigh Valley, but you're bringing the best of those other places here. And so I think if you were to do kind of what you're proposing here, you would pick up on things and make the Lehigh Valley better when you come back as such. I have no doubt about that, because I already feel that when I travel, I'm on a plane, I don't know, going somewhere out of the country maybe two times a year, and then inside the country, you know, they're 12 to 20 depending on, you know, whether it's work or work or pleasure. Aluminum, Earth. So I definitely get out and see other places. And I really value that. And I really value the culture that I really value getting an understanding of how life is lived in different places and what that means for them there. But really what that means for us and me back here, and how do you take that and internalize that and know, yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. All right. Good. Then I will let you go a little bit. Okay. All right. I hate this because we are we are over time. And I've loved every minute of this. Yeah, it always flies by. It does. But we are sponsored by Z craft, which is, coffee shop in the Lehigh Valley and the promenade in the airport. But they also do catering. But you go there, you get a good sip of coffee. But sometimes sip happens. And when is a time that sip happened to you? Yeah. It's a good question. You know? It's hard. I know me personally. I'm glad no one asks me this question because I'm not easily embarrassed. And so I wouldn't really have a good story for anybody. Yeah, I think that's I think that, especially in my adult life, I've, I've really made an effort to not put myself in positions that are. But I can usually. I still put myself in the positions. I just don't feel the embarrassment I. Can think of, like silly things, I guess. I think, you know, within without like getting into too much. Many of the details. I had some tumultuous times in my early like earliest adult years. Call it 18 to 20. Yeah. That, you know, I put myself in, in not great positions, and kind of like the everything I just described today about the thinking that I have evolved from this 18 month period where, you know, without too many details, law enforcement was involved, but, you know, was offline or was not in the places I should have been, was doing things that I shouldn't have been doing. And you, you know, you learn from those things because. Yeah, as a as and I'm going to say as a kid like, yeah, sure you're an adult at 18. But as a kid, you know, especially man like you, you once you get to like 25, it's like, all right. You're like, you should know what you're doing. And but like anything below that, I'm still calling you a kid. I'm 100%, but. So I think there was a level of like, certainly instant gratification and also short sightedness that, you know, your world is seemingly so big and you're on top of it and you're whether you're the four sport athlete, you know, all you have, all the friends, you're doing all these things and you know you, nothing can stop you. And then like, you kind of come to a place of like, oh, is this really what you're going to do? Like, you got to drop out of college. You got to be this person that like, you know, you had all this potential or that, and it's just like, you know, wasted in this way. And so that really between that those things happening and a similar, maybe, you know, similar time period, my grandfather passing my mom's side like, really shifted my mindset into, like, growing up and like realizing, like, what do you want to be? And not that I wholeheartedly found and do what I would, but like, knew like what that was in it. Yeah. And like, okay, like like let's let's figure that out and let's explore some new things. If, you know, if you can't change the people around, you gotta change the people around you. And started to pull that forward in my life and started to think about some of the discipline and some of the professional development, some of the habits. I was I've been talking about today. That's really when that started. And so you know, from some of the lowest times in my life, like, those are some of the biggest lessons that then allowed to propel me into a place of really unshakable, like, duty and obligation to myself and what I'm aiming to do for myself in this life, for my family, but for my community and for the people around me. Because with without that, you know, you never know what would have happened by any, I don't like, wish bad times on anyone and tried to push them on myself, but those are big inflection points. You then reflect on that. Maybe without them it is a little bit more laissez faire. Maybe it is a little bit more, tempered with like, what that direction is. And, I don't push as hard or I don't push, but I put myself out there as much or I don't feel like, I can kind of just coast, and that's okay. And again, we all have different goals. We all have different aspirations that we go off or there's not a right or wrong way to live life just for me. And and those, you know, those places. And I don't know how appropriate that is or not. For now. This is great. But, you know, it's a level I when I talk with anybody, there's a level of vulnerability that I like I'm bringing to the table. And I think it's better, especially if I know you at least a little bit. Like, I'm trying to, like, have that authentic conversation. And to do that, to be authentic with myself, I need to be able to be vulnerable with you. Yeah. With whoever might be, you know, across the table otherwise. Like you're you're hiding something. You're lying to the, the person, but ultimately to yourself about like, what direction you really want to go and how much you want to let them in to whether it's be coached or give a perspective or for yourself to like, evolve and be okay with letting that out and being like, I'm not afraid of that. Like, that doesn't define me. And it's what allowed me to grow in this way. And let's share this because other people may like, resonate with that. And I'm like, yeah, like man, like it's all for nothing. You do get more chances. Like assuming it's not like something. Right? Yeah. So. Yeah, I guess I could leave. Leave that there. Emily, are you writing these down? We've got so many nuggets of wisdom. Like, we need to just get a book of Lewis's statements, like, if you can't change the people around, you change the people around you. I wrote that down. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Like, I'm just, I want you to know that our episode, when I come on your podcast is going to be so much more superficial than this. Like you are such a deep thinker, and I really have enjoyed this conversation. I really enjoyed it as well. And the the great thing about it, I'm not going to say what your podcast is going to be, because you don't have to do that. Yes, and I'm looking forward to that because it's your story today. It was mine and I appreciate you having me on it. To tell it, it's not one that I've like, openly really told, especially in a microphone. Yeah. So you know, it's it's good and healing in that way. And so I'm looking forward to hearing yours and whatever level of deepness or superficial that is for you. Like, again, we all have our own story, our own journey, and yours is special in that way. So don't don't discount that. Another nugget. Write it down. Anything that we. Didn't hit that we want to hit before we get out. Oh, God. No, I think we're I think you said we're over time. I mean, I'm just really appreciative of of having me on here. And and something that I always, I always tend to end with, my show is like, what? What can you leave us behind for somebody or what is something that really makes a big impact? And for me, nine times out of ten, it's showing up. People. Yeah, whatever that is, show up and be present. And what you're showing up to do, and that is so critical. It's what will cause some love. Whatever you're trying to do, know, it's what we'll call some level of attention, respect or separation from your peers. Because it is really easy. Not to show up. Yeah. It is also, not like, looked at as, like, anything wrong with not showing up, like, so, you know, the ones that do that, then you see their care, they're putting the time, the putting effort. And then they're also very present in, in being there with you. Yeah. Like that goes that's more than half the battle in relationships and sales and building organizations. Is is showing up. Yeah. So I think that's been something for me that doesn't have the credentials, doesn't have the formal skills or not super, you know, smart in the all these ways. But I show up constantly. Yeah. For everyone else, for myself day to day that do you that obligation. That's just how I try to live my life. I love that, and I will show up for the podcast. I believe that I, I may be, I may be a little late, a little bit like I working on that. I've been working on that on the. Not for the podcast per se. Yeah, yeah. Hello. You can ask my team like, I usually I'm flying in the. Last. Two minutes the or time to record. But I do get there with the podcast. But in general, but still showing up. That's that's awesome. I cannot wait to show up. It's going to be great. And thank you so much for coming on. And we really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on here and happy Halloween. Yes. Happy Halloween. Thanks for listening to another episode of the Why Am I talking podcast. If you enjoyed this and want to hear more content from amazing personalities in the Valley, please subscribe. Leave a rating and drop us a quick review.