FYS_S1E1 Connecting More

FYS_S1E1 Connecting More

The conversation revolves around the connection and collaboration between two individuals, one a tech industry leader and the other an author and personal chef. They met due to the tech leader's struggle with meal planning and the desire to find joy in cooking. Their initial meeting, which extended beyond the planned time, led to a deeper connection and the start of a partnership focused on meal planning and overall wellness. They discuss the importance of fueling one's soul, the concept of "recipes for success," and how their shared experiences in nature and walking have deepened their relationship and inspired their work. The discussion also touches on the challenges of balancing priorities and the impact of technology on human connection.

Outline

• Connecting Through Shared Experiences
• Exploring New Connections and Opportunities
• Fueling Soul and Success
• Recipes for Success and Life's Projects
• Balancing Priorities and Finding Energy
• Connecting Through Nature and Wellness
• Creativity and Inspiration in Nature
• Commitment to Sharing and Growth

Transcript

Unknown Speaker  00:02
Alright, here we go. We're testing 123, testing 123, Alright, I'm gonna put a timer on See how good this so we literally are on the end of hurricane Helen. Is that right? Helene? Helene, Helene,

Unknown Speaker  00:20
yes,

Unknown Speaker  00:21
and we're on the porch recording this as we still get like 2030, mile hour winds, um, but here we go. We're trying.

Unknown Speaker  00:33
We'll see. Yeah, hopefully you guys can hear us. I think the trees are applauding our efforts, because they really just came up and got louder. So we'll take that as a good sign. Yeah, you know, because we're always looking for those signs, those signals, that we're doing the right thing. So I think that's good 100%

Unknown Speaker  00:50
um, yeah, so let's talk about how we even got connected. Is that fair? Like I had a problem, my problem, which I think at least I can speak to working moms who feel like they're busy doing all the things as I do air quotes right now. My problem was the question at the end of the day that was such a trigger for me personally, and I thought I was going to lose my mind. Was what's for dinner? I felt like, if anybody asked me that question again, I just was gonna break completely, like have a true mental breakdown. I just, I know that may sound crazy, but it like 24 years of marriage, raising two young adult, you know, two children, two young adult, um, 20 plus years career in in the in the it the technical industry. As a woman in tech stem leader, I it was just too much, and I didn't enjoy it anymore. I'm a good cook. I just really didn't enjoy it anymore. It did not bring me joy. And I think God actually just put you in my path. Yes, there was a an issue that happened, like a sad story that's for another time, that brought us together and actually connected us. But you know, my word for the year, my one word, was fuel, and it was like, what fuels my soul and does cooking bring me joy? So no, cooking was not bringing me joy, and I needed to find some way to fuel my soul. And you entered into my life because my husband and I met you. Yes. You want to talk about that?

Unknown Speaker  02:36
Yes. So it was a wonderful meeting by chance. And it's funny, because we did kind of connect, actually last year, but it was a brief connection, and it was a lot going on in life. And so I think, I think things are ordained when they're supposed to happen. So life got in the way, and then I think maybe almost a year later, we circled back, Sam had contacted me, and we ended up scheduling, scheduling a meeting, and it was supposed to just be a quick meeting. I didn't know what to expect of it. I don't think either of us, you know, had an idea of what we were expecting it was going to be about, I was, yeah,

Unknown Speaker  03:22
the year before, or something like that was, I was trying to say kudos to you and advocate that you had, that you had authored and written and published a book,

Unknown Speaker  03:30
yeah, which was great. Called, my book is called soul in the city, and it's available on Amazon right now. And so that's a journey that you know is a whole another story in itself as well. But initially, yes, our meeting was primarily about the book. But then when we got together, I like to go into things with an open mind. So, you know, I know, even though in conversations and people think it's weird, but I'll be on a conversation with my phone company, or, you know, when I find that financial institutions, and end up talking to the customer service representative for about an hour about everything except for the bill or the situation that we were on the phone for. But in the same circumstance, we started to talk about the book, and then Sam told me about her what's for dinner issue, and then we ended up being there for over two hours. We were going to get some because it was Jeremiah's ice. Shout out to Jeremiah's ice. We loved them. We were going to get some Italian ice, and ended up not getting anything. We just talked. And we had magical moments, and we had the signals, like I said, that let us know that we were on the right path, the different songs that were key songs for her that, you know, just sparked a revelation in a lot of different ways. And so it was a great meeting, and here we are, a few months later, working on a number of projects together and just supporting each other. And it's just been wonderful. Yeah, we're friends, we're family. Now, you

Unknown Speaker  04:59
know what I mean, absolutely, absolutely. Because that was the thing is that he said yes. He said yes. When I said, Please, is there any way you can help us, not only for the fact of hiring as a personal chef, right? That was part of your dream and journey, yeah, right, which, there's a probably another whole segment that we can talk about, deep diving into dreams and our vision, you know, doing, working in a job that we're grateful for, and at the same time dreaming and visioning for that next thing that really, truly brings us joy, and we feel like we were like our God given purpose, right, right, to be here. Um, so that'll be a very exciting and juicy topic next time. But, you know, I think it was more about after he came over and, you know, we planned how to how to build this partnership of cooking and meal planning. So meal planning is back to my one word of fuel. How was I going to fuel myself and my husband and I both, we were wanting to be better at eating better, healthier lifestyle, overall wellness. And so Chef Sean started not only helping us by fueling our faces, but like helping us to think differently about different foods. So we try different meals. And you guys, he makes the best salmon ever. I mean, I've been to some serious high end restaurants, and nothing compares to his salmon and this green sauce, which I never know how to say, grimalata sauce, yeah, yeah, you've got to treat yourself. It's amazing. If you're ever in the Charlotte area, for sure, hitting them up for that, it's amazing. Um, life changing. Thank you. You're welcome. I mean it. I wouldn't say it if I didn't. Um, that turned into even more conversations because you were here for like five hours, yeah, and we started talking about life, which then turned into what we'll call recipes for success, right?

Unknown Speaker  07:02
Yes, yes. And recipes for success, I mean, again, the idea of fueling your soul, and then recipes for success in general. Meaning, when you look at a recipe that you use to cook, there are recipes that we have, that we use to be successful in many different be IT project management or things to get together, community building, projects, different things. There is a recipe to before success, to achieve a certain level of success with those things. And so that became a big topic for us, and we look to figure out how to apply that in many different applications. And so, I mean, it's just endless the conversations and the connections that we have with the various ways of working, coming from it in their arena. And it was terminology that they use that you know, would translate very well with what I do in the kitchen. And it was just interesting to see. And I don't know, I, you know, I just think that the connections were just there, and everything is just falling into place in a way that has to be ordained by God. Absolutely,

Unknown Speaker  08:14
it's like when you experience connection with others, when you just feel at home. And our gatherings are like they just flow, right? Even, even in times. I mean, I'll be honest, like today was a crazy day. We didn't know so many things went not according to plan today due to Mother Nature, right? Like things happen, and then I was exhausted. And then, you know, it's like, okay, but we committed to doing this to show up for you guys, for ourselves, right, and for you guys. And we said, let's just do it right, right? And I now feel more energetic, right? I'm still tired. I'm still, you know, it's been a crazy, long day already, but this conversation, our energy, I think comes back to energy too, right?

Unknown Speaker  09:03
I think that as well. And I do think, because it's like priorities, you know, what is the priority today? And we, we chose to make this a priority. And a lot of times, what will happen is people will want to do something, but then they let other things get in the way, and then that becomes, that priority becomes something on the back burner. You know, that's the kitchen term. You know, one thing is, you're usually cooking, and it's the priority. You're really focused on that. But once you want to let it simmer, or whatever, you put it on back burner. This is something that we've been believing for and making a way for. I mean, we've been very consistent over these past couple weeks, and I wish we could show you all of the behind the scenes that it takes to, actually, yeah, make these things work. Because, you know, again, we have two different lives, and it as entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, I can't talk today. Oh, my God, but you guys know what I'm trying to say. That'd

Unknown Speaker  09:57
be a good blooper. Yeah?

Unknown Speaker  10:00
Um, you know, with things that just happen, you you really have to navigate those things and be flexible. I think the more flexible you are, you will be more successful in life. I think that's that's true. And I always tell my people, when I do cooking classes or workshops, that the recipe that I give you is just a base. You know, you take this recipe and you make it your own. You can always come back to the recipe if you get lost in any way. But at the same time, make, feel free to make it your own. Feel free to look at this recipe and make it your own masterpiece. It's like a canvas, basically. And so maybe if I give you something, you may see that you want to add bell peppers to it. You may want to omit the onion. It's a lot of different things that you and your personal taste may want. And then also, if you're cooking for other people, there are people who have certain dietary restrictions, and so then you have to look at that recipe and say, Oh, I can still make it. I can make this a vegan recipe if I omit this and then add that. So it's a lot of different ways to look at a recipe and make it function for what you're trying to do in the same thing with project management or whatever it may be, something that you want and it's out of your budget range. But what is it that you can substitute for that? How can you mitigate what kind of relationships do you have where you can have some sort of barter and trade still achieve the same or similar result. But again, look at it as an adventure. Look at it as something of, okay, you're not so restricted by the recipe, but the recipe gives you a base that you can then build upon and get great. I love it.

Unknown Speaker  11:34
That's for me. That's where in corporate and just in my life and my wisdom of you know, the journey of life, right? I call it the messy middle. Living through the messy middle, the beginning and the end of life, right? But all in the middle of the journey is the messy middle. Is what I hear you saying in my and the words that resonate with me are your principles. Yeah. Comes back to what's the base? The solid Are you building a solid foundation, right? So your recipe for success, you're talking about recipes that are like the base ingredients, right? Then you can spice it up. Look at me, using some kitchens, you can spice it up and pivot how you need to add different flavors. You know, it's the same it's the same element in throughout life. So, yes, life is a project. We'll talk about that a little bit later. But I wanted to actually say how we how we actually started connecting more outside of the meal planning, the you know, personal chef services that you offer, which are amazing, they're life saving, turned into, again, meal planning, which then was a motivational factor, right? So it's, it's, like you said earlier, it's about showing up and just keep taking steps, right? Well, that step triggered the next step, which I feel was a stepping stone to get physically more focused on wellness, which was walking more. And then you had said how much you loved walking in nature, and it was like, Well, I do too. Why? Well, I want to go. Can we like? I don't even know how we started going together. Yeah, I honestly don't remember if I invited myself or if you invited me, yeah,

Unknown Speaker  13:15
alright. I don't remember. I don't remember. I just think you know it. We decided upon it because it was one day I had coming up, and I think we were caught. We were conversing about it, maybe, and it was like, Oh, well, you guys should come. Or maybe you said, You know what, we want to go. We want to get into the action of it. But at any rate, we decided to go. And we started on a Friday morning, yeah. And we held true to that. I mean, one of the Fridays, actually, I was not 100% sure we were going, um, but then I get my text at 6:55am Hey, we're on our way Now, mind you, this is the one time I did not wake up on time. So I had literally five minutes to brush my teeth and gather myself and get downstairs. But it was a great wake up call. And like you said, the idea of the energy woke me up because I knew I was waking up to something that was fun and important, because it's a lifestyle. I feel like the personal chef thing is a lifestyle and and what we're talking about is being whole people. We talk about that so much in different ways, and connecting on a spiritual level, a physical level, emotional level. And so, you know, the walks in the park, we've had some really wonderful conversations that we have snippets of, and we'll share that with you guys. But again, just being in nature, connecting with nature, is, to me, very important, because we have very busy lives, and we're on these roads and we're commuting, and sometimes when you get out in nature, you have a moment to just breathe, to just instead of connecting, you're connecting to nature, but you're disconnecting from, I guess, society. I don't want to say it that way, but you know, for lack of better term, it's

Unknown Speaker  14:59
the digital detox too, right? Like that's where, from my perspective, you know, we live in a digital age and communication like we're so we're much more connected through digital devices, and yet, I'm finding the pattern that we're even becoming more disconnected, yes, as human beings. And you know, communication is the thing that makes us different, right? Humans, that's what you know. I think our spirit and our soul from our heart, we share that with other creatures, right? But the way we verbally communicate sets us apart. And I think that we're losing that. I feel like my perspective is we're losing that ability, and it's dividing us. It's becoming a lot more emotional and starting to create this. I call it the digital divide. It's also, I see it dividing generations. Yeah, you know, because a lot of times I'm asked to help bridge the gap, not just in corporate communications and within cross functional teams, especially, you know, IT and the business departments, there's a lot of friction and frustration that happens because lot of times it, you know, appears to be causing more frustration for the business user, even though they're just trying to do their job. You have to bridge that gap, and it's like now generations, and seeing my children become young adults, it's well, the elders, right? Who are now you have this young, the younger generation, who have grown up not knowing anything different than a cell phone, right, potentially, right. Um, whether they're watching their Blues Clues, um, they're they're learning education from it. And with the pandemic, a lot of the, you know, synchronous and asynchronous, like we had to go remote, right? We were forced to do that. And so how did that impact people very, very young, like kindergarten age and our elders, right? And so they're coming from a different where they don't it's not as comfortable for them, right? And so that was, that was what I was finding, is that going back into nature gave you, and I the ability to disconnect from the digital element. But we, we connected so much deeper on a deeper level, yeah, because what I felt like we were in what I call our yellow and green zone of genius. Yellow is really your creativity zone of genius. It's your your discovery, and you can't do that when you're so connected to your technology, right? You need to be in nature. You need to see something and experience something with another person or an element of nature, to be inspired and to be tap into that creativity, right? And that's where I'm really excited to share with you guys snippets from our real talk. I mean, we have this is another transformation moment, because our fueling from the meals turned into physically going and hiking together, which then turned into fueling this content, because we record, okay? Disclaimer, we did use digital technology to record but we weren't on it looking at it. We were using it to record our talk. But the talks that we had and have when we're walking, they're, they're not scripted. It's,

Unknown Speaker  18:24
it's just very organic. It is, yeah, and that's, that's the nature element. So, yeah, we're happy to share those things with you guys so you could definitely hear what we were talking about, and hopefully it sparks conversations with you and your tribe.

Unknown Speaker  18:42
Okay? Wow,

Unknown Speaker  18:45
I'll leave it a little dirt air so we can. That's what I was thinking because I figure like we can do

Unknown Speaker  18:50
all of the call to actions. It's the same call to action.

Unknown Speaker  18:53
Oh yeah because we get just yeah, just repeat it. Okay,

Unknown Speaker  18:57
yeah, that's what I was making. So, let me listen to the quality.