S2 Ep19: Off the Sideline | Kristen Weaver | Bench to Bold

This week, Marnie and Alisa welcome Kristen Weaver, life coach, founder of Dream by Weaver, and wife of NFL coach Anthony Weaver for a conversation about finding her own voice after years of putting everyone else’s needs first. Kristen shares how she built a platform rooted in encouragement and positivity, and what it really looks like behind the scenes of an NFL family’s very public life. The heart of the episode is Kristen’s story of her son AJ’s sudden, debilitating anxiety at age eleven and how the family worked through it together, eventually co-authoring a book, A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety. Kristen also opens up about the family’s recent return to Baltimore, AJ’s full-circle moment walking back onto the same campus where he once couldn’t step foot, and what gratitude looks like for a coach’s family starting a new season.

Episode Highlights:
00:53 — Who Kristen is beyond being a coach’s wife and mom, and where her positivity comes from
02:38 — Why putting herself out there on social media was terrifying at first
04:00 — Kristen’s “locker room” advice for getting clarity before chasing motivation
05:51 — What people don’t see behind the scenes of NFL family life
08:30 — AJ’s story: losing his ability to walk into school at age 11 due to anxiety
11:11 — Co-writing A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety with AJ
13:13 — Returning to the same Baltimore school where AJ once couldn’t set foot
19:55 — Anthony Weaver’s gift for connecting with their kids
20:40 — The championship game: AJ’s panic attack and his comeback to win it
29:48 — Where to find Kristen and the latest on the book

About This Week’s Guest:
Kristen Weaver is a life coach and the founder of Dream by Weaver, where she helps clients find clarity, confidence, and their authentic voice. She is married to NFL coach Anthony Weaver and is mom to AJ and Justice. Alongside AJ, she co-authored A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety, sharing the tools that helped their family navigate his anxiety diagnosis.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Bench to Bold. I'm Marnie. And I'm Alisa. And we're super excited. We have an amazing guest today. She is a dear friend of mine, Kristen Weaver. So, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us on Bench to Bold. And uh, you look beautiful, and we're just super happy to have you share your incredible journey with us. So, let's start from the beginning and tell us every tell everyone how you mean you're such a positive force on Instagram and with your clients, and that's how we connected. So let everyone know a little bit about what you do and who you are. And also, I'd like to know where did all this positivity come from? Because it's really contagious and I love it. I think that actually you and I connected really quickly with that specifically.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

I um the question was asked who I was really before I became um, you know, part of this Dream by Weaver empire that I'm trying to build. And it was really just, you know, being a wife and a mother and being married to an NFL coach and having all these balls in the air. And I feel like a lot of women can relate by kind of spending years putting everyone else's dreams and schedules and needs ahead of my own, you know, and I've always been a big dreamer. I know you can say the same. Um, I just like encouraging people, and I've always been that way. My husband will tell you, um, I'll go to the restroom in like a nice restaurant. This is years ago, and I'll take forever in there, but I'll know the bathroom attendant, where their kids went to college, you know, their favorite colors. That's just kind of who I've always been. And for the longest time, I felt like I was kind of, you know, falling to the wayside or the sideline, if you will, um, while, you know, being Coach Anthony Weaver's wife and AJ and Justice's mom. So I I found sort of my voice in the realization that I want to do so much more to just inspire and have everyone feel like the best version of themselves, also.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Well, you're definitely doing that. And I think that we d and that's certainly something that we can all relate to is, you know, wanting to um to not feel necessarily that we're on the sidelines. But sometimes it's hard when you're out there and you're being a spouse or being a partner and having, you know, relationships and being a mom and being a business owner. And so what are some of the things that you that give you the kind of the juice to keep yourself motivated and going?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

I think, you know, it was really terrifying for me to first put myself out there into social media. You know, I feel like I'm kind of a dinosaur when it comes to that. But I realize in order to reach the people that I want to reach, I had to put myself out there and learn how to do it. And um, to see the engagement and the, you know, I'll see someone on the street, and I know I don't have like, you know, million followers, but someone will tell to me and like I inspired them in one day, or I they really needed to hear that affirmation that day, or, you know, thank you for making me not feel alone. And just like the little tiny bits of sparkle that someone else might feel just makes it absolutely worth it to me to put in such time and effort and just truly, and I know it sounds so juvenile, but just wanting the world to be happy, wanting everybody to live their happy lives.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

I I I it's not juvenile. I think that that's something that is a beautiful message that you're trying to convey. And obviously, you know, your husband is a coach, he's a professional coach in the National Football League. And so uh you're a coach of of your family and your friends and your business. So, what would your locker room conversation be to people out there? Like, how can they, if they're having a hard time, how would you inspire them to go out there in the second half and get it together?

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Oh gosh, that's a good one. Um I like to I like to think of it as maybe the first steps is while people are searching for answers and they think that they need more motivation to get up and do this. I think sometimes we need a little bit of quiet. Maybe get some clarity first. Give yourself a moment. Answer some of these questions, you know, do your breathing. Do I'm all about calming down first, you know, think slow, talk. Wait, no, sorry, I'm gonna have to erase that because I was trying to quote my husband because he has a really good quote, but I don't remember what it was exactly. Uh think fast, talk slow, right? So get your mind to keep up and then put out what the message is that you really want to relay. I think too many times we just let all this mind chat or this cheetah of redi kind of take over, take over what our purpose is and where we're supposed to be. So if you get a little clarity first, then you can show up to be your full, authentic, powerful, amazing self.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

I think that that is, I love that. And so I think that that's a great lesson. Just, I mean, we're gonna keep talking, but I feel like we could just be like, all right, you know, I love learning things. And that's why I certainly I love following you and being your friend, is that you really do deconstruct what seems so obvious. And it does take us a moment to just stop and be like, okay, wait a minute. I'm gonna unplug myself like a human computer and start over. All right, so obviously you are a coach's wife and you're a mom. So what does that mean when uh there's football games on Sunday and things like that? You know, some of the stuff that obviously people want to know about, but that they might not even understand what a typical day is like or a year is like or, you know, anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

So I would say, you know, people get to see the fun and the excitement of the game, right? That's what that's what Sunday is all about. And the bigger picture though is the part behind the scenes that you don't really get to see. You know, while we are absolutely so blessed to be a part of this life, you know, you don't really see the um adversity and the, you know, schedules being all in the air and you know, dad missing a whole bunch of hours at home and you know, the uncertainty of the outcome. You're putting your whole life on the line here, and then are you gonna win or lose? Or, or maybe um relocating, relocating your family, all of those things. But the most important part is that our family stayed consistent, you know, our our faith and our beliefs, our family unit was always strong, you know. And I think the results, since they're not guaranteed, it's kind of cool to see all this consistency add up to success. You know, Anthony always says you only can control the controllables, and that's true in football and in life. You know, the same lessons kind of carried us through um my son AJ's moments, and we'll talk about that later, I'm sure. But it's like you don't get over things just one night, and I kind of ventured off because we were talking about game day, sorry. But it's like all these small steps, all these little wins, again, it's consistency and it just shows up, and you're going to be successful if you stay consistent in that in that way.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Oh, definitely. I mean, and if you'd like to talk about AJ, certainly I would love for you to share that story if you're comfortable sharing that. And um, you know, it's a beautiful story, and you're an incredible mom. And so I, you know, please uh let everybody know about some, I mean, and again, because I think people see this glamorous lifestyle on the outside, and there's which there are many moments of really incredible things, but the uh but when it really comes down to it, there's a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Absolutely, you know, and I think that's with pretty much every every family, every life. You know, I think one of the biggest misconceptions is NFL families are different from everyone. And at the end of the day, you know, we're all just on this planet together trying to raise the most healthy, um, competent young people and strong marriages, and we all want the same goals. And I think what it comes down to is um, you know, sticking together. And what happened with us, AJ, and if if you don't mind me going into the story, no, please, I would love for you to share it. Okay, okay, great. So AJ at 11 years old, he is now 14, and he suffered with debilitating anxiety. This came out of nowhere, was absolutely nowhere. Um, all of a sudden lost his ability to walk. So this kid who is the most athletic, gorgeous, I'm a little bit obsessed with my kids, just a wonderful child, and all of a sudden just lost his shine and his confidence and couldn't get out in the normal world, normal, in quotes, and show up as himself. It was debilitating. He couldn't walk into school. I slept on his floor for three months. Um he thought he's gonna be sick at night. Um, I took my clients out of Zoom, out of the car, because he wouldn't even attempt to go into school unless he saw me parked out there every day. I sat outside of that school. Um, it was the most challenging moment as a mother I've I've ever been through. Now, you know, again, I like to see the positive of all of it. And what was so humbling at first, you know, it's like I'm a life coach and I have all these clients and I help them get over specific obstacles almost like this. You know, I'm not a medical professional, don't get me wrong. But um, my husband, you know, he's this leader of men. He's the most amazing coach. I'm not being biased in any way, he's fantastic. We couldn't help our son in that moment. And it was humbling. So, what we did, you know, I threw all of my life coaching tools at him. I was like, why didn't I start this with children? I was only teaching adults at this time, and I was like, wow, my kids could have benefited from all of these little tools, you know. And we threw them all, gave him everything I had in my toolbox. Um, we called all the doctors we had at our disposal. Think, you know, I mean, I'm just we're so blessed to have the most amazing people backing us as and supporting us. And what we did was we journaled through it all. We wrote down what worked and what didn't work for him. And at the end of the day, he did want to share his story so that he could help other children and not feel alone and not think they have to navigate this thing to by themselves. We are in it together. And even parents, so parents, when you're struggling with this kind of thing, when you can't see what your child is in pain over, it is it is another level of mind blowing. You can't just give a Tylenol and be like, ah, feel better. It just doesn't work that way. So we took something so negative and so tough into this beautiful positive light of helping others and hoping to, you know, help other people navigate what we went through. That is where the book came in. We wrote a book together, my son and I, he is my co-author, a family's playbook to coping with anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

It's, I mean, it really is. I when I I've heard that story from you before, but it it uh it's every time I hear it, I I learn more about you and your resilience and and you know, just how that's just part of what we have to do. We have choices in life. We can either, you know, stay um, you know, negative and down or turn to the positive. But again, like where I'm just it's so fascinating to me because people ask me this too. There, like, because I've had my own share of of really of things that have been pretty difficult, but like, where does this positivity come from, Kristen? Because it's not natural. Most people, I would say this, most people have to turn to a lot of therapy or drugs and alcohol or something maybe to get through it. And it's really enlightening. Like, I I really am in awe of of that, especially when you have a sick child. They're really, I mean, I I can say from my own experience that there's really nothing like it when you have a sick child of trying to figure out how to get over that curve. And like we're just it's amazing. What do you turn? How do you, how do you do this?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Well, I think after you walking through something like that with your child, you you kind of don't sweat the small stuff anymore. You know, he's going into high school, and yes, I'm concerned about him, you know, showing up as his best self and grades and all these things. But at the end of the day, I see parents over here freaking out about how they're gonna get into college and which they're this, this, this, this. And I am just like, my son is walking, like actually now he is running into class and having his best life and living his best life. And those things matter to me now. Like, absolutely, I'm gonna be supportive and want him to be successful and you know, get good grades and do all the things, but just to see this kid smile, oh my goodness, it is just it's different. Um, we just got back from a basketball tournament in which the same, and I'll tell you this, this let me go back a little bit. We left Baltimore, and that was when he was in the thick of his anxiety. So we went down uh to Fort Lauderdale, where my husband was the DC of the Raven, uh, sorry, the DC of the Dolphins. And then now we're back up here. Now the thing is, we could have moved anywhere, anywhere, 32 teams, and our path was to come back here for the third time. My husband is now back with the Baltimore Ravens. And this is the same school that my son could not step foot on campus. You know, he couldn't walk onto that basketball court, and we're in the same league, the same coaches, the same counselor that held my hand that texted me a hundred times a day to make sure that I was okay to tell me what was going on inside the school. Same stuff. AJ, we walked onto that campus the first time and I didn't know what to expect. And he's pointing at the bench and he's like, Mom, do you remember that's the bench that we had to meditate every morning? He's like, Oh, this is gonna make me cry. He's like, um, that's where you parked out so we could do our breathing exercises, and that's where, and it's like, this kid, and it didn't phase him. He was so excited to come back and be AJ 2.0. He is starting on this AAU travel basketball team that again, he had to go and sit and do tapping. And I need a moment, and oh man, just to see him thriving right now is I can't even put it into words.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Well, so I I guess that um, first of all, thank you. I mean, I'm tearing up hearing you share that story. And what really is remarkable is that okay, whatever one believes in faith-wise, I think that there is a higher power for sure of the fact that that you get to experience this in a in another version after these years of having this terrible time in AJ's life. And now you get to go back and experience it in a different way. And I I love that about the universe and you know, God's plan and all of those things that really do, I think, culminate in success. And like you were saying, it's just being consistent and knowing that you're gonna get through it and having a positive attitude. And now here you are at basketball tournaments in Baltimore. And um, yeah, I mean, I want to be a Ravens fan now, too.

unknown 15:36

Well, please do.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

I mean, it's a it's he got a real life redo. Like, when do we ever get to have that? You know, God is good. I tell you what.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

So, were you ever able to uncover where the anxiety was stemming from?

SPEAKER_01 15:52

The doctors, all the things. No, he and I don't want to say just diagnosed with, he was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. We did all of the testing, we did. I mean, it could have been anything under the sun, and that is what he was diagnosed with. Now, what I will say is the scary part about this stuff is it might start with a little bit of anxiety, right? And that develops, and if you don't have the right tools, the proper ways to handle it, it just snowballs. And what happens is depression is very, very common in this age, would be the next step. And then after that step, and I hate to even say it out loud, but suicide rates are astounding in our youth. Um, a very pivotal point for our family was when AJ he left his phone out in a screensaver, and he was 11 years old. And the screensaver was a stick figure, smiley face kid, and it was taking a mask off and it was a sad face underneath. And I was like, whoa, you know, we gotta get this under control because it's just very pride swallowing, I think would be tough or be fair to say, very pride swallowing. Um, you don't want to admit that your child might have a problem or could go into depression like that. And um when we talked to the doctors, that was our first step to okay, we got to do this. We're going to a psychologist. Do we need medication? What do we need? Let's get over this hump together. And um, I we were very fortunate that he would talk to us and share with us what he was feeling. And that's what every doctor, every nurse, every school, every counselor was like, that boy is telling you that he's not okay right now. How are you going to fix it? So we did. And as a family, you know, and I and here's the thing: I don't want it to be a misconception that, like, oh, he's fixed now, all done. We're done here. He's never gonna be anxious again. Absolutely not. That is not how anxiety works. It has a way of sneaking in and, you know, messing the furniture up and leaving its mark. And I just feel like at least now he's prepared and he has the tools or plays, we call them in the book, to get over the humps when they come and the hurdles and the challenges and use his voice and talk instead of letting it fester and be scared and feel like you have to do it by yourself because you don't.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Yeah, I mean, I I do, I mean, I think that teenagers, and first of all, thank you for sharing this story because it is something that seems kind of messy as a mom. You're like, oh my, you know, how do you present, you know, these beautiful family photos, and yet there's some sadness, you know, beneath them. So I think that the fact that you have the bravery and the courage to come out there and be like, I'm Kristen Weaver, and here's my story, and this is our family story, and we're gonna stay on top of it because you're right. I mean, there are things like it once it's fixed, it's not really, I mean, it's a constant thing of like we have to always stay on top of what it is so that it doesn't go back to where it was. But you're so involved as a mom. Not everybody has that privilege of having parents that really do understand what that looks like for their for their family. But I think that having people with a voice like you going out into the universe and sharing that is something that is really a positive thing. Also, I'm sure for your husband, for Coach Weaver, that you know, he's in the locker room with a lot of young men that are probably having their own version of anxiety too, based on the fact that they have to perform um on a national level, and uh it's a very competitive job. So, what what would what you know how does how does um how does what does coaching look like at your house? Like how does your husband interact with your children? And like what kind of for other families that don't have that, what would some of the messages that he would share?

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Um I'll I'll I'll ask you this. Have you ever seen an interview from my husband, Coach Anthony Weaver? Yeah, I have, yes. The way he talks there, it is not a facade or smoke and mirrors. That man has a gift with words. He is an incredible speaker, and on top of that, father and husband. There is something magical inside of his, like, I don't know what God, God just gave this man this gift. He has an ability in a way with words. Um, he has a very calming demeanor, and specifically with our children. Um, and if you have time, I actually have a story from this last weekend. He uh he's got a magic about him. I I think I don't know exactly how to put this into words. It's not, I don't think it's something that you can practice or train for. He's just he's very gifted and in helping you to take a step forward, helping you to become your best version. And I think I think along the way, he might have pushed me a bit to become a life coach. He made me a better person for I believe in myself. Um, and I couldn't be even more proud that he is our kid's father. They've got quite the role model. But can I tell you this? Yes, please. You can cut it if you want to. This is me talking to my friend. We're in Virginia, major nationals championship for his team that he played with my son, starting five. You have to play, it was five games total over two days. So if you play until you lose, right? So the second to last game, um, this kid comes out, a huge kid, and he's throwing bows. We're talking about not like just playing aggressive, playing nasty. It was nasty. There was like five technicals to the point where Coach Weaver is getting off of the bleachers, screaming at the refs. You can't like you can't let kids play like that. Someone's going to get very badly hurt. Other little soft, quiet parents are on the court screaming. Okay, so everybody was on edge. Um Into like all this overtime, it was the longest game ever. But if you win this game, you go to the championship, the very final game. Okay. AJ gets elbowed over and over, but you could see this one hurt him. This he had he was on the biggest guy. My kid's pretty big. It hurt him. The next, the next play after he hits the game-winning three-pointer. Okay. Awesome. Wins the game. Everyone's cheering. AJ, AJ, great. High fiving. He comes to the side. Dad takes off. We got to get the dog out of the hotel because, you know, we were, we didn't realize we were going to be there that long. We didn't know we were going to get to the championship. So he's rushing. He's hauling asked go and pick up the hotel. And I'm get to the side with AJ. And he looks at me. He's like, Mom, I'm going to pass out. And he like falls on me. He's like, I can't breathe. I can't breathe. So his chest is going, his breathing is going because of this injury that this kid did to him. And all these people are cheering for him. And I'm like holding him up. He doesn't want to make a big scene. So we walk to the side. I have his little brother, who's eight years old, giant little brother. And he is so sweet and crying because he's like, What's wrong? Why can't he breathe? What's going on with him? All of this stuff going on. Our last game is in 40 minutes, by the way. The championship game. I'm calling Anthony. I'm like, I don't know if I'm equipped. I don't know if I can handle this. I need you to come back. Help me, help me. So I go, he asks for a medic, which was that big of a deal. If AJ needs a medic, I run to the front. The medic comes and, you know, check out. He ended up having a big bruise here. It was inflammation and okay, all the things. But I could see him a little bit start to unravel. You know, like I think it scared him. He couldn't get his breathing under control. Teammates, coach texting me, where are you? Is he gonna play? Blah, blah, blah. So I'm calling Anthony. He hauls butt back, gets in the car with him. And I, in my mind, he's not gonna play. There's no way he's gonna play. He was just, he's on the other side. There's no way. Um, I take the dog and my other son out, and and we go and just watch to support the team. Five minutes late, I look up and here comes AJ and dad walking in, and he's changing his shoes, lacing up his sneakers, and they won the championship. Oh my gosh. He crushed it. But those words, I don't know what he said in those 10 minutes to our son because I couldn't get him out of that car. I couldn't get him to get on that court. And daddy did it. Dad was that's teamwork everywhere. Oh, it's amazing. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

That was last weekend. Well, first of all, congratulations, that's amazing. But I think that like that's really the definition of teamwork of you knowing what you could do, and then being like, I'm gonna pass the ball to my partner, to my teammate, to get to move the ball down the field. Right. And I think that that's a beautiful definition of of what teamwork is is not trying to take on a task that you already knew that you had done all that you could do, and now it was time to be rely on your teammate to do that. Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

We did all of the exercises, we tapped in, we did all, and he was back to baseline, but I don't know if I could have motivated him to get on that court the way dad did. That was that was inspiring. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

And then to win it. So congratulations. Not even just to show up, to show up and crush it. That's fantastic. And and all right, so now you're back in Baltimore, and what is it, what is it like? How does it feel to you to be back in Baltimore?

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Man, grateful. I mean, I think this is like the word of my year, my decade. Grateful. I am so grateful. Anthony is so grateful. My kids are so grateful. This is the one place they wanted to be. AJ was so excited to show off AJ 2.0, maybe prove something, which he didn't have to, but to to show the kids, the teachers, the coaches, you know, who he is and what he's capable of. But then we get here and the love you feel. This city is it's just amazing. The organization is amazing. You can feel the love that is here for Coach Anthony Weaver and his family. They're just so supportive. Everyone is, I mean, it's sunshine and rainbows right now. Sunshine and rainbows right now. But, you know, let's see. We're gonna get those games under control. We're gonna go win. I feel like this is Super Bowl time.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

That's right. Well, you're definitely all right. So what is it like to be a fan? I mean, what is it like to be a fan? Like, how would you explain to be a you know, your husband is a coach, and what are some of your favorite fan moments of being a fan?

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Oh I I think just perseverance, I don't really know that I could pinpoint one instance. I just think it's it's cool to see it all come together with all of the work and effort that dad puts in, you know, that not everybody gets to see. It's just the consistency. I I don't really have an answer for that one as a fan. I don't know. I think I take it things a little differently just because I'm so invested in it.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

Yeah, I have a great friend who's a super fan of the Ravens. He's super excited for the Ravens to come play the Panthers.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Uh when is that?

unknown 27:02

I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

I just saw the schedule and I was like, I saw that one because I'm I'm trying to get a roster together of which games I'm gonna go to.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

Yeah, I don't know what the date is, but here's I think it's in October.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

I know. I told you you have to stay at my house.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

So and by the way, can I just go up what your accent is? I think this accent is I love it so much. I'm from Texas, I'm from Houston, so I love an accent.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

I have one for sure. I love that. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

All right, so you're back in Baltimore. Or have you re now have you relocated? Are you moved in yet? Like, what are the next steps until the season starts for you and the family?

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Oh, we're here. Um, husband just got on break. So we are about to travel. The word, this was the one that we're actually leaving tomorrow again. We just got back Monday, leaving again tomorrow. So we are just we're on the we're on the move, we're gonna get it all in. Let dad feel some excitement and freedom, and then he's going back to the grind and gonna get this season underway. Where are you where are your trips planned? Do you have any fun trips? Oh, oh, yes, we do. This so we're not one to do like these giant trips. We try to fit it all in and see the family and do this. This year, though, we're doing it big. We're gonna go to Croatia, Slovenia, and Venice. And we're meeting another family out there very, very excited for this one.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

I just left Venice last two weeks ago. And you'll love Croatia. I went to Croatia last year. Yes, it's fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

I have heard nothing but good things about Croatia. Do you know where you went there? Because I mean we went all over.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

We do a backroads tour with backroads once a year, and it's a planned vacation company, and so you it was a multi-sport. So you do biking, hiking, and kayaking was the one we did. But we went to all we hit all the the great cities um in Croatia, and we did some boating. We were on a private yacht with them that they had planned for us. I mean, it was fabulous. It was probably one of the most fabulous places I've been.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

You're and you're not the first person to say that.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Yeah, Croatia is fabulous, but Venice is too. I'm Italian, so I love Italy.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

But are you really? Yeah, I'm very excited about it all. Now, I mean, I I worry about like all the hiking and stuff with the kids, but I'm I I can't wait. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

I love Croatia.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

That's what I'm saying. Fabulous. We're gonna do tobogganing and whitewater rafting and zip lining, you name it, we're doing it. We're getting it all in. They have a lot of things to do. Are you doing it through a vacation company? Yeah, there's this one uh travel agent that my husband met when he was a player, and and he is like, you just tell him kind of what you want, and he lays it all out. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Yeah. Well, you'll love Croatia, it's fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Thank you. I'm excited to do it.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

That just makes me even more excited.

unknown 29:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

All right. So, Kristen, where do people find you on social media? If they're curious to know about Dream by Weaver, how do they get, you know, how do they connect with you? How can they follow you? Where would people find you?

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Uh, I am at Dreamby Weaver LLC, and my oh, I was gonna say my email address. I don't know if that's probably good.

unknown 30:07

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

I'm just so open. I probably need to like rail it in a little bit. Um, yeah, Dream by Weaver LLC. I think that's the best way to do it.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

All right, and so and what when um so what about the book? So what's the latest with the book? And how can people connect with you and find and read AJ's story?

SPEAKER_01 30:26

So yeah, reach out to me, um, message me. My uh literary agent, or just spoke to her today, as a matter of fact. We are wrapped up as far as the book is being finished because our very last chapter was waiting to get back here and to have AJ's words and oh, wait till you hear his words from his mouth, coming back to Baltimore. It's just it's a tearjerker, so get ready for that. But our last chapter was coming back here, and we just completed it. So the book is done, and now we're just congratulations, waiting to get it out. Oh, such a it's been years, years in the making. I know you know this author over here. I mean, how many books do you have now? You're very inspiring. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Uh 16.

unknown 31:09

16.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Yeah, 16. And they're good. I see I have them here. They made the trip. I have them together. All right, good. I'm glad. Well, you could, you know, we're we're uh we'll do Baltimore soon, so get ready. I'm excited about that. I would I would love to do that. All right.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Um well we talked about that, so that'd be good. We did. Yeah, I I would I just want to hear more about it. I know that's not for this, but I you and I need a whole nother conversation on the no, I mean, I think that we all, you know, we're all sports fans.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

What I love about Elisa is that she's a huge sports fan. So she doesn't really so that's how we initially mean we also oh, another thing we can also talk about is that Kristen recently went to the Ronald McDonald House in Baltimore. So that's how I mean we'll we'll stop, we'll end the show here, but that's how Elisa and I met because she's on the board of the Ronald McDonald House. So we all agree that finding ways to give back in in any capacity is really truly our currency. And the other stuff is great too, but we love finding ways to connect and make a difference, and you definitely do. I know Elisa does.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

We love the Ronald McDonald House. My husband and I love the Ronald McDonald House.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

That is amazing. And you know, when I went to go tour that day, I told you that I you just you don't realize uh how many people are involved in these amazing.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

And we have no connection to the Ronald McDonald House. I mean, we didn't have children that had to go there, thank God. But we just um I actually had a connection. I was on a different board with Susan G. Coman and the guy up in Winston-Salem where I'm from, he actually is is um at the Winston-Salem Ronald McDonald House financial guy, and he sat on the board with me, and that's where I first learned about the Ronald McDonald House. And then I moved to Charlotte and got involved, try to get involved during COVID and um to be a volunteer. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Well, and that's funny because remember when I told you that that it was just random, I met someone here that was on the board at the Ronald McDonald House here, had nothing to do with you, nothing to do with it. It was just she was on the board. Do I want to go tour it? I was like, absolutely. By the way, I'm gonna go start teaching my uh mindfulness and emotional intelligence courses. They are starting in July. So, yay!

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Yay, well, thank you. And that day when you said that you were going to the house, and I was like, wait a minute, I'm in Philadelphia, I'm on my way to the Ronald McDonald house in Philadelphia. So it was uh, you know, just again finding ways. Your positivity, Kristen, is contagious. And that's why, you know, I'm your I'm your biggest fan, but uh many people are. I'm sure that that there are many people out there that are part of the Kristen Weaver fan club.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

So that's so nice to say. I already teared up twice today. Cut it out. You know, it's so nice.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yeah, it is. It's you know, well, because you really do make a difference. And when I um see the things that you share, and we, you know, can there's always a lot of beautiful um positivity, and that's really what we all um we all need in our life. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

I do believe in divine time, and I think you and I met at exactly the right time. And for all three of us to have had this strange McDonald, Ronald McDonald connection is is also very I can't wait to get to know you more, also. Please call me anytime. I love to talk.

unknown 34:28

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

But I believe in divine time, and I just think that we were meant to be friends, and there's gonna be a lot of fun ahead of us.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

I am really looking forward to it, and that's really something that uh again, and sometimes people say, like, oh, you know, the internet or whatever social, but we met because I saw you on Stacy's show. And by the way, Stacy sent me a message the other day and she was like, Wait, you're in Dallas? And I'm like, Well, my son is living in Dallas right now. I'm not there, but I'll see you soon. So it was just like it was really yeah, she's only an hour from her now.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

So I actually saw her what uh a couple months ago when I came with my son's um um, they had a field trip to uh uh where are they Washington, yeah. And I got to see her. I was like, it's been forever.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

I know, yeah, she's great. So it'll be well, this this season we'll all be on the East Coast, so we'll all get together and do a nice, um, a nice selfie for Instagram, but also we'll break the internet as they say, but we'll uh we'll reconnect. So um, well, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us on Bench to Bold. You have so many great stories, and you're such a great um influence of positivity and love and all the good things. So thank you. And um, thanks everybody. I'm Marnie. And I'm Elisa. And we'll see everybody soon. Thank you.