One on One with Mista Yu

***Blast From The Past*** From Charleston To Meadville: Marriage, Parenting, And Purpose

• Mista Yu

Share episode

SEND US A TEXT. Drop Mista Yu a text at: (904) 867-4466 or (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2378778/open_sms). Leave your first name and the city you're reaching out to us from. We'll respond to your message on the next Fan Mail episode and give you the biggest shoutout. Every message you send to me matters. WANT A SHOUT-OUT ON THE PODCAST?

Hey, Friends and Family.
Even in the months of the podcast season when things are slow, we got content for you. Our team thought it a great idea to start reviewing previous (but timely) episodes of our show during the times that Mista Yu is away from the microphone. All of these episodes (or beautiful Blasts from the Past) were previously broadcasted but we are sharing them with you for a time that you might need it most. Hope you enjoy!


What if the path to a stronger family isn’t more hustle, but more presence? We sit down with Matt and Nicole Gillette to unpack a decade-plus of marriage, two big moves, a parent’s cancer diagnosis, young kids, and the surprise launch of Wonder Learning—a community hub for parent coaching, connection-focused classes, and the Raising Wonder podcast. Their story blends heart and strategy: keeping marriage playful and curious, letting parenting sharpen empathy, and building a business that helps families slow down and connect in an overwhelmed world.

We trace their journey from New Jersey to Charleston to Meadville, where a micro church and an arts-rich town made the move make sense. Nicole shares how a midnight nudge turned into a clear vision: give families a place to practice connection, not just talk about it. Matt opens the hood on real estate and construction through a changing economy—how 2.5 percent mortgages reshape moves, why property management demand will rise, and how thoughtful renovations can beat relocating. Together they show what purposeful pivots look like when markets shift fast.

Faith runs through every decision. Isaiah’s quiet guidance and the humility of Philippians keep them moving one step at a time, focused on obedience rather than optics. The most counterintuitive takeaway might be the most practical: rest is a competitive advantage for families. Boundaries create the time equity to love well at home, serve the community

Coffee lovers and health-conscious listeners, we have new sponsors. They're offering you their best discounts! Links are below. Start saving now!

Quantum Squares: https://quantumsquares.com/discount/TCMMY

Strong Coffee: https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/TCMMY

ZivoLife: https://zivo.life/discount/TCMMY

I know you can probably find a good cup of Joe anywhere these days but can you find a good cup of Joe that is actually healthy for you! Strong Coffee is YOUR answer! Use the promo code below and tell me if it doesn't change the game for you! Healthy for your skin and your mind and it tastes great!

Strong Coffee: https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/TCMMY

Support the show

Hope you enjoyed our broadcast! If you would like to, or know someone who would like to be connected to Mista Yu as a future guest on one of our shows or to have him on your show or you think he's the perfect fit to be your new High Performance Coach, visit our page here: https://theycallmemistayu.wixsite.com/they-call-me-mista-y

We can't wait to hear from you!

Here's my LinkTree: linktr.ee/theycallmemistayu

Here's my Landing Page: https://theycallmemistayu.wixsite.com/they-call-me-mista-y

SPEAKER_00:

What's up, everybody? Welcome back. Today call me Mr. You in our one-on-one sessions. The Queen is in the house for the first time. What's up, girl? And of course, our good friends Matt and Nicole Gillette, entrepreneur power couple in the house. How you guys doing?

SPEAKER_03:

Good. Thank you. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

A lot been going over you guys, but overall, you guys doing well? Wanna chat a little bit?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Ready? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's do it. Let's do it. Awesome. All right. So last time we talked, y'all had moved from where we are. We'll probably get into that a good bit, but y'all moved a good bit, uh moved back with some family, and you're doing a lot of things in the entrepreneurial uh uh realm. And it's kind of awesome to hear that, but I think you guys had an anniversary recently, right? We do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Happy related anniversary. How many years? It's been eight years.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. 12 12 years.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, 12 years married, 20 something together.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we started.

SPEAKER_00:

Congratulations. Well, I know many on here probably want to know the secret of a happy marriage. I don't know if we can tell them that, but if you haven't found a secret, what have you learned so far that you can share?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh man.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I think I told you guys we were coming, so I'm surprised.

SPEAKER_03:

I think having fun together is really a big thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Matt loves to joke around and and do fun stuff. And um, he he pulls that out of me. And I think that that keeps things like always exciting and new.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yeah. I mean, I one somebody told me one time when we were getting married to never stop dating. And I try to write that on every wedding card that we go to because that's important. I feel like you haven't just like gotten married, and then here's the end, you know. Now we just live together. So, you know, like to continue to I don't know, we I've I'm a different person this year than I was last year. So continue to learn people, you know, about each other and never like stop trying.

SPEAKER_00:

So I love that. Can you share a little bit about what you mean when you say you're a different person? Can you get into that or is that too personal?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh no, I mean like I still don't want to know what I want to do when I grow up. So, you know, like every day is a little bit different.

SPEAKER_00:

Come on, man.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. We've got different things going on now, and we have things that we're passionate about, and we have things that the Lord's put inside our heart, and like, but every day is a little bit different, and so um, you know, we're learning new things, we're trying new things all the time. So what I'm passionate about to has has, you know, from a vocational standpoint, has been the same for about the last eight years, but it pivots a lot.

SPEAKER_03:

So yeah, okay. It's really interesting because we've known each other so long. So there are, of course, things that stay consistent over the years, but a lot does change too. So it's kind of like learning to grow and change together. And sometimes one of us, um, you know, I'm sure anyone who's been together for a long time would understand this. It's like you might one might be changing at one pace and the other one's changing at the other, but like how to still be together while that's happening at different times, it's it makes it interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

That's good.

SPEAKER_02:

Sometimes my priorities today are not the same as my priorities tomorrow. So and then they might go back to what they were next week. So uh you know it's all adapting and okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, Rock is a buddy of mine. We do a show together on Thursday nights, our wrestling show. You want to jump in and say hi? He's all about relationships as well, I guess. So good to see you, Sparrow. Thanks for jumping in and joining us on this show today. Uh, you guys made a big geographical move, which is kind of funny because most people trade the snow in and the cold for the sunshine, they moved down to the south. You guys kind of did it in a little bit of a different way. Kind of walked us through that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so we both grew up in New Jersey. Um, we spent uh you know our whole early lives there until about 22, 23, and then we moved down to Charleston, South Carolina, and we were down there for about eight years. Um, and then in in February 2020, our world got shook up like everybody else's. And but for us, my dad got sick and got diagnosed with um multiple myeloma, which is like bone marrow cancer. So at that time, you know, Nicole was teaching, so she was teaching remotely, and I was doing construction full-time in real estate, and so we kind of had a we're trying to figure out how to navigate the construction and the real estate. So I wasn't in people's houses as much as I was before, too. So we came up here to help my dad and my mom transition through that time period because it was, you know, one new to them, but also new to the doctors in that space too, and trying to figure out how to do chemo and treatment during COVID. And um, and so we came up here, they take they, you know, my my grandmother lives with my mom and dad too, so helping take care of the responsibilities that they have um while my dad went through that transition. So um, so yeah, so that's what got us here. And then it was about two years of doing kind of part-time back and forth. Like we bought some real estate investments here in PA. And so we kind of did uh some months in Pennsylvania and some months in South Carolina, and then um we have two children, so we have a four-year-old and a three-year-old now, and so they were what two and one at the time, or three and one, two and two and less than one.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, Alanis was born here in Pennsylvania, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So those drives in the truck were getting a little rough, and then also, you know, um, we have family that we made in South Carolina, but we didn't have any biological family in South Carolina, and so not knowing, especially my dad's prognosis, and then also Nicole's family still all lives in New Jersey, so the drive to New Jersey is closer from PA. I mean, it's still seven hours, but it's closer from PA than it is from South Carolina. So uh, so yeah, we felt the tug um to be up here and we look relocated up here.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, well, I would have had an honor of you guys because I knew that you would enjoy the reminder of Jersey. I I know how you felt about that, so just I did this, I did it for you, Matthew, just so you know. Just to bless you, brother. That's why I did this. I was all about you, but but most of all most of almost all of our conversations over the years have surrounded parenthood, even when Nico was like super little, uh, and the challenges that come with it. Uh, we got three grown daughters, so all we see is the kind of the grandchildren and their growing pain. You don't see well, the adult children have growing pains too.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What are some of the lessons that you learned in the recent years about parenthood and juggling that challenge?

SPEAKER_02:

I'll let you start that because that's I mean, that's kind of one of the main reasons why you're starting your new business too.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Parenthood is the best gift in every way because it's it's just like all the obvious joys of it. Um, getting to be able to see new people and help raise them and all the like fun things that come along with kids, but it's also a gift in that it gives us challenges to walk through that just refine us. Um, I was just saying this to somebody yesterday. I feel like when you're a parent, it's like all of a sudden a mirror is like held up to you, or it's like, whoa, here are some things that I kind of forgot about in myself, or like things that I might get triggered by, or things that I see that they might be struggling in that I think they got for me. And um yeah, it's like a gift though, because it helps like heal stuff in in yourself, and then it also allows you to um hopefully be able to support your child or children through that too, whatever it might be. Um, but also the the the funny and fun stuff too. Like I will see things in our kids that I know they got from one of us, and things that like, oh, I haven't seen that in a while. Like we used to be like that or say things like that when we were younger too. So it's it's kind of cool how that works.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean like a mirror is like one of the biggest things that I feel like I've noticed in that uh you know, I realize my own deficiencies and um insufficiencies uh much in a brighter scale now because I can't, or I can, it gives an opportunity for me to say to my kid to our kids, like, you know, I struggle with that too. And and um, you know, you're not you're not alone in this and become a teaching moment and being like humble in that too. Uh because when you're just like by yourself or you're running around all the time, you can usually just kind of brush it under the rug. Yeah, so but it's fun. It's a lot of fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Parenting also um, I think gave me a new perspective and compassion and understanding for others. Um the first people that come to mind are like our own parents. So seeing like, oh, that's what it was like, probably, you know, for you and you were raising us, um, and it's like an appreciation for them, um, and just other family members in in our lives too. Um, I also am thinking of being on the other side of the table now. For years I was a teacher that and I didn't have kids for the majority of my teaching career, and now I can see like how it feels to be the parent on the other side too.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, enriches like your understanding of others. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey guys, it's Mr. Yu. You know how much Mr. Yu loves his coffee. I think I found the answer for all you guys at a health conscious, but still love coffee. Strong coffee company. 15 grams of high quality protein, check, sustain energy throughout the day, check, no gist and crackers, check, especially for the apple for your morning commute, check and double check. It's also good for your spin now. I hope you alternate that actually tastes good. I will make a highest expensive discount for my list. Use the promo code strongcoffeecompany.com forward slash discount forward slash T C M M Y. That's what they call me, Mr. U. StrongCoffeeCompany.com forward slash discount, forward slash T C M M Y. The link is also in the show notes. Check out Strong Coffee, let me know what you think. I love that. Well, you guys have both experienced the uh the lifestyle of being in the north and in the south. Uh I think I have Rwanda to a a lesser degree because she's from the South solely. But what have you learned about yourself in PA and in South Carolina both separately? I'm big into self-development. I guess you guys know that already about me, but what have you learned about yourselves uh in your time in PA and in your time down down here in the South? Big takeaways, anyways.

SPEAKER_02:

Um one of the biggest adjustments that I got had to get used to when we moved down south too was that like uh I had this like I'll I'll tell you an experience. Like we were checking out at I was checking out the grocery store. We had just I had just moved down there because I moved down there during the middle of the school year, and Nicole wanted to finish out teaching her school year. So I moved down there in December. So I was down there by myself for about six months. Nicole came to visit, but you know, didn't move down until the school year had finished. I remember telling you a story of going to the grocery store and checking out, and I'm coming from working in Manhattan and living in New Jersey, and the lady checking the stuff out was like, Hey, how are you doing? And you just and check the stuff out. And then picking up, I remember she picked up a vegetable or something and was like, Oh, yeah, this what are you gonna make with this? And me just being like, You don't really care. Why are you asking? You know, just put the stuff in the grocery and realizing that there are people that are not just like rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. Like the people actually genuinely care and slow down, and like they're not trying to ask you to then take them to the store and you know, which is fine too, but like there's not an ulterior motive. And I feel like up growing up in New Jersey and then working in New York, it was like you always feel like someone's out to get you, yeah. Someone's got an ulterior motive and why they're talking to you for something. So I I it was like this thing I had to learn like, oh yeah, people actually like want to know your recipe, and they don't care that there's 10 people in line behind you. Yeah, so that was like a shift um to actually like slow down and have conversations with people and like actually like really care about them as human beings, even down to like having a conversation in the line at the grocery store. That's good, that's good.

SPEAKER_00:

How about you, Nicole?

SPEAKER_03:

As you were talking, I guess I was thinking about um everybody has there, there are like common things in people everywhere. And I think that I anticipated the big differences moving from New Jersey to South Carolina, and then even out to Pennsylvania. It's like a rural area where we are a bit more where we are now. And what I've come to see every single time is everybody wants to be seen, everybody wants to be loved, everybody um is looking to find like purpose and and connection in life. And so that's a takeaway I've found, especially as again, going back to the family topic, um, how to communicate that to our kids and how to communicate that to the larger community wherever we might find ourselves. I also think I have just recently begun to see our moving around so much as a blessing. I really struggled with it for most of the years that we were doing it. I think just like this sense of instability, also because like even within, I know you all know this too, like even within one space of us living, we would move around several times within that city. And so it was hard, and I think rightfully so. Like I think there is like validity to that for sure, because I think stability is a good thing and um feeling settled in ways is a good thing. But I also have seen that not to sound like cliche, but it the home is where the heart is, it's like the people that you're with, and it's that um sense of feeling again like belonging. Um and I I've just seen that where I think I've made peace with it a bit and found some encouragement in that of like we could move a thousand more times, but like if we have each other, we have our family, we have friends, and even if you don't in places, you make that and you find that. And um, it's like a comforting really I think I've I've seen lately.

SPEAKER_00:

That's great. All the years that we've known you entrepreneurship has always been kind of part of our conversation, too. I mean, everything from King Arthur's Castle to Redbird now and Wonder Learning. I want to get into some of that stuff, but I want to ask you a question generally speaking. Are you surprised by where you are as business owners? Is this a is a change you saw coming in any way, or is this kind of like kind of a big shock, some of the stuff or all of it?

SPEAKER_03:

That's a good question.

SPEAKER_02:

Um do you have an idea?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, if you're still thinking, yeah. I'm for me, I am shocked that I am doing what I'm doing this past year. Um it's very different than what I've done in the past. Um there's a lot of carryover, of course, but I yeah, I I think I am but to see it in you. Um maybe like years ago when he first started, um when you became an entrepreneur, maybe it was a bit of an adjustment, or like, oh wow, I could see that in you, or I could see those strengths in you, but I guess I never like, yeah, pictured it, but here we are. And but now it's like years later, I'm not shocked by a lot of I think what you're doing because it kind of just makes sense. Um, like seeing your different giftings and your experiences. It's really fun to see how things just like start to fall into place. And it's like, oh, this that thing you did like seven years ago that felt a bit random at the time. I see how you're using it now. I see that a lot in your life.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's good. Um, yeah, I mean, I think for me, I I just I never I never pictured myself being uh self-employed 100%. I always kind of envisioned like uh growing up in New Jersey. I mean, you see entrepreneurs, but I just knew people with a lot of side hustles. You know, I got three, four side hustles. And so I just kind of envisioned like, yeah, I'd have this thing, but I'd always it'd always be a side hustle. And it would never really be like my full-time thing. And so yeah, I feel I feel very blessed to be able to not just do one thing, but do two or three. I think that's I guess I'm just a full-time side hustler now, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

So get that business card already, man. Get amazed. I love that. I love that. Uh Nicole, can you describe for me what kind of drove the whole process of the Wonder Learning company? How did you get to this place where you are doing what you're doing? Like you said this was kind of a surprise to you. Kind of walk us through how you got from where we knew you to be at to being uh the leader and a visionary of Wonder Learning. Kind of walk us through that.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, well, I know you both know me well, and you would probably agree when I I say I'm a bit more introverted, I can be quiet, and I also like I don't love I don't love like being, I don't know, in in these more forward-facing roles all the time. But um yeah, to be honest, I was very happy and content. I was at the time when this all started coming into place. Um, I was at home with both Nico and Where did you go?

SPEAKER_00:

Like we lost our people here.

SPEAKER_03:

Can you see us?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we can. Just let me know. You can take a break and put you on pause. Okay. What were you saying? Yeah, continue.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I was I was stay-at-home mom with both Nico and Alan as they're both, I guess about like one and two, three at the time. Um, and I was very like happy to just be like in my own space. And I loved being home. And um I am for sure somebody like I I will need to get out sometimes. Like we'll go, you know, see friends or go to the library, go whatever. Like, I'm not always just like wanting to be home, but I do enjoy being home and I was like perfectly content. But um, I did, I think there was like now that I look back on it, I can see there were like stirrings in my heart about some stuff that I missed, or maybe some things that um I didn't get a chance to see or explore yet, of which I would say like I missed my students, I missed being just around a bunch of people like in the classroom. That was a hard transition where I was used to being around, you know, large groups of people every day and uh like co-workers and like classes of you know 30 kids at a time. And so to to then go to being home, which is the two of them, um, you know, especially during the days where like they didn't talk very much and they just like cried. It's not like being around like people you can have conversations with, you know. And so it was a big transition, but I came to enjoy it and I was happy. But um, yeah, to be honest, the way that it came about, I woke up in the middle of the night and I was like, I never wake up in the middle of the night, right? Like I barely wake up in the morning. I barely wake up in the morning. I'm a really heavy sleeper, and I will never forget it. I just like sat up in bed, like wide awake, and I was like, I need to do something with kids here in in the Meadow area. And um, it was like very fuzzy at that time. I didn't know what exactly it would look like, and um I didn't really know exactly how I felt about it, but I was like, I know that I am supposed to be doing something with kids. Um, and so over the next year, it was like a little bit more of light being shed on it, a little more clarity as we you know moved through different iterations of what it was maybe going to be, and now we're at where we are now. So that's why I say it was a shock because I I really didn't anticipate doing something like this, but I I've been loving it so far. It's been very hard in a lot of ways. I've learned a lot um over the past year or so, but um, I really am loving it too.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Well, for you guys that love to listen to audio podcast, the Wonder Learning Podcast is incredible. Definitely invite you to check it out on Apple Podcasts. Kind of tell us what the vision is for Wonder Learning. What I'm I don't know if you explain why, how it came about, but what are you trying to accomplish with it? What's the end goal? What's the big picture or goal for Wonder Learning? If you can share that with us.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, the big picture is just that families are connecting with with each other and with other families around them. Um, you know, we are just in such a distracted and busy, overwhelmed world. And um, a lot of times families are just feeling the brunt of that. I saw it when I was in education, and I see it even now in our own family as we're parents ourselves. Um, it's like this just sense of like feeling like we need to perform and we need to be like doing all the things. And a lot of times it's like the quality time gets put on the back burner, and it's really to all of our detriment, um, ourselves as individuals, our relationships with our kids, and our relationships that are so critical to happiness and community with other families and other people around us. Um, and so yeah, that's the vision of what we're trying to do. And so we're going to have a space that will have an indoor play space, we'll also have classes. Um, there's going to be parent coaching that's offered in the space too. Yeah, we'll come alongside families that are working towards all different types of goals, whatever it might be, whether it's like a behavioral goal or it's um an academic goal, or just um yeah, looking for new and different ways to connect with each other. So there'll be different types of classes that will do that. Some will be focused just with like adults and um we say parents, but of course, like I've already been um collaborating with other people who don't have kids themselves, but they're involved in the lives of kids, whether they're, you know, um an aunt or a grandparent or um an educator too, like it's just anybody who works with kids will be offering different themed classes and experiences there.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. And so it's gonna be some online resources as well, too, for people who are not close to where you are but want to kind of uh join in and partner and collaborate with you. Will it be online resources available to through Wonder Learning?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's one of the reasons we started the podcast. It's called Raising Wonder. And it was like honestly, uh just like an additional thing that we were wanting to offer that was free and accessible to anyone who maybe like is not in the area or um is not able to, for whatever reason, participate in the parent coaching or or take a class or anything like that. We're like, well, this could just be something people might be interested. We could talk on the podcast about some of the topics we'd be covering in the space. Um, also just like any topics related to raising kids and what that looks like. Again, whether you have kids yourself or not, we've been able to talk to all different types of people from different backgrounds. And it's funny because like it's been really well received. A lot of people are asking about, you know, like when's the next episode? And um, I was listening to the podcast and it was like surprising. I was like, oh, it's funny. It's actually like just like this little side thing that we were doing. I think we should put a little more respect on it of like maybe like get some real equipment or like uh spend some more time editing it. But it's kind of fun. Like don't have to tell you you're doing such an awesome job, and I'll have to maybe get some advice from you because yeah, we've been having fun doing it.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. The whole family situation. I mean, we can all probably talk about that for a whole hour. The whole family dynamic, it's always a sticky situation because these are the folks that know you the best and then the closest to you. So if they want to if they want to do things or they have motives, you're right in proximity, so it's always it's it's always tough to kind of navigate the the uh the tough family dynamic because your heart's attached to it all. But you guys make big sacrifices to do what you're doing when it comes to family. What what have you learned uh or what's been the biggest challenge in making the moves and the sacrifices you guys made, even from the uh moving from the from your home in Jersey and PA where you had family, move away to South Carolina where you didn't have any, you start you start making new family, like we said, and then moving back to PA again and being around the same folks. What's been one of the if you had to name one big challenge for each of you, what's that been? If you can share, it's not too personal. I feel like I could say yours, but I don't really know mine.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna play the Jeopardy music in a few minutes if you too.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, for you, you're still obviously we've known each other for a long time, so like my family is your family, and we're married, and your family is my family, but like you're still far from your mom and your dad and your sister and your brother, and so you guys have a really close-knit family. So moving around was a huge sacrifice for you. Even choosing to move to South Carolina. I mean, I remember having conversations about moving to Morristown, and it was you know an hour 45 minutes away. Yeah, and so then we moved to Charleston and then here, and so you know, you guys have a very good, close-knit relationship with your brothers and your sisters and your mom. Yeah, so I know that that's been a huge sacrifice for you.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, they've been gracious each time, they're like hoping that we're gonna say, like, hey, we're moving back to New Jersey, like every new movie missing. They're always so kind about it, even though I know that they miss us a lot, but they're awesome with making time to visit us. We make time to visit them. We also so we're grateful for technology today, too. We, you know, video chat all the time with our family, my my family in New Jersey. Um yeah, no, that's true. That that's a good one. That is a challenge. I was also thinking, I don't know if this exactly answers the question, but I was also thinking, like, I have found through parenting a challenge. Yeah, I guess it's not specific to the moving piece of that question, but a challenge that I've seen is that I carry some baggage with my experience being an educator and working in schools. Um, I think that I thought a lot will come easier to me than it did. Um, I I still am just like learning every day and I struggle through different things. And, you know, I'll be hard on myself and say, like, you know, I worked with kids for, you know, X many years, and why am I having a hard time with this behavior? Or like, I don't know what I'm supposed to do as a mom in this situation. Um, so it's been, I think, humbling to see that um we are all just trying our best. And um, I think also to have empathy for others too who are going through maybe similar struggles, and even those who might not have a background in education are like our new parents or have never really been around kids before, it's just giving me a heart for that a bit more.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I mean, specific to moving in geographical uh issues or the hardest obstacles that we've run through. Uh you know, getting a business started, set up, building a clientele in South Carolina, and then shutting it down and moving here was a a transition, and that was hard. Um and so trying to find new clients, I mean, you you you lessen those speed bumps, they're a little less frequent. You know, you know how to get started, you know. Like a little more about how to grow and how to market, but uh who you should talk to, what groups you should talk to. But um I mean, we were at a point in South Carolina where we, you know, we had really good sublists, we had a wait list, we had um people that knew who we were, you know, we weren't advertising at all. We were busy. So coming here and then having to spend money on marketing again and meet people and like explain what you do is uh it's an obstacle.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, that's true. That is something we've talked about before, where we would say, like, I just can't wait for the day when we can like hang out with somebody and not have to be like, yeah, our our names are Matt and Nicole. We're yeah, we just moved from Charleston and like like explaining over and over again like who you are. It's like when you finally get past that and you have those relationships of like we can just be like, oh, what was your day like? You know, because we know each other now. It's that's that's a gift that I don't think um I I realized before having to do that so many times after moving multiple times.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, the art of an inside joke, like yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

You miss your friends too. You miss people that you um spent so much time with. And I it's hard to see again as a parent, like in it in our kids too. Um they they were pretty young, obviously, when we moved. Um, but Nico still like remembers people and things from Charleston and will ask about it and want to go. He was actually just saying he wanted to go back and eat oysters. So it's like yeah, it makes you a little sad of like, oh, they miss it, and it was a hard transition. But I think it's it it builds character, it teaches lessons too, and you know, again, it's that piece of like, we might have moved, we might miss things, we might miss people and places, but we're still together, like our unit is still together, and we could still I was gonna say that too.

SPEAKER_02:

And that's like that's been a that's been talking about obstacles, but it's been a benefit too, because you know, Nico, we took them down to Pittsburgh. We spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh after Alanis was born because she had some health conditions that we uh had to take her to a specialized physical therapist in Pittsburgh, and so we spent a lot of time traveling down there, but we would make the boast of it. So we spend a night at a hotel, we go to the zoo, we'd do something like that time. But Nigo has this new obsession with Pittsburgh now, and whenever we're there, he'll say, like, when we're done with our when we're done with the house we're living in now, can we move to Pittsburgh? Like, he has no identity of what regular people do, where they just move into a house, stay there for five, ten, fifteen, twenty years. He thinks, like, when we're done with this one and we move again, you know, can we try this one? But he's it's not a complaint, it's like he's excited about like what's the next thing we're gonna do. Yeah, and so that's been fun to like turn something that could be an obstacle into something that's like exciting and new.

SPEAKER_00:

I tell you what, I refer to you guys as an entrepreneur power couple for a reason, man. You guys, I mean Matt, you're in the building realm, you're doing construction and industrial, and Nicole, you're in heavy in the education realm, and now you're doing a podcast, which is awesome. I I'm trying to figure out how you how you guys think about the times that we're in. Because when I look at what goes on around us, I think about you guys because in 2020, that probably one of the worst times for both markets that you're in, educationally and with real estate. It was it the impact was was uh was crippling to say the least. So I think about how things are changing so much. How do you view what you guys are doing? Do you see it as long-term bulletproof uh opportunities, or do you see it as uh something as a springboard into something else? How do you guys view it? If you don't mind sharing that, kind of kind of going to your brain, into the synapses in your in your brain, trying to figure out how you're thinking. But what do you think about that? Because uh both of those areas are they they're stable and they're steady because the world needs them, but uh when we have a a wild economic situation, it can be impacted greatly what you guys are doing. So, how do you guys view what you're doing long term, uh big picture-wise? Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, do you want to go first?

SPEAKER_00:

You want me to?

SPEAKER_03:

Sure, yeah, that's a great question. It's like very true. I I hadn't even thought about it like us together, like with the two fields that we're into. Um, that's very accurate. Um yeah, I'll start out by just sharing my love for teachers. They are some of the hardest working people, and they really love what they do and they love their students. Um, you know, every field has like outliers and special circumstances of what might happen. And but I mean, like I can say confidently working in different areas over the years, different schools, meeting many different educators. Um, they need some love, they need some support, they need um, they need to be paid more, they need to get just like all the things. Um yeah, the whole teaching through those couple of years, I mean, even still happening right now. I'm thinking of many of my teacher friends who are like, they've been in the classroom for a while now in school, didn't even maybe start yet, and they're just like, you know, setting things up, thinking about their kids that are gonna be coming through those doors, spending a lot of their own money, like making sure that they have everything they need. And um, so it's still even right now as we speak, probably I'm I'm confident of that. Um, but I think like especially through those years you mentioned too, with um teaching virtually was a huge challenge in all the ways that we have come to see. And I think we're gonna still see effects of it um down the line that we don't even know about yet. Um but I I I I am optimistic in in other ways too, because of just like the powerhouse of people who are in the education world and have that. It's like they have training and knowledge, but they have like this heart behind what they do too. I just like am optimistic of maybe things that could be changed or the narrative might be able to be shifted, or new ideas might come into that field in the coming years. I I would love to still be a part of that. And I I hope that Wonder, in one sense, can be doing just that. Um, that's I think a big part of the heart behind what we're doing with Wonder is I would leave so many conversations with my students or even their parents and um or other educators. There for a while I was um able to help train and um lead newer and younger teachers and model through the classroom day, like what are best practices, how can we support kids? And I would leave so many of those interactions and thinking specifically a lot of conferences I'd have with parents who I just like came to love and felt like they were my own family too, leaving those conversations just wishing, I wish we had more time together. I wish that we could, this very challenge that we talked about, whether it was behavioral or academic or just like social, social, emotional transitioning from one thing to the next as kids grow up or as families go through changes. Like I just would leave those meetings wishing we had more time together and that we could actually practice these things like in real time. And so that's what I hope to see happening at Wonder. Um I really look forward to that. So like just being with a family for like an hour straight, like parents and kids or whoever other caregiver or family member that might be involved in their life and um having that goal we're working towards and get to do it like in a connecting, bonding, hopefully fun um way to support them. So yeah, I think that that's what I took, I took away from that time period. It was a challenging time to be an educator and and to be in that field. And it's it still is in a lot of ways, like I said. But I I'm ex I'm excited to be able to hopefully be a part of something that might be shifting in in the culture with that.

SPEAKER_02:

That's good. Yeah, and I to piggyback off what you said, I think that um whenever you have a huge shift, uh like we had like globally, um, you have a lot of people that might be in and out of the profession trying something new. And so I I have hope that um, you know, being a teacher is not an easy job. It wasn't an easy job before, it's not an easy job now, and it won't be an easy job ever. But during that time, it was extra hard. And so, you know, you lost a lot of teachers, you lost a lot of educators, you lost a lot of across all different fields. But I remain optimistic that the people that are still in it, that were in it before, that are still in it, saw the changes during the pandemic still uh have a new um rejuvenated energy for what could be, and you have like the cream of the crop, you know, still there that fought through it and are still caring about their students. So um, yeah. For me personally, I think that uh, you know, we saw a lot of changes during uh COVID with interest rates and buying patterns and um you know, people, tenants losing their jobs um and things like that. And so for us, um we were very blessed in that we our management side, we you know we didn't miss a month of rent. And when a tenant had issues where they had lost their job, they were in between jobs, they were um doing the best they could, you know, we created programs where people could pay weekly, they could get on payment plans. Um, but we managed all the properties we had with um you know no loss in income during that time. So we were very blessed in that in that aspect. Um, we we did some buying and selling during that time, which was hard because there was lots of people buying and selling when rates were 2% and 2.5%. And so uh to talk about long-term plans for that or fear in the market, I'm really thinking long term on what uh is gonna happen when a lot of people who bought their houses at 2.5% with a 30-year mortgage, like what does that do when you've now outgrown your house five years later uh and you want to scale up, but now your mortgage is seven percent and you don't want to let go of the two and a half. Is that gonna increase property management where people are gonna now have more second homes, third homes onto that, you know, or is it gonna increase the construction side because now they're gonna do an addition off of their existing house? Because um, yeah, so like that's what I'm thinking through, and that's why we are now we we started a property management firm as well. So we're trying to grow that side. Um because we we've managed our own properties now for about eight years, um, and had a portfolio of uh th about 30 properties, um, a mix of long-term and short term, but now we're gonna start doing it for clients as well, and so I that's how we're trying to pivot to how that how I see that market going in the next couple years. Um, and then also the construction offsets that a little bit as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, congratulations, man. That's awesome. Definitely proud of you, man. One thing I try to encourage folks to do is because even though we hear all the things, the changes of the tide economically in the world and all the different things that happen, all the factors we have to factor in when we're entrepreneurs in any way, is that I try to encourage that we have the answers because of who God is in our life, we have the answers to a lot of the questions that are gonna pop up, a lot of the issues that are gonna happen. We have answers for those that we have to be the answer. I'll let you answer this with a yes, uh, a not yet, or no. To keep it simple for you, right? Do you see yourselves as part of this future solution? Have you been has it been revealed to you that you're a part of the future solution with education and the way it's gonna look in five or ten years from now? And on the industrial side, real estate side, do you see yourself as part of the solution to how it's gonna grow and change? You say yes, no, or maybe, or not yet.

SPEAKER_03:

I say maybe.

SPEAKER_00:

That's fair.

SPEAKER_03:

The light is still like dim, but it's good for what I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_02:

I would say yes, like I see us pivoting um in that direction, and you know, every day, like I said, I don't know what I want to do grow up when I go up because every day the market changes and and you might stay within your same highway, but you're in a different lane. And so, um, and so I you know, I'm thankful that the Lord has given us the gifts and the talents that he has, and I think that we are part of the solution because we are just trying to be obedient to what he has for us. Yeah, um, and so um, yeah, at the end of the day, if we're not part of the solution, I I I believe that God will correct us and make us part of it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, but we're just like along for the ride trying to be obedient and trusting in him. So, yeah, it's I guess it would have to be, I guess, then really, yeah, when you put it that way.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's okay to not have all the answers. Uh I don't stand with anybody, you know. Yeah, yeah. You undoubtedly have many people who are who value you in your own stopping grounds out here, and we we're we're part of that. What are you discovering about me, Ville that kind of uh has been a pleasant surprise or that kind of makes the move make sense? Anytime we moved, and we moved, I moved probably 30 times before I even met Wanda. Literally, that's that's not an exaggeration. In New York, I moved about uh 20 times, just in New York alone. I don't include Florida and South Carolina, but what what's what have you learned that has made the move make sense in your mind? Like, you know what? This is definitely right, we needed to do this, or something has been a pleasant surprise for you. And both of you guys can answer this one. Pleasant surprise and what made the move make sense to you has been revealed to you. If you can answer that.

SPEAKER_02:

I would say that the fellowship of believers that we have found here has been great, and that was hard because we we left, as you know, you know, a really good fellowship of believers in in Charleston. And so we you know, we miss our family down there that we built. Um, but uh we came up here and really prayed about it and and moved around and tried different churches like you do when you move to a certain area. And we feel like um, I mean, I I I can speak for the both of us, I think. I feel like the Lord, you know, you know, it's like when you're putting a puzzle piece together and it's just like a thousand-piece puzzle and then scattered on the table, and all of a sudden you're like, oh, this one pops in. It feels like it made some sense, like all these random things have gone around. Like um once we started meeting the people in our church and um getting to know them, uh, some of those puzzle pieces started to really like pop together. And um yeah, um, you know, we belong to a church that's called Radiant here in Meadville, and uh they do church different. It's a micro church model, and so we uh, you know, we do a church where we um we meet in right now in a home and it's getting big. It's about 40 people, 45 people on any given Sunday in the living room and dining room of a home with a lot of kids, and but we love when we do church family, you know. Um I love it. And then um the the basis of that, we also have a coffee truck that's called not we, the church has a coffee truck that's called 205 Fahrenheit, and the goal is to uh we've acquired a building and we're renovating that where church will then meet in the coffee truck, in the coffee house, and so it will become hopefully a third place for a lot of people in the community who come in and get coffee and things throughout the week, and then hopefully will join us for church on Sunday. Um pouring into the community, not just being a sayer of things, but a doer of the word is something that I feel like has really resonated where I feel like a lot of churches can, you know, uh you come here on Sunday and that's it, and then we'll see you next Sunday, and there's not a lot of involvement, and I'm not throwing shade in that way, but we wanted something more and always like questioned why the church wasn't involved in the community as much. And so um, yeah, it's it's really been awesome to be a part of that and see that. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03:

I love Meadville, love I love living in this area. Um a few things come to mind, uh things similar to what you were saying, um, just meeting people in that way in our church and in that community. Um, like people who you you don't like you meet somebody and you feel like you've known them forever. It's there's been lots of relationships that have been formed like that, and it's just really great. Um, and it's like in in the ways that you just feel loved and supported, but also like calling you up to do, to do what you're you're being asked to do. Um, you know, it's like allowing us to really walk out in faith and and try um just try things that um I feel like are on our heart. And so that community has really supported us in that way. Um, and then I think what I love about Meadville and something that I I was surprised to learn and was just like thought was really interesting was there's a big artistic community here. And I love the arts. I love um, yeah, I I love like media arts, I love painting and drawing and all of that. I also love the theater and I love music, and um there's a lot of that here, and it's so cool. Okay, um, where you just like meet people too, or they're like there's an arts collective here, there's um just an emphasis on being able to have um I think there's like three theaters, like performing arts theaters in the area. There's definitely at least two, and um we yeah, I just I don't know. I just I have found that to be really cool about this area, and so I've like quickly became endeared to it because I was like, this is this is like my jam, I like all that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. So Matt singing, so is Matt singing again? So I'm excited. Is he is he sitting again?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, he is. I do I do lead worship at church, yeah. Um I'm not on not on the stage. I'm not um we dish they did a re-endition of Jersey boys. I probably should have signed up for that, but yeah, you should that would work, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Of course, that's awesome, man. So last entrepreneurship business question for you guys. For most entrepreneurs, their goal is to work until it starts feeling like work or work until they can retire. What's the end game for what you guys are both doing uh individually? What's the end game if you can see if you if you see that far into the future? Have you even seen that yet? But what's the end goal for the work that you guys are doing?

SPEAKER_02:

Um for me, it it started out. I'll be honest, it started out very selfish. You know, it started out as I want to be in control of my time, I want to nobody tell me what to do. Uh, I want to invest in real estate for long-term wealth and uh my family's generational change. Um, and it has really shifted, which is uh testament to the Lord in that He can take things that you didn't even plan them to be a certain way and turn them differently. Like right now, it it really is. I think I can say that um, and he's working on me. Like I said, it changes day by day, but um uh it really is like just to hear well done, that good and faithful servant, because we have taken the things that we thought were for our own selfish motivations and changed them into something that serves people and also feeds our family and our bills are paid and all that, and so like uh it has shifted from how quickly, how soon can I retire? Can I retire at 40 and just live off of this to like how long can my body take doing this? And then if I'm not gonna, you know, if I can't do this for a long time, what else can I do to serve the Lord? And then also make sure that you know I see my kids, I spend time with Nicole, I can serve in church and do whatever it is that I have bandwidth, mental load, and uh capacity to to do whatever it is the Lord's calling us to do next. Um that doesn't really if we continue if we can continue to have what I like to call time equity, that we can do other things in whatever it is the Lord like wants us to do, then I guess that's an answer to my to the end goal. As soon as the shifts the time scale switches to now we're like a you know a slave to our business and we don't we can't contribute to people in church and we can't help people who need help, then um then something needs to recalibrate.

SPEAKER_00:

Copy that. Nicole, how about you? Any any any additional thoughts?

SPEAKER_03:

Or yeah, I think the posture that we hope to have is one of worship, like looking at work as a form of worship and how it's like we just get to do all this stuff that you know, you know, it's like the work's already finished. It's like we just get to be obedient and faithful in it. And um, so looking at it that I mean, I'm I do not live there every day. I like move out of that posture and back into it, but it's like a practice that um we we know is the right way to be because it's like we're not it's not even that there are goals to get to because it just feels like then we're it's like performing for something or to to to find our worth in that or um and that's not where we find our identity and and we just yeah, it's like we just get to do this stuff that's a lot of times really fun, and um there's rest and peace there available for us if we're doing it in that posture. The times that we start to like, oh we gotta grind this, or like I'm just gonna really like you know, plug away at this thing that maybe I'm not even being asked to do in that moment, that's when we start to feel like we're striving and like really feeling tired or really feeling um confused and lost. Because it's like if our if our goal is just to be more like Jesus every day and to um get to love others, you know, as ourselves, more than ourselves, like that's really all we need to focus on. And so the rest of it is just like part of the experience.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. I love this. I'm gonna ask you guys a question for you to ponder it and answer it a little bit later before we close out. But what scripture or scriptures have been key to you guys during this amazing season of your life? Uh just put it out just so you can think about it, ponder it. We're gonna move back to the different question, then we'll come back. So it'll give you some time to think of it, uh on your phone, whatever it is. But are you guys in PA? Favorite PA food staple. That means that it's the best thing going in Pennsylvania. You gotta have this when you're there. Uh uh when we come and visit you. This is what we're gonna get first. What what do we need? What's the what's the no what's the your favorite food staple in PA? What is it?

SPEAKER_03:

Ice cream. I've I posted about it today, actually. The best ice cream is there's a lot of really good ice cream places.

SPEAKER_01:

Wait a minute. You kidding? Yeah, ice cream person too.

SPEAKER_03:

Very fresh. It's there's a lot of good ice cream here. The thing to do is yeah, I will say that.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, we got a lot of farms, and so there's like there's some there's some places around here that'll use like fresh local milk and stuff too. And yeah, I it's it's interesting because our summer is what like three weeks, and so it's it's it's short, but it's uh it's it's a good two months, but like um, but it's no, I mean that's true summer. I we got spring, summer, and fall, you know, but like yeah, true summer. But anyway, it's um yeah, the ice cream is really good. I I honestly didn't think about that, but I probably would have favorite.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, I'm I'm I'm very shocked. I didn't expect ice cream from here, I'm I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, were you thinking something else?

SPEAKER_02:

No, I was having a hard time thinking about the answer, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00:

It must be ice cream for real.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, I mean PA is so big, right? PA is so big, so you got geographical foods in different areas. So when we go to Pittsburgh, we like to try. There's like um a lot of there's a especially in the strip district, there's a larger Polish population, so we will get homemade pierogis, um, kabasi, pierogi, stuff like that. That's good. Um, yeah, and then we grew we grew up in New Jersey, like we said, but we spent a lot of time in Philly, and so obviously, you know, there's lots of if you say cheesesteak, but don't you say it?

SPEAKER_00:

Which is the best one? Don't you did it?

SPEAKER_02:

You gotta decide in which one and is it you don't have time for that kind of debate. Is it genos, is it cats, is it you know what is it?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh no, it's not so not genos, huh?

SPEAKER_02:

It's pets with cheese or without whiz, is it provolone, you know, that type of stuff. So a lot of factors, a lot of factors, yeah. Um yeah, no, I think that's I don't think I'll just have the second year answer. Yeah, ice cream is like it's a thing here. Like there's lots of businesses that are only open during the summer months, and you tour and you go around and go to different ice cream places, and yeah, um, there'll be lines no matter what time of the day it is.

SPEAKER_03:

And I also have to say this too: there so many families that we've met here are so welcoming. Like, if you came and visit us, it'd be like I can think of like multiple families that would like have you over their house and have a home cooked meal, and that's like some of the best eating that we do around here. Like, we love eating at our friends in a family's house. Like, that's that's always a a really good way to eat around here, too.

SPEAKER_00:

That sounds awesome. Okay, how about favorite South Carolina food staple? And please don't say shrimp and grips, say anything else but that favorite South Carolina food staple. What do you miss? Like when you come down here, you're already in that place. As soon as you get as soon as your feet touch ground, you're you're in that place. Favorite food staple out here in South Carolina. If you have one, if you don't have one, that's fine too.

SPEAKER_03:

We have too many. That's one of those biggest.

SPEAKER_00:

No, we just want one. Man, come on. What's the one that comes to mind first? Like, I gotta have that. If nothing else happens, I'm gonna have this.

SPEAKER_03:

I would I would have to agree with Nico with oysters. I miss oysters a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, fresh seafood, just fresh seafood in general. Yeah, yeah, really fresh seafood.

SPEAKER_03:

We would steam oysters in our backyard all the time, or go out to like local places that would steam them. He stands around with everybody, shucking them. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00:

Nico is more is more cultured than I remember.

SPEAKER_02:

That kid loves sushi too. That's his favorite food, and we don't have any sushi in this this in our town.

SPEAKER_00:

There's no sushi in PA at all.

SPEAKER_02:

No, just in our town. So we gotta drive a good 30 minutes or so to go get it. But yeah, when we when we do, I mean that kid's got his own chapstick he brings with him to the restaurant. Yeah, it's with a carrying case.

SPEAKER_00:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm like, that's not that's not really a carrying case, but this man is going too far. You said chopsticks. It's still strange, but it's it's better than the alternative.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's on like a little it's on like a little lanyard, like you put it in and then lets it go. No chops back.

SPEAKER_03:

No, chopsticks.

SPEAKER_02:

This this is just a lantern.

SPEAKER_03:

She's been banned from chapstick because she eats it all the time. She repeatedly asks to buy it every time.

SPEAKER_02:

I was gonna say, if you asked her the last question, the delicatess in in the area, it would be any form of flavored chapstick.

SPEAKER_03:

She goes, I promise I not eat it this time. And I'm like, I don't believe you, so wait another year or so.

SPEAKER_00:

It smells so good. You think she's the first one to do this? She ain't the first one, it's not original. It's been it's been done before. Ask ask me how I know. It smells so good. You can't I get it, but Alanis, don't do that to me. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

She calls it Chapic.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. Chapic.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's so huge. I love that. I love that. All right. So if you can get some advice to our listeners on how to juggle business and family life, what would you share with them if you had any advice?

SPEAKER_03:

A priority. There's more rest available to you than you often think there is. And there's there's more benefit to it too than to taking it rather than skipping it and like plowing through.

SPEAKER_00:

I love that. All right. Now it's time for okay, great, man. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02:

No, I was just gonna say that's good. Yeah, because I I feel like we live in a culture where like the hustle culture, you just you just gotta grind and you just gotta grind a little harder and then you gotta grind a little longer and and uh it will come to you. But um I think that God honors rest and and setting boundaries and having limits too, realizing that it's not really it's no matter what you do, yeah. Like you could work harder, yes. But at the end of the day, um, like our bodies were not made to be seven days a week, 365. You know, if the God of the universe has to rest, then surely we do too.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, here's that last question. The scriptural scriptures that have been key for you guys in the season that you're in. Come on, bring it to you, bust it out. Don't get it wrong now, because I might know.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh boy, I was gonna do mine for memory. I hope I can't remember now. I think of Isaiah 30, 21, where it says you'll hear a voice behind you saying, Go to the left or to the right. This is the way, walk in it. And I think that that has been really important to me over the past year of um so often feeling like I don't know what I'm doing, but just realizing that's okay and that he's with me and that he's guiding me the whole time. And um, that's again, like I said earlier, that's all it's about that I'm just walking with him.

SPEAKER_02:

That's good. Um, I had a few, but like the one I'm thinking of like right now is Philippians 2 um 5, where it says to adopt the same attitude as that is in Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself to become obedient to the point of death, even to death on the cross. And from for a couple of reasons. One, like Jesus did not exploit that opportunity or that relationship. And I think as entrepreneurs, uh especially one coming from a sales background, like you're and from Jersey, you know, you're thinking of like all these different strategic partnerships you can make and use this relationship or use that relationship. And like the one who had the most incredible relationship did not, you know, use that relationship to to forget about us and get himself out, but instead he was obedient, and um so yeah, especially like moving here and and trying something new, you know, that was very much uh met with some resistance. I'll be honest on my part, you know, I I love Charleston. We both love Charleston, we missed it, but like we built this thing here and we should stay here, and God's open doors here, but um, we felt that God was calling us here in the beginning for what reason we weren't really sure, but um we can see now that when you are obedient and you take those steps of faith, and I'm reminded remembering another verse too that like he doesn't promise to like give you the clear direction in front of you, but he will light the path at your feet, and so like knowing that right in front of us, we are just called to be obedient and take those steps that we can see right at our toes, potentially. That's it.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, there's no question you guys are inspirational coupling. We had a uh friend of mine drop that comment, not sure if you saw that, but she's been a big fan of our of our podcast shows, and she thinks you guys are inspirational. She's not lying, you you guys most definitely are, and we definitely miss you. Hope to see you again very, very soon. I miss Nico uh more than I thought. Uh I miss him drooling over me. That probably won't happen anymore now because he's you too you're too big to drool now, but I miss all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

He is in a spitting phase right now.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, you might hear what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, yeah, okay. I think I pick I picked drooling over the spitting part less intentional, but buy the nails and spit this. Thank you guys so much. And and see you again soon. Yeah, it's awesome. Uh, we're gonna have you for all you guys that are listening to the show today. Uh, Matt and Nicole are gonna drop all of the information on the YouTube uh channel in the comment section under the episodes. You can get the links to the uh Raising Wonder podcasts and to Red Bird Realty and all the things that they're doing that might be of interest to you. But wherever you are and however you're listening to the Call Me Mr. You the podcast, we thank you again for making us a part of your morning, your day, and your week. We your weekly mirror check before you change the world. Thanks again for joining us. Thank you for welcoming Matt and Nicole Gillette, awesome couple. Hope you're here again from them soon. And enjoy the show. Well, enjoy the music. That's the end of the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Love you.

Head Shot

Mista Yu (Yusef Marshall)

Host

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Power of Man Podcast Artwork

Power of Man Podcast

Rory Paquette
Wake Up the Lions! Artwork

Wake Up the Lions!

Rory Paquette