Episode 6: Soul Food Delivery- Mandelyn Cloninger at Your Service

Join us in this inspiring episode when servant leader Mandelyn shares her wisdom about transforming failure into fulfillment, serving up abundance, signs, symbols, & winks from God, music festivals and Texas skater punk, travel writing, and the art of filling people’s plates without emptying your own cup. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Recording in progress. Yes. Happy to see you. Happy to see you too. I'm really excited about our guests today. I cannot wait to talk to another interesting, fascinating person that we adore. So very much looking forward to that. I do have some ad hocs and addendums and apologies. So if it's okay with you, did you have any that you wanted to talk about? I don't have any today. So you go ahead. Okay, good, because you might join me in some of these. Oh, okay. I might need to apologize. Okay. I don't know, but my first apology is to John Kuzak, Kevin Spacey, and you.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Oh, we all forgive you.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Thank you. We were talking about midnight in the garden of good and evil, the movie. And we initially couldn't remember the name of the lead in the movie version. We remembered that John, that's all we had, had also starred in Say Anything and Serendipity, but his name was just eluding us. And you had offered Kevin Spacey. And while I flat outright rejected it because I was obsessed with remembering John, what's his name? You are 100% correct that Kevin Spacey was the co-star of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. So super brilliant on your part. And my apologies to all of you for that.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

I feel like we got John Kusack right at the very end, but we didn't know that they were in it together. Which is so funny. We even said maybe they're in it together. And then they were.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

No, you had it. You knew it, and I just poo-pooed it. And then afterwards, when I looked back, I looked it up, and there, right on the thumbnail for the video was Kevin Spacey first and then John Kuzak second. I think I've ever seen it. I need to watch it. Yeah. I do too. It looks very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

We should watch it. And report back. We will report back. We'll have a movie review. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 2:01

20 years later. We're so timely with pop culture. Yeah. So as a related ad hoc, this is more of an anecdote that I thought was funny. You had also said that John Kuzak will be in the Tampa Bay area for a showing of Say Anything, his other movie, one of his other movies. And I said we should see if we can grab him for a quick interview or a quote that we can put on the podcast, and it would be funny and an inside joke for all the listeners. And you came up with another genius idea, which was to get his attention by recreating the scene from Say Anything and standing outside the venue with us holding boom boxes up in the air, playing In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel, that scene from the movie.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

I mean, don't you think that would how could he ignore it? I mean, we might get security involved, but I think it would be so funny. I know.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

At first I thought we have to do that, but then I pictured being there, and there's this crowd of like 25 weird Gen Xers all at the event doing the exact same thing, thinking that it was ingenious. I know. I pictured him driving away in his memo promising never to come to Tampa again.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Well, and then you read the description of the event, and it's not clear. Is John Cusack coming or is are they just talking about John Kusack? Did you read that?

SPEAKER_04 3:31

It was like a big and switch. John Cusack's going to be here, but it's in the movie. Right. Well, actually, I did follow up, and he is supposed to be there. There's going to be a QA.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_04 3:42

That would be exciting, honestly. I know. It would be fun.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Then we talked about Joan Kusack, and then she popped up all over my social media. And I thought, oh my God, they're listening to the podcast. I wonder how that happened. Yeah, I don't know. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

Yeah. So okay, I'm glad we closed the loop on that. But I have an ad hoc that I thought you would be very interested in. And it is about pert as a pear monger. Oh my gosh, yes. Tell me. Yes, because we talked about John Gay's poem where he introduced cool as a cucumber. He also used the phrase pert as a pearmonger. And I was really intrigued by that. And we, you and I fabricated the meaning of what we thought it was, but I looked it up after. It first appeared in print in 1565 in Thomas Harding's A Confutation of a Book by Bishop Jewel. Oh. Which these titles are fantastic. And in it, he said, Here pricketh forth this hasty defender as pert as a pear monger. So pert at the time meant sharp, alert, or brisk. And pearmongers, pear sellers, were known to be sharp, quick-witted, and highly vocal when they were hawking their pears in the market. And that evolved into using pert as a pear monger for someone who is overly alert or bouncy.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Is that right? Oh my God, that could be me. Oh my God. Wait, that's the adjective people have been looking for pert as a pearmonger.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yes, I don't know. I imagined Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Yes. As something that would be pert as a pear monger. So I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

Thank you for looking that up. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_04 5:27

Yes, definitely. And also unrelated to Pert as a Pearmonger, there was an ad hoc that I had promised on episode five. We were talking about how Cat Stevens had changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Yes. And I was trying to remember the Yusuf Islam song that I liked so much. Well, I had to look it up and I found it. The title is Maybe There's a World. And interestingly, because the whole conversation was about changing names, he doesn't go by Yusuf Islam anymore. What does he go by? He goes by Yusuf forward slash Cat Stevens. Oh wow. I wonder what is friends column. You know? I don't know. But if you're looking for him, it's under Yusuf forward slash Cat Stevens. And this song is so lovely to me. Can I read the first few lyrics? Oh, yeah. Because I think it's just so beautiful. He says, I have dreamt of a place and time where nobody gets annoyed. I must admit I'm not there yet, but something's keeping me going. And then the chorus is maybe there's a world that I'm still to find. Open up the world and let me in. Then there'll be a new life to begin. And then he goes on with other lyrics about a world that's borderless and free and a world where no one's taking sides. He wrote it in 2006, but it's obviously timeless and very timely for what is going on now in our world.

unknown 6:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Wow. I love the lyrics. Sometimes when I listen to music, I don't actually catch all the lyrics. So I'm glad you read that. And it's a beautiful song. You sent it to me. And I had heard it before, but I'm glad you reminded me. You know, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

Yes, I thought so too. So take a look at that song. We can't play it obviously on here because of copyright issues, but I think people will really like it. And then just two more things. One is my apologies to Marcel Pagnol. Oh, okay. What did you do to him? Okay. So I was telling you I wanted to watch the film A Magnificent Life. Yes. That was that animated film about a man who's a writer in the turn of the 19th century. He's asked to pen his memoirs and he does it with the help of his younger childhood self. It sounds like an amazing story, right? Yeah. Well, I watched it. It was beautiful. It was so interesting. It was so well done. It was featured as the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. But the man, quote unquote, that I talked about wasn't just any man, it turns out. He was a world-renowned French writer, playwright, novelist, and he was a filmmaker of the new talkies when they switched from silent to voice films, named Marcel Pagnol from Marseille, France. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Oh my gosh, Danielle, you make me want to watch that now.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

You really should. It was so well done. His works of literature apparently are considered such masterpieces that they're mandatory readings and teachings in schools across France. Oh wow. Yeah. And I was like, it's a movie about some guy. So my apologies for being a total cultural infidel, as Jimmy Buffett would say. I had no idea who he was. But yes, I definitely recommend it.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Have the books been translated into English?

SPEAKER_04 8:42

Oh, what a good question. I don't know, but the movies have subtitles, and some of the books were turned into films. So that might be a way. I'll I'll find out unless you're. Yeah, I'm curious because it sounds like something I would want to read. Something like him. Very good and very interesting. So I have one more. This is actually an ad hoc apology and an adequate. Oh my God. Okay. I know. In episode five, we were talking about the Salem Witch trials and Sarah Wildes, who was a relative of my father's side of the family, she was hung in 1692 for being a witch. An ad hoc clarification because I had thought that the story was that a neighbor had claimed to have seen a vision of Sarah Wildes at her bed, and then the neighbor's best cow died. Well, I got the events all convoluted. Please always fact-check me. That's my disclaimer. The super short version is that the neighbors had a series of mishaps with their oxen. And the neighbor publicly blamed it on Sarah's bewitching. And when Sarah went to the neighbor and said, You need to prove that the oxen mishap was my fault. The neighbor's proof was that when Sarah asked her for proof in that moment, that the neighbor was immediately struck by trembling joints. And that night she had a vision not of Sarah at her bed, but of a cat-like creature. And that became the neighbor's proof that she used in court. Oh my gosh. Because apparently back then they called it get this spectral evidence. And things like dreams and visions were admissible as evidence in court. And I learned that at the time, most of the evidence that was used in the Salem Witch trials to convict these women and men, there were men that were also brought to trial and convicted and hung. Most of that evidence was spectral evidence.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Can you imagine how many people you could put evidence against? I mean, I dream about people all the time. That is the strangest thing. I wonder when that law changed and what prompted its change.

SPEAKER_04 10:50

Yes, I will definitely look into that because they said the majority of the evidence used to convict these women was indeed spectral evidence. Because what other evidence are you going to have that they were actually witches other than spectral evidence? So finally, my addendum on this was that Sarah Wildes was exonerated and her name was cleared by the Massachusetts General Court in 1710.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Oh my gosh, that's wonderful. Do you know if your family helped get that exoneration? How did that come about? Do you know?

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Descendants of hers, not necessarily related to my nuclear family, but descendants of her, so distant relatives of my dad's side of the family, they helped make that come to fruition.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Oh, that's wonderful. I wonder what kind of retribution. I mean, how can you how can you make up for hanging someone? I mean, what retributions? Yeah, I don't, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

Yeah, I have no idea. That's it. Those are my apologies, ad hoc, and addendums for this episode. Wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Thank you. We have an exciting guest today on our episode named Mandelyn Kloninger, Mandy for short. And she and I have known each other for many years, and she is a true philanthropist, and she really dedicates her life to serving others. And it shows up in her friendships, it shows up in her work. She is truly an inspiration. And if you've never met her, you don't know her, then I'm happy you have a chance to listen to this podcast and get to know her.

SPEAKER_04 12:25

Beautiful. Let's talk to Mandy. Is her name Mandolin as in the instrument?

SPEAKER_03 12:31

It's it's Mandy Lynn, I think. M-A-N-D-E-L-Y-N. So not Mandolin like the instrument. You wanted to play the mandolin at one point, didn't you?

SPEAKER_04 12:40

Yes. How did you remember? How could I forget that you wanted to play the mandolin?

SPEAKER_03 12:45

I really did, but I never did it. The real thing I want to play is the drums, but they just take up so much space. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 12:51

But you had a drum kit. And now with drum kits and with keyboards, you don't have to have a grand piano. It sounds just like a grand piano. And you don't have to have a full drum kit. It sounds like a full drum kit.

SPEAKER_03 13:05

Yeah, I saw a guy performing at a restaurant the other day who was playing this hand sonic or something like that by the company Roland. And it was a full drum set, but he was tapping it like bongos. It was electronic. And so it sounded like a full drum set, the whole thing. Wow. It was extraordinary. Yes. I really wish I could play. I have had several drum sets through my life. People that are listening to me are probably rolling their eyes because they're like, oh, here she goes again. Because I have literally had, I mean, maybe four drum sets in my life, maybe five. And then what happens is I love them, but they take up too much room. And so then I sell them. And then a few years later, I'm like, oh, I really love playing the drums. And then we start all over.

SPEAKER_04 13:52

You get another round. It's a good thing they have things like play it again Sam's because then you can buy somebody else's used drum kit that did the same exact thing with.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Wait, it's play it again. No, play it against sports sells sports equipment. But I love play it again Sam. That sounds great. But I do think they have used music shops. Yes. Yes. I agree. I wonder what they're called. We'll have to investigate. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 14:21

I think there's one in Tampa.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

There is.

SPEAKER_04 14:23

It's the one right up there on Bears. It's huge. I got all of my guitars there. New.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

It's not the guitar center, is it?

SPEAKER_04 14:29

Yes, it's the guitar center. Okay. Yeah, brilliant.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

Yeah. How's it going? Are you playing guitar?

SPEAKER_04 14:35

No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

I know.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

It's hard. It just took so many hours. And I loved it, but apparently not enough to dedicate two hours every night playing.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

You know, I just think we go through stages and evolve our interests. Like I get in these stages where I do a ton of art and then I don't do anything for a while. And then I do a ton more. And then maybe I'm into puzzles or reading. It just I go through phases. I was doing woodworking for a while. Oh my gosh, I loved it so much.

SPEAKER_04 15:07

What are you talking about? Woodworking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

And I wasn't very good at it, but I have a friend that's a woodworker. Hi, Nick. Love you, Nick. He helped me make a bowl, which was really cool. He has a ton of equipment. Wow. Oh, and a spoon. I did a spoon. I did know that. I remember the spoon. Yeah, the spoon was with my friend Beth. I have a lot of woodworker friends. Dee and Nick. Yeah. But then I was whittling and I tried to make a little bear and I tried to make a pocket knife. They weren't very good. But what I discovered that I really like is wood carving, which is where you make shapes, you make designs. So it's more precise. And you don't have to have a ton of equipment. You make designs on top of a box or on the side of a cup or something like that. I like that better.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Carving versus whittling.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

And I remember there was a time when you were into soapstone. Oh my gosh, I love soapstone. The problem with both soapstone and woodworking is the dust. And you have to really have a place that you can just get dirty and have it in the air. And then you need to wear a mask, or at least I need to wear a mask because I get all clogged up from the dust and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yes, that would be terrible.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

But you should see my friend Nick's studio. He has a giant studio where he does all of that. That's wonderful. I want to have a studio. I do too. Mandy, how are you?

unknown 16:28

Good.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

How are you guys doing? We are so delighted to have you on the podcast.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Excited too. I um was initially going to go in the office, but I thought, you know, it's probably more comfortable at home anyway.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Yeah, I'm glad you are. And have you ever met DM Yao before?

SPEAKER_01 16:44

You know, Leela's orbit of friends is beautiful and vast, and like, you know, you're just surrounded with good people, period. Leela's in your orbit.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

Yes. What a beautiful thing to say. And speaking of being surrounded by people, the listeners can't see this, but you have an amazing, inspiring photograph collage behind you. Do you want to tell us about that for a moment? Sure. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

It's three icons of servant leadership. We've got Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King. It hung in the dining room for Trinity Cafe for many, many years, and it was made by a local artist. It's actually all these little dots, and then just some beautiful quotes about servant leadership. And our second location for Trinity Cafe was open for almost a decade, but when it closed, they were just gonna throw it away. And it's like, no, I want it. I cannot take it home.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

Well, it's funny because right before you joined, I did the intro of this episode and of you. And I basically said she has dedicated her life to service as a friend, as a mom, as a worker. You are the epitome of the word philanthropy. You are a person who lives in service to others. And I'm just so excited for people to know about you. One of the things I want to know is who you are. Tell us about you, not the things that you're supposed to say, but things that are really the core of how you are.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

I just want to say thank you. I'm like humbled by the way you describe me, because if there's one thing I would want to be known by and for, it's serving others. And I think for me, I didn't discover my servant heart until I was in my 30s. And at the core of who I am, I think is faith, friendships, and fun. I'm a relationship builder by heart, but I want to be known for loving God and loving others and doing it well. In my 30s, instead of having a family, I was starting over. I had gone through a pretty rough divorce and just was struggling to find my way and seeking forgiveness. And I found my way back to a faith community. And through that, on the anniversary of my divorce, after one year, I went on a mission trip to Guatemala and helped build water facilities in partnership with a local church. We did VBS for our community, and I really fell in love with these two little girls named Christy and Lisa. And every day they would be like I want to read. And that's one of the things that I love too. And so I just fell in love with them over their hearts for reading and learning. But when I met their mom, she was washing their clothes in this dirty, trash-strewn, polluted river, and it was the only source of drinking water in that community. And I'd never seen third world poverty before. I'd never seen a need like that. And so when I came home, my heart was different. And so it led me to look for opportunities to serve in my own backyard. I didn't want this experience that I had somewhere else not to shape who I was at home. And so it was there that I started getting involved with my church and serving our homeless neighbors. And I remember the very first time I served on a food line. It was hard to make eye contact with those neighbors. I could just see how satin some of them were and how hurting they were and what pressing need was in my own backyard. And I really think that's shaped me. I allowed it to change me, but I allowed it to spawn me to action to do something more in my own backyard. And ever since then, I've really kind of married my passion for service with what I do as a professional as well. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

It's true. The way Mandy describes it, it's like you can feel it. I want to ask y'all about your work and go back and talk about Trinity Cafe a little and where you are now, Meals on Wheels. But I walked in the door to see Mandy at Meals on Wheels, and I just wanted to cry because just seeing her doing her thing, it I don't know, it's contagious. It's wonderful. So you talked a little bit right at the beginning about Trinity Cafe. And you mentioned serving your neighbors and being in the food line. Can you tell us about Trinity Cafe and what you did there and what it was and then how that evolved to where you are now?

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah. So my my service is really in my professional career has really been shaped by being able to lead and serve at these really awesome organizations. I started my career at USF with Leela and then served at Tampa General. But once I discovered this Heart for Service, I really went into working with community-based organizations. And so I've led and served at Metropolitan Ministries, Trinity Cafe, and Feeding Tampa Bay. But Trinity Cafe, I think, is really where I got to step into my own sense of leadership and what that meant and how to shape an organization. And when I was hired, we were at the Million Meal Mark. Trinity Cafe is a charitable restaurant that really works to restore dignity by serving a beautiful meal. It's a three course, nutritious meal like a restaurant. And so the neighbors that we serve are guests. We sat them down at the table, and then they're served a super sour. A protein-rich entree and a dessert, all by wonderful volunteers. And it's just this beautiful restaurant experience. And for some of them, that's might be the only meal they experience, but it's also this beautiful moment of connection and dignity and just honoring whoever's in front of you for a meal, right? Like so much of our lives are built around sharing food and conversation and fellowship with one another. And at Trinity Cafe, the vision was really to try to expand and take our restaurant model and our way of serving into communities where there wasn't a hot meal available. And so we replicated the model twice with Trinity Cafe at 22nd and Bush Boulevard, and then out in Pinellas County. And then right before the pandemic, we had the opportunity to merge with Feeding Tampa Bay, and we really felt like it was the right opportunity to be able to expand across a 10 county area. And there were a couple of great things that happened for our staff, including bumping their salaries up to a living wage, which at the time for Feeding Tampa Bay was $15 an hour for our kitchen employees, as well as access to health care and benefits that they could afford. And so there was a lot of dignity in that merger because it was the right thing for both organizations. Feeding Tampa Bay gained a commercial kitchen and this kind of frontline experience with the guests and neighbors through our restaurant. And then we became part of a larger organization that had, you know, better benefits and a culture that could really help us expand across several counties. And so I feel like at Trinity I really had the chance to lean into who I was going to be as a leader and how I wanted to shape an organization. And I really enjoyed it and loved it. And lots of things come full circle in relationships. And so one of the relationships that I had early in my career at Metropolitan Ministries kind of came back around for me for my current opportunity at Meals on Wheels. And I'd love to tell you about that too.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

We would love to hear about it. I was just going to ask you. So right now, you are the CEO of Meals on Wheels. Tell us how you came to that role, all about the organization, and anything you want to share.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

For almost the last five years, I've been doing consulting, helping nonprofits to really empower and train their boards of directors and their teams to inspire philanthropy to really cultivate major and capital gifts. And I loved doing it. And a recruiter, Catherine Young, kind of reached out to me a couple of times about this Meals on Wheels opportunity. And the first time I deleted it, I was just not that interested at the moment. The second time I paused and like, I need to think about who I could refer to this. And then a dear friend of mine, Jeremy Gloff, who served with me at Trinity Cafe, was at Meals on Wheels. And I reached out to him to like tell me about the culture, tell me about the organization. And once he started sharing a little bit more about Meals on Wheels, a kind of a light bulb went off in my head, like, Mandy, are you interested in this role? And so I started exploring it. And a couple of board members that served with me both at Metropolitan Ministries and Trinity Cafe serve on the board of directors for Meals on Wheels. And I had some conversations with them about the culture and what the organization's capacity was for growth and expansion and who they were looking for as a leader. And so I put my name in. And it was just really an affirmational process all along the way for me of the right organization at the right time and the right leader. And a particular person that has shaped me from the periphery is Amy Schimberg. She's one of the matriarchs of Meals on Wheels of Tampa and has really engaged so many people in this community to serve at Meals on Wheels. And her son, Robert, invited me probably 15 years ago to a breakfast for Meals on Wheels. And I went and I was inspired that morning. I told Robert what a great experience I had. I made what I felt was a pretty nominal gift and didn't think much about it. But the very next day, Amy Schimber called me to personally thank me. And it made me feel so special. And every time I tell this story, I get goosebumps because I was like, Amy called me. Like I know who she is in the community. I know what a wonderful philanthropist is. And she took the time to call me and it made me feel so special. And I have told that story as one of the best giving experiences I've ever had in my entire lifetime to countless rooms of boards of directors and teams of employees because that's the culture of philanthropy that you want to cultivate. It's to Leela's point, it's contagious. You want to be involved with it. It's such a good mission that warms your heart that you want to tell other people about it and you want to get them involved. And that's the beauty of a role like Meals on Wheels as the CEO is I get to share our wonderful mission with the community each and every day. And hopefully somebody catches that spark and joins us and they get involved as a volunteer or donor. But again, relationship building kind of is just this circular pathway, and you don't know how that relationship will shape you, how it will come back around again. And I'm just super grateful that I've had people like Robert and Dave who are on the board who had fed into me earlier in my career and then seeing them serve at a place that I get to serve with them again. It's just like things come full circle.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

I just can't imagine them having a better spokesperson than you. So I had the opportunity to go to Meals on Wheels to do a project with them. The CEO that was leaving had 20-something years of institutional knowledge. And Mandy wanted to make sure we were capturing some of that information. And so I went and interviewed him and he talked a lot about the donors. And I came away thinking, I want to be involved. I want to do this. And so as you know, I did my training. My first route was last week, but I had a work meeting. So I moved it to the seventh. So I will report back. But I'm so excited about the organization. And every time I see you post something on social media or talk about it, it really is just something you want to be involved with. The way that the people that work there and the volunteers talk about the organization, but the way that the people who receive from that organization talk about it. I have chills right now thinking about some of the stories.

SPEAKER_04 28:28

It's beautiful because when you're both talking, Leela, you use the word contagious when you saw Mandy doing her work. And Mandy, you talked about how things come forward. And I believe strongly that abundance begets abundance. And you can see it so much here. I mean, you're talking about this mindset of abundance that went even from 15 years back all the way through to now. And it just keeps producing abundance and more abundance. And it's incredible what has become of the organization and the people that belong to it. It is contagious.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

It is. Did you tell me you had personal experience with meals on wheels with your mama?

SPEAKER_04 29:06

Yes, my grandmother had meals on wheels delivery once a day. And this was crucial to her quality of life because we're talking about meals and we're talking about feeding Tampa Bay. And of course, this is one of the core elements. People can't live without food. But equally as important, in my estimation, is making sure that people have that connection and that interaction. And once a day she had somebody that would come over and keep her from being lonely. And that changed everything for her, having that, you know, both my mom and I were working. So we could see her in the morning, we could see her late at night. But there was this gap during the day when the meals on wheels delivery person, the most beautiful, wonderful people, would come in and they couldn't spend a great deal of time, but it didn't matter because they made her smile, they made her laugh, they brought her food. So it it was just such a gift to have meals on wheels in our community. So thank you all, all of you, for doing what you do.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

It's such a beautiful moment of connection when you're volunteering and you serve the meal, you're knocking on the door and you say meals on wheels, and the meal is important. The nutrition is vital for many of these folks that we're serving, and many of these neighbors. And yet that moment of connection is really what makes it special. It's so much more powerful than just the meal itself. It lets them know they're not alone, they're not forgotten. And so many of these neighbors, like Miss Carolyn, who's on my route that I do most Mondays, she's a former teacher, a former administrator in child welfare. She's 88 years old, and meal's important, but frankly, she loves the volunteers. She loves the conversation she's ever able to have. Every week I learn something new about her and her history, and she's getting to share that. And I think so many of these people have built the city and the communities that we live in, and Meals on Wheels helps them stay with dignity in their home for as long as they can and lets them know they're not forgotten.

SPEAKER_03 31:07

It's really beautiful. You know, when Danielle and I talk about work, we talk about what do you do for work and also what do you wish you did for work? I don't want to make any assumptions, so I'm gonna ask you the same question, but I kind of think I might know the answer in advance. But what do you wish you did for work?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

I'm getting to do it every day. I think at my heart, I'm I love to build relationships, I'm a good communicator, and I get to use my talents to help a mission and help inspire other people to get involved with it. And so I really do believe that I am serving in the way that my natural abilities and talents that God designed me to do. Um, and I love it. I think if I didn't do what I do, I might be a travel writer because I love adventure and exploring, and yet I still get to do that and do my regular job too. I get to travel and I love to write about it, but I'm very much getting to do exactly what I think.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

Can you tell us more about that?

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Your traveling and your travel writing? So I mentioned to you I went on some international mission trips in my 30s, and what I found is part of the experience is reflecting on it and letting it shape you and what lessons you get to learn from it. And so every time I traveled on international missions, I would do a blog about it. I'd write about it, and it's just kind of become part of my own personal way of journaling and remembering these stories long after the experience has happened, is letting them shape me and teach me even decades later. Once I captured this heart for service, I traveled to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba. I got an opportunity with the Rotary International to do a month-long group study exchange to Israel. I co-led a team with a friend of mine to South Africa, and all of it was um, you know, not only beautiful travel, but it was combined with that service component. And so I wrote a lot about it. And then our lives changed, and I had my daughters, which we'll probably talk about too. And so then life looks a little different. You don't travel as much, but you still can try to have adventures. And so I've done a fair amount of traveling with my daughter Luna, who's eight now, for almost every summer of her life after the pandemic, which she was two. We started camping and traveling, and she's probably already been to almost 40 states. I think the last time I counted, and she's eight. We've been across the country, all the way out to Oregon, up to Maine, and just had some beautiful times exploring our country. And I always write about it because it's how I remember the great experiences that I've had. And kind of early in my consulting business, I also ran my blog, Mercy and Meadows. It's almost like my online personal travel journal. But again, if I didn't, if I didn't do what I did for Meals on Wheels and serving in the community, I probably want to do that full time.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

But so it's called Mercy and Meadows. Can anybody find it? Like you just Google Mercy and Meadows and you can find. Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah, I know you're an incredible writer, and I know that you're also a voracious reader. Have you read anything good lately?

SPEAKER_01 34:11

I have, and I had to write down the books that I wanted to make sure I mentioned to you. So um, I just finished Midnight Train by Matt Haig. He wrote Midnight Library, but Midnight Train is the new one that's out, and it's about looking at your life in retrospect from a train and all these kind of seminal moments along the way, and how they could shape you, or how it might change if you had chosen a different path or a different action at that time. It's really beautiful. Highly recommend. The best book I've read in the last year was Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reed. And it's historical fiction about some of the women in the first NASA program going to space, and it's so beautiful. The characters are just so well written. I read it in less than 24 hours, and I ugly cried on a plane. You know, um, just again, just so captivating. The storytelling, the characters, everything about it. I just loved it so much. And then because I'm super interested in this new wave of technology, I read this book by Renee Clayton on generative AI, and I also loved it because it teaches you how to use it to kind of magnify your own superpowers and use prompting well. And it was super helpful to me in the last year, too.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

You covered the range there, all kinds of different interests in books. You had mentioned the Midnight Train, you had mentioned Midnight Library. Is that what the other one was called? And you said you read that one. That one was interesting as well.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

It was, and so about the books that you might find in a library too, you know, at different times of your life that means something. But Matt Haig, apparently it's going to be a midnight series. I think there's going to be another one following this. So Midnight Library was the first one, Midnight Train is the second one. I'm not sure what the third one is.

SPEAKER_04 36:05

Leela, did you read Midnight Library? Because that sounded really interesting. It's incredible. Oh, you read it. Oh, I was going to say, yes. That sounds like your cup of tea right there.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

It was so wonderful. And it's the same kind of feel. I'm I wrote this one down, so I'm glad you recommended it, Mandy. It's that same kind of feeling of like what your life would have been with different choices. And I often think about that. So it was really interesting to read about it and think about it from a different perspective. And actually, almost for a second, last time on our podcast, we talked about midnight in the garden of good and evil. And I thought you were gonna say that. I was gonna it's gonna be so funny.

SPEAKER_04 36:44

That would be so weird if that came up, but yeah, that would have been weird.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

But we're all gonna watch the movie, so maybe you can watch it too. We can discuss I read Atmosphere, you recommended it. It was incredible. So thank you for that recommendation. Very good book. I know that in addition to reading, you also collect something, right? You have a collection. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

I collect plates, and I mentioned I went through a tough divorce, but I really loved my mother-in-law, Jane, so much. And she collected plates. And when she passed away, I inherited several of her plates to start my own collection. But it's basically like one of those beautiful souvenirs of all the places you've gone or something that's really meaningful to you. And I do think a plate to me is this common thread of it brings people together around food, right? And fellowship.

SPEAKER_04 37:35

That's exactly what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Wow, that is so I try to pick up a plate from many of the places that I've been. Um, but I also have Jane's plates that really started it, and I have it in my home, they're hanging, they're they're almost like art, right? Because they're from different places and they're beautiful colors. And I have one from South Africa where I fell in love with the penguins at Boulders Beach, and it's it's a platter, and it's got hand-painted penguins by a local artist on it. It's a joy sometimes to just even touch the plate and remember the place it's been and where you've been and how it's shaped you.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

Lovely. What's the plate from Jane that's the most special to you?

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Jane was tremendously faith-filled, and I was a skeptic when she was alive. And hospice was involved near the end of her time on earth, and she just said, I hope to see you there, right? In so many ways, she wanted to make sure I knew like ultimately this wouldn't be the end, I'd see her later. And so I hadn't traveled anywhere, and Jane had, and she'd been to a lot of beautiful places, but she has a plate from Spain that I just really love, and it says Spain on the back of it, and I haven't been to Spain yet, and so I'll have to make sure I make that happen too. But again, her story shaped me, and I didn't know how, even then, because I've gotten to travel now too, and it's part of who I am. And she was just a beautiful woman who loved her family, loved serving, and was a master of reinvention for herself too.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

And doesn't meals on wheels have plates on the wall?

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Yeah, which is so crazy. So perfect. When I was doing my interviews during the recruitment process, I was doing a training for one of the local nonprofits I work with, Donning Family Services, and it was at Suncoast Credit Union. And when I walked in to do the training, there was a whole bunch of plates for meals on wheels at Suncoast Credit Union. And I was like, clearly, these are the signs you're supposed to be seeing. The little God wings along the way. But we do, we have a commemorative plate every year for our annual fundraiser, and each one has a different theme that try to match the song and the feel of that year. And so that will also be a part of my plate collection now, too.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

That's just incredible. You were mentioning the little signs along the way, the little whispers we get in life. And it made me wonder in your life, what are some of the choices that you've made, some of the little whispers of knowing that you've had that you are grateful that you made?

SPEAKER_01 40:10

I think one of the biggest ones, Leela, and you know this, is I was so devastated when I got divorced. I really thought I was gonna have a family by then. And I was starting over and I craved so much having kids and a family. And one of my good friends, I didn't expect to get like so teary-eyed, but one of my good friends, Judy Kane, who I worked with at USF, she said, if you want a kid in your life, Mandy, why don't you become a mentor? She'd been a big through Big Brothers, Big Sisters for many years with her little. And she said, I think you'd really enjoy the experience. And so I chose to become a big and I was matched with my little Alyssa when she was 11. She's now 25. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. And we did everything together from reading and math tables to walking on Bay Shore to just really deep conversations. And then to your point, we're often given choices like here's a path, you choose what to do. And when Alyssa was 15, her grandma, who's in her 80s, and her aunt who's disabled, they just couldn't care for her anymore as a teenager. And so she was gonna end up in foster care in a group home as a teenager, and so we chose to become foster parents for Alyssa, and she moved in with us in February, and I became a parent to Alyssa. And then what also shaped my life is this was almost at 40. And so Alyssa moved in, and and then my daughter Luna was born in January of 2018, so 2017 and 2018. And so I went from not having a family to having two beautiful daughters, a teenager and a baby, all at 40 in the same 12 months.

SPEAKER_03 41:57

I remember, and you did it gracefully. You did it so gracefully.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

I'm glad it looked like that from the outside because raising a teenager and a baby is no joke.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

No joke. So she's 25 now, and the baby is now eight years old. That's incredible. And you officially adopted her.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

She stayed in the foster care system, and we say adopted, but it never became formal. I never got to legally adopt her because she extended her foster care benefits as an adult while she was going to cosmetology school. But we're very much family. I just celebrated her daughter, Milani's first birthday earlier this week. And so it's the family you choose, you know. There's all sorts of things that bind us to each other. And I think Alyssa was one of the best decisions I ever made becoming a big.

SPEAKER_04 42:42

That's that's incredible. Yeah. Can you imagine having Mandy as a mentor? I mean, think about yeah, that's because I do an error just to and then being able to, and then being able to say, This is my big sister, this is my mentor, and then turning it into saying, This is my daughter, this is my parent. What an incredible, life-changing story. That's so inspiring.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

It is beautiful. And to see it, I've you know been friends with Mandy a long time. So to actually be on the ground floor of these decisions and see it play out. We talked, Danielle, about the fact that I knew since college I wanted to self-actualize. Like that's been something. So I've always been striving to be the best self I can be. But when you know somebody like Mandy, it makes you want to be an even better person, even better, you know.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

That's a mutual admiration club that we have one another, Lee. Look, I've heard this many times. I don't know who you attribute this to, but it's like you're the average of the five people that you surround yourself and spend the most time with. Oh, nice. We have great friends and great networks of people. They do, they inspire us to be better versions of ourselves um at all different ages and walks of life. I would say the same thing about you.

SPEAKER_03 43:58

Well, thank you. Thank you. You made that choice and it turned out great. Have there been choices in your life or moments in your life that have felt like a failure that you learned from?

SPEAKER_01 44:12

I think some of my best learning experiences have been some of my failures too. I had a coach who worked with me when I was at Metropolitan Ministries over at Eckard College, and she described to me this one side of my personality that's very achievement-oriented and goal-oriented. And that she said very candidly to me, Mandy, you will never be able to feed that side enough, right? And I work with a coach even now, and she said, you know, Mandy, when you weren't challenged enough professionally, you made up your own challenge. I challenged myself to try to ride a hundred miles, right? And well, I didn't achieve the goal, I didn't hit the 50 mark. I'm so driven, I think, self-motivated, whatever that looks like, to just accomplish and to do more that I can't feed that side enough. One of my biggest failures in some ways is a huge learning opportunity to me. And Lily, you know this story. A couple of times in my career, I really overworked myself. I pushed myself beyond the capacity that I could, and everything showed up in my body before it showed up elsewhere. And so there was a season that I kept getting recurring yeast infections in my mouth, thrush, which mostly happens with babies. And it, as I worked with the holistic therapist, that even Leela referred to me at the time, she told me there were things that I wasn't saying out loud that I wasn't processing and I wasn't handling it. And it just kept showing up. And she's like, I'm pretty sure it's showing up for you as thrush. And she gave me this exercise where I would ask myself a question with my right hand and I would answer it with my left, my non-dominant hand. And it brought to light with crystal clarity some of the things that I was really struggling to say out loud. And at the time, I even wrote a resignation letter that I never turned in. And so I think I've pushed myself to the brink of burnout, of almost self-harm from my accomplishment side of things. And now that I know it and I can understand it and I've claimed it, I know I was experiencing compassion fatigue. It's just what happens when we care too much for too long and we take it on and we don't take good enough care of ourselves. And so I've shared that story with many people. In some ways, I had to quit serving to take care of myself, right? And service looks different for many people, but you can't give from an empty cup. You just can't. So while I was at Trinity Cafe, you know, we served during the pandemic, and it was some of the hardest years. The lines were way longer than you could ever really fully experience unless you were boots on the ground. So I know many people saw the tremendous food lines that people waited in their cars for hours, right? And we were the boots on the ground. We were like that first line in hunger relief during the pandemic, and it was hard. And I came home to a two-year-old without child care, and I really we just pushed, we pushed so hard because so many people in the community were counting on us, right? And at some point you have to say, I have to care for myself, right? And so I took quite a few vacations, I tried to walk away, I tried to really take good care of myself. I revisited the self-care strategies that typically have worked for me. I was trained in trauma informed care many years ago, and I have my if life gets too overwhelming and too stressed, what are the what's my safety plan, right? Pound the pavement, phone a friend, pray, read a book, stir my chi, do something, right? But none of it worked. I found myself at the cafe sitting in front of a neighbor, doing something I'd done many times with lots of joy, and I just didn't have a lot of presence. My mind was elsewhere and I wasn't there. And so it was when I took a step back and thought about like what did I want my my career and my journey to look like. And it was the first time in my entire career that I I asked for a graceful exit. I I left an opportunity before I knew what the next one would look like. Um, and for me that felt like failure in some ways. But in fact, I was finally taking really good care of myself and choosing choosing myself, and I've never let me down, and so I chose myself and I kind of went out in faith and I did some things I'd never done before, like not work for a couple months. And I had saved my money and you know, made sure I could figure it out and had enough to get by for six to twelve months if I needed to. But very quickly I just figured it out, figured out what I wanted to do. Lela knows this. I wrote my business plan and I started my consulting company, and life looked different. But I think for me, that failure really shaped who I want to be long term as a leader, and I want to be the kind of leader who people say she takes time for herself.

SPEAKER_03 49:01

Yeah, I remember, but to me, that isn't a failure at all because you took that time out and got clarity and started Relentless Partners, your consulting firm, and you were able to balance work and life and go on vacations and take Luna on adventures, and it recharged you enough that then when this opportunity at Meals on Wheels came, you were able to jump in. I think it was so wise when you found that you were not being lit up by the work anymore that you caused.

SPEAKER_04 49:31

Yes, and also the acknowledgement and recognizing the empty cup, that you can't get something from an empty cup. That's such wisdom, right there. So thank you for sharing that because compassion fatigue is real and people don't understand it often. They think, oh, I'm not enough. I can't give more. I need to keep giving, but recognizing that you can't get things from an empty cup, that's incredible wisdom to share.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

Danielle and I used to develop trainings for the public health workforce, and one of the trainings we developed was called compassion fatigue for first responders because you do get burnout. So you had that experience and you weren't being lit up, and you took the pause. It made me wonder what are the things that light you up? What are the things that rejuvenate you? We heard your plan about pound the pavement, call a friend. But what really delights and excites you?

SPEAKER_01 50:28

I think now the things that delight and excite me are like different than what they might have been before, but some of the things just ring true all the time. So I love spending time with my family and getting to go on adventures. This weekend I'm taking Luna to Girl Scout camp. And so we're going to Camp Wildwood and we're going to do that together. But our family vacation this year, we're going to Yellowstone. Super excited. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 50:54

It's so fun, Yellowstone. You're going to see so many wild animals. It's going to be so exciting.

SPEAKER_01 50:59

Yellowstone has a special place in my heart because I did it, I think it was 2020. No, it was 2021, about the time we could finally start traveling again. And I did a backcountry hiking trip with my friend Leslie. And I it was completely off-grid. You know, you didn't have access to your phones. You're in the backcountry in Montana and just out in nature for many, many days walking and getting to see such beauty around you. And I started dreaming new dreams, like things that I hadn't thought of before. And I love that. And so Luna hasn't been yet, neither has Rach. And so they're gonna get to go. And I've only seen the Grand Tetons, and so I'm gonna get to go to the Grand Tetons this time. And so I love being in nature. I think it's just one of those places that lights me up, it fills my cup. I can feel fully present. And then when you're surrounded by such beauty and such majesty, you realize I'm just like this one little small piece of the puzzle and being part of something that's bigger than me, it does it. It lights me up, it fills my cup.

SPEAKER_03 52:02

That's wonderful. I was thinking when you said piece of the puzzle, without that piece, the puzzle just wouldn't be complete. You need you need that. What are some things that people wouldn't know about you that you might want to share with us?

SPEAKER_01 52:15

So you might not realize that I am kind of introverted. I present as an extrovert in that I gain lots of energy by being around people and with people. But to recharge, I really like to do very solitary things. I like to, well, you know I love to read, but I like to be on my bike. But I really need a fair amount of time alone to recharge too. And sometimes that's hard when you're a mom and a leader and all those things, but I am very happy and content to sit alone or even in the car and read a book sometimes. Like grab a small quiet moment and just tuck away and not have any demand on me except to just enjoy reading a book. And then I was fairly punk in college. I had eight piercings and pink and purple hair, and I wore skater pants, and I've tried on lots of identities.

SPEAKER_04 53:12

That's great. Who was your punk influences at the time?

SPEAKER_01 53:15

Like Ani DeFranco and Tori Amos, Alanis Morset back in the day.

SPEAKER_04 53:22

That's so much fun. Oh, I wish we had visuals here because I'd say, let's see a picture. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 53:36

Evidence that I'm a really good sinner from my younger days.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

Hey, did you skateboard? Am I making that up? Yeah, I skateboarded. Yeah, you skateboarded in your punk days. I mean, I just wish I could see a picture of that for sure. That's fun. Do you go skating with Luna?

SPEAKER_01 53:51

Actually, Luna loves to roller skate and rollerblade. And the last time I did that with her, I chipped a tooth and I was like, I'm not doing this again.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

Oh no. One thing that I do know that you also love is music. You used to go to the Austin City Music Festival, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 54:12

Austin City Limits Music Festival. Yeah. This is a great thing that most people don't know about me. I grew up in West Texas, kind of old country is a part of my roots. I'm from the hometown of Wayland Jennings, Littlefield, Texas. And um music's just been a part of my soul, I feel like. And I love live music, and I love our Gasparilla Music Festival too, right here in our community. So I don't have to travel outside of my own backyard for great music, too. I'm gonna get the opportunity to serve on the board for the music festival. I'm so excited about that. I'm just a lover of music. And what I love about the Gasparilla Music Foundation side of the house is they put instruments into kids' hands and they recycle instruments throughout the community and then they put on the music festival for free for kids and kids get free admission. And so if you choose to support the Gasparilla Musical Festival or Foundation, that's what it supports year-round beyond the festival, which is a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 55:09

I didn't know that at all. So on the board, do you pick who is in the music festival? No, no, yet. Oh my god, that's so exciting. But I have recommendations. I got two recommendations.

SPEAKER_01 55:19

Okay. I just got officially approved to be on the board, so I'm really excited. So I served on the advisory board this last year and just really want to help them expand their reach. I'm a member of what's called the higher ground. It's where you choose to support them year-round with a gift. And then you also get that fun access at the festival to some of the special spaces that they have. And so I think it's just like just a great way to give and still be involved. But I'll let you know next time. Even this year, I've had such a great experience. I ran into Shaky Graves at the hub after the festival and hung out with him. And then Kelsey Hickman's a new artist that I found there. She has a song called RBF, and I suffer from it also.

SPEAKER_04 56:02

Do you know what RBF is, Danielle? I have no idea. Resting face. Oh my gosh, I have heard that before. But you don't, Mandy. You don't have that.

SPEAKER_01 56:13

So if I'm not smiling and laughing and completely engaged, I'm like, don't mess with it.

SPEAKER_04 56:19

Don't mess with Mandy.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

People think I'm mad if I'm not smiling.

SPEAKER_04 56:22

Don't mess with the Texas girl. That's right. You don't mess with Texas. I have to ask you here. So the Austin City Limits, I have somebody that I've followed for years. I've dragged you to many concerts. Are you a fan of Bob Schneider?

SPEAKER_01 56:37

Not a huge fan. So I'm gonna have to listen as soon as we get off.

SPEAKER_04 56:43

You will love Bob Schneider. Apparently, he is constantly in the Austin City limits, and he's been to Tampa a few times. And I have always listened to him. So I was curious if you coming from Texas and being in that loop had been a fan of his as well.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

There's this other band. So I used to babysit for this family, the Cotellis family. They were the loveliest family, the mom and dad, and three boys. It was Evan, Ari, and Ian. Three little boys. And they were the most well-behaved, sweetest boys. And then they grew up to be these gorgeous men. And two of the brothers, Ian and Evan, got involved with music. I don't think Ian's playing anymore, but Evan has a band called Melody Bridge. Well, I didn't realize he was in Tampa. And so the other day I was at Salt Shack and I heard this music and I'm like, who is that? He's so good. And I look and it was Evan. So I want to recommend him for the Gasparilla Music Festival. I don't know whether the other board members are listening or what the process is, but Melody Bridge would be fantastic. So check that out too if you haven't heard him.

SPEAKER_04 57:52

I'm going to check that out as well. Yes. He's great. He's really good. Mandy, if you had your Spotify or your iTunes or whatever on Shuffle, what songs do you think would come up that are some favorites of yours or are inspiring to you? Or if not songs, what performers?

SPEAKER_01 58:16

I have just a wide variety of music tastes, so many right now. I am I'm so into the artists I discovered from GMF. Pearl Jam's always gonna show up in my playlist, which is a little different. I love Noah Cahan right now. I've been listening to a lot of Sabrina Carpenter, Donna Grande. I don't know why, but you know, I feel like I also have an eight-year-old and a 20-something year old, so I like a fair amount of pop music too. Taylor Swift's always gonna be in my jams. I'm a Swifty. I also love Zara Larson right now, too. She's super fun. Ella Langley. You're gonna have a lot of different kinds of music if you're in very diverse.

SPEAKER_04 58:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:00

Some of them I knew and some of them I didn't. So I'm gonna have to get a playlist from you. I love new music all the time. And of course, Swifty. I don't know if you've heard her latest, Danielle, but it's so good. Is it called Fate of Ophelia, the new album? Life of a Showgirl. Oh, Life of a Showgirl, but Fate of Ophelia is on there.

SPEAKER_01 59:21

I knew it, I knew you. It's a really sweet song.

SPEAKER_03 59:23

Oh, I haven't heard that one. Oh my god, if we had Taylor Swift on the podcast, you never know. It could happen. She's only been on one podcast, and you know what happened there. So I saw that podcast. It was her fiance's podcast. His brother has a podcast.

SPEAKER_04 59:37

I watched it popular.

SPEAKER_03 59:39

It was a sports podcast. I literally watched it. I'm sure everybody that loves Taylor Swift watched that podcast.

SPEAKER_01 59:47

I put it in my top five I've ever been to.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Oh, that's a great present. It's just coincidental we happen to be talking about music because next week our guest is a musician named Rich, and we'll tell you all about him. But we have just had such a good time talking to you today, and we're honored that you would take time out of your schedule to come talk to us and just happy for people to get to know you, Mandy.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:15

Yes, thank you. I'm so inspired now. I want to go do things and travel things and write things and listen to music. Me too.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:23

Guys, I think when I listen to the podcast, it's like hanging out with your friends, just listening to have a conversation. So I just want to encourage you both to keep doing it. It's a lot of fun, and I enjoy listening. And I can't wait for you guys to have the abundance that you're putting into the universe come back to you.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:40

Thank you so much, Mandy.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:43

We love you. We appreciate you. Bye. All right. Bye. Take care. Isn't she wonderful? Mandy is incredible. She started out talking about meals on wheels and she was talking about signs and symbols and the affirmative process throughout the whole conversation. But I just can't help but see how all these things she's done in her life are laid into that abundance that she not only experiences, but that she offers to other people. It's just such a rich and abundant perspective she has, and it's such a rich and abundant life that she lives. It is very inspiring. She is very inspiring.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

She is very inspiring. And I've known her for years. It's 100% authentic. That is who she is. She lives that way. She's that kind of friend. If you needed something, she would be right there for you. I feel very grateful to know her, but I'm excited that other people are going to get to know her from this podcast. And she is a lot of fun too. Like she said that at the beginning. She's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:49

Like she loves music. She's a great conversationalist. She's just fun and wonderful kind of person.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:55

Yeah. What a gift to have been able to talk with her. That is very special. So thank you for bringing her here so that I could meet her and that other people could meet her as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:08

You're welcome. And I'm so glad we had a chance to talk again. And I'm looking forward to next week. We're going to interview Rich Mori. I'll have to tell you more on the next podcast. But for the people listening, I hope you get excited because we're going to have a great episode next week as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:23

Lovely. Well, thank you. Thank you. And that's it for now. I hope you have a beautiful day.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:29

You too.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:29

All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:30

Bye bye.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:30

Thank you. Bye.