Episode 224: Fuel the Fire

We are curious…what type of work do you do and is it something that fulfills you? 

Shaté takes pride in helping others not only live in their purpose but truly love what it is that they do. However, to get to where she is today there were quite a few pivots and transitions along the way. 

Ultimately, she fell in love with career strategy and  development and has been paying it forward ever since. 

Tune in to episode 224 as Shaté recalls the various  experiences in each place she has lived, explains the journey to self-publishing a book and much more!  

For more information:

Website: lightmycareermatch.com ; shatehayes.com

LinkedIn: Shaté Hayes

Instagram: @iamshate

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

So by now I'm sure that most of us have heard the saying wrong place, wrong time. But I want to flip that perspective a little bit, especially for this episode with Shate. And I want to say right place, right time, because that is exactly how she was able to make her transition into career and professional development. And on top of that, now she really works on being able to pay it forward. Because she will be the first to tell you how important it is to be happy. Happy in life, happy in your career, and how, if you're not, it can cost you so many more things than just that money. So, without further ado, enjoy episode 224.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

What's going on, everybody?

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Welcome back to another episode of the Down to the Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner. It's almost the end of the year, y'all. Like, you know, it's here. I I always tell people, being that my birthday is in July, I feel like you know, once the summer gets here, the year is over. You know, even before my birthday. Like once June gets here, once the children are out of school, once everybody just has really no responsibilities, we're back in action. But even with that, with that, the grind is ever going. The grind never stops, weekends, nights, mornings, even at your other jobs, whatever you're doing, the grind must continue. The grind must go on. So very excited to be sitting down today with Shay, man. Somebody who I love when people reach out to me, you know, I love when people kind of find the podcast in its journey. I love when they listen to some episodes, they kind of get the overall just the mission, the mantra. And that is what Shay definitely did. You know, reading the intro that she gave me, even going through everything that she's doing and even some of the terminology and just the wording and how she phrased everything, I'm very impressed, but I'm also very eager to learn more and also push her out to my network and my audience. So before we get into all things, before I just let her take over and steal the show, Shite, how's everything on your end? How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Doing well. I appreciate you asking me that. And uh gotta say, like, we're gonna have to circle back to that birthday because I've got family whose birthdays in July and know a lot about y'all's cancer.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

So well, I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm actually a Leo, so I follow on the later side of July. But similar to you, my family's birthdays are from the first all the way to the to like the I think I may be the last July 26th. I think somebody may be after me, 29th. But yeah, July is a jam-packed month. I hate it for my wallet or my bank account, but we make it happen each and every time, and we make it work. But yes, cancers are some of the most important people in my life. Three of my very, very, very close friends' birthdays are all July 2nd, so it's yeah, I can't get away from the July people, can't get away from the summer people, but nonetheless, the year flows. July, the best month of the year. I'm gonna be a little biased, y'all. My bad, but uh, you know, I love the idea that that even through everything, even with everything going on, with everything happening, with every you know, we we still we still make it work year after year. You get older, you experience more, you go through more, and you even just take that that birthday, that celebration, just that being able to be with people, being able to spend time with the ones that you love and care about is no other like that. So I know that between the both of us, we're gonna have a few things today. We're gonna have some people tapping in from my side and down the business who may not really know too much about you and what's going on. We're gonna have some people from your side uh tapping in as well who may not know too much about me or the podcast whatsoever. But we're gonna have my favorite, arguably, and that is the people who know nothing about either one of us, and they're tapping in for the first time, they came across this somewhere in their journey, and I love that. So, welcome, y'all. But for those people to bring everybody up to speed, to put everybody on the same playing field, can you just do two things for me? Can you one just tell me what brings you on? Well, no, actually, one, tell me a little bit about yourself, and then two, tell me what brings you on the down the business podcast today.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Absolutely. Well, thank you again for having me. What I'll say is I gotta circle back to birthdays one more time. So I'm also a Leo, so we definitely have that in common common. And I'll start with that in terms of a little bit about myself. I'm Shate originally from Houston. I live in the Atlanta area. I'm a Leo. Shout out to the Leos, and I have got a very interesting career journey. I've been fortunate enough to really do work that lights me up to build careers. I say plural because I've uh evolved as many of us have, and that were dream careers. And so my first career as a professional dancer choreographer and did that for a number of years, and went to grad school, got a master's in dance, and really found my way into career work and worked in workforce development. And so I have the distinct privilege and pleasure to help people really navigate finding work that lights them up. So I love to say I like to help people like live their purpose and love their work and what that can look like for them. And no, no two of us are the same. We're not monolith as people. And so what that really looks like for you, your unique strengths, your unique talents, your unique story, how to tell that so that you can embark upon doing the work that, you know, I feel like we're all came, we're we're here to do.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

I love all of that. You know, whenever we can really move in the direction to help others, but and in a sense, not only excel and propel them, but make sure that they're happy. Because I feel like in the end, that's really what it boils down to. Your passion derives from that happiness. You know, you could love something all day long, but if you're not happy with it, it will soon feel like a drag, a chore. It'll become just a burden to carry to bird. But if you wake up every day and you truly love what it is that you do, if it doesn't really feel like work, if you show up, show out each and every day, even through the bad days, even through the trials and tribulations, then you know you're really somewhere where you need to be. And oftentimes, as you said, you know, no two people walk the same journey. And with that, things change. You know, you could like something in the very beginning, and then as you kind of get into it, as you move around, you could realize, hey, maybe this is not for me. You get exposed to something else, or maybe you try something new, and you're just like, wow, hey, I and never in a million years would I have guessed that I'd be in this lane, but I actually really do enjoy it. And with that, you know, I'm a big don't like it till you try a type of person. So a lot of times how I've come across different likes, dislikes, and everything is just from really trying things, just from really experimenting and not letting someone else's perspective or preconceived notions really take me away from that. Block my blessings in a sense. So now with you, I definitely hear a big transition in that. So I hear, you know, the dance, the choreography around all of that. And now we've kind of shifted into the essence of really just helping others. Now, as I'm sure that your passion for dance hasn't faded or hasn't been lost or anything like that, you know, naturally we just embark on new things on new journeys. So, how are you? How did that transition take place? Like, how did it really become a thing of you beginning to help others? You know, was this something that as you were kind of growing up and just as you began to really just hone in on things, were people kind of just reaching out to you just for, you know, not necessarily consultations, but maybe advice, maybe your perspective. You know, oftentimes we always have that one friend, or we sometimes we are that friend that people come to that they want to hear from that advice from that, you know, they know that you're gonna give them the real, whether they want to hear it or not. So for you, from dance to really career transition and to really allowing people to live into their purpose, how did you get from one side to the other?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah, I mean, so that's why I really I stumbled upon your podcast and was like, yeah, we should we should talk about it because you get right down to business, right? And so I the transition for me was like I said, unexpected, or I don't know if I said that, but it was I was in a position where the the work that I have done has chosen me, even with dance. Like I never once was like, ooh, put I want to be in a dance class. My family put me in dance at a young age, and it was just it chose me, right? Same thing for career development. When I was in grad school and the dancers, the undergrads would learn the career that I had um before grad school. So I had been working for about seven or eight years before I went to grad school, started my career in LA, had an agent, did a whole bunch of stuff, uh, worked overseas. I also um did a ton of uh theater, like musicals and stuff like that. And so they were like, okay, I'm about to graduate. I'm trying to figure out what's next for me. You've done a lot of stuff I want to do. Can you help me? So that's exactly how it was. It was like they were asking me questions and asking for advice. But the other thing that really did just kind of seal the deal for me was I was in the grad student office and working on my thesis, and the department tier comes in and is like, hey, we got a class that starts in five minutes. It's called Career Resources. We don't have a TA. Can you do it? Can you like it starts now? Can you go? And back to what you were saying about just kind of being open to what life brings your way. I was like, sure, why not? You know, I'm free right now. And I go into the class and just fall in love with it. It was totally unexpected. I love being able to share all the things I didn't know when I moved to LA for the first time, everything I wish I did know when I was building my career, all of the things that were pitfalls for me, hard lessons, um, all the tears that had cried. It felt like this was now like it was meaning, it meant something now. If I was able to share that information with them. And so that's that's really where it started. I just fell in love with it and wanted to do more. And so I started blogging about all of my experiences because I didn't always have time to really just sit with each person individually. And then I started writing career articles for like Dance Magazine or Point or things like that. And I started building my own kind of work around what it looks like to build a sustainable career as a dancer and an artist. And it just, it's just never left me since then. It's just so, so, so important to your earlier point about career dissatisfaction. The thing that we don't really talk about is that how much it costs us to not love what we do. So there are articles out there that say, like, when you hate your job, it's costing you your physical health. You have more physical physical problems. You could have um like gut issues, you're not sleeping well, like all kinds of things wrong with your actual physical body and then your mental health, anxiety, depression, right? All of that really takes a toll on your quality of life. And then it also impacts our our funds, our coins. So when we don't like our jobs, when we're not engaged, we're actually not making as much money either. And so it's super, super important. I want to definitely say it's beyond like just liking your job. To me, it's it's more about like what's the higher thing that we're all called here to do. And you don't necessarily need to do that for a living. But if as much as possible that we can be connected to that thing, that you know, and it could change. It doesn't have to be the same thing. And a lot of people feel pressure around purpose and passion. But like as much as we can be connected to that higher thing in service to others, I think the better our the better we all are for it.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

And that cost, as you spoke about, yes, it's not just monetary, you know, it can be a little bit of everything, health, but uh mental. You know, when I was I was always I always tell people, and I've shared it plenty of times on the podcast that I can always tell when my mental is off because it impacts so many different areas of my life. You know, I didn't really realize that until I started just making observations of myself and and not and attributing them to the rightful things and not trying to just push things off or give it something that it's not, but really just pay attention to where I am here. So no, I I uh it's it's crazy just to hear that you know, uh being free, having just an open schedule really propelled you into this, you know, who would have bought. But something that I also heard too was LA, Houston, Atlanta. I've got places in these different spaces that you've been in all, and these are not just cities, like these are not just okay, you just brush over these, these are major cities, you know what I mean? So to to hear that and to know that you've been in a host of different, you know, you've been kind of west, you've been, I guess we can say more so east, a little bit south, and you've been west coast completely. So, was there any particular location or was there any particular time period or where you were that really was instrumental for you? Was it being in LA and not really knowing how things are? Because I heard the West Coast, some people call it the left coast, like they're just a little bit different in the East Coast Coast, you know, where I mean directionally wise, right? But you you know, when someone has left, it's just a little different. But I as somebody who's never been to LA, never been to Caddy, I've heard it's a different lifestyle, it's different out there. But do you feel like there was one place that you've been and it could be outside of those three that I've even mentioned, but do you feel like there was one place that was really a defining moment for you?

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Oh, that's such a beautiful question. And to answer your question, the the part about the people, when you grew up in the south, like I did, like had had only been in the south exclusively, grew up in Houston, went to college in Atlanta, and then went to LA from there, it was such a culture shock. You know, it was like, what's wrong with y'all out here? It was just, you know, and I remember my mom dropping me off and me kind of just like staring at people, like she was like, You can't do that, you live here, and you chose to live here. So you're gonna have to figure it out. But to answer your question, every season of my career, my life has been instrumental. And I'm not, and I'll tell you why. LA, every ease every season taught me something different that I that I needed and that I still use. LA is where I really learned how to be a professional artist, a professional performer. I learned the discipline and the grind of working overnight so I could pay my bills, and then being available for auditions all day, getting an agent, what it looks like to show up, how you dress, how I per how how I present myself, how I need to perform, how I need to network, how I need to be thinking about saving my money. Like all of that I learned in LA so much so that when I got to the southern parts back to Texas, I took all of that professionalism that I learned and I booked, I worked like everything, because that's not not something a lot of folks in the South really have. They kind of trait treated it like hobbies, you know, I'm gonna work my day job and then I'm gonna, you know, sort of do this thing on the side. But for someone who like actually knows what it's like to gulp against hundreds of other dancers vying for the same role, and I'm like coming correct with my headshot, my resume, I got reels, I got, I know how to sit, I know how to do all of that. That's from my time in LA. And I I I deeply appreciate it. What I learned in my time in the South, like doing regional theater, is that I mean, I just love it's the storytelling of the theater, is just there's nothing like it to be able to like really see movement and a story come to life on the stage. And it's something I never really thought that I even would enjoy. You know, I was sort of like, oh, I'm a dancer. Would I ever even want to be interested in those other things? But really choreographing theater was just like nothing like it. I had the opportunity to choreograph a regional production of the color purple, and my God, if that didn't change my life, just you know, seeing that story growing up on as a movie, and all I ever saw was the heartache of that story. My mom used to watch that all the time, and it was so depressing. Like, why are we watching the color purple again? But then as an adult, to really read that script and to understand the self-awareness and the self-acceptance and the self-love of that story that she had to grow to, that just still to this day gets me. And then there was a time where I worked in Shanghai for a few months, and that really just opened my world up in a totally different way. It was like, you know, I learned what was possible for me. I was like in this place with all of these folks from all these other different countries who are also sort of like living differently. And it was just, yeah, I've learned in each season, I've learned more about myself, and then I've taken something with me to help me be a pro a better like professional, a better servant leader. You know, it's just definitely enriched my life in in really beautiful ways.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Shanghai. Oh, I need to uh I need to upstand it a little bit. I was just telling myself I wanted to get out of the country soon, so I definitely think I need to add that. But no, what you said about the color purple also resonates with me because my mom, um, God rest her soul, her favorite color was purple. And so that was one of her favorite movies. So, you know, as a kid, like I didn't always get that movie. One, it was long, it was very like you had to pay attention to it, and it was just it got boring, he started talking too much. It wasn't cartoons basically, or it wasn't the film that I wanted to watch, so it was definitely different. So, I but you know, as you start to get older, there were plenty of things that I just re-watched, or plenty of things that I may have grew up on. And you know, they always say about the certain type of music and the certain type of um shows and things like that, just the different meanings or the innuendos that you don't really understand until you get like my age or mature, certain things that we shouldn't have been listening to and singing along to that. We were just you would have swore we were heartbroken or in love somewhere, or just we're doing every single thing the way we were kind of just reciting things, but as you get older, that appreciation for not only the the music, the person, but the art because that's all really what it is art in its purest form. And I just love to be able to see that, I love to hear that. So the fact that you were able to resonate, but the fact that you were able to be in so many different places and spaces and take something from that. I think that that's an important part because oftentimes we move around so much in life. We're here, we're there, we're traveling, we're we're we're visiting family, things come up, you got to relocate, do whatever. You always have to appreciate your different experiences. You know, I think about being born in the Bronx, I think about leaving the Bronx when I was two and being raised in Philly until I was 18. I think about going to undergrad in North Carolina. I had never stepped foot in the South prior to that. I think about well, stepped foot in the South for that long, let's say. Uh I think about then going back up to upstate New York to get my masters. I think about moving back to Philly for a year after that, and I think about now being in Tampa for the last four years, and I think about each of those experiences and places and spaces as something different. As it was, you know, I wasn't the same person that I am now, even when I got to Tampa mid-pandemic. It was two totally different things. I went from being an essential worker in Philly to getting to Florida, and they had bigger fish to fry than the pandemic. People are looking at me weird because I'm wearing the mask, you know. So it's always important too. But I think too, what that comes with is living in the moment and just that appreciation. You know, if we don't just take time sometimes to just exist, to just be, it's just like you could really move around or miss things or look back on things and not really appreciate it for what it's worth, or maybe have a different depiction or recollection of things because of where you were at that point in time. Because sometimes it's also where we are along that journey. Sometimes you're at a place or you're somewhere where you probably could experience it differently if maybe your funds were a little bit better, if maybe your mindset was a little bit better, if maybe you even knew people or had somebody to kind of resonate with or anything like that. So it also can depend on our extenuating circumstances, just the same. So I love to hear that you know, through everything, through every place that you've been, through everywhere, every probably person you've met, every interaction that you've had, every grind, every late night, early morning, you've appreciated that and it's come to allow you to grow into the woman who you are today. So getting into the woman that you are today, you you had a very interesting line in your bio. And I want to kind of just pick it out a little bit. Like I said, I did some investigations. I had to put pieces around, I had to vet the people who are coming on the show. But but the line that really stood out to me was that you have mastered the art of professional transition. I don't think people really understand to master something, like to be a master of something, it's like an undoubted, undoubted confidence, but also the success speaks for itself, the results speak for themselves. You know, this is not my first rodeo. I'm not just a one-trick pony. You can put me on this side, I'm gonna make it work. You can make me on this, put me on this side, I'm gonna make it work just the same. So for you to have mastered the art of professional transition, when did you feel like you really, when did you really feel like that you you you overcame that? And I wouldn't even necessarily call it like an obstacle or anything like that, but when did you really feel like you got to that point in life where you were like, look, no matter what, like granted, I'm not perfect, I'm not just the end all be all, I'm not the the top dog when it comes to everything, but I'm very confident in my abilities. I'm very confident in what I do, and I'm very uh confident in my passion and what I love. When did that happen for you?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Listen, let me tell you about how timing can be so divine. It's interesting because you know, I have a couple of versions in my bio, and that's one that sometimes I I think about like, do I keep this? Do I not? Um, and it's interesting that it's coming up today as like life is feeling very transitional, it's been feeling like that, I think, for a lot of people that are around me. So to say that I have mastered it and then to still be in the midst of transitions and may be difficult is definitely a tension and a friction that I want to name. And I'll say this I the reason that I've felt like I have mastered, you know, the art of transition is because I've done it so much. You know, I from a professional dancer, choreographer, to, you know, then a career in a corporate career in career development, workforce development. So I started as a career coach and then uh was promoted about five or six times in the span of like six years. And so all of those different careers, moving from different cities, um, then leaving a corporate career, starting my own business. Right. So I have done, I've done a lot of moving around. And I want to be honest and say that someone could be listening to this and being like, ooh, your life has been so interesting. I'm envious that you've been able to touch these different cities and have these different experiences. And maybe they're feeling like, oh, I've only done this and I've been this for the last few years. And so they're probably, you know, maybe like dissing themselves a little bit because of that. And what I want to say, I always got to be honest about the other side of the coin because there are times when me allowing myself to evolve and giving myself permission to grow and change, I have also turned on myself and been like, well, dang, am I flaky? Is there something wrong with me? You know, I grew up where my family, my parents had the same job for decades and decades and decades. And people around me who chose professions in college, like they chose to be a doctor, they're a doctor, they're still a doctor. If they chose to be a lawyer, they're still a lawyer. And here I am evolving and changing and deciding to do different things. And so I I question like, is there something wrong with me? Why can't I sit down somewhere? And, you know, so I think that there is a cost to everything. And what I would say to the person, if you're feeling that, if you're staying stuck because you're too scared to pivot, give yourself a chance. But I think there's valid in all of our stories. There's val, there's validity in all of our experiences. And I guess the thing to answer your question, the reason I feel like I've mastered it, one is because I've done it so much. And two, now I know, now I know what to expect and how to how to how to move through it, how to navigate it. So I know about if I'm gonna change cities, I know about how long it takes before I start to feel like it's actually my own and I have my own schedule and my own community. If I'm changing careers, I know how to strategize around it and what I need to do to set myself up so I don't have a gap in you know my income and like how I'm gonna make money. And because early on when I was doing that kind of stuff, I would just be out here being a young person, like YOLO, I'm about to quit. I don't have no backup plan. I'm gonna figure it out and then be like, what the heck did I just do? You know, like I don't know money, I'm I'm I'm broke, whatever the thing is. And so yeah, I mean, I've learned because I've done it and failed and done it again, you know. So uh it's all of that, it's really nuanced. Um, but to your earlier point, it's really about just getting out there and living life, like trying it out, you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah, just the episode it's funny. The episode before yours, um, I talked to a guy whose brand is podcast, everything like that, it's just get started. And you know, it it that those three words that phrase holds so much. I was telling him it really resonated with me because it makes me think of Nike, you know. And he was just saying, you know, I said get started, or I could have said something else, but you know, that just that action with it is just like, okay, well, let's do it now because somebody can tell you to do it. You but okay, I'll do it, I'll figure it out, but just do it, you know, just just do it. Like without saying now, but when you hear that just it's kind of one, it gives a bit of an ease to it, but two, it's just like, all right, maybe it's not that bad. Maybe I just can't, you know, sometimes it's just about taking that step. Sometimes it's it's about taking that step and not knowing what awaits you on the other side. You know, that's the that's the scary, but that's the exhilarating part of what can be life sometimes. So I love to hear that. Now, as a career strategist or career coach, you know, I could imagine that you have come across a plethora of different people in different industries, different niches, everything of the sort like that. Have you found that when helping others, when discussing with others, when consulting with others, when coaching others, there are commonalities? Are a lot of people across different industries, you know, and I asked this question because I want business owners and entrepreneurs sometimes to realize that they're not alone, that just because you may be in a industry that's different from everybody else or a niche that's different, or you come from a particular background or everything like that, everybody out there is going through some form or problem of yours. It may not be your exact specific, but I promise you, when you put it out there, when you talk about it, you can definitely resonate with something. So, in your years of experience and working with others and really just hearing and keeping up with industry trends and everything of the sort, have you found there to be commonalities that are really affecting the business owners, the entrepreneurs, the creatives, the people in the rightful careers as we speak?

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Mm-hmm. Yes. And I was trying to think of a way, a concise way to sum it up. I would say it is the what I think it's the what, the how, and the mindset. So I see a group of people who they have decided to do the thing, whether it's to start a business or to change directions in their business or change directions professionally. And they have like they've done this the work to give themselves permission to do the thing. And then they're, but they're like, wait, but what am I gonna do? Like, what is it? I don't really quite know. I don't want to keep doing the kind of work that I'm doing now. I want to do something different. So those are a certain group of people, and that feels um like a clear, you can take some assessments, you can do some reflections, you know, sort of do some research and have some conversations and start to test out what which direction you like to go. Then there's the how people who sort of know what they want to do and they're like, but I don't know how to do this. Like, so if someone is in a corporate career, for example, and they're like, I'm gonna transition out of this and I'm gonna start my business. Maybe they're gonna start working independently doing the same kind of work that they're doing now, but they're like, okay, how do I do that? Who, how do I get my first client, my first contracts? How do how am I gonna sustain my living, you know, months on end? I got children, I got family to sustain, you know, like how how can I do this in a way that doesn't require me to go back, go backwards. And that is really about strategy, you know, like you think about how much you need to make, and then, you know, sort of you do some reverse mapping and and and what you could be selling or what you could be doing, you how you do some networking, right? And then you you have a plan. And then there's so many of us who it's just it's a mindset thing. Like we we want a different kind of life, but we haven't given ourselves permission to go after it. We're too scared, it won't work. Maybe we have some very real, you know, you're taking care of loved ones, family members, kids, you know, you have health issues yourself, you need the stability of the thing, or you're fearful that, you know, the devil I know is better than the one that I don't, right? It's it's all those. Or even even if you have been like, okay, I know I want to do this thing, I'm gonna give myself a chance to do it, then there's these mindset blocks around am I good enough? Do I have enough experience? Will people even want to hear what I have to say? Will they buy from me? So like we all have these sort of ruminating thoughts, these, these our own limiting beliefs to contend with that sort of keep us where we are. And so much of the work, whether you're going for a new job, a promotion, changing, you know, businesses, starting a business, starting a whatever the thing is, like the transition of it, the change management of it is difficult for all of us, right? And so I always like to tell people, you know, it would be really irresponsible of me to be out here just telling people like, take a leap of faith, just do it, just do it, just do it, just change, go after your life you want. And then to really not set your manage your expectations that on the other side of that leap, you might not land too gracefully. Like there are things that you can put in place to make your landing more probable that it'll be successful. But even if your landing is successful, there's still a whole mess of middle that you gotta move through around. Well, did I make the right choice? Did I make a mistake? Should I have, you know, like, oh, I'm here now. This is hard, and or it's different, or it's whatever the mind stuff that comes up for you, we all have to navigate it. And, you know, I think it's the the reason why so many of or some of us are able to move ahead is that we don't let the mind stuff stop us. We all experience it, we all get rejected, we all get scared, we all get nervous, we all get self-doubt, we all we all do. There is no one that doesn't. And so those of us who are able to really not let that stop us are the ones that usually end up having some version of the life that we want.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

Absolutely. Because I, you know, I and I love that last part of it because even the people that are where you want to be, even those experts, those top voices, top dogs, they go through the motions, they go through everything. They're human beings at the end of it. Whether you put them in on a different pedestal or view them in a different light, they're still the same. You know, people come to me a lot and tell me just about like somebody told me today your media training is great or impeccable or something like that, or like you're really comfortable in front of the camera, everything of this. I'm just like, look, like I still get nervous though. Like, I'm like not necessarily saying I get nervous for the interviews and everything like that, but yo, I'm like, even when I do my live events, I pray beforehand. You know, I'm I'm nervous. Yeah, even when I know I'm going other place, you know, it's it's the nerve, it's just because I'm a human being, you know, I have those emotions. So do I allow that to consume me, to bog me down to really affect my performance? No, I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna give you the best show that I got every single time. We're gonna get down to business, you know what I'm saying? But it really just goes to show that a lot of times it's really here, and a lot of what I had to do throughout my journey is perfect this, become a master of this, and it's very the mind is a powerful tool, and we haven't even tapped into all of it, nearly half of it. So it's just like you know, a lot of times when I practice mental fortitude, a term that one of my fraternity brothers bestowed upon me, and I just never let it go since. And it was just like, you know, to keep this strong is so important through everything, through no matter what happens, you have to keep this intact because the minute it's not, as I told you with me, I know things start to fall apart. Things that I would never even would have imagined would be affected by my mental not being right, are affected and are impacted. So I say all of that to say I go through the same things that the shyest person in the world may go through. You may consider yourselves an introvert, I may be extroverted, but I promise you, we still feel the same things, we still go through the same emotions and array of feelings just the same. But it's about how you combat with that, how you act upon it. Because no, I wasn't always, you know, I wasn't always as impeccable as people think, or wasn't always you know, I watch plenty of videos now of myself. My eyes are going this way, or I stuttered, or I stammered, or I'm swaying. Even even some of the professionals, when I was in grad school, my my Emmy Award-winning professor, shout out to Simon Perez, still recording today today, was calling me out for just the just live, just basic things, and he was just like, you know, but in a sense, it was just like wow, like I thought that was pretty good. But you saw that you saw that, you saw that, and you saw that. So it's just like it's also too about where people meet you at in their journey. You know, a lot of people who tell me this, well, they may not have a master's in broadcast and digital journalism and sports communication. You know, they may not have been on a sports show each week, they may not have had to be in front of the camera for grad school for their capstone to be an announcer and everything like that. So I also understand the experiences and what comes with that as well. But I say that to still emphasize that look, your boy, I'm a human, I get nervous, I go through the motion, I go through the things, I second guess myself. I I I I'm a perfectionist, I'm I'm all of that, especially when I'm doing this by myself. I procrastinate, I'm procrastinating right now. I should have published the episode today. But it happens, you know. So, but I like I said, it's all about how you come out on the other side of that, and I think that's so important, Tom. Yes, a side that we have not touched on just yet is you're an author. Um, yeah, I'll put it like what's up with that, you know. Because why so why I love that is because so for the people who are following along the podcast, y'all know that I want to I want to write a book someday, I want to put it out there. I don't even know what I just want to put a book out there, I think that would be really cool. It's like when people, when I tell people I want to get my PhD, they say, Why? Well, I mean, Dr. Turner sounds better than you, you know what I'm saying? So it's just like I just need that, you know. But obviously, I'm not just gonna throw myself in the PhD program. But as an author, what um, why, where did that come along in your journey? Why did you decide to do that? And then I've asked every author this question, they've always given me a different answer. What was the process like for you? Was it so I've had some people tell me it was smooth, it was easy. They called an editor, it was pretty easy once they got out of their own head. I've had some people tell me that it was probably one of the hardest things that they've done from procrastination, from just life happening, from everything. And I've had people tell me that they were somewhere in the middle, that they would definitely do it again or they have done it again, but they definitely learned along the way and they knew what not to do for next time. So, for you, where do you fall um within that realm?

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yeah, so in that that period of time uh in my dance career where the sort of career bug had bitten me, and I was like, ooh, I get to share all the things that I've learned. And I started blogging. So I built a resource, a site called The Working Dancer, and it had like all these articles that I wish I had, down to like when I told my parents I was moving to LA and just like all these things. And I was also again writing for Dance Magazine Point, these like you know, national dance publications. And I will say this about your question. Writing is what I enjoy. Like I love stories, I love books. I have, I grew up reading and I collect books like most people collect shoes. Like I just love stories. And so I think that's why it's a huge part of my work, you know, with content development, things like that, and career strategy. It it was like for me, the process was like, okay, I had I started to have this collection of blog posts that were, you know, like had their life, a life of their own. And then I was like, okay, I started making these resources where I was like curating different posts for folks to read. Like, okay, if you're coming into my my my platform at this certain time, and now I have all of these, you know, I have one about taxes, about when you should say no to the dance job, about when you should write. So I'm like curating these articles and like making it a resource. And then I was like, oh, well, if I'm making a resource with curated thoughts, this is just a book, like make make the like write the book. And so that's really kind of what it was, you know, and and this was like what 2015, 2016-ish. And so, you know, like ebooks as lead magnets or books as lead magnets were like a huge, huge thing. And so I really just did that. It wasn't the writing part wasn't difficult for me because, like I said, I was already like writing like a massive amount of of content. So I really just put the thoughts together and organized sort of what I already had and filled in the gaps. And so I just would take my time and do that. It didn't take me an extra a really long uh time because like I said, I already already had some stuff to work with. So within a couple of weeks, I did it and then I self-published. So I was like on iTunes and Amazon and all the other places trying to understand. I did all of those things by myself. I basically was just like fumbled through it, like upload the book, figure I made my my book cover on Canva. I literally when I say I bootstrapped and did everything myself, I did it and I put it up there and then I started telling everybody about it. I made a little reel for it. The video production is my thing. So I made a little commercial for it. Like I did all of those things, and it was really like that. I was really, really proud of it. I have since gone on to do other sort of ebooks. Like, so my book was primarily digital, but you can also buy it on Amazon and get a hard copy of the book. Um, I would like to write another book, but I would like for it to be like published by like a separate entity, maybe even like a major publishing house, just so I can know what that sort of feels like. I don't know if that's um, I should be careful what I asked for, but for some reason, I don't know. This is going back to limiting beliefs and like how we feel about ourselves, like as much as people are like, oh, you wrote a book, some for some reason I'm kind of like, yeah, self-published it. And so I kind of want the weight of like somebody else believed in this idea too, and they wanted to publish it on my behalf. So I don't know if I'm I'm overthinking it, but I kind of I'd like to have that experience.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

There's a lot of things that you could do with that, but like you said, also be careful what you ask for, you know. Typically, as as people who like to grind and get into all that, you know, we typically love to just throw things on ourselves, and then on the back end, we're just like, wow, like yes, I really want to do this, but dang, I I I really I really added a lot with this one. I every time I look at a new, I was even updating my resume today, and I was just like, Dag, like, why was I doing all of that? Why why did I choose to do that? What came what where did I follow up? You know, it's just certain things I come across sometimes, or I even tweeted probably like two weeks ago. I was just like, Hey, have you ever signed yourself up for something and forgotten that time came? You got that calendar reminder, you got that email, that phone call, you're just like, Wow, yeah, you know, so I definitely understand that I get that, but okay, I love that. I'm a I'm a I love to write too, so you know, I study my concentration with journalism, so I was big on that. I love to from the bios that I do here, you know. That's why I was kind of too. I would tell I tell people, I think now I'm realizing why I didn't want to move towards the chat GPT realm of things, and it was just because I love to do it myself. You know, I write all my episode bios myself, you know, just from listening to the episode, knowing the interviewee and everything. But two, I still got to make sure I got it. Like I feel like third chat GPT and things, I'm getting lazy, I'm losing vocabulary, I'm forgetting a big grammar. People call me the grammar guardian because you don't make a grammar mistake around me, I'm gonna connect correctly, whatever email, whatever, it don't matter. Now, I I also get caught slipping too, so it's okay. But I say all that to say I just have that fond appreciation for that, so I want to always make sure that I'm staying in tune, that I'm tapped in, that I'm you know, like I said, I gotta make sure I still got it, and I can still get behind the wheel and I can still make it shake and make it big. So, but I love to hear that with your journey, and I'm definitely very interested to see where it takes you as you start to explore and experiment with different routes and different options and and just different experiences and even different people. You could definitely find it to be something that could be of great use to you and even propel you into different avenues, just the same. So I know that we're gonna have some people tapping in that their curiosity is piqued now, their interest, the eyebrows have raised, they're kind of looking around the corner. Like, hold on, I'm I'm kind of what she looks like me, you know. I resonated with her. She from she she'd have been some places I'd have been before. She understand the south, she understands the west coast a bit, you know, she could dance, so everything in there. But I am very curious, more so for my audience, but also just for myself, just the same to know. But what does it look like when people want to work with you, when people want to work with your organization, with what you guys are doing? You know, a lot of and I guess I asked that question too from a marketing standpoint. Like, how do how do people find out about what it is that you do? Is a lot of this word of mouth, is a lot of it through other work and a lot of other connections that you have made, is a lot of it through maybe events that you put yourself out there. You know, are you big on the social medias? Is it a little culmination of everything? What does that really look like for you and the experience that others will get when stepping into your field too?

SPEAKER_00 38:23

That's a good question. I can tell you all the things that I've tried and what I actually think works and what I enjoy. And so, you know, I have done content marketing, right? Which is all of the writing. I have done, I used to have my own podcast. So I've done that before. I um now do podcasting like guests on other people's shows. There's a there's so much of this work that like is getting planted in a community. So for me, I'll talk my dance career. It's like, okay, what local community was I in? Do those people know me? Am I in those classes? Am I going to those events? Are we in those shows together? And so then that becomes like word of mouth. It's also like doing great work so that when you know someone works with you, they call you back for the next one. So that's how referrals happen. Um, and so yeah, the the other parts of it, you know, social media is not always been a huge thing for me. I love LinkedIn, but just social media itself, you know, because I grew up, grew up, I feel like I'm sounding so old, but like when I was in the peak of my dance career, social media wasn't a thing, right? So we weren't having to like show how many followers we had at an audition to like book a job, right? But now that is how you're like building right your credibility and things like that. So for us, it was really like more in real life kind of kind of things. And I find that I still like those kind of more in real life types of things. I will say that also one of the things that has been surprising to me that has been working is like Pinterest. And so I had a my blog from back in the day um that is still there, it's just shatehays.com instead of the working dancer. It it um would automatically, I would automatically post to Pinterest every time I blogged. And that is still bringing in people to my list like eight years later. And then back to those real life relationships, you know, as um after I got my master's in dance and I was a dance educator being an adjunct at a number of different college campuses in the Dallas area, so many of my students are like still on my list. And like all these years later, when I was like, hey, good, you know, what's up? Yeah, this is what I'm up to. They've been like, girl, I've been looking for you. Can we can we work together? And so those real life relationships like are a thing. Um, so the things that resonate with me now that I continue to do are um the blogging. I still I'm still active on LinkedIn, and then I still try to get out and about like and network as much as I possibly can, or just be in a community where people know me is probably a better way to say it. And then some of those like media type things, like I'm sure you you're fond of, like the writing, the podcasting, and things like that. They those all feel enjoyable to me. And I like to have conversation and meet cool people, so like this like really, really works for me.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

And look, I don't sleep on it. She got the LinkedIn premium. So look, I caught a free trial a couple months back. But it's definitely worth it. But I also love the point that you make about those communities, those like-minded communities, those individuals that are in with which you're in, and not necessarily always in your niche specific, but just like-minded, wanting to support others, wanting others to be great, looking like each other, you know, because a lot of these communities, man, and a lot of sometimes what scares people or deters people away is just that we can't find somebody that looks like us in our space. And sometimes it's hard to be a trailblazer, it's hard to be that outlier, it's hard to be that that that that one of these things is not like the other. You know, it's it's not really the easiest thing to do. But I will say something that I have always found to date to be, and I'm also done it within the last year or two, are joining these communities of people. There are so many people out here who I don't know you, probably may never meet you, but want you to succeed, want you to propel, want you to output, want you to do so and not have to go through all the mistakes, all the trials and tribulations, the hoops and the hurdles that they went through. They want you, it's nothing like somebody who doesn't want to gatekeep and who wants you to be and doesn't want to dine from it, but more so your success is their just that's their joyous moment, that's their passion, that's that's their that's their end all be all. You know, that's why they go to bed happy each and every night because whether you succeed, whether you fail, they're still set, they're still good, that foundation. And it wasn't until I really joined these communities that I learned. But you have to have communities eager as well. You know, you don't join these communities and just let them build up in your inbox and become spam and you just get the notifications and you leave. You know, sometimes I've come across things that it was a it was presented to me one way, but as I join and get into okay, maybe this is just not for me. But nine times out of ten, when you do your due diligence, when you do your research, when you really are intentional about what you're getting into and what you're joining, man, the resources, the connections. I've had people send me things complimentary just because I joined and just because I followed up and said, Hey, thank you for the invitation. I really appreciate that. I love what you're doing on your platform. Hey, here's a free ticket to my conference where the tickets are going for $700. You know, so it's just little thing. Now, I'm not saying that y'all just go on, you know, I'm not, I'm not like that. It takes work, it takes time, you know. But when you adopt these habits, it's just second nature. For me, I'm I'm a big person who there's fortune in the follow-up. I call it follow-up Fridays. Fridays, I'm always following up when I email, when I post on content, my calendar. Sometimes I gotta follow up myself and let myself know, hey, you didn't you said Tuesday, it's Friday, bro. You know, but I say all of that to say these communities are out here. There are people out here who want to help who can. I'm I'm in communities where people literally just post, hey, I need a guest. You you you respond, hey, I would love to be your guest. You give them a little intro, they send you a calendar link. Just like that. You're in a new podcast, you're in a new market, you're in a new audience, you're in, you know, somebody who now I have over. Well, by the time y'all probably hearing this, we'll probably be close to maybe like 220, 230. I don't I don't really know. I've I've lost track, right? But I I love the idea that you know, now I want to go to other podcasts. You know, I kind of have gotten the I would say 200 plus. I think I got the hang of this. I think I know what I'm doing, I'm a bit comfortable here. Um So now I want to get in front of other places because there are other people looking for business owners, there are other people looking for podcasters, there are other people looking to grow their following just the same. So pay attention to those communities, y'all. I'm I'm really telling y'all. But I love asking that question to you too. And I love asking that question to a lot of the business owners and the entrepreneurs who I've interviewed because grew up during a time where social media was not the end all be all, where it was not prevalent. Where we did I had to beg my parents for a MySpace and a Facebook page. We were this is the I we were you were hitting the seven to get the PQRS and everything like that. Like this is it wasn't like you said, it wasn't really relevant. It wasn't the first thing that you're pulling up when you get somewhere is the phone. Hey, look at the look at you know, I'm yeah, I put the phone, and I think I adopt a lot of that today because I don't really record, I don't record everything or document everything, or have I had to start a note on my phone with my accomplishments because I forget not to brag or not to it's just because I forget, and when when I have to have my my my manager evaluations or different things like that, and you're telling me, Hey, tomorrow, you remember you did that, and I'm just like, I did do that, I forgot you know. So I had to start documenting things and keeping up with everything. You know, it's a lot out here, it's a lot going on. Things are always changing. We got threads, meta, x, real store. I can't keep up with none of this stuff, but I'm only 28 years old, and it's crazy, you know. It's it's wild. I told people I was tired of the tick tock. I'm once I ain't dancing enough. We give it quotes, but it's it's it's hard, and it also makes me think about what's coming two years from now, three years from now, five years from now. What's the next social media site? Like you said, I told my little brother and them about my grandmother's only 20. I they don't know nothing about no Pinterest or no company, but they don't know about it because they've seen it the logo or the icon, but you wasn't on there, you wasn't that work, like it was you know, you could get some inspiration. Pinterest, man. When I need an idea or a tattoo or something like that, or some inspiration, man, I'm going through everybody board, like whoa, that from where he, you know, Pinterest is is that work, so it also goes to show too where we are along that journey and where we came into, you know, because I talked to people even prior to us, that a lot of it was that word of mouth, those mailers had to get them in person, you had to go to these events, you had to just show up and show out because we weren't getting all the text and then the call and back and forth and the emails and all of that. We were we were barely looking at color on TV and different things like that. So it was just like it was a different time. But I also think that that extenuates your grind. I feel like you grind based off of even where you grew up in, and you're up your factors and everything around you, and the comparison, being a thief of joy and everything, but you also grind based off of what you're used to. As you said, you know, with our parents, there was a grind, but there was also that stability there. There was, you know, they kept that same career 30, 40, 50, retired, everything like that. With us, man, we could have a bad day. We're ready to go, like it's it's it's just like that. So it's you know, but they it and it's funny because we we they they always say, like, Dad, y'all, all these business owners and entrepreneurs and all that, y'all are a different generation, y'all quick. Yes, because look, it we ain't happy, we ain't happy, you know what I mean? So I just love that that aspect of your journey. So now, yeah, before we get into all things where people can tap in with you, find more information about you, follow along the journey, even work with you, collaborate, everything of the sort like that. Do you feel like there is anything that we have not touched on that you would love to speak about? Whether it be new words that you want to leave the people with, I know we're gonna have some business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives, maybe even people who feel like they're stuck in that rut right now, who may just need some information or some preparation. Or um, if you don't have any of that, what I also will say, something I love to do here, without spoiling any surprises or anything like that, do you have anything that we can look forward to, whether it be towards the end of this year for 2025, any new event? You know, as you said, you just love to just add different things to your plate and be careful sometimes what you wish and what you ask, but you are a grinder nonetheless. So I know that, like I said in the beginning, we're gonna have some people who this is their first time meeting you, seeing you, they're loving it. They want to, you're the perfect person for them right now. As you said, divine timing. Is there anything that they can look forward to now as they come along and meet you where you are in this journey?

SPEAKER_00 47:59

I'll answer both of those a little bit. The first one is in terms of there's nothing super, I would say, top secret um that I'm working on, but I am excited to be building out like a blog on Career Steward and you know, even repurposing conversations like these into more content and just like basically telling more stories to help people be more purpose connected and you know be proud of the work that they do and who they are. And then we haven't we've touched on a lot, but I would just say that a couple of things you just said in your last little moment could be like additional conversations. The whole um thing about like your performance review, like telling so much of what I do is I help people tell their story so that they can right get to the grow their work in a way that works for them or advance their careers in a way that works for them. That promotion and people think that like oh, it's all about tenure and like I've been here long enough to promote me. No, no, no, no, no. Like you're gonna have to prove your show your value, tell that story. And so that's everything the way that people raise money for their businesses, the way that they get new opportunities. It's literally about how we're talking about ourselves or language that we're using. Like we have to be able to tell those stories. So that's super important. There was something else that you said, and I was like, oh, that's a word, that's a word, that's a word. That's like all of these are are just like, yes, like being in planted in those communities, like the networking. There's just like a lot of things I think that could be um, you know, things that you explore further in additional conversations because it's all it's all super important, and also things that you know, I think we've probably all have picked up, tried to have to like pick up on our as we've gone along. It's not something that we kind of maybe knew to begin with, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Well, that just means that a follow-up is definitely in the works because you know it's a lot to talk about, and I could imagine a year or two from now we'll we'll be in totally different places and spaces. So I'm definitely looking forward to that just the same. All right. So look, man, I I thoroughly enjoyed this, and it's not to say that I never enjoy my interviews, I enjoy all of them, but this one was because you know, I really enjoy the ones that speak to me. You know, some of them I can resonate with, but they're not necessarily tailored towards me. Very helpful information, definitely something that somebody else out there needs. But some of them are like knocking on, like yo, come on, yo, yo, listen, listen back to that tonight. Like, don't worry about because you know, but I even love the pie, I love having so many episodes kind of ahead too because sometimes I forget about these gems and I talk to, and then I go play the episode back. I'm like, Dag, that's some value, right? Oh, we got to get this. We should have got this out the same day, you know what I'm saying. But I love that because the podcast essentially too is timeless. You can tap in with us anywhere, episode three, episode 33, 57, 112. No matter where you are, you never miss a gem, never miss a moment. So I have to really take my hat off and thank you so much for everything that you're doing, everything that you've done, and really just as I said, taking the time to do your due diligence with me and reaching out and wanting to be on the platform. There goes that siren I was telling you about. So, but it all it always happens. I'm telling you, I try to put my together, I never time, but downtown Tampa. But I really just you know, I can genuinely appreciate everything that you're doing because I'm big on passion and I'm big on just being happy, and I'm big on, you know, as I continue to grow older and just build more connections and just sustain what I'm doing, happiness is always at the forefront. And where I would say, you know, I had shout out to Ed Girecki, somebody whose podcast that I appeared on Elevate Your Business. He asked me what my definition of success looks like today and what it looked like back then. And it was two totally different things, you know. Very much back then, a lot of it was materialistic, and it was just like, you know, I need the newest of everything, I want to look good, feel good, everything like that. And I'm not even really a flashy person to begin with. I just love nice button-up shirts. That's all now. My success for me is am I happy? We're just helping people, you know. I'm not really worried about the podcast, it has not nearly generated as much revenue as I want yet. But that's not to say that you know, if I was to really just focus on that, I would have stopped this episode three, episode four. We're we're we're over 200 at this point, and I'm not stopping, I'm not looking back, I'm not going. I've had some amazing conversations, heard some amazing stories, and got some exposure and brand awareness, not only for myself, but for others. So I say all of that to say that look, I genuinely needed this. And from down to business to career steward, we are wishing y'all nothing but the best. Always here to support, do whatever we can. But now here's my call to action. So arguably, my favorite part of the podcast is if the last 51 minutes were not, um, is the call to action because this is where I feel like you know, one, if you made it this far or skipped around or tapped around, yes, I'm talking to y'all because I know y'all be skimming through these episodes, which I put titles on the YouTube videos. I want y'all to watch, get them gems where you get them. But um, I this is the part where I really want people to feel like you know, you you got all this value, you heard from uh a woman who is doing great things who may even be able to kind of help you. So, what are you gonna do about it in a sense? So out there that's tapping in for everybody out there that's coming across this episode, whether they joined us live or whether they're hearing at a later date, can you just give us the best places to reach you, connect with you, social media, whether they got to pull up in person somewhere to move on? Just give us everything you got.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

I would love to. Thank you for that. And I would say maybe you should just reframe that siren as like play a game with it. Like, so whenever you hit a siren, that's the moment that you got to pay attention to in the podcast. That's the nugget, that's the that's the ring the alarm moment. So yeah, just you use that, don't let it use you. Um so where you can find me. I mean, first I'd say for how how would you know that you know you would need a me is if you are trying to get to this next uh thing, you want to probably work independently. Basically, if there is any anything in you that's like what I'm doing right now is not in alignment with who I am, I'm ready for the next thing, whatever that is. And you need the strategy and the story to make that happen. I am the person. And so I do have a resource that I'd love to give away if you're okay with it. Um, a couple of things actually. So one is I work with a lot of people, especially creatives who want to work independently, but they need the stability of you know something to know that they can like maintain their lives. So I've got a resource where it's like 40 sources of independent contract work to supplement like what you're doing. And then when you grab that, there are a couple of other resources, like how you can find the match for you, like the career match, make sure that you're working in alignment and then you're also plugged into my career stories. I send a career story each weekday of all the things that I've learning, the pitfalls, the things, moments that made me cry, the moments that were like, oh yeah, this was worth the million dollars that I just spent. And I share all of that. And you can basically grab those resources and be connected to me at career steward, excuse me. No, lightmycareer match.com. So that's lightmycareer match.com is where the resources are. And from there you'll you'll be plugged into everything. So the blog posts, all my stories that I have. I'm on LinkedIn, you can find me Chate Hayes, but lightmycareer match.com will get you to all the places you need to be.

SPEAKER_02 54:45

And I just connected with her on LinkedIn, y'all. Like I said, every no joke. So go ahead and go ahead and do that. Man, I I really just like I said again, just thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you for connecting. Thank you for what you're doing and the light you're shining in the lives of others, and thank you for really helping me, you know, pushing my passion project forward and what I've been out here with down the business and everything, you know. So I really do appreciate that. And as I said, you know, down the business is here to support. Very excited to be able to tap in with you where we are now, and but continue to follow along and see where things are. So even go back and see what you've done and what you've amassed and accomplished, and then we're gonna move that forward for prosperous years to come. So thank you for that. But to everybody else, man, who continuously taps in with us, whether you join us on the IG Live, whether you join us on the Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, whether you hear this at a later date, I appreciate y'all, man. You know, the podcast would not be where we are today without y'all, you know, even through everything that's happened from relocation to just, you know, delay but not denial. Sometimes the hurricane tried to not, you know, knock us out of business and everything. We're still here. You know, God is good all the time for sure. So I thank y'all. I love y'all. This has been another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner.