A Treasure To Hodl with Lindey Magee

 Lindy McGee’s story goes far beyond Bitcoin as an investment it’s about survival, faith, and true financial freedom. After facing unimaginable challenges, she discovered how Bitcoin could serve as a lifeline when traditional systems failed. In this episode, we dive into her journey, Bitcoin-backed strategies, and why teaching sound money to the next generation matters more than ever. You can find her book at lindeymagee.com                                                                                          #bitcoin #finance #money #crypto #cryptocurrency 

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone who needs to understand Bitcoin Better.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My credit is horrible because you're punished for not using it. And so no landlord would touch me. And I was also afraid to rent because of the mold issue. And so I had to get creative and I ended up taking out a Bitcoin backed loan through Strike. And I bought us a Winnebago for to feel good about. It's if it's not if, it's when.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

It was very nerve-wracking, but you know, Bitcoin gave me the options when the traditional system didn't have any for me.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

All right, everyone. Welcome back to To the Moon with the Lunas podcast. Today's Bitcoin price is 67,100. Today we are honored to have Lindy McGee, who is the author of Bitcoin, a treasure to hodl, a rhyming picture book that introduces children and their families to the principles of sound money. A homeschooling mother, an independent advocate living on a Bitcoin standard, she brings a deeply personal perspective to the cultural shift Bitcoin enables. What no macro chart can, a glimpse of how Bitcoin changes everyday lives, not just portfolios. Through her work and her story, she's helping families break from fiat thinking and planting seeds of financial freedom that will grow for generations. Thank you so much for being here, Lindy. Thank you for having me. We're so excited. Yeah. So if you want to feel free to tell our listeners about where you're from and just a little bit backstory about you, and then yeah, we'll go from there.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Okay. Um, I am currently in southwest Mississippi, which is where I'm from. Um, I grew up overseas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My dad worked offshore. Um, upper middle class upbringing, amazing childhood. Uh, I was married to my husband for 25 years, lost him in August of 2024. And I have two amazing kids, one 25 and one just turned 17. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 2:13

Oh my gosh. I'm I'm sorry for your loss. Um and 25 years, that's amazing. Oh my gosh. Like we're always like uh we're always pumped to hear that because you it's you just don't hear that longevity anymore when it comes to marriages. It's almost like a unicorn. And so we we love that. And um, I'm sorry for your loss. And uh if you don't mind sharing a little bit more on your story with your husband, because when I um I know we were talking about this offline, but before I heard a spaces uh earlier this week, I heard it's a little it's and bits and pieces of it, and the little parts were like super impactful and very relatable and resonate with a lot of people. So if you don't mind sharing that uh a little bit, whatever you feel comfortable with.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Sure, absolutely. I'm I'm an open book. Um, Chuck and I were married for 25 years, proud of that. Um, he treated me like a princess, handled all of our finances. He was a very successful entrepreneur, had several businesses, and he he had cancer, and we did everything naturally. And he tried to talk to me about our finances, and I would not hear it because in my mind it was like accepting that something might happen to him. In hindsight, that was really dumb. I mean, it just was really dumb, and um, you know, that was my bad. But when he passed away, I was faced with having to pick up a lot of pieces that I had never really handled. I've run my own businesses sex successfully over the years. I'm a stay-at-home mom and I've homeschooled all both of my children, but I've always not always, but I've done little side things and things like that. So I'm not inept. But as far as our household and his complicated um businesses, just absolutely clueless. And so when he passed away, I had a lot of learning to do. And, you know, I'm grateful for my son because he worked with his dad. And so he dove in and helped me. And we just, I'm a quick learner, but you know, it it's difficult when you're when you're grieving. And it it had been a rough, rough couple years with him being sick. Yeah. So that is where my Bitcoin journey not necessarily begins, but it's definitely where it took off was being faced with what am I gonna do?

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for sharing that. I'm sure that was just well, navigating a change, such a drastic change. I cannot I can r understand why you're like, I don't want to even consider this conversation about me taking over your businesses or anything like that, because that means this new reality might happen. And and like you said, it's just that would be a very hard thing to like pill to swallow. And then hard for your son also who is working with him, and you know, then having to also who is also grieving and navigating that with you, you know, that's a that's a big change for both of you to go through and things that you but thankfully you had each other to helpfully, you know, go through that, you know. It sounds like your kids are close to you, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

They're amazing.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So you said that it you your Bitcoin story kind of jumped off from that point. Um, is there a little start in the behind that, the the scenes on that?

SPEAKER_00 5:39

I love sharing this because I like people's reactions when I share it. But m my biggest financial regret in life is that I didn't listen to my son Bennett when he was 12 years old in 2012, and he came to his dad and I begging us to let him buy some Bitcoin on our behalf.

SPEAKER_04 6:01

Oh my gosh. 12 years old?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yes, 12 years old.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

Oh my gosh. So, like, where where was Oh my gosh, yeah he is way ahead of his time. Oh my goodness, 12 years old. Like, so where did he get this idea with his friends, YouTube?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Well, I homeschooled and he actually came, he went to school through sixth grade. So he was about it was about the first year of homeschool, and he always spent a lot of time on YouTube. I really encouraged him and my my kids to just pursue their interests, like learn how to learn. And if you're interested in something, you have everything at your disposal. Dig in and learn about it. So he did. He he was always been interested in tech, and he learned about it online and studied it. He's he's a good researcher, and I feel like he has great discernment even then. But of course, we look at each other like absolutely not. You're 12, you don't know what you're talking about. And um, but he did, he continued to talk about it um throughout the years, and he actually got his pilot's license before he even had his driver's license. Wow, and we bought a Mooney plane for him, and so I don't know what year it would have probably been like 2020, 2020, 2019, that he came back to us and he's like, Dad, you should take a second out on the Mooney and buy Bitcoin. So he like had a and he just he really pitched it and we didn't listen. We just didn't listen.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

Oh my goodness. And you're telling so you bought this plane called a Mooney for him, you're saying?

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yeah, it a used Mooney, yeah. It's uh it's a it's a uh two-seater plane, small plane.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

So let me gather, let me gather this real quick. So he you buy uh he gets his light his pilot license before his driver's license. You buy him a plane, but you won't buy Bitcoin in 2012. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, Lindy. So okay, so fast forward, where are we at now? He he asked you to sit down, buy Bitcoin. Where what happens from here?

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah. So um I did listen to him. He continued to talk to me about it, and I'm sure Chuck too, but like pulled us aside from each other, I guess. And I actually did. I had a little side gig MLM, and um I did buy some Bitcoin in 2021 through Coinbase and just let it sit there. I let it sit there, and you know, I'd look at it when he'd bring it up or when I'd hear something about it. And so only I have only ever bought Bitcoin. I'm proud to say that. Only ever bought Bitcoin. I haven't messed with any of the rest of it. Yeah, I mean, it just I did when I did initially invest, you know, and not a terribly lot. I just had like a little play money side. I wish I would have put more in then. But um, I did, I did get Bennett to explain it to me, and I did a little reading on it as well. Not a lot, but enough that I felt comfortable putting some money there.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Well, just when when Chuck did pass away, I knew that I had life that he had life insurance. You know, it had like I said, it had been a rough couple years, and we had really, we really had to dig into our reserves trying to kill him. And so I just felt uh a huge, of course, responsibility and a sense of urgency to do something smart with that money. You know, I didn't know a lot about Bitcoin, but I knew that, you know, dollars are just, you know, the money, I knew money printer and um inflation. And so I I'm like, what do I do? The stock market scared me. And you know, gold, I didn't feel great about it. I just kept thinking Bitcoin, I need I just I felt almost just like convicted over Bitcoin without having done the work. And so I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, and when I feel that like instinct, I know it to be the Holy Spirit. And so I set out, I set out to confirm and validate the feeling I had.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

So I think it's probably the opposite for a lot of people, but for me, it was let me make sure that this, you know, I want to be discerning.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

So I had to do work.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

And so I I just I just buckled down and I read and I consumed everything I could. And that included like seeking out things that were against Bitcoin. You know, I wanted to hear it all. Yeah. And just the more, the more I read, the more I listened to, I'm like, this is it. I this is what this is what I need to do with this life insurance money.

SPEAKER_04 11:19

Dude, that's great. Like, that's great. Having that conviction, having the spirit, and just having, you know, just and pulling the trigger, right? That's another big thing, too. Is like I think when some people are like they first get introduced to Bitcoin or they're first doing their research and they're going down the rabbit hole, it's still like, oh my God, am I really gonna do this Bitcoin thing? And so pulling the trigger is uh kudos to you for doing that. Um man, that's that's that's an amazing story. Um the uh so and and then you mentioned earlier, like you said Bitcoin changes lives, not just portfolios. Like, what's a real example of that in your own life, if you can share?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Um uh a strike Bitcoin backed loan. Um I we I had chronic uveitis in my eye um last spring. No, this spring. It was this spring. And I am probably the healthiest eater that I know and am very aware of environmental toxins. And so when the eye doctor told me, you know, if we if if you can't come off of steroid drops, there's probably some kind of autoimmune. I was like, oh no. No. And so I couldn't come off the steroid drops without it flaring. So I went straight to a functional practitioner to find out root cause. She did lab work, and my TGF beta one was through the roof. And she said, this is one of three things, and one of those was mold. And so we tested my house, which is my really only asset.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Um, and there was an HVAC disaster. We had replaced one of our, we have zones in our house. We had replaced one of the units several years prior, and they did a shoddy, shoddy job. And so the entire ductwork in that unit was just dumping mycotoxins into the rooms that it aired. So, um, and one of those was the den where my husband spent the last year and a half, like crazy.

SPEAKER_04 13:30

Oh my goodness, Lindy. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Well, in my daughter's room, it was the den and my daughter's room and a theater room in our home. And so I tested her. She had the highest like brain inflammation numbers that that that my functional practitioner has ever seen.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I thought that she was probably like depressed. She lost her dad and because she was sleeping a lot, and it was it was the mold.

SPEAKER_04 13:58

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

So um have navigated a lot, and now I'm faced with um medical expenses, and we haven't stepped foot in our home since August. And I, you know, I don't earn an income. And my credit is horrible because you're punished for not using it.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

And so no landlord would touch me, and I was also afraid to rent because of the mold issue or straight.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

And so I had to get creative, and I ended up taking out a Bitcoin back loan through strike, and I bought us uh Winnebago. And um, you know, I I bought a new Winnebago. I researched, you know, discovered Winnebago the way they do their roof. Feel good about because you know, it's not when a camper or an RV is gonna leak. It's uh it's not if it's when.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

It was very nerve-wracking, but you know, Bitcoin gave me the options when the traditional system didn't have any for me. And that's not a portfolio story, that's a roof over my and my daughter's head. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:27

Wow. Oh my goodness. I can't believe that. So you're I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly. So you haven't been in your the only asset you have since August of last year.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

We both packed, you know, packed our vehicle up, and I I underestimated just how sick it was making us. We're like driving an hour, it's three hours there and back to my functional practitioner doing, you know, IVC, GW thion shots, NAD, B12, um, things that we have to go to her clinic to do once or twice a week. And uh we're going back to the house, and she's like, Linda, you're never gonna get well unless you get out of the house. And we I have a dear friend who opened her home to us, and it's not just me and my daughter, but also our three dogs. Halen has long-haired oxen's. I have a mutt named Ivanka because a mutt needs a fancy name. Um but she opened her home to us, and I needed to go back in and get some things, and I wore a hazmat suit, uh, um a ventilator, is that what it's called? And eye goggles that sealed around my eyes, and within 24 hours my eye blared. I think I was in there for about 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Oh my goodness. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

So, like everything in my home that's porous, like furniture, like a sofa or a rug or clothes or books. I'm a reader. I have like the most amazing collection of books. Um, that stuff's a loss.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

I wouldn't I mean you they say you can remediate things, and certainly you can some, but with our sensitivity, it's not worth even trying. Yeah. And then you know, Caitlyn has um a huge collection of squishmallows. Yes, she's 17, but her dad bought every one of those for her. Like they all have a name and a memory attached to them. Wow. So, it's kind of like going. Just that there's perspective and that things can be a lot worse. Like, I'm grateful that we know, but it has been a huge burden and it's been it's been tough. It has. Yeah, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't.

unknown 17:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Well, because the one thing that you would like to sell, you can't even do anything. Exactly. And that's the whole plan is when Chuck passed away, Palin wanted nothing more than to sell that house. First of all, it's far too big. I'm paying a mortgage on it, and I can't go into it. And we want to sell it and downsize and move. Mm-hmm. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

So how is this moving forward like legally with like the maybe the HVAC people?

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Or how what what's the I I have an attorney and he is working on, you know, legal we're we're working to hold him accountable. And of course that process is just really slow. I have a lawyer and I just spend a lot of time praying for justice because I mean they it was egregious. Not only did the there was the install, but my husband, like you pay professionals to do professional things. I don't know anything about HVAC. Chuck didn't either. He was more entrepreneurial, not like super handy. Yeah. And so he even paid for us to have um a contract with them. So they've been out to the house at least twice a year to oversee everything. And like when I went into the attic to look for the first time, like it was glaring. And my my son went in with the respirator mask and a hazmat suit to get video footage of it. And um, I was appalled at his language, but I also felt it very strongly because he saw it, he just couldn't believe how egregious.

SPEAKER_04 19:36

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Oh my gosh, Lindy.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

And isn't that um, Lindy, if you don't mind sharing, like, isn't that a that's a pricey job, too, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Oh my god, yeah. The unit itself was 30,000 and then the ductwork, I don't like I've gone back and looked at what I could through like the checkbook, but at least 10, maybe more. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 19:57

Yes, oh my and so how many times did they come out and watch it? Because I know you said two to twice a year. So how many years?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Two years and when was the install? I think it was in 20. I want to look because I want to be able to tell you, and I've got it. Yeah, I really, I really am. I'm my memory and just like legit brain fog. Um, they installed it in July of 2022.

unknown 20:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 20:25

So it was in there for for two years just developing while your and then your husband was in there too. Yeah. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:34

Oh my goodness. And your daughter.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

And your daughter. But your poor, I mean, you're doing all these holistic things for your husband to get well. Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

And I mean that is haunting when when we all, you know, my kids and I it didn't take long for us to immediately go there, you know, that that he was there. And what, you know, certainly I'm not mold didn't kill him. He had cancer, but and just like he'd never suffered anxiety in his life. And that is a very common thing with mold. And that was brutal to watch him, you know, be suffering with cancer, and then all of a sudden to be dealing with anxiety on top of that, and just other things as well. I d I I'll never, I'll never not question what kind of impact, negative impact that had on his healing. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

Oh my goodness. Oh yeah. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

I know, and it's so hard. You want you don't want to go there because it's like, what are we gonna do right now, right? But it's like also, gosh, I can't I don't know. I would be mad and sad and angry and frustrated and all the things that you're probably have been feeling for the past two years.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Yeah. Gosh, well goodness.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

I was just well just to kind of talk to, aren't I? I said I'm just a pleasure to talk to, aren't I? This story is just such a drag.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

No, but I feel like it's such a I mean you you've navigated so much and not knowing a lot of how to do this, you know, like find figure out your finances and you know, not figure out your husband's job, you know, his businesses. And thankfully you have your kids, you know, they're like obviously very intelligent people who are trying to help you and figure things out as well. But yeah, it's just a lot and you've persevered through so much change in a short amount of time. My goodness, I just I admire you for sure.

SPEAKER_04 22:33

You're a woman of strength for sure. I your their kids have an awesome mom. Uh you do you just navigating that and then them just being in their corner? Because I know they're looking towards you and like how you're gonna react and and how you're going to pivot because this is huge. Like this is, you know, your husband, and then the legalities issues with the home, and then not living in your home, and then you know, um, I don't know. I there's so much to gather, um, and you're just doing a great job. You're doing a great job, Lindy. And then out of all this, we're like you write uh children's book, like and out of all things Bitcoin children's book, which is incredible. Yeah. Um, so I want to also just to pivot a little bit as well to um I know you mentioned the uh Bitcoin back loan, right? And I know this is coming up a lot right now, and um, this is gonna be the future I also believe in as well. So if you don't mind sharing, like how did this work as well? Because we also had a dip too, right? Since it sounds like from when you took it out. So, did we get margin call? What or did you get an email, phone call? Like, walk us through this.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

So when I initially, you know, got life insurance, I was completely sold out on Bitcoin and I know that it's volatile. So I put everything in with the exception of about a year and a half worth of living expenses.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

What I calculated to be that. Well, what I didn't know is I had some huge IRS checks to write that I wasn't counting on. So I ended up running out of fiat much earlier than what I wanted to. So I've been living on a Bitcoin standard for a year now. More than a year. Um, and you know, Strike's bill pay allows me to do that. Um, my mortgage, electric, phone, internet, it's all converted the moment of payment. And I mean, I do have a traditional bank account should I need to write a check for something, but it's I barely touch it. And I'm annoyed when I have to. Um, but and like when I need groceries or diesel for this, um, I use a Coinbase debit card. I'm not a fan of Coinbase, but I do appreciate that debit card. It works well for me. It converts to SATS right away.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Um, and then the loan. Uh, for the record, and I will say this all day long, I would have never in a million years leveraged my Bitcoin if not for face with the catastrophe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

That I was faced with. I just, it's not something I would do. Um, Chuck and I were very Dave Ramsey. Um, we don't have credit cards. We, you know, live within our means. And so that was really hard. I lost sleep over it. Um, stomach in knots, because you just don't know. You don't know what's happening. And, you know, I looked at buying a used RV, but I couldn't make peace with it because you don't know about leaks. I mean, I am like petrified of mold. Yeah. And I wanted something that had a warranty. I wanted to buy it from a reputable dealer so that it things would be taken care of. And so that meant a lot of money, more than what I would have ever wanted to spend. But it's what felt like the right thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

So the Bitcoin back loan, I over-collateralized it from the beginning. And I thought in my mind, you know, certainly, certainly, Bitcoin will never go like below 60. Like that's what I'm I'm praying. And so we, my daughter and I are out west traveling for the first time while we're in here, because if we're not traveling, then we're tethered to the mold house, you know, hooked up to swap power on the mold house, and that is miserable. It is like depressing. Um a house that you can't go into.

unknown 26:30

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

And that we were in we were in Zion National Park, and my phone is just alert, alert, alert, you know, that I'm getting close to a margin call. And so I had to beef up my collateral. And I'm like, I'm sweating it because when it starts dipping, you don't know like how low is it gonna go. And I'm looking, you know, I'm looking at what I have in cold storage, and you know, it it's it's stressful. And I don't, I don't like it if you're going to leverage your Bitcoin, just know going in that it's volatile. And I knew that going in. And so I I am okay, but I am stressed. I am because especially with this war that's going on, um, you know, and and to Jack Mallers, who is probably my one of my very favorite voices in Bitcoin. I do not miss his show on Mondays. I can show you my phone where I have a five o'clock alarm on Mondays because I just so I'm a very political person. Um I have a nonprofit here in Mississippi and I fought for medical freedom for well over a decade. And it is so refreshing to hear his perspective. He's like 31 or so. He reminds me of my son. And to hear his perspective that is completely non-political and more macro-minded, that is not something I've ever been interested in. But he he is such a dynamic in the way he puts everything together that I actually enjoy. And I feel like uh I need to be responsible and listen to this sort of thing and be, you know, know what's going on. And I want to. But you know, when we did have that that dip, he they changed some things to the loan to value, the LTV. Um gave a little leniency there, and where you did have like 24 hours, now it's 48 hours. Um just very, very customer minded. I I'm grateful for that. Yeah. But the the Bitcoin back loan saved me. I'm so grateful that it was an option. I mean, yeah. But I need I need for us to not get political, but I need for us to come right on home from Iran and let's let's let's turn things around.

SPEAKER_04 28:53

Yeah. Like the war is just bad overall. So yeah, I I I hear where you're coming from. We just gotta end all of that um as soon as possible and get things right and focused on us.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

I uh well, and I had just heard that you could take a loan for Bitcoin, right? So like I had just when you were sharing that on um on Spaces, I didn't know that that was even an option. So for that to be even an option, gosh, like I like you said, it wasn't your first choice, it wasn't your second choice, it wasn't probably your third choice, but it was the choice that you had to make um in the season that you were in, and thank goodness you could, you know, that you were able to, because I mean, uh like you said, uh God only knows. I mean, thankfully you have community, but that could only go so far sometimes when you're trying to be independent and not really burden yourself on another family and all those things.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Well, and it's very long term. I mean, when you get involved in a lawsuit, I don't know how long we'll be in here. Um I know my daughter is on her knees praying that it's not long because what 17-year-old wants to be trapped within 25 seat of six with their mom. You know, I don't know. We're pretty cool, Lindy. I don't know. I am and we have an excellent relationship, but I mean this has caused it to suffer. I mean, just I remember when we were in the big moldy house, you know, she would come bust up in my bedroom and sit on the end of my bed and keep me up, just talking and catching up, and there's no opportunity for that. I mean, we are always on top of each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah, you need to miss each other a little bit. Yeah, it's that like feeling of like, oh, you had you had your moment. I miss you now. I want to talk with you and have a a moment with you. I can I can I can understand that. So, um, so what kind of inspired you to start writing this awesome book? What what was it that was like, oh, I want to write a book, too. Yeah, in a children's book.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Yeah, um well, it was New Year's night and it was months after losing Chuck, and I feel like I I did really well with that when someone's sick and suffering and you pray for their healing, when they pass away, uh it like dawned on me. I pray for his healing and he's healed.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Completely.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

And so for some reason, New Year's night, which is it kind of tickles me thinking about it, because he would have been in bed at midnight. Unless we had something to do when we were younger, we'd stay up. But he would have been in bed, and I just was especially missing him. And I sat down at my kitchen table, and I don't know where it came from, I don't know why, but I just started writing out rhymes. And of course, this is on the heels of me like 24-7 Bitcoin. So I I am like one-tracked mind for sure. Um, I'd always wanted to write a children's book. It was like the unspoken bucket list. Chuck knew about it because we had talked about some ideas that I had just over the years, but I never did anything with it. Um, and you know, Holy Spirit prompted, I don't know. It just I looked up and it was 3 a.m. and I had um the majority of the book that you guys have, you know, rough draft out, rough drafted out. Oh and while I'm writing it, I'm thinking, because like I said, I'm on the heels of of learning all this. I remember thinking when I was learning, I'm like, I wish someone would explain this to me. Like I'm thought because it is so overwhelming when you're thrown with stuff and the freaking acronyms and financial terms, like what the heck does this mean? What does this mean? So the glossary was like a no-brainer. I would have anything to have had my little simple three spread glossary when I first started writing. So I'm thinking I read to my kids, I love children's books and loved reading to them. So I wanted it to be something that a small child would enjoy to introduce them to as a primer, but I also had in my mind I need for the parents to take an interest. Yes. So that those were my goals. Um, you know, I wanted the next generation to understand money before the system takes advantage of them the way it had their parents.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

While also hopefully piquing the interest of the parents that are reading it to them.

SPEAKER_03 33:28

So good. I'm and I work uh in the classroom. Now I work for charter school to help families who are homeschooling. So I'm kind of like a teacher of record. And then I'm also uh uh I'm homeschooling our own kids too. And so when Anthony, I was like, this is the book I needed when we first when he first started talking about this. That's the best compliment. I was like, I didn't what is this? Because you would talk about all these terms, right? And then as soon as I finished the book, one, the rhyming is so good for the kids. It's you know, it's great literacy practice, right? Um, but then after we were done, I was just sitting there and I'm like, oh, that's what it means. You know, I was like, wow, this could have been really helpful earlier on, you know, when I'm going through, and there's some things that I hadn't we had talked about, but you know, I hadn't really totally understood it.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

So I just remember hearing people talk about FUD and I'm like, what the heck is FUD? Fear and doubt. You know? I but you want, you don't, you don't want to feel dumb when you're listening to a podcast. And you know, so many people that go on, it's just second nature to them. But for the people that are learning, that kind of stuff just makes you feel it made me feel dumb. Yeah. Like I'm looking up, what what does this mean? What does this mean? I'm like, oh, I probably should have known that, but I didn't. And I know I'm not the only one like that.

SPEAKER_04 34:50

Oh no, you're not the only one. And like I still do it now when I read books too. Like if there's like a word or a person in there, like, you know, I'm like, oh, like I'll stop and I'll just look it up.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:00

And then um, I don't know. I just do that all the time. I think it's healthy for you and you're always growing and you're learning. Um, so with this book, like, what kind of feedback have you got from parents on this so far?

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Um, the best. I mean, okay, so I mentioned earlier that that I had a nonprofit here in Mississippi, um, Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights. And over the past decade, I have developed a huge following of freedom my medical freedom-minded people, not only in Mississippi, but across the U.S. So when I was working on the book, I knew that I would do a pre-order. So I had a very vague, you know, I'm up to something. It's lindymage.com. So it just had like a one page that said, I'm up to something, be the first to know. And I just shared that, you know, repetitively on Facebook, which is where I have the biggest following of my medical freedom-minded people. And so I got a lot of email addresses. And I'm thinking, you know, when they find out that it's a Bitcoin book, are they going to be disappointed? Or no, no, those people came through and ordered and didn't know anything about Bitcoin, but they are supportive of me and they trust that I'm a researcher. And so from those people, those are what's the most exciting because they don't know anything about Bitcoin. And so the feedback from them, some of them just ordered it to support, and so they don't even have kids. And they're reading it and you know, leaving reviews on the site or reaching out to me personally that you know, I didn't know anything about this, but now I feel like I I kind of do. And you know, what do I need to look at next? So I people have gotten off zero because of my little book, and there's just no better feedback than that. There isn't.

SPEAKER_04 36:49

Oh my gosh. That's great. And I love how like everybody orange pills differently, and so like I love how you're orange pilling people through a children's book. Like, that's a that's a what an angle to come in.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

It's a Trojan horse. If you have a niece and a nephew, and your brother or brother-in-law won't listen to you when you're trying to have the conversation, you buy the book for the niece or the nephew, and the brother-in-law and sister read it, and they don't have a choice. Or I know we're not reading this book, you know? Yeah, and so you get uh just a little taste, just a little primer. Oh my gosh. You you plant the seed, the rest is up to them.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

Yes, yes. And I also wanted to add, um, because I know you mentioned earlier, and this is just for our listeners, and also like for Danielle, she's learning through this whole process still, Lindy. And so um, I love that she's you know jumped on board and she gets to talk to people like you.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Yeah, and so I know you mentioned And I get to read books like this that really help me like dumb it down a little, you know, and I hate saying that, but it's like it it's true.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

I mean it's and unless you can explain something on a level where a kid can understand it. Do you even really understand it yourself?

SPEAKER_02 38:02

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

I agree if you want to just break it down simply, and certainly that little book is not, you know, everything, but it's it's a great springboard, I feel like. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

And then when you're looking at the glossary, you can read these adult books and use that as a reference and go, oh, that's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

My favorite might be like the did as an adult, the did you know section, because that's like Bitcoin culture that you're gonna hear about and to already kind of know how a foundation of some of those key points. Yeah, I think just makes you feel a little more like an insider. Uh-huh. I love that. It was so it's just so good. It's so good.

SPEAKER_04 38:44

It's so good.

SPEAKER_03 38:45

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:46

Just to backtrack a little bit, I know you you mentioned like you're living on a Bitcoin standard, and I know how you kind of use Strike. So if you don't mind sharing, like, what does that look like on a day-to-day basis? Like, what does that look like for people who are like, oh, the Bitcoin standard, and how do I live on that? Like, if you don't mind kind of digging deep into that a little bit more too.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Yeah. So um I what I know about is Strike's Bill Pay. And it it came out right when I was like running low on fiat. And I'm like, crap, what am I gonna do? I'm gonna, I'm about to have to just sell my Bitcoin and move it into my checking account. And no, right in right in the nick of time, I hear Jack talking about it on his, you know, Jack Maller show on Mondays. And so I look into it and it is a strike platform. I every month I move over the amount that I need to pay my monthly bills. Any bills that you would like have set up on a draft. And I have um a routing number and an account number within Strike. And so I have it set out. So it just drafts my mortgage, my Verizon, my Starlink, um electric bill, because I still have an electric bill in my freaking house that I can't go into. Um, all of that just converts right at the moment of payment. And then, and then I move over expenses for like groceries and fuel, um, little things like that, what I might spend on Amazon. Um, those things I use a Coinbase debit card for.

unknown 40:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

And that drafts out. So I I cold, I called, I used, I use BitKey um as for my self-custody. That was another thing, like that was probably the hardest and most frightening barrier to entry into Bitcoin for me was cold short. Because I knew I would, I mean, I was I was buying a significant amount to me. And um, I knew that I I knew that I had to self-custody, and that was really scary for me. But Bitcoin, I mean BitKey completely alleviated any of my concerns, and I've been really happy with it. Um, and I don't mention any any kind of business in my book at all, but BitKey got a shout out. Um it did. Um, it it was just such a a good thing for me. Uh but yeah, I so I just move over what I need for the month and either coin the Coinbase debit card or strikes bill pay. It converts that to to write just right at right at the moment of spending.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

Yeah. What was the hardest part of like shifting your mindset then from like the fiat mindset to the Bitcoin mindset? You know, like what was like the hardest because you know, we're growing up in a system where, you know, we're supposed to, you know, like you said, you're Dave Ramsey. You guys all always had everything, you know, in order and then trying to figure out a whole other system, you know. What but what was kind of the hardest part of that?

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Um, initially, you know, when I first went all in on Bitcoin, I I had concerns. I'm a private person for the most part. Like, I'm wide open on the internet to strangers, but like my people close to me, I was a little concerned about like people don't understand this. What are they gonna think? They're gonna think I'm being irresponsible. And so I I was quiet about that and I try to like educate my mom as I'm learning things. And she's a Bitcoiner now to herself, but she was very apprehensive in the beginning. So I probably may have led her to believe that I wasn't buying as much, you know. Just I didn't want her to worry about me. Yeah. Um so early on, it wasn't hard. It just really wasn't. It felt like the right thing to do, and I'm grateful for that. But going through these latest valleys struggles, yeah, um, there has been some fear, especially, you know, with margin call stress along the dips and you know, my collateral on the line, that's very stressful, and so that's hard. Um I've never, but I've never for I've been angry at my HVAC company for putting me in that position, but I've never felt like, oh, I made a mistake or regretted what I've done. I did what I had to do. Um, but you know everything right. Holding the idea that there's safety in holding something that loses its value every year, I think it just feels familiar and earn unlearning that takes time.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

You know, that's fiat thinking.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

Yeah, yeah. And I that leads into my next question too. What are some ways people don't even realize that they're stuck in that fiat thinking?

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Yeah. Um I the this Believing that their savings account is safe when inflation eats what seven percent everything.

SPEAKER_04 44:10

Yeah, well what we don't even know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

It's like we it's like the number is like uh we don't even know it we know it's that with a you know a pretty brush to make it and then people thinking that you know a house is their best investment when really the dollar's just losing value and making the house look like like it's growing, that investment's growing. And um the idea that debt is normal and that you should have a credit card. Um like I said, my credit's terrible, and it's not because I'm irresponsible, but because I don't use credit. And the system punishes you for not playing their game.

SPEAKER_04 44:49

Yeah, exactly. And there's like a I always think it's funny, like you like let's just say you get like a credit card and you pay it off, and then like they knock you for paying off your card and closing your account. It's like, no, this is a great person. We should actually attack uh attack them more because they know what they're doing, they're not going into debt. It's like total, like everything is so opposite of like the right way, but we're so immersed in this lifestyle and this living and indoctrinated with school. It's like, oh my goodness, we're just we're like people just have to like you have to wake up. And that's the whole part of like doing this podcast, like just helping people just like be aware, right? And just think, maybe open up a book, you know. The Bitcoin, you know, a treasure to hodl, you know, any book, uh, hop on a podcast, a Jack Maulers or anyone, like just do something, do your own research, don't trust, verify everything. And you know, and if you're listening to this podcast right now, like don't trust anything that we're saying, like go verify it for yourself, right? Um, because you know, we might not you might not agree with anything that we're saying, but like go and verify for yourself and do do the work.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:58

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

And something that held me back too, and I I'm sure as a mom, you get so invested in your kids, your homeschooling, right? You start getting and one thing that I've tried to make more of a priority of is there's audible things that we can listen to while we're doing other things, you know? So it's like I I always I try to remind myself that because sometimes I I I do search for like quiet, like you know, it's just crazy chaos sometimes. And then but I'm like, you know what? I could really use this time while I'm doing the dishes. I could just be listening to something right now. Well that's like never fold clothes without learning something. Yes. That's such a good yes, exactly. I'm gonna take that now. I'm gonna be listening to something while I'm doing things because yeah, those mundane tasks, even though we like think we don't have time, we have time to do, you know, multiple things. I think moms, we're the best multitaskers. If I could ever put a put someone on that uh award. Um for sure.

SPEAKER_04 46:58

Lindy, so when talking about like planning seeks for the next generation, uh, what does real financial freedom look like for your kids?

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Yeah. Um I I I'm like so convicted over speaking out for our kids. We have reached into their future and stolen from them without their consent. You know, you see so many boomers like paint our kids with just this broad brush of they're not working hard enough, or there's no amount of work they can do and have the same thing. You know, and and and recently I had a a true patriot comment on a post of mine on Facebook talking about, you know, something about his social security. And I'm thinking, well, enjoy it because my kid's not gonna have any. You know, I want my kids to grow up and understand that 21 million means 21 million. Yes. And that no one can dilute their savings while they sleep. Um you know, there's an exit door from our system designed to keep them dependent. And the ticket gets more expensive every day. Yeah. So, you know, I I I wrote the book and I share about Bitcoin and I and I share the book so that kids can start understanding before the system takes advantage of them. Or hopefully, you know, they have an opportunity.

unknown 48:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:31

What do your what so I know your your son introduced it to you at 12 years old, then came back to you at 2019, 2020. Um, where are they at right now with Bitcoin? Like, where's their mindset at right now with it?

SPEAKER_00 48:43

Um, I am certain that Bennett has probably spent generational wealth on PlayStations and camera equipment in his few years. Um and I I he has some Bitcoin, um, but certainly not the Bitcoin that he would have bought when he, you know, should have held it. But he's a teenager. He was a kid, and uh it allowed him to play and have a lot of fun. So um Palin is the most supportive cheerleader for my book and you know, puts up with I ship everything right now for the time being. I have a 3PL in New Jersey, and I'm about to have to transfer because it's getting to be more than I can handle. But for the time being, and while I was doing pre-orders, dealt with there being stacks of books and bubble wrappers and you know, the Halo printer printing out. I mean, it was just a wreck all the time, and it sometimes gets that way. She is super supportive. Um, when Jack Mallers comes on on Monday, she's like, Oh my gosh, mom, can you please put earbuds in? She's she she's over that. It's not, you know, she she has to listen because we're in tight quarters, but it's not, she's she's not super interested. Um, but you know, it's kind of been crammed down her throat. And well, she'll take it, she has a foundation and when she wants to take an interest in it, she will. But in the meantime, um she she has some Bitcoin too. So I help her with um with making sure that some of her savings goes in that direction. Yeah. That's good.

SPEAKER_03 50:32

I I have I have appreciated learning about Bitcoin because I feel like it also, even though it's totally different than the fiat system, it helps my secure and um more what's the word I'm looking for? Um conservative way of handling money, right? Of like making sure that I'm doing it appropriately and you know how it should be done and moving our family forward in a way that I want it to. And so Bitcoin opened my eyes that oh, our money can grow, our money, you know, can it's it's not gonna go into a system that's going to just keep taking away from us. And so um I hope that makes sense, but it it helped me understand it a little bit more. Long-term thinking, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:16

Yes, long-term thinking, uh, uh low time preference.

SPEAKER_00 51:21

Yeah, preference. And that's another thing of what a huge blessing it's been for me because it it it did allow me to stay home and pour into my daughter after being so you know distracted as a caregiver. And I am eternally grateful for that.

SPEAKER_04 51:39

If a parent is listening uh right now, feels overwhelmed by money, like what's one simple step they can take uh when it comes to Bitcoin or um get off zero. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

Buy twenty dollars, and not because twenty dollars is gonna change your life, it's not, but it gives you skin in the game to where you're paying attention, and then you start learning. It's nobody's gonna die over twenty dollars. So get off zero, get you twenty dollars, and start learning. A book, a book is a great claim. And there's there's so much more. My very first book I ever read wrote read was Um A Bullish Case for Bitcoin by VJ Boyapotti. It was suggested to me by someone I knew, and it's like old school. The foreword in it is written by Sailor. It's really thin. It it's because you know, um Lynn Alden's book and um uh The Big Print, those are amazing. I've read both of them as well. But for a newbie, don't, you know, they're if you're not at all convicted over it, that's like a that's a heavy heave. Here's this dense bullet, Rita, you know. So um I and I still suggest that book to people. Um Coin Stories, Natalie Brunel. Uh that's a great place. She does a really good job of even getting her, you know, she had Checkmate on recently, James Check, who I love following his analysis because it's not about you know, Bitcoin go high or anything, it's like true analysis, and he I think he's brilliant. Um, but she she has such a gift for breaking things down and having her guests break it down. Because I it does, I know it gets easy when you're really knowledgeable about something to talk over the heads of people. So there's there's so much out there, there really is, and it can be overwhelming or too much. So yeah, just just start simple, get skin in the game so that you have an interest and and and start be curious. That's what you know I'd tell my kids, be curious.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

Yeah, that's such a good and it's a good mindset to have in anything that you're doing. Be curious, yeah, you know, just be curious of other people, be curious about what you're doing. I just think that's awesome. So good. So good. So I guess to close, you know, if your kids were to hear this 20 years from now, what's one message you would want them them to carry with them?

SPEAKER_00 54:18

Um well, I mean, they've seen it, but I I want them to see that I did the work. Um you know, I did it scared, uh, I did it sloppy, but uh, you know, I did it, I did it for them. Um everything that we all went through together, losing losing their dad, the mold, um living in an RV, the margin calls, you know, the late nights of getting books ready to ship out of this little tiny space. Wow. Um you know, it's it's also that hopefully they'll have options that I didn't have. And um, you know, that I hope that they're looking at everything from a position of financial freedom. Freedom, overall freedom, but financial freedom as well. And that they're teaching it to their own kids because they better have them.

SPEAKER_04 55:19

Oh my gosh. That is you are so you are an amazing person, Lindy. Like everything that you've overcome and that you're still like persevering and that you're still going through, it's just like so many people would fold. So many people would just like whine or cry, or just like you're just still through.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

I've done some of that too. I just I just try to keep that for myself. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I'm human, but you you just do what you have to do. Yeah. You have to do.

SPEAKER_02 55:48

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 55:49

And you know, I I am so grateful for you know the Lord and my faith in him to know to believe that, you know, this is just like refiner's fire.

SPEAKER_02 56:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 56:02

Like get me out of it sooner than later, please. I'm weary. But um, but yeah, Bitcoin has been has been a true gift to to us. Yeah. A lot of waste.

SPEAKER_03 56:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:17

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 56:18

Well, I am just so grateful. I can't wait to re-listen to this. I love relistening to the people that we have on our podcast because it's it's like you're absorbing information as you're here, but then you get to hear it again and you just get reminded of just, oh my gosh, like people's stories, you know. And yeah, like Anthony said, we're just so grateful that you took the time and you're navigating so much right now, and we're just super grateful for you.

SPEAKER_04 56:45

We will definitely be keeping you in our prayers. Um, I know it's only April, so do we give you mom of the year award now or do we wait till the end of the year?

SPEAKER_00 56:54

No, no awards, no awards. There are so many people who have to endure a lot harder than what they have. And and I do have that perspective. I do. Everybody's dealing with something.

SPEAKER_04 57:07

Yeah, I I I I'm just I'm I'm I know we're like speechless. We just like don't even know what to say. You're just amazing. You're just like a woman of strand, you're an earth angel. Like I just can't like fathom, you know. We are all going through stuff that absolutely we're all battling our own battles. For sure. Um and I know God's with you uh through all of this, and we will definitely be keeping you in our prayers for this.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

I'm grateful for the prayers. I am, I am, and the book too. If anyone wants the book, lindymagee.com because it is an avenue for me to earn an income. Um that's not what I set out with it, but once I saw that I had something and I had some mentors tell me this is legit, you know, my intention was to put it on like Amazon, print on demand. And you they're like, no, you can't do that. You need to do an offset print and create an imprint publisher and go all out. And so I did, and so I have a lot, have a lot of Bitcoin invested in bringing this book to life. And I just I I want to get it out there, and if I can earn a little, a little income at the same time, then that is just all the better.

SPEAKER_05 58:17

Um if you're listening to this, go get the book. Go get the book if you're listening to the book.

SPEAKER_03 58:25

We love this. We read it the other day, and the kids they love it. Also, the illustrator. Um brilliant. Love it. They were so cute. The kids were like, I love how he like colors their clothes, but not their faces. And like, it was just super cute. Like, we were just talking about the illustrations because we were just going through it, but there is so much good in this. You want to look at it?

SPEAKER_04 58:50

Yeah, one more time. Uh Lindy, tell them where they can find your book at.

SPEAKER_00 58:54

Lindy McGee.com. L-I-N-D-E-Y-M-A-G-E-E.com.

SPEAKER_04 59:01

Awesome. And where can they find you on um platforms?

SPEAKER_00 59:05

Um, I'm on X at Lindy McGee. And then I'm Lindy Hughes McGee on Facebook, and I think that's what I am on Instagram as well. I don't spend as much time on Instagram since they changed it to all reels. I liked when it was still photos because I'm old.

SPEAKER_04 59:25

All right. Well, thank you so much for carving out the time. Uh, we really enjoyed this conversation. You're amazing. And um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:33

Thank you for having me. I love this format, and uh, and what y'all are doing is fantastic. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 59:42

Means a lot. Thank you everyone for watching, and we'll see you guys on the moon.

SPEAKER_01 59:46

Bye.