Grace Period

They Walked In… So We Hit Record

Noel Thompson Season 1 Episode 18

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0:00 | 24:19

This episode wasn’t planned at all—it started with Molly and her friend Ryley walking into my office joking about recording a podcast… and then we actually did it.

Molly returns for her second appearance, and Ryley jumps on the mic for the first time, turning a random moment into a surprisingly real conversation. We talk about what she’s been up to lately—from joining the church nursery and working Sunday school to graduating from the Milan Institute—and everything in between.

It’s laid-back, a little chaotic, and exactly what happens when you hit record on a whim.

If you like off-the-cuff conversations that feel real and unfiltered, you’ll enjoy this one.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome, welcome to the Grace Period Podcast, where we gather for honest conversations about faith, everyday life, and the grace that carries us through it all. Think of this podcast like friends sitting down over a cup of coffee, sharing stories, laughing at ourselves, and leaving into God's grace together. Expect honesty, humor, and a space to ask hard questions. No sermons here, just a good old conversation, grace period, making room for grace in real life. This podcast is brought to you by Christ Lutheran Church here in Viselia, California, the one and only Christ Lutheran Church here in Viselia. My name is Noel Thompson, and this is our first episode. I'm gonna start calling this series a hey Noel, you have a podcast, let's record something, and then I immediately call them out and I say, Yes, we are. Let's go record. And the the faces or the look on their faces is quite something. Today I'm joined by our wonderful Sunday school leader, Molly, for her second appearance. Molly, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01

I'm doing good, thank you.

SPEAKER_00

And then we have our kind of like your assist, like your co-leader, Riley. Riley, how are you today?

SPEAKER_02

I'm great.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so Riley's regretting this. So I was I was in my office here just getting some stuff done, and and uh Molly and Riley were working in our Sunday school classroom doing a wonderful job painting, and then I heard like Molly's footsteps come into my office, and she's like, We need to do a podcast. And you know, I think you mentioned Molly, like you and Riley wanted to do one, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and then immediately I was like, Well, I have a little bit of time, let's do it right now, and then a look on Molly's face, and then Riley, you weren't in my office, but I heard you like down the hall, and I can hear an instant regret.

SPEAKER_01

Should have not went and they also instant regret.

SPEAKER_00

You probably should have never said out loud we should record a podcast. Riley, have you ever been on a podcast before? No, no, no, I have not. Have you like ever listened to podcasts before? Okay, what kind of podcast do you listen to?

SPEAKER_02

Not like this, not like this, just different ones.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, that's the great thing about podcasts, though. Like, there's literally a podcast for everything. Yeah, it's almost mind-blowing how the categories of mind like podcasts are. There are podcasts, I discovered this lately. There are podcasts about like TV shows, like like us three would watch a TV show, and then we would just get into the studio and talk about that certain episode. That's fun though, and there's like legit like fanatics of certain like shows that will literally will like do a recap and like their thoughts on like dissect it, yeah. Dissect the episode, and so um, there's there's a podcast for that, there's cooking podcasts, there's like documentary podcasts. I'm a shout out to uh Braden Roman and Brian Roman. They got me into this podcast, it was like a crime podcast.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I like the love crime documentary.

SPEAKER_00

That was a commitment. I think that literally took like 20 hours because each episode was like two hours, and there's seriously like 10 episodes, but there's a podcast for everything, so um, but Riley, I want to talk to you, Riley, real quick. And I know you I wish this podcast was video because just she's looking at me like, what am I about to say? But one thing, Riley, it's really cool. We Molly and I just attended your graduation at the Milan Institute. Yes, yeah. So, for those of you who do not know, the Milan Institute is it's on Mooney, just south of uh Mooney Grove Park, and I always see it, but I've never actually been in there, and so that was my first time going in there. And my my first impression is this, Riley. We need to put some fans in that in that building because the fumes from I don't know if it was like the the there's a lot of smells, there's a lot of chemicals, a lot of chemicals, and not very many windows, yeah. Not that the the we get some more like fresh air, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We have like three or four doors, and that's about turns fans on.

SPEAKER_00

We we need to get some air circulating in there because I was overwhelmed by the smell of like hairspray, product, fingernail polish. I don't know what I was smelling, but is that is that what I was smelling? Just the culmination of all those things, yeah. So Riley just graduated from there, real quick. So, how long did you spend at the Milan Institute?

SPEAKER_02

I started at the end of July, so around nine months.

SPEAKER_00

Nine months. Now, is it like a nine-month program or is it kind of go at your pace?

SPEAKER_02

It's a for the programs, it's hours-based. Okay, so it depends on what program you're in. My program was a thousand hours, a thousand hours, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And what program was that?

SPEAKER_02

The regular cosmetology.

SPEAKER_00

So that for those of and I'm dumb, so you're gonna have to talk to me like I'm five. Your regular cosmetology is that just haircuts?

SPEAKER_02

No, it's okay. Haircuts, hair coloring, hair chemical texture services, like relaxers and perms and stuff, and then that also goes into facials like skin and nails. Oh, so your thousand hours was on yeah, you learned cutting the hair, treating the hair, the facials and nails, everything hair, and then nails and like skin.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, um, break it down for me. So the thousand hours, how much of that thousand hours was dedicated on like hair, just hair skin.

SPEAKER_02

It's not specific to that. You're in a classroom for a couple months. I started the last week of July, and I was in a classroom until the middle of October. So that's where you learn everything. You learn all your three, all three of those, and like the basic parts of it in the classroom, and then you go out onto the salon floor for the remainder of your program, and then you just you have a certain amount of everything that you have to do, like 160 hairstyles and yeah, X, whatever.

SPEAKER_00

So you get all those done and just are those hairstyles done on like mannequins or like real people, mannequins and people. Okay, because I've heard that like I could just walk into that institute and get a haircut, is that true?

SPEAKER_02

You can just walk, it's like a salon, you just go in there and whatever you right now.

SPEAKER_00

I'm about to share something really embarrassing. A few of you know this, and for those of you who have stopped my Facebook, you've seen this. I used to have beautiful long hair, like the emo hair, like I I really did, and that was about 20 years ago. My wife hates it. Um, she tells I'm always like, Should I grow my hair out? Well, I don't know if I could anymore, but you know what I mean. She's like, No, because we're actually we were friends back then, and I was telling Molly this when I lived in San Francisco, I would go to the Paul Mitchell Institute because it was like a cheap haircut, cheaper, and they did it like really well. So I'm assuming the Milan's kind of the same thing, like anybody anybody can go there, it just might take a little bit longer, right? Because it's a student and teachers check up, but that comes with the cheaper price, yeah. Yeah, that's good to know. Maybe Milan could sponsor this podcast, right? Probably not, but maybe maybe. Um what is your passion? Your passion is mostly the hair side of it, right? The the cutting and yeah, is there a certain part you enjoy more? Is it the dyeing or is it the cutting?

SPEAKER_02

I definitely like like hair coloring and lightning more than I like cuts, but I'm very specific of what cuts I like. I like women's haircuts, men's haircuts.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, okay. How many hours is it is the split even between like men and female as far as the haircuts and learning like that?

SPEAKER_02

Like what we learned, yeah. Not really. When you're in the cosmetology program, you're mostly learned women's haircuts, you touch on men's haircuts for like maybe four hours, and then that's about it.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting. Yeah, I was thinking about when I was there at the graduation, I was thinking about this, and it was really scary. Your line of work is scary because like cutting someone's hair is it's like a serious thing. Because if you if you do it wrong, right, like if you just accidentally chop it off, I mean, yes, it'll grow back, but it's not growing back anytime soon.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's true. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Like very stressful, it's yeah, how do you manage that stress? I guess that's my question is like because that's a big deal when you're cutting, especially when someone's like especially when someone's comes in, right? Like my boys get the same haircut every time, and so it's not really risky, right? But if someone's doing a drastic haircut, like they want seven inches off and they want to completely like do a 180, like that's a lot of pressure.

SPEAKER_02

It is. I definitely like men's men's haircuts, I don't understand their hair as much, so I just don't do them, so I can't mess it up. Yep, yep. But um, women's haircuts, I understand it more, but you also have more hair to work with. So if you cut a little bit too much off, there's still a lot of hair there. But I just kind of check it 13,000 times.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you keep on asking them, right? Like I'm like that, right? Like this, like that. I always find it so impressive when I go into a haircut place, I show them a picture, and they again boys' haircut, but immediately they're like, Oh, okay. Yeah, and I'm like, how do you like how does water's only so many haircuts you can do? Yeah, yeah, maybe. I guess that's true, for especially for for boys, right? But but yeah, but haircuts now, like the taper, and I don't know if I even use that word correctly, it's so much different. Like that didn't exist back when I was you know what I mean. So things do evolve, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's always changing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, um, Molly, have you ever had a bad haircut experience? I've had quite a few bad haircut experiences. I just don't know if you've ever had or a bad dye, a bad hair dye.

SPEAKER_02

We were actually just talking about both of those things not that long ago.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we were actually um was Riley one of the people that gave you a bad haircut experience?

SPEAKER_01

No, actually, Riley, I've never messed up so much.

SPEAKER_00

I was hoping for a little story then.

SPEAKER_01

I actually was her first blonde climate, like blonding client, so it was actually really fun. So she did blonde on me for the first time ever. So it was like I was there for like 11 hours. Yeah, it took yeah, it wasn't 11 hours, it was like eight hours.

SPEAKER_02

It felt like 11. But foiling, I mean when you're highlighting someone's hair, yeah, people don't realize how small of sections you're taking. It's like you're taking about like 10 hairs at a time, genuinely, and you're foiling the entire head. Really? She has a lot of hair, so it took a really long time when I didn't know what I was doing as fast.

SPEAKER_00

So that was like the early stages, so it was slower just because you weren't really comfortable. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And like you learn your groove, I feel like, yeah, yeah. And then um, well, I did I did pink in my hair for I'd like pink highlights in my hair a couple weeks ago. Yeah, paid about almost like 150 for that. Oh wow. She's literally washed out in like two days. Yeah, they're already gone. It's been like a week and a half. Like you can look at my hair and you can't even see them. So I'm like, that's not hypothetically.

SPEAKER_00

How long was it supposed to last?

SPEAKER_02

Like I did someone's hair and it was pink, it was bright pink. Yeah, and I did her hair in January, and it is still bright pink. Yeah, wow. So and that was a licensed, licensed hair because I went to yeah, okay, first.

SPEAKER_00

So I guess uh maybe rather you can answer this. Is it like like poor product, poor chemicals? Like, how does that work?

SPEAKER_02

Some of it is just bad product, some of it's also what shade of the color that you use. She did light pink, so it's gonna fade faster, but it should not fade that fast in like two days.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, it should so that was kind of recent, Molly. Your your bad dye experience. Okay, interesting.

SPEAKER_02

Your bad haircut.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, what about a bad you have a bad haircut?

SPEAKER_02

Wait, which one was my bad haircut again? The other cosmetology student that you okay.

SPEAKER_00

Well, let's not throw too many. Like let's not name names here, but we're not naming names.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Name drop the other cosmetology school myself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, not very good. Is there more than there's two?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, there's one downtown.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay. I think I I kind of knew that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, a little bit of a choppy haircut, that's for sure. It wasn't very blended. Okay. Oh, no. It's okay though, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_01

It came back. Her hair looked great. Yeah, hair grows back, like you said. It does, it just takes a long time.

SPEAKER_00

Although I I think I want to get okay. Hold on, I gotta be careful what I say. I don't know how to prove this. I was just saying, I I was gonna say I gotta get my son tested, but I I'm convinced my son Mark has the fastest growing hair in the world. Like, oh yeah, like I really do. Like, I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's a certain vitamin or if he's rich in a certain vitamin. I I don't know what makes your hair grow faster.

SPEAKER_02

Some people's hair, it's genetics.

SPEAKER_00

It's insane, it's it's it's literally insane how fast my son Mark's hair. Like, I want to like fit. I need to do like uh what's that filter on the video camera, the time lapse. I mean, but you know what I mean though? Like, I gotta figure out because like his hair grows so fast, like legitimately, he needs a haircut every like three weeks.

SPEAKER_02

There's some people who are like that. My boyfriend's like that. He gets a haircut two or three weeks later, he needs another haircut. It's insane.

SPEAKER_00

It's insane.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I can go like seven months without a haircut. Yeah, I don't remember the last time I cut my hair. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

As a parent, I'll I'm kind of a little bit we're a little bit more lazy because I'm like, I don't want to spend that money every three weeks, but and boys. And the boys, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Well well, depends on what haircuts they get.

SPEAKER_00

So, Riley, you met Molly here at LD, right? You both met at L D Amonte. Yes. Yeah, do you guys remember your first interaction?

SPEAKER_02

Or like I don't remember our first interaction, but I know where we met. Yeah, I do. I met my junior year, her senior year, and our Link crew class.

SPEAKER_00

Link. So shout out to Link. Bring in bringing Mr.

SPEAKER_02

Evans, shout out Mr.

SPEAKER_00

Evans, bring in bringing the bringing friendships together. Now, Molly, Molly was part of the you know, well, still is our nursery program, and that's kind of how like you got introduced to this church, Riley, was the nursery program, and I think you just needed like a job with uh quite a few hours. When Molly told you, Riley, that like, hey, I have this job opportunity, but it's at a church. I I'm curious, like I I really don't know the answer to this. What was like your reaction and and kind of doing that?

SPEAKER_02

I had been talking to her about needing a job and um I went to church growing up, but my family kind of just went I went to church a lot when I was little, but then as I got older, my family only goes really on holidays. Yep. And so I was like, oh, okay, cool. Like, whatever. I was nervous because a lot of people that I know that go to church, their church is very judgy and very strict and very whatever, yeah, clicky, like stuff like that. Um, so I was a little bit nervous, but once she talked to me about like they're chilled, like you're to who you are, and that that's good. I was like, okay, cool. Yeah, I want to do that.

SPEAKER_00

Cool. So you applied and and you do a great job. So now you you start working here, and what was your re like what was your impression of CLC, maybe the first month or two of just kind of walking onto campus, you know, obviously talking to parents, and and now especially like Sunday school, but you didn't really do the Sunday school until later. But I'm curious more about like your first impressions of of this place.

SPEAKER_02

Everyone was really, really, really nice. Um, it helped that like they knew that like I was friends with Molly, so that I wasn't just like a random person. I had something to fall back on and someone to talk about and with or whatever, but everyone was really nice and welcoming.

SPEAKER_00

It was good, and then your responsibility, kind of like Molly's too. Molly's responsibility kind of grew. Now you're kind of doing Sunday school stuff, and then there's a difference too, right? Like nursery, nursery, we're just making sure that they are just safe and and like have fun. It's not really a classroom, yeah, right. Like, we just want to make sure that they're just hanging out for an hour and hanging out, right? And so, but Sunday school is like a more of an academic thing, like we again, there's no grade book, you know, we're not grading them and they're not getting progress reports or whatever, like, but we still want them to learn something, and so you that's a huge switch from nursery to Sunday school because there's there is like an academic setting and feeling. Um what were your kind of thoughts on that? Like going getting involved into Sunday school. Talk about your experience there. Like, how was that for you?

SPEAKER_02

I like it a lot. Nursery's fun because they're so little and they're just playing, and you get to see their brains start kind of working, yeah. Um, but Sunday school is really fun. The kids are older, they're they all have very different personalities, so getting to learn each kid and establish little relationships with them there and see their faith grow and see them start to kind of get the subjects and understand it more. It's really fun watching them like start to interact and make friends with each other, yeah, and like figure it out, and like you start asking them questions about the story and they start remembering and actually like putting all the pictures together to other like lessons and stuff.

SPEAKER_01

It's great.

SPEAKER_00

That's a great thing about that age is you literally see their brains like yeah, you're seeing their brains work forming in front of you, yeah. Yeah, like literally, they're like, Oh, oh, oh, yeah, not that that never that doesn't stop in junior high or senior high. I'll look new podcast for other time. But but Molly, kind of like I'll ask you the same question. Like, what was it like to kind of not only like go from nursery to Sunday school, but also kind of be a leader in that ministry and be like, hey, these kids, not only is their safety my responsibility, but kind of like their not their entire faith formation, but them learning about God and God's love. How is that switch for you? How is that transition for you?

SPEAKER_01

Um, well, as I transitions from just like volunteering and doing it to like actually leading up.

SPEAKER_00

That's true, because you you were volunteered, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

I had to change like my mindset and like my attitude towards the kids a little bit. I couldn't just be like, oh, fun, like that you guys do whatever I have to be like a little bit more strict on them and be like, hey guys, like we're actually here to learn something.

SPEAKER_00

Like try to be the quote unquote bad guy, something like that.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly, like good cop, bad cop. But yeah, we definitely have our good cop, bad cop moment. We definitely do.

SPEAKER_00

That's part of it, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

But I think it's great. I I love coming here every Sunday and like just like teaching them the lessons and everything. And sometimes they they don't want to do it at all. They definitely don't. You gotta be a little pushy, yeah. But then sometimes I feel like that's when they need to like hear the stories the most or like learn everything the most. It's like, okay, guys, I get it. This I was the same way, but in youth groups. So I'm like, I I'm like, I see it happen now, and I want them to have a love for it now as much as I can, like, help them get there.

SPEAKER_02

Seeing them like click from hearing, like, oh yeah, like God loves me and hearing all the things that we say all the time, to seeing them actually believe it and apply it and like say it themselves so they like actually know is really cool watching them not just hear it but like think it.

SPEAKER_00

So one thing that I think catches you off guard when you do ministry is you know, you're you're pouring yourself into other people, you're serving them, but also like it it's it's crazy, like sometimes doesn't prepare you for what you learn about yourself.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Also, doing ministry, especially like youth or Sunday school, it kind of makes you realize you kind of almost have flashbacks of yourself at that age, and you're like, Oh, I did that too.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe I was annoying, you know what I mean? Like, maybe I was a maybe I did have a bad attitude. So I I guess that's my question to you, like to you two. We'll start off with you, Riley. What is what have you learned about yourself working with kids, especially when I'm not trying to no offense, but you weren't you were a kid not too long ago, yeah, right? You like 10-15 years ago, you were kind of their age, or you know, so what have you learned about yourself kind of doing ministry?

SPEAKER_02

I've seen like patterns in one, just like the things that they talk about, like when we ask them about school and stuff like that, the things that they talk about, I'm like, oh, I remember that. Like throwback, but like hearing the things that they say and the way that they act and the little mannerisms that they have and like the things that they like, it kind of throws me back to like things that I liked and I would do, and I'm like, oh wow, so fun.

SPEAKER_00

Yep, yep. How about you, Molly?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I'm gonna have to agree with Riley, especially with their mannerisms and stuff. Like, um, there's um like all the kids, they all have their own personalities and stuff, and some of them are a little bit more like crazy than others, and I can definitely like see myself relating to them because I'm like, I was definitely 100% that kid in a little attitude, and so it just it makes me like have to like learn a little bit, like practice patience a little bit more and not be so like, oh my gosh, what are you doing? It's like no, I was the same way, I have to be a little bit more patient and understand and everything.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, I chaperoned a Phil Triple Kaz last year. Oh yeah, yeah, so seventh graders, seventh graders are fun, and so I got I got to see like the seventh grade boys, you know. Yeah, and they thought they were the funniest things in the in the planet, and I'm just sitting there top dogs, not laughing, you know. I'm like, I remember just sitting there thinking, I had this moment of like they think they're funny, they think they're super cool, but then I'm like, no, that sounds very judgy, people, I know, but within a second, I'm I remember being that boy, I remember being that kid, so that judgment quickly went from them to like almost me, too, right? Where I thought I was the funniest dude in the world. Yeah, you know, I thought the best way to have a girl like me is to make fun of them. You you know what I mean? Like, I'm just sitting there thinking, like, as much as things change, some things kind of stay the same. You know what I mean? And I remember just sitting there, I'm like, these seventh-grade boys have no idea what they're doing, no idea what they're saying. And I'm like, Yeah, I quickly like quickly realized that was me too. And so I think administrators does that, it kind of like points the mirror back at you, and you're like, Hey, this was you too, you know? Yeah, and there are people in your life that had patience that showed love, and but also were the bad guy and good guy too. And so, so much of life is a cycle. So, Riley, real quick, we have a few more minutes left. Um, this is a short episode because well, we weren't really planning on having an episode, and and I have a uh meeting here soon. Uh, what's next for you? So you just graduated. What's next for Riley here?

SPEAKER_02

I am gonna be working in the salon that I will be at the a couple days a week in the front, just kind of getting a feel more for the salon until I get licensed. And then once I get my license, I'll be taking clients.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so you graduated Milan, but you're not licensed. Can you talk to us about like that?

SPEAKER_02

So once you graduate, that's just kind of you learning and leaving the school and completing your program and your hours that are required by the state to get a license, but then you have to go take a test for the state. Um, and California used to have a practical where you would actually do the things on the And mock them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And a written test, but now they just have the written test. So I'll go in and I will take my test. And if I pass, I get my license.

SPEAKER_00

Weird. I mean, this is not a podcast. I'm not trying to criticize the government here, but I would I would I'm kind of caught off guard by that. I thought the test would be more practical and not written.

SPEAKER_02

It's changed a lot. The hours for the program have also been cut down a lot. The basic program used to be 1,600 hours.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Um but now it's a thousand.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, now it's a thousand, but every state is different. Every state has a different amount of hours. Every state's test is different.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

But California just uh eliminated their practical test.

SPEAKER_00

So hypothetically, can you take the test tomorrow or do you have to work on the salon?

SPEAKER_02

Schedule it. Um, so my school, whenever they get through all of like the paperwork, um, they will reach out to me and I will schedule the test and then I go take it.

SPEAKER_00

You gotta show that paperwork for the test. Okay. Um, what salon are you gonna be working at? Is that a official yet? Can you say that on the pod?

SPEAKER_02

I think so. Okay. Um Provence, downtown Viselia.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Oh, Provence?

SPEAKER_02

Provence.

SPEAKER_00

Provence, okay. Well, shout out to them. Maybe where is that? Is that by the Wells Fargo?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's right by you know where it's between like Crawdaddy's, the gym. Oh, yeah, there's Cradadys, that gym, yeah, the salon, and then there's that Mexican restaurant and Mulligan's.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, I know exactly where that is. Well, shout out to Brovance. If anyone wants a haircut, go see Riley.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Or a die, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00

Stay tuned. All right. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We hope this uh random and promptue and conversation gave you something new to think about, whether it's an idea, a story, or just a fresh perspective on everyday life. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss future episodes and share this podcast with friends or family who might enjoy it too. We love hearing from all of our listeners, so connect with us online and let us know what topics you like for us to explore. Until next time, keep asking questions, stay curious, and enjoy the little moments that make life meaningful. Hope you all have a wonderful day and goodbye here from the Grace Period podcast.