Double Booked Episode 1: Working Moms, Real Life Chaos & Why We Started Double Booked

In our first episode, we share who we are, why we started this podcast, and what you can expect each week.  From juggling work, moving to a new state, and the random challenges no one prepares you for.  In this episode we cover how often to wash your sports bra and how to create the perfect pollinator garden.

A podcast about working moms, trying to survive the chaos intact while remaining Double Booked, nothing is off limits. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Okay. Awesome. I'm so excited. We're finally here. It's starting. I can't believe it. Technical difficulties and all. Uh, for all of those who behind the scenes stuff you don't get to see. Um, I am tech illiterate.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

No, no, we are both a bit of Luddites, but I'm really impressed with everything that we've learned already. And I think it's just gonna go off from here. We're gonna like stretch muscles we didn't even know we had. But uh before we kind of talk about the podcast, I have the funniest story for you. And I think this this personifies me to a T. So I have always wanted to plant a like a pollinator garden. Like I wanted like an English cottage wildflower garden in my front flower bed. I know nothing about gardening. I had a chat GPT the entire thing, but and I I feel like I'm a little crunchy-ish. So I'm like, oh, you know, God save the bees. This is gonna be great. And the butterflies are gonna come. My daughter's gonna love the butterflies. So over the course of call it the last four weekends, I have been curating this pollinator garden, and it finally looks beautiful, looks like everything I could have hoped, but I have to use water it every day for the first month or whatever until the roots take hold. So I'm out there and I'm watering, and it is a hive of activity. There are just bees buzzing everywhere, those little monarch butterflies floating. I'm so happy. Everything you had wished had come true. Everything I had hoped and dreamed is here. And I take a picture of this beautiful garden and with the glistening water and the bees, and I send it to my cousin, who's my best friend, but also like one of those chronically good at everything people. And I really want her to be proud of me. So I'm sending her this picture of my pollinator garden. And as I'm I'm texting her the picture, so imagine water the garden, take the picture, send the picture as I walk back in and sit down at my desk in my office, and within two seconds, I hear that very distinct buzz. A bee has gotten into my hair and has followed me into the office. You know, these bees that I am trying to create, you know, an ecosystem for has now come in the house. Every crunchy instinct I have flies out the window. I murdered this bee. I mean, I didn't kill it, I destroyed it. I hosed my entire office, computers, monitors, keyboards, desk in whatever lethal spray was at my closest. I mean, I blew the spray.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

It's terrifying. It's terrifying. Uh, there was a time where we had a beehive growing in our um where the house meets the fireplace. And so all of a sudden I'm in my master bedroom and I hear just like you said, and then I heard it again and again and again, and I'm like, what is happening? Where are all these things coming from? And it ended up they had built a hive and in the fireplace, and they were coming in through the fireplace and uh making residence in my room. So I had to shut all the doors, kept them in there, and needless to say, now the fireplace, we had to remove it completely because that incident happened more than once. Um, I felt a little bit like Snow White, but I did end up having to remove it. And I was like, oh, you can't have bees in your house. My child is like deathly allergic to them. And I'm just like, it was it was too much. They're scary. But I know I know they do all the good things and and all of that, but it is, it's it's when you when it's happening to you in the moment, boom, scary. It was yeah, terrifying, pretty but did your cousin like the garden?

SPEAKER_01 3:51

She did, she did sell, she did love the garden. She was proud of me. It is a very pretty garden. So I'll post pictures.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. So speaking of our house, um, we are for all of our audience, we are selling our house and we are moving. And um, this is a process, like a new state. Like you are state. Uh, we're picking up, we're completely relocating um for my job. So I will say my family's been very supportive of me and and my career and my growth. But the whole process, I you know, we used to buy and sell houses a lot um and earlier in our our love, my husband and I, but now we've been in this place for probably eight years, and this is a process from decluttering to it's more so the cleaning it every day before showing. I'm positive you could eat off my floor right now, which would never have happened before. And I even, because I've been cleaning it every day, I even canceled my housekeeper, which sound is crazy. I don't know why I did that. Um, but here I am. I'm just I don't know when I've found the time to clean. It's sort of been therapeutic in the mornings when we've gotten up to go to school. Like I come back and you know, just clean away. And it is some gratification to it, but I'm sort of over these people coming through my house all the time. So I'm I'm hopeful that over the next little bit, you know, it goes. But man, the process isn't for the faint of heart.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

No, and it's gotta be emotional, right? Like you're so excited about the new move and the new adventures, but yeah, I imagine emotional attachment to the house and starting to feel that wistful, like, oh, this might be the last time we just run over to the neighbors and drink wine.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Oh, there's a swan song every day at my house. Like somebody's having their last, or that's what they're using as their excuse to me to go do something. Like, this is the last time I'm gonna hang out with these people and or go, you know, golf and do this. So it is it it's funny. Um, you know, I I think I'm probably a little bit forgiving to a lot of it because it is I'm the reason. Uh, but it is interesting, like where the emotions lie with each person in my house. And my husband was born and raised here, so it's been probably the hardest on him, which is really interesting. As usually, like, I I guess I don't see him as the emotional type typically. And now he, you know, all of the emotions have come out. Meanwhile, the children are all like, yes, can't wait for the next adventure. You know, our friends will come visit with us, all the things. So it the what I anticipated going into it has not happened at all, and it's kind of been reverse.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah. Are you starting to get stressed about the house and selling it?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

I don't know if I'm so stressed about selling it yet. I think I think there's still time is on my side. I think what stresses me out is everything that comes after it. Like it solidifies, okay, shit, I gotta pack. I gotta, you know, find a mover. I gotta do like I haven't done that. I also haven't found a house where we're moving. So it that, you know, I think I'm sort of compartmentalizing this maybe a little too much and trying to be calm and all the things for everybody. And I'm hopeful it doesn't come back and bite me later.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

No, it will, especially like when you think you're just about out of the house, and then you find like that last drawer or closet or whatever for the 10th time. I mean, moving is my nemesis. I hate moving, I hate it. And it's you can't fully pawn it off. You can hire movers, you can even hire the Mac Daddy movers that are gonna come in and pack you. But I assure you, you still just tell them what to pack, what goes to what room, what's what you're keeping, what you're purging. I mean, it really makes me a little nauseated for you.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Yeah, I mean, the good part is I've already had one dump trailer come and getting rid of stuff. So I do feel like I'm minimalizing this mass amount of stuff that we have, but still not to the point where we need to. And I'm, you know, I think just going through that process is I that part has been therapeutic, I will say. I'm also one that likes to toss things, so I'm not a keeper uh of all things and and all memories. I have certain ones that I put aside. Um, but yeah, it's it's it's going to continue on. There will be a point, and you guys will all probably hear about it where I'm just gonna be done. And when I get to that point, it's like toss, toss, toss, toss, toss, and we'll just figure it out later. We probably didn't need it anyways.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah, yeah. Um, how are the dogs doing with all this? Because you have to like like when you have a showing, you have to like go leave your office, drive home, and take the dogs and contain them somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Yes. So uh my dogs have now, and so my work has now gone into the car, and so have the dogs. And so now we all just hang out together down the street. So we're spying on all the people coming into the house, and we're sitting there in our in our friend's driveway, and the dogs are now used to it. They just lay there, they uh, you know, they think it's you know just a road trip for them. So they're relaxed, cool as a you know, cucumber. And here I am taking you know work calls with my seatbelt on, which I don't know why when my car's parked, I don't take my seatbelt off. I know, but seatbelt on zoom on, sitting in somebody else's driveway stalking all the people that are at my house to see like who it is.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Do you ever put on like the fake office on teams, the fake background?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

I don't. I don't like how it uh it does the blur thing. So I I don't. I usually use what you see is what you get.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yeah, I definitely do, especially like if I'm talking to our CEO or a big client. Um, I do. And then what I do is I just like don't move, like I try not to move my head so it doesn't do that weird glitchy thing. But yeah, what I did is so that they don't know I'm in the car. I take the seatbelt off and I've got the office background. And I I don't think they know. I really don't think they have an idea how often I'm in the car for a meeting.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

It might be the tactic that I have to take going forward. So I may have to implement that into my my daily routine as far as putting that in on the backdrop and having one consistent one so that no one knows.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, yeah. It's always I have like they have one on Teams that's like it's like a regular, you know, staff accountant office, like all white walls, but a door for some dimension, it's perfect, it's really cute.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

So, what is funny is we have some stock ones for the company, and one of them looks like people are sitting in a bar. And I I laugh every time somebody has it on because I'm like, it's usually the accountants that have it on, and no offense to accountants, but usually you don't see them at a bar. And then so when they're doing the call and the bar thing is in the background, I'm I just chuckled at myself.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Awesome. All right. Well, I want to talk a little bit about what this podcast is and why are we doing this, and why are we the right people to do this? And what do we want to solve? So take it away.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

So for me, this is an outlet of all the things my friends and colleagues and such talk women colleagues talk about on the daily, whether it's through a group chat or on the phone or what have you. So I believe there is a need for uh working, moms, uh talking about beauty, talking about being a mom, talking about growing in careers, and sharing with one another. And this is to be a forum that we can share and learn from each other. And I want our guests to learn from us as much as I want to learn from them, and hopes that you know we each time we hop on this podcast, that we can uh learn something. And one little tidbit, if it helps someone, I'm gonna feel really good about it.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah, same. I I don't want to like make it seem like everything is perfect or anything, but I do just want to say that for career-wise, we are both like executives. We are executives at big to mid-sized companies. We have a lot of responsibility. We have to make really, really high-level strategic decisions. We've earned and grinded our way to get there. We also have more children than we have partners.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Um, that sounds interesting. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

And we also like we're trying to achieve this place. I'm not gonna call it balance. I feel like that's a really triggering word these days, but um, we're trying to achieve the have it all, right? Like the career, the family, the love. And I again, I'm not gonna say that we're doing it perfect, but I do feel like we do have it all. And I do feel like um when people are like, you have to pick one, you can't have it all. That's a myth. I think that's untrue. I do think I have it all. I think I have a great family. I think my kids love me. I think they're thriving. I think I have a great marriage. I think my husband and I still really like each other. I am, I feel like I mostly crush it at my career. Um, are there things that ebb and flow in terms of priority? Of course, but I do feel like we have it all.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I do think the ebb and flow part is important. So, you know, yes, there are days where my children drive me bananas. There are days my husband drives me bananas. Uh, but there are days where I feel like, yes, this is all working. So, you know, you nailed it in the sense of, you know, we do have a lot of great things and uh we want to share. We want to share with our listeners and you know what has worked for us or what hasn't worked for us. And, you know, whether it is about kids or work or husbands or partners or what have you, it is uh, you know, it's a it's an open forum, and we will be honest and tell all the good stories with the bad stories because there are many to tell uh and and share on the daily.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

And hopefully, most importantly, we're gonna share the funny stories.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Yes. I don't, you know, I was thinking to some funny stories for today, and I gotta tell you, there's just been a lot of serious shit happening in my world right now. Um, you know, I've got uh an almost 19-year-old who, you know, there's some social media things. I got an almost 11, or excuse me, an 11-year-old who is having that friend circle thing at school. So there's just so many different learning lessons every day. I feel like has been a life lesson with them and for me and how you handle it. And uh, so this the past little bit has been kind of trying, and I I I want to have all the funny stories in the world, and then I'm like, oh, what's funny about this? There's nothing funny.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Yeah, it's all serious. Maybe sometimes it'll just be a laugh or you'll cry.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Later. Yeah. I was gonna say it'll be a laugh later. I'll look back on this in a few weeks and be like, oh my gosh, that was hilarious. What was I talking about?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Yeah, and it's no laughing matter to me that like you you live very close. Like we are work college, but we are friends, we are legitimate friends that spend time and you're leaving me, and that is not funny. Um, luckily, I think probably I feel it's the least of your friends, maybe because we travel for work so much that we will be like a catch me if you can at the Atlanta airport for sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yes, no, no doubt, yes, and for all of our listeners, we do travel on the regular, so it's not we're not going into the same office every single day. We are traveling all across the country uh to meet with our teams and do our work and our um you know our clients and all the things. So we're in the same industry, we just we are all over the place. And uh, you know, we'll talk a lot about what that um you didn't what was the word you used? I don't want to use balance, but you know, what what's make what's made it work for us and how we've kind of scheduled our days and scheduled our weeks and uh juggling childcare and all of the things that you know some of you may have uh in your lives because you know, I always say like if I wasn't in my current career, I would have a career in logistics because I do feel, you know, we are constantly juggling, you know, where everybody's going, when they're gonna get there. And then, oh, by the way, I have to get my teeth cleaned and my hair dyed and all of all of that amongst all, you know, the the daily grind.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah. Okay, so a career in logistics. We are in, I don't know if we were to say this, we're in real estate. We're both in real estate, uh, specifically primarily retail real estate, which is fantastic. Um, and we're 25 plus years uh into this, and we're on two different ends of the transaction, I would guess, I would say, or yeah, sometimes on the same.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

I mean, we we Michael Ann is a client of mine, uh, or I am a client of Michael Ann's. And so we do get to do business together, but a lot of times um we don't. So it's nice to be able to have uh somebody to bounce ideas off of and share and such. So um yeah, it's we do work together in some facet, but not on the daily.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah. And in real estate, which I think will be relevant when we get to other topics such as investing and the opportunities. And I am super excited this week already. I put a piece of property under contract with your team. Oh congrats, it's amazing. Congrats to my team. They don't even know. I'm so excited. And it's not it's not a typical project for us. We usually do much larger centers, or we do have some single tenant, single clients that we work with. Um, but this is a two-tenant building, they're two sexy clients, you know, the hot, buzzy tenants. Um, it's expensive, it's we got to close fast. So I'm really, really excited to be able to do this. And it's local, which is also not usually that happens. So we can't.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Yes, no, that's super exciting. We always love when uh the two worlds can collide. So thank you for that. That'll be amazing.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

I'm very excited. Um, okay, so speaking of kind of that balance and things that work and things that don't work, I I want to ask you a question, and I feel like this question could be very polarizing.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Oh gosh. Okay, I'm not sure I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Okay. How many times is it appropriate to wear a sports bra before you wash it?

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Oh, interesting. I go through this dilemma with my jeans, but I uh this first of all, oh man, I don't have a long shelf life.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Jeans is at least five, six, maybe seven washes.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

That's what they say. I'm not there. Um jeans, I'm every other time. No, I'm every other time.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

No, I don't want to change the fit of my jeans. I feel like every time I wash a pair of jeans, they're gonna be slightly different in their fit for the rest of their lives. So I try to not wash sheets.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Ugh, okay. I need a sample page out of your book.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

But sports bras, no, I wash every time. Is that not what you're supposed to do? You're probably supposed to do that, but it's one of the it's one of the bars I've lowered in my house. I am not washing the sports bra. What if you wear the sports bra, but you don't exercise? Like you just wearing it. Okay, maybe I'm wearing it.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Maybe I'd wearing it like my regular one, it probably is like three or four days if I'm not sweating.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah, or like if you do Pilates, I don't sweat during Pilates.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Well, then you're going to the wrong Pilates class because mine, I'm coming out of there like a hot disaster.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

I feel like I'm not a very sweaty person in general. No, no, no. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Like this Pilates that I'm doing right now, it kicks my literally kicks my butt. Is it like a cardio Pilates? It's yeah. I mean, it's not a stretching one. Like I've done like a one-on-one stretch one before, but this is like full on. I am, I mean, I am sweating.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Really? I am not. And but I went to one Sun, no, Monday. I went to Pilates Monday, and I woke up in the middle of the night that night, literally, like in pain. Like turning horses in your legs, like you all the things. It was my abs, my shoulders, my butt cheeks. I mean, it was like woke me up in the middle of the night pain. So it's not like yeah, you're getting the floor and salates, but I just don't really sweat a lot. So definitely, I'm definitely not washing my sports bra every time.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see you with a sports bra. I'm not gonna come near you because you're probably stink and you don't even know it.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

I know for sure I do. I also have been on this kick of trying to find like an aluminum-free deodorant. Oh, I've I I don't work. I haven't done it. Oh, I've tried so many times. I'll go through phases. I think this is back to this crunchy ish, um, where I'll be like, you know, aluminum is bad for you, and we're putting it on your skin every day. Let's try to find it. I've tried all I've tried the lotions, the fancy, the detox, the crystals, and they they just don't work. And we do live in a hot climate, so there's that too. And it is, it's already hot, it's 85, 90 degrees uh in the middle of the day here every day. It's I have not found one that works. Uh well, when you do, share it with us all, please. Yes, somebody, please. If anybody knows of a good aluminum-free deodorant that's actually working, it's sweaty weather, which is not sweater weather, sweaty weather, please leave us a message. Tell us, let us know.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yes, for sure. For sure. Uh, so what other things like are you not washing all the time? I mean, because I can used to not have so many loads of laundry every week.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

I okay, so I go, I feel like. Like I'm in a phase of life right now where there are a lot of costume changes. You know, like I roll out of bed and I'll maybe put on something for just drop off because I'm just rolling out the door at the last minute. And then I come back and I change into maybe something I'm gonna work out in. And then I come back and I change again into what I'm gonna wear for work. Totally agree with this.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

I uh I totally so first off, this morning, I will tell you a funny story. So I saw your drop-off off at the this morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this morning I must have read my carpool text wrong, and I was supposed to be, and it was, you know, time for pickup, no one was coming, no one was coming. And then they're like, no, no, you're on your taking for today. I was like, oh shoot. And I literally had no time and had no shoes. So here I am in my Christmas pajamas. I look like Mrs. McAllister with my monogram on it, and then I'm no shoes. I have my cup of coffee, hair is not like it literally had not been brushed and no teeth brushed. So, and I'm like, if I get pulled over, this is gonna be the worst day ever. But luckily, I made it, you know, hauling butt into the school parking lot. Everybody tucked and rolled out of the car and made it back to the house without a ticket or getting pulled over. And uh on we went with the day.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

But yeah, but also I want to pause for a minute because the other thing I saw with that picture is that you were completely like raw dogging in the coffee bag. You had this straight up.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

This was not a to-go coffee bug.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

This is like my glass cup. Like I literally was waiting outside for someone else to pick my child up, and I like ran and grabbed my keys and off we went for the day.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

So obviously, we are perfecting this have it all, right? Oh my gosh. Two weekends ago, I felt terrible. I still haven't told her. I forgot to take my daughter to a birthday party. Like I straight up, I forgot. I had it on the calendar, I had RSVP'd, we had bought a gift, it's one of her close friends, and and we weren't even like doing something else that we had to sort of rush to like there's no excuses for it. Like, I just it was just gone. Yeah, I had to like, you know, send an apology check text to the mom later. I'm so sorry, we missed it, like just completely blank.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

And it happens, it really does. There's always something, you know, it's okay. Don't feel bad.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah, what is the level of guilt we're supposed to carry for this?

SPEAKER_00 24:34

I I think it's it's passed at this point. She didn't make a big deal out of it. So she doesn't know. She forgot. At this point, she's already been back to school or around this friend, I'm assuming. So I think she's fine. She's fine. Yeah. Next year.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Um, okay, so the other thing that I want to talk about that I wanted to just share as a helpful hint is I, you know, I'm obsessed with AI. That was my big goal for 2026, is to learn how to use AI to be productive. And we will have a whole dedicated episode to talking about all the ways that I'm using AI. I'm hoping we're gonna bring in a subject matter expert who can show us things I don't even know. But one of the things that it has not been great at, and I use all of I've tried all the platforms. I've got Gemini, I've got Claude, I've got Chat GPT, I I had Copilot, I'm I've left co-pilot, I do not love it. Um, but I've tried all the things. Most consistently I use Chat GPT, and one of the things that Chat GPT has never been great at is makeup and clothes suggestions.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Like oh, interesting. I haven't used it for that yet.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Yeah, so I'll take a picture of my face sometimes and be like, how do I wear makeup? What do I wear? And it'll be like, just put your blush on your cheek right here. And I'm like, that's not that's not a cheek. Um, or I'll try to, I'll put in a prompt about, you know, give me ideas of what to wear as a professional that works from home and then has to run to a sporting event and give me outfits ideas, and it shows like, you know, lacy thong halter tops, like not exactly. But I have noticed as I have gotten older that instead of getting these like dark circles under my eyes, I get really white circles. They're just I've lost the pigment. So I'm like, what is this? Can I take a pill for this? Can I get a laser for this? What do I do for this? And I took a picture and I put it into chat, and chat's like, no, no, no, no, this is easy. You need Bobby Brown corrector in peach. I'm like, okay. Uh I'm not, I'm an olive skin toad. I've never used a peach anything. I'm like, I feel like this is a falsehood, but it's $30. I can order it on Amazon. I'm gonna try it. So low, low cost of entry. So, and it was like, you have to put it on with this finger in this direction, starting at this very specific, very specific. And I tried it, it worked.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Chad had at all. Little did, I mean, I have to try. I'm gonna have to try that. I will do that and report back to everybody my experience because I have not used it for makeup. I I am having an eyeliner dilemma, so I think that will be, I'm gonna use that as my my guinea pig test.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

What do you think your dilemma is? What's your eyeliner dilemma?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

My eyeliner, um, it's going on my eyelids a lot, no matter if I use you know, pencil, liquid, any any kind of um consistency. And then I've also asked if I should be having like an eyebrow lift. And they're like, nope, you're not at, you know, you're not hood, you don't have what is it?

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Like a surgical eyebrow lift?

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yes. That's I was asking my eye doctor, but she said, no, you're not even remotely near that. Um, so I don't know what is happening, and I don't know if it's my eyeshadow or my eyeliner, but I think it's the liner and my lid. So I gotta figure out what I need to do.

unknown 28:13

All right.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Yeah, she pt up. Okay, let's talk about career a little bit. I know you had a big pitch to a new potential client this week. How did it go?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

So it went really well. We actually find out in a few days, but um it I, you know, listen, I it couldn't have gone any better. I brought all of the teammates together. So we had a probably six of us on a call, and they laid it all out on the table. So we feel good, and hopefully they they think we're the right people for the job. And then actually, the same client we have that pitch probably eight more times. So they're doing it more state specific. So we'll get to do it again and again and again, and hopefully we'll keep learning from each time that we do it. So uh our chances continue to go up to get it. So it'd be a game changer for a lot of the teams, and uh you know, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

That's awesome. Okay, so leading into the pitch, one of the things that I think you do super well in your career is collaborate with other people and reach out and bring them in. What did you guys do? What do you guys do for these pitches? Because for specificity, you run a brokerage firm, and so you have brokers, which they all have their own independent clients and book of business and things like that, but these large-scale pitches that are going to transcend offices that you do together, how do you bring different personality styles and geography? How do you bring it together to make a joint pitch?

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Yeah, no, that's a great question. So I am all about togetherness and collaboration. And so we get on one call and we all hash it out. Uh and by hashing out, I mean defining each person's role within the pitch and or um the presentation piece. So it's inclusive of marketing, it's inclusive of GIS and mapping, it's inclusive of the brokerage team, and it's inclusive of me. And so, like who's gonna do what? And we all kind of put together our what our strengths are, and we really play to those when we're going into one of these pitches. And usually we have an outline of what the potential client wants or needs, and we roll that out to the team, they give us their ideas, and we all kind of again, like all the brains come together to create it. And um one teammate sort of takes the lead on giving everybody the days and times that things are due, looping everybody in in an email, and really making sure that everybody's voices are heard for the package because we don't want it to be like some stock thing. It is all very customly, it's custom done uh based on the client and based on our team that will be working on it for the specific market. Uh, because they are all very different and every market's very different. So it's nice um that everything can see what everybody else does. So it kind of opens everybody's minds. And uh again, just it's another touch point with one another as you're creating a team environment uh with people that truly they're they're 1099 and uh you know they have their own books of business and kind of done their own things to get here. So we're just there to help and help make it bigger and better.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Okay, so a real life college uh team project. Right, like it's just like you practice college, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Yeah, well, it's funny because then like my my daughter comes home from school and she's like, Okay, my team and I did this. And it's funny because now I can start to see me in her based off of what she's telling me. She's like, Okay, I told him to do this and I told him to do that. I was like, Yes, that's exactly the role I usually play. So it's it is interesting how kids maybe pick up on things that we don't know and or inherently just have our traits. Uh, so it's it's been awesome to kind of watch each of them grow and uh you know talk about what they're doing that translates into what I do every day.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Okay, and also maybe the opposite, right? Like because I'm about as type A as they come, always have been. And my my boys will do these group projects and I'll check their grades, like the tiger mom I am, and be like, hey, why do you have this NTI and not turned in in history? And they're like, oh, it was a group project, and you know, Bobby's supposed to turn it in. I'm like, well, Bobby didn't turn it in. And they're like, Oh, I guess I'll if I remember, I'll talk to him tomorrow. I'm like, oh no, you well, what's Bobby's photo? You know, it's like the control freak that I am, they they don't have it and they don't need it, and it's it dies.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

But the best part is uh your youngest will overhear all these things and she will do completely opposite. So we had this scenario where one of our one of my kids, um, he was not turning things in in school, and uh it really drives me crazy because it's super simple, right? You do the work, you turn it in. If you're doing it in class, why are you not just turning it in in class? It's so frustrating. You're losing the easy points here, guys. Yes, this is like this this is a give me. So all every day my daughter, the youngest, heard why didn't you turn an assignment? Why didn't you turn your assignment? Why didn't you turn an assignment? Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that, right? Like she consistently heard this over the past few years. So I went to a parent-teacher conference recently, and the teacher was like, Man, she is like on it. She turns things in right away, like she's getting them done early. And I was like, Oh, yeah, that might be like PTSD from some conversations that I've had with our other children. I said, you know, yes, she's also a dancer, which will be a whole nother topic for a later time, but like she has a strict schedule, so she knows she has to get it in. But mostly she's probably heard me lose my mind over the fact that you need to turn your assignments in.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah, yeah. I definitely feel like, and maybe it's a boy-girl thing, I don't know, but I definitely feel like my daughter is much more like me, much more type A, much more controlling, much more like she needs to get straight A's or or she feels internally bad about it. Whereas if the boys don't have straight A's, they're just afraid of me.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

So it is it is a different academy for sure. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Oh yeah. Um go ahead. So for those that are dance moms out there, I um I feel for you. There's it's amazing, it's so great to see them on stage. But um, all the memes that are out there about dancing and dance moms are 99.9% true. It cracks me up every time. Uh, so we've had a few competitions, we got another competition coming up, but we had a few competitions already in the books, and it is amazing to me the behavior of some of these moms. And we were sitting there at one competition. The dancers luckily were backstage, so they didn't see this, but the other moms and I were sitting together, and there were two moms literally screaming at each other about to fight. And I'm like, ladies, this is a dance competition. What are you doing? I just were Olympic judges in the Oh, yeah. Well, it was me. I was like getting my phone ready to take a video because I was like, I was flabbergasted. This is even happening. I've I mean, listen, we've been in competitive dance for four years now, and I have not seen anything like this. This was been a new one, but uh it was it took it to a whole nother level.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Oh man, I feel like that episode is gonna have so many good stories. We are gonna be having an episode about dance moms. We're gonna talk about daddy ball, we're gonna talk about kids' sports in general. They've gotten completely insane. They're so competitive at such a young age. The parents are highly involved. We're all just reliving our youth through our kids, or or what you didn't have in your youth that you wish you did. Um, but it's it's really intense. So we will definitely have an entire episode dedicated to those fun stories. We're gonna bring in some special guests, some coaches and leaders that can tell.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Yeah, I think that's what I'm looking forward to the most is like having experts and or uh other people that'll that are friends or clients or what have you come and join us and be part of this, as there's so many things to talk about. And uh, you know, like from the health, beauty, wellness perspective, you know, the the kids, all the things. So I think it'll be good to have these special guests kind of tell us more and maybe either solidify our thinking or help us in changing our uh our routines.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Yeah, I'm excited to use this podcast as an excuse to have access to people that like it would be weird to just randomly call up a plastic surgeon and be like, what is the age where you pee should get a facelift for? But if I can hide behind the scheme of the podcast and bring in a really great facial plastic surgeon to talk about the realities of a facelift, what I mean, I have heard more than once recently that the best age to get a facelift is the mid-40s because of your propensity to heal the remaining laxity in your skin, that that's gonna be your most like um advantageous, like natural-looking facelift. That's insane to me. It's insane to me. I mean, we're there. I'm not ready for a facelift. I don't need a face.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

I can't even imagine doing that right now.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Well, what would happen when you're 70 if you did it at 45? Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

You have to have another one.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

But I do, I want to, I want to know about it. I want to know about the upper, the lower, the deep plate. I want to know what these words mean. I want to know what the reality of it is, the healing time. And I want to talk to the alternatives. What about uh Botox and lasers and sculptra? And what what are the less invasive things that we can be doing to just look great forever?

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Because that's the I think the the looking great forever. I also would like to dive into what clothes are appropriate for our age. And I I just I'm having a hard time in the fashion sense. And if I could wear jeans and a blazer every day, I would. Um, but I know that's also not realistic. So just trying to understand from a fashion standpoint what's what what is right. I don't, you know, I would wear a moo moo if y'all let me. I think they're the most comfortable things on earth, but my clan would not have me as a friend if I wore those to a work convention. So I just, you know, what is appropriate? So probably need to have a stylist come in and tell me. Yeah, I need this.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

I have uh very specific fashion rules uh that I still think are fundamental to follow because we're not giving up. Like I said, we are we're not giving up. Um I do not think moo moos are in the cards. I think it you should still strive to look as professionally adorable and attractive as you can. I think that's important. And I don't think women over 40, I know this is a hot take and you're gonna crucify me. I don't think that women over 40 should be wearing tetashoes to a work conference.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

I know. I every time I go to put them in my suitcase, I think about you because I know you've said that to me a number of times. And so I haven't done it fully. I've done it for like events, like golf tournaments and things like that. Uh, but I haven't done it for a work conference yet. So stay tuned. We have a work conference coming up that uh we're gonna have to plan our wardrobes for. And you never know. I might, this might be the first time I bust out tennis shoes.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

So yeah, and it's a big one. It's uh for anybody not in the real estate world, it's a conference in Vegas where I feel like a lot of conferences are based these days. Um, but this is the largest global conference. Uh there'll be usually between 25,000 to 30,000 attendees. Used to be pre-COVID was probably 45,000, but um, it's a big conference. It's all of our biggest existing or hopeful clients uh that we will be seeing and having meetings with, and it's everything that conferences are. So it is coffee to back to back to back-to-back meetings at a conference floor to a happy hour, a long four-hour dinner that you know I hate, and then a party afterwards. So you need a lot of costume changes. It's Vegas, so you have to bring the Vegas extra. Um, I feel like our planning routine used to look a lot different. Like it used to be like, hey, let's go to Wet Seal or Charlotte Roos and how many different, you know, $20 t-shirts we could possibly bring. And now it's a little bit more about like, well, you know, how can we hydrate before we get there?

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yes. Or how do I fit everything into a carry-on? Because I hate checking my bag. Um, I mean, this time I'm definitely not checking a bag because I'm only gone for two days. But oh man, it's it's all it is, it is all the things, and prepping for it is a lot. So I've already started prep. I um I wouldn't be ready to prep. I went and had Botox done already so that it kind of settles before I go. And then my hair appointment is scheduled for next week, and then I'll kind of go from there.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

Um, I'm going through a little phase right now where I'm feeling anti-Botox for me personally. Sure. Um, I just feel like I've been doing a lot of microneeling and I'm kind of liking it. So, you know, there may be an emergency appointment in the next week or two. We'll see. I'm almost out of time, but um that's so I'm not doing that. Uh, but I am uh planning outfits, I am planning shoes. I do feel like I need some new shoes to get through the cars. So I need to get them now to get them broken in. My team has set this is one time, like I think I've set two meetings. Like my team is setting all the meetings for me, and I'm just going to their meetings, which A should be freeing, right? Like that should be my role within the company, but it is also like that control freak type A feels like I'm not really contributing to the team. But um, I remember to book a hotel and a flight, and the I registered for the conference, which happened every night.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

I've been to many conferences where I've showed up and they're like, we don't have your name.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

And I'm like, Oh, that happens to be in garlic. Yeah, and it's an expensive lesson. $800. It's an expensive lesson. Yes. Have you ever shown up to a city and realized you did not actually book your hotel or your car?

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Um, no, I haven't done that, but I did take a flight to a city and forget my suitcase in the car.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

That's so I was going on a three-day trip, I was going on a three-day trip. I was taking a six aim flight, which is never fun. I I don't know why I do this anymore, I do that anymore. And uh yeah, left my suitcase in the car and ended up having a landed. It was actually in Charlotte. So luckily, there's a lot of places to go. And uh, I was able to pick up a few outfits and some cheap makeup to get me through, and on we went. Carried it in my bag that I bought from the store.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

I mean, it was it was I I definitely want to hear more about that story, and I'll bet nobody that you met with was any the wiser. No, no one, no one cared one bit.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

I, of course, cared, and I'm like, how did I do this? Like, it was just one of those moments where it was like, I had to reevaluate my life at that point. I was like, okay, it might have too much going on because, like, how do you go to the airport and get on an airplane without a suitcase? Like, that is next level. You're losing it. I was like, I'm losing it, or I'm just that dumb. And I was like, I'm not dumb. I just I think too much is double doses of creatine.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

That'll solve every problem right now. That's the buzzword double doses of creatine. Um, okay, we will definitely have an episode about longevity, about biohagging, about supplements. I want to know all of that. I plan to live forever, uh, being youthful and the Amazing and able to move. So we will definitely have episodes about that. I just one last thing before we get to our weekly spiral. I did I ran a 5K yesterday. Um, which wow, thank you. Yes, I used to be a runner-ish, like yes, you did.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

And one day she convinced me to go do a half marathon and train for it. And we trained. I thought I was gonna die, and then we never did the half marathon together.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

We did it that's not, I am now of the mindset I'm not going to agree to it because I'm not gonna run a half marathon.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

But it takes a lot of time to train for a half marathon. It takes a lot of time, and I don't have that kind of time anymore. And you know what? I don't think my body loves distance running. But in any case, this was just a fundraiser 5k for my alma mater. And I was bringing my middle guy, was coming with me. He's a soccer player, so he can knock out you know, three miles. Yeah, no problem. Um, it was and he he kind of wants to go to this college where he thinks he does when he grows up. So it was like a behind the scenes, you know, through the campus kind of thing. So we did that last night, it was a Thursday night, and um I will tell you going running a 5k without a lot of training with college kids will really tell you exactly where you fit in society these days. I mean, it'll humble you and put you right in your place at a heartbreak.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

So I literally am just cringing to myself. Like I probably would have started walking and just said, I don't even care.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

Yeah, take it a detour.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Yeah, I'm out. I'm out. I made it across the starting line. That's what she got from me today.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

Yeah, well, and or I I paid the money for the bib. Yes, exactly. Um, okay, so we want to end every episode with what we're calling the weekly spiral and it's sort of just an event session of whatever bothered us that week. We didn't talk about this in advance, but are we each gonna come up with our own? Are we gonna alternate? I definitely I have what I have many, but I had definitely one I wanted to talk about today.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

But go ahead, because then I'll I can add my two cents if I if if anything I feel on it on the topic.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Okay, here's where I'm at. This is what I want to vent about. The we are in a society where people are automatically just sending meeting invites, like they're checking their availability, their calendar, and then they're just putting the meeting on my books. No ma'am. No ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 46:28

I legit am guilty of this, and I laugh because I did it today. And I'm like, I'll just take if they don't, if they can't do it, they'll tell me. I just like I just have to get this out of my inbox. So I do do, I don't make a habit of it, I can promise you that. But for some, I'm just like, eh, my whole day's wide open. I'm gonna send them the time that works best. And I'll do it.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

I am like offended. I'm offended that you didn't even care to check. And I have this amazing employee. She's um, I mean, she is a superstar rainmaker. I love her. But she has a habit, she will look at my calendar because we share, you know, outlook, and then she'll book like a meeting every time, like bookending every existing meeting I have. Yeah, and I can't do it. Like, I need to digest what the meeting I just had, take the action steps, because if it gets off the plate, it's off the plate.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

It's for that. I will tell you what I started doing is I started putting in there block time. Like it says NP out. So everybody knows, like, just do not schedule something, do not call, do not write. Like, I am in the middle, like, so even if it's 15 minutes, I just put block time.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Um before and after every meeting, like you just everyone's where I where I feel like really do it.

SPEAKER_00 47:44

Yep. So, like after my um after our pitch this morning, I put in 30 minutes of kind of like I needed to download off of that, I needed to prepare for this, I need it. Like, I needed 30 minutes to myself, so it says block time. So and then I did the same for later this afternoon, so that um if I decide I need to leave early, I can leave early. If I need to finish up for the week and have quiet time, like I like to end the week sort of with a lot of things out of my inbox. So it allows for me to have that time to myself. And now everybody's used to seeing it on there and they know not to book anything.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

I it drives me crazy. I am offended by the automatic meeting. My schedule is very full, my time is very precious. You need to tell me what you want to talk about, and I'll decide if it's worthy, where it ranks, and what I need the time to get ready for. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Yeah, I mean, I do think it's very weird to just throw time on someone's calendar. Usually, if I'm doing it, they know why, right? Like there's been an exchange about why we need to talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

But you know there's gonna be a meeting. Like, okay, maybe I could maybe if I'd already talked to somebody and they're like, hey, can we find 30 minutes to talk about blah, blah, blah? And then they send me a 30-minute invite for a time in the future. Okay, I'll allow it. But other people, especially like as we're getting ready for this big conference, I have like people I've never talked to in my life that want to meet with me at the show, and they're just sending the meeting that I'll no.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

That's completely wrong.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Deny.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Yeah, no, I'm the same way. And then there's some that I think I know, and I'm like, oh, I'll take that meeting. And then I realize that shit. Shouldn't have done that.

SPEAKER_01 49:17

So I didn't even have a cancel, but um, speaking of which, I was invited this morning to a paddle tournament media, I I don't know what you want to call it, a paddle game with other developers and reeks and owners by a member of your team, actually. Um and I it sounds like a ton of fun, but I don't I've never played, I've never even watched paddle. I I know how to play pickleball, I know how to play tennis. Do those skills transcend? I don't know. I would guess.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

I haven't done it either. And I'll be honest with you, I'm probably like uh, you know, this is not gonna be a favorable comment for a lot of people, but I don't like pickleball. And so I would I don't know that I'd like paddle either. I I'm a like tennis through and through.

SPEAKER_01 50:09

Okay, I like all of it. I I generally like all of it. I just I need feel like I need to call this person and be like, okay, so do these other people know how to play the game? What is everybody's ranking?

SPEAKER_00 50:22

Like, yes, I would definitely do that to make sure. You don't want to go back to Chat GPT and be like, how do you play paddle?

SPEAKER_02 50:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

So you know, the next few calls we have to cancel because you're gonna be learning how to play paddle.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Yeah, or be injured from paddle, one person paddle. Awesome. All right, well, thank you everybody for tuning in today. We are so excited for the rest of the episodes. They're just gonna get better and better and funnier and more helpful and interesting. We're looking forward to any tips that you might have, anything you want to know more about. Uh, you can find us on social media at Double Booked Official Podcasts. We're all over Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Uh, we're on all the socials. So find us there. And thanks for coming. See ya. See ya.