Bend Into Balance
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Bend Into Balance
Bend Into Balance: Cornelius Edison, Owner of Lift Fitness Studio
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In this episode of Bend Into Balance, host Adriana Mariño sits down with Cornelius Edison, former NFL player and owner of The Lift Fitness Studio in Bend, Oregon. Cornelius shares his inspiring journey from professional football to building a wellness community grounded in connection, resilience, and heart.
Together, they explore the role of faith, emotional intelligence, and authentic relationships in true wellbeing and how The Lift is reshaping what it means to pursue health in Bend. From overcoming career‑ending injury to fostering a space where every person belongs, Cornelius’ story is a powerful reminder that growth happens one small step at a time.
Find The Lift Fitness Studio at:
📍 514 NW Franklin Ave, Bend, OR 97703
Cornelius, hello. Welcome to Bend into Balance. I am so happy to have you as our first guest as we officially launch this podcast together with the source. This podcast intends to explore the many paths to health and wellness. I'm continually impressed and inspired by the number of people who work, live, play, and thrive in our beautiful band, either as an athlete, a yogi, a doctor, a therapist, a nutritionist, a chiropractor, a health coach, just to name a few. And I hope that this new space gives voice to the variety of experiences that can hopefully serve to be an inspiration to others who are still thriving for that ideal health and wellness.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for having me. Super excited to be here and talk all things health and wellness and Ben Sachorgan.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Cornelius. So tell me, how did you get into your path of health and wellness? When did this start for you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So for me, it started um as a kid playing sports. I think sports has always been my passion of just moving my body and that's always been the outlet for um emotions and just intensity and just, you know, I always found a lot of fun and joy in playing sports. So um yeah, that's how it started, you know, from a little kid playing rec sports to uh competing in high school and eventually, you know, going to college for playing sports, playing football, and then playing in the NFL for four years. So that's kind of my path here to own Lyft Fitness Studio and now help other people with their health and wellness.
SPEAKER_01Growing up, what did football mean to you? Was that always your primary sport?
SPEAKER_00No, I actually loved playing basketball the most. So I loved uh I loved all team sports. Um, basketball, I was naturally good at being a bigger guy. And then my brother and my friends all played football, and they kind of peer pressured me into playing it. So I actually hated it at first. I think I didn't like the contact from going from the basketball court to football field, but then I quickly found my way and I took it as a good challenge to try to overcome.
SPEAKER_01What challenges were you hoping to overcome with the go going into football, professional football?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so going pro, um definitely more mental challenges for sure. I think that, you know, playing high school sports is one thing. Um had the opportunity to play college football at Portland State, and that presented its own challenges of leaving home, you know, being on my own, um, going to class all the time, study hall, all the things, and still trying to excel in my sport. So definitely more pressure. Um, but again, found my way through having good teammates, good coaches, good mentors, and then getting to the NFL, obviously the biggest stage for the sport. There's a lot of pressure now from the media, from front office. Um, the arena just got bigger, so more fans, um, just more eyes on you, more notoriety. So that definitely had a higher level of pressure associated with it. So again, just had to um get back to my foundation, my why, and really understand why I was there and finding that self-confidence, finding that self-belief system. Um, I'm a strong Christian man, so my faith played a huge role in that, you know, um sports journey, and there's really finding myself each and every day and just showing up and giving my all.
SPEAKER_01What role did the faith play for you in your hardships?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so you know, I grew up going to church and having a relationship, a faith-faith relationship, and as I got went through my career, I got hurt. So a week before the NFL draft, I was projected to get drafted, and I ended up tearing my ECL, had a private workout with the Seattle Seahawks. And when I had all things quote unquote on my side, they were all taken away overnight. And so I ended up going undrafted, no one answered my call. Um, I ended up failing my senior, my spring term, my senior year. So I ended up not graduating college at this time, and I ended up moved back home after four years of college and college sports. Thankfully, I was able to turn around, go back to school, um, coach a couple months later, and then finish up the next quarter and then go off to the NFL. But the whole time my faith was tested in just believing, you know, where I was supposed to be at in my in my journey, and everything was happening to me and not against me. And so once I switched that from um, you know, using it for my story for positivity rather than a negative hindrance, it almost gave me ownership over the hardship, and you know, my faith allowed me to have that perspective about that. This is you know, a small blimp in the whole gram scene of life. So, you know, I was able to rest on my faith to um allow me to move me forward. And I still carry that with me, you know, every day. I had to came out those hard days rehabbing and overcoming the pain both mental, mentally, emotionally, and physically, and um being able to have a four-year NFL career after, you know, a devastating injury like that. Um, so my faith definitely brought me through that. It brought me to it and brought me through it. And it allowed me to navigate transition once I decided to leave the NFL. Um, that was not an easy decision, but again, my faith has always been there, even when the seasons have changed.
SPEAKER_01Got it. Before leaving the NFL, what are you most proud of of the time you spent in the NFL playing? I understand you played with the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00I think I think the coolest part for me was bringing everybody along with me. In the sense of, you know, I proved myself that I was capable of playing on the world's biggest stage for the sport, which offered an internal satisfaction, satisfaction. So like I was just so proud of myself for that. But the fact that I could bring my family and friends, and they got to live that experience with me and you know, see from their side the fans, the the fun places I go play, um, be around the team. Um, you know, all the things that just the big lights, you know, well, I wasn't there alone. And I think that, you know, again, having loving team sports, I still have a team around me of good people, of great people, and they were able to walk through that season with me. So I think that, you know, it's had its challenges, but I stayed authentic with the right people around me. So looking back, I just, you know, I joke that we made to the NFL because it took more than myself to get there, and definitely more than myself to stay there when it came to the hard days, the good days. Um, you know, my wife was I got married in the NFL, so my wife was able to support me. My brothers, my sister, my parents, um, friends I've had since fifth grade. My brothers, I consider there, they're with me, and they got to help support me and um nurture me along even when I didn't want to be there and only the hard thing. So definitely the people.
SPEAKER_01That's beautiful. It reminds me of that saying when s somebody asks their companion, what's more important, the journey or the destination? And he says, neither, the company.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dang, that's good. That's good. I feel like, yeah, like I would have said a journey for sure. Um, but it really is a people. Like, you know, I look about coming NFL career, I mean all high school, college, and football. It's who you're doing it with. And you know, some of those guys I can call tomorrow and they give me the shirt off their back, and that has nothing to do with the sport itself, but just that bond experience and memory, and the willingness to love somebody and to sacrifice with somebody and um just that unity that's created through sports or something that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What are your favorite memories from the the years that you were in the NFL? What's your biggest win or yeah?
SPEAKER_00Um I think my biggest one was my my first snap and going out there and ready on the field, and just the memories of that week knowing else when I play. And just the mental game that has to happen. Um I'm the type of person that puts a lot of pressure on myself to do well, and I'd rather take ownership of the pressure rather than like let somebody else dictate that pressure to me. So just the mental preparation, um, the sacrifice I did that week in particular, and just the butterflies and the nerves, like I'll never forget that intensity of an emotion. And so umce I experienced that one time, I know I recreated and control it. So, you know, that was a very a boy-to-man moment in my life of my first NFL snap, and just going out there, it was the slowest run of my life, just going onto the field, and then going on the field in front of thousands of people, and you know, before we were on the field, it was so loud, but going onto the field, all I could hear and feel was my heartbeat, and so it was amazing the noise that slowed down in that time and how quiet it was when the ball snapped and just executing that play and then it was done, and then everything else got loud again. Like time changed, and that's something that I'll I will take with me for the rest of my life, because you can't you can't pay for a moment like that. So that emotional development for sure. It was unlike anything else. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01You really put us in the moment. I can definitely feel like the butterflies you must have been feeling, and just the pure excitement to be alive.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, nervous excitement, the the the thought of like thinking about something in my whole life and then getting to live out that moment, like all the hard work, the many hours, reps, the sacrifice, the hard work, dedication, like all those success, quote unquote words. But those words can define that moment. Yeah. And so that is uh that's a feeling that I've tried to work towards. You know, now as a as a father, husband, business owner, friend, like I want to live my life in a way that I could give that to the people.
SPEAKER_01Let's now that you've brought us to the present moment, Cornelius, tell us how you got to Bend and why and when.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it's uh so my wife was born here. I like to tell people that because that's a kind of unicorn story in itself. Um so fast forward from that first moment, first snap. It is 2019. Um August 2019, I'm in training camp, which ends up being my last training camp, and then I fell, and you know, I just wasn't uh feeling it anymore. I didn't that the intensity of that feeling I described, I no longer had a desire to chase. So I knew that in my career I would have loved I would going to I would love to control the end and not get hurt, whatever it may be, and not be forced out. So yeah, that last training camp, I knew I was going to get cut in in the preseason. And I said that, you know, kind of my faith presented itself. Um, God, if you want me to stay in the NFL, like, and if I get signed in 24 hours or 48 hours, I will continue this journey. I will keep going. And you know, I got cut, 48 hours came out, no teams called, so I went back home and started thinking about what's next. And I didn't want to be a guy that kept chasing the game and kept waiting for a phone call. Again, I wanted to take that extreme ownership over my life and my journey for what I could do. And so yeah, I kind of started thinking about what was next. Um, started mentally transitioning, and two weeks later, my wife and I and other of our best friend couples came down to Ben to visit just to explore because I've never had a this was like mid-September, and from sixth grade until 26 when I retired. Every September has been all about football. Like I've never had any time off in September, so that was just foreign to me. So came down here to visit my wife's hometown, she always told us about, and you know, we had an okay time here. Um, we had a couple of racist experiences, some racing dealt with that. And um, you know, I'm black, my wife is white, another couple with the same thing. And it was definitely very harsh coming here. And I remember we had a hung out for the weekend, driving back home, my wife said, Yeah, we're probably never going to come back to Bed Oregon. And I just had this feeling in my stomach, and I was like, Yeah, we'll see. Like, you know, we'll we'll see. I never said never, but we'll see. And two weeks later, um my wife gets a phone call from her grandmother. Um, it's early Monday morning, 7 a.m. We just worked out. My wife started her first labor job. We're living in Vancouver, Washington at the time. And um my wife's grandmother apparently asked her to she wanted to buy a gym in Bend Oregon. And my wife hangs up. I'm like, what was that about? Wife goes on telling me stories. I'm like, Jim, like, I know I've been in the gym all my life. Like, what's this gym thing? And yeah, so a couple days later, I'm driving back down here to Bend Oregon and met with the owner, and um, yeah, we hit it off, and I call my call my wife from the bathroom, and she's like, I was like, I think this might be a real thing. And she's like, do not sign anything. And so uh yeah, next weekend she came down. Um it got real, we started figuring out contract negotiations, purchase agreement, all that kind of good stuff. And uh yeah, so that was October, and then we moved down here Thanksgiving 2019, and then officially took over the business January 1st, 2020. So I was retired for three months before before we acquired the business. So and then probably the best part of the story. Um so my wife's grandparents um started Mountain View Heating Company, and my wife's and Buffy owns it now, resident now, and she actually had a dream that we bought the gym. She then called the grandmother, then then grandmother called my wife. So faith, all that kind of good stuff comes into play with like you know, us getting here and uh and Lenny and Bendorgan.
SPEAKER_01So awesome. Beautiful story. So tell us about the gym. What is your, you know, what inspired you to want to buy that gym with your wife, and what are your intentions or what have you yeah, so I think going in there for the first time we went there back in October 2019.
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, I walked in there and it felt like a locker room in the sense of like the camaraderie, the communication, um, the family atmosphere. Um 30-something people in a room trying to get better. I think my wife and I were naturally looking to ways to get better and improve our lives daily and trying to inspire other people to become better version of themselves. So just walking into that energy was special. Um, and just how nice everybody was. And you know, I did a workout class, and mind you, I'm fresh off the NFL. I'm thinking I'm in pretty good shape. I work out with this group of people, and I I like to call them chapter three, so age 40 to 60. Oh, they kicked my butt. They kicked my butt. Uh-huh. Um, so again, inspired by their work ethic, and um so yeah, I think just inspired to see so many people wanting to become better, knowing that we had some sport specific expertise from my background of football and my wife's background of college volleyball. Um, we knew that we had something special between us, and so acquiring a business fitness studio was the perfect opportunity to um help implement our background and expert expertise into a formal structure. So um that's kind of the six years later answer.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Back then, we used to wanted to play music and work out and have fun with people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But we kind of grew into the space of like more a little bit more mature, so we understand what we're capable of. So yeah, just helping people, honestly, that's what we're here for. And over, you know, acquired January 1st, COVID hitting 90 days later, being shut down for two months was pretty insane and not anybody's cars. So we definitely learned resiliency and persistence and perseverance um early on in our business team partnership. Um, and so yeah, just just helping people and finding ways to get better, it really inspired us to purchase it and move forward.
SPEAKER_01When you say help people get better, what's your ideal vision of health and wellness? What does it mean to you to be healthy and well and fit?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think that's the beautiful part because it looks different for everybody. I think we can acknowledge that it looks the same for everybody because I'll be doing everybody a disservice because everyone has different experiences, right? And so the simplest way that I can put it is 1% better. And I think about where are you today versus where you want to be at tomorrow? Where are you at today versus how are you operating yesterday? So I think we're in a world of exaggeration. Um, and I think that we're missing the point of finding small ways to win. Some that can be as simple as today I walked 10,000 steps, tomorrow I'm working 11,000 steps. Yesterday I consumed too much sugar, today I'm consuming less, right? Just finding ways to progress yourself and your path on a better purpose. Um, obviously, that takes a little bit of awareness and consciousness to think about to make sure you're asking the right questions. Um, but I think that's where curiosity comes into play. And so I think it just it depends on the person, but at the end of the day, it's like you're hoping to move toward a better version of yourself, um, in health and wellness, nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, rest. The rest is a big one that is hard. Um, quatting the noise around you, um, technology, setting boundaries, um, mental focus, mental performance. Um, I don't love the word mental health, but I like the word mental performance because I think it's something you have to work on to perform better at. And you're not just you're not gonna just show by the doctor healthier, you gotta actually work at it. So I think that mental performance is a huge part, huge part of uh health and wellness. So, you know, just thinking about where am I today and how can I get better tomorrow? Simply put, start there, and then nine times out of ten, that'll put you on a path toward better health and wellness.
SPEAKER_01How does being the co-owner of the lift serve you on your health and wellness path? How have you become a better?
SPEAKER_00That is a very tricky question, honestly. So it's kind of the thing like who's going to teach the teacher, right? Um, I struggle. I'm not gonna lie, like post-sports, um weight loss, um, three young kids at home, um, business, growth, COVID, all those things have challenged my personal health and wellness, um to be completely transparent. And you know, I really had to rewire how my brain worked when it came to performance. From an athlete's perspective, you have an off-season after you are focused and training, and then you have in season performance, which you execute that training, and then you rest. And you train the off season, perform at high level, and rest. Life does not work like that. You have to. It is a marathon, not a sprint compared to the athlete's journey. So once I recognize that. Aspect um probably a couple years after retirement, I was able to configure a system of my life's performance and rest in the way that my systems in my brain. So, all that to be said, I had to make a very, very, very high level conscious effort to uh do it to myself rather than other people. So, personally speaking, I'm in a season where I'm taking a little rest from the gym from training and coaching and teaching because I acknowledge that I need to put some more focus on my body and give it a little bit more TLC because I'm having signs of burnout, so I need to um acknowledge that, call it what it is, and then come up with a game plan to help you know refill my cup so I can then help other people. So um that's just where I'm at, but it's it's uh it's hard. It's not I guess you're gonna say that's easier to be healthy and chase health and wellness, but if you're not choosing it, something else will choose your attention. So that is uh this coming from a former athlete who owns the gym. Like this is nothing that is easy, but it becomes easier when you have a good people, a good group of people, like collectives. Um, so after I rest, I'm leaving on my own space that I've developed and created to help uh restore, refresh, reset me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. And going back to this idea of good company that you just mentioned, that you have people to rely on, and that you know, you're the tribe you've created at the lift. Um, tell me more about this space that you've created. When we spoke for the first time, you mentioned to me you want to be a type of connective tissue in Bend. And I thought that was a beautiful metaphor.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think that you know, I remember moving to Ben and feeling this um interconnectedness amongst the community. I think, you know, in the 2019 was obviously very different than 2026. But this recognition that there was this possibility here that people were connected through living gear, simply put. And COVID separated that silo the people, um, organizations, communities, infrastructure was, and I think that you know, we've seen social isolation and a lot of problems come with that. So having the idea of connective tissue um allows people to come together regardless of belief systems. So I think about when people walk through our doors, it doesn't matter age, um, sex, class, um, income level, um, none of those things matter, right? And they are able to just be themselves, and I think that's the most authentic version of that connective tissue. So that's the kind of goal that I'm trying to create in our space, in our community overall, is that ability just to see people for people. Um I think that now more than ever is important with how much decisive things are with social media, technology, political, economic strain, whatever you want to call it, wherever you choose to focus energy at. I think that we need more ways to simply see people. And so the system that I can do is build my gym that way and create programs that way and um use my time for that. So, you know, I just have this vision of um a more connected, more united region. You know, it starts for me downtown Bend, being on the downtown Bend Business Association, do the small business community, um, which is why I joined the Chamber of Commerce, and then just seeing what I can do to help support. Um, you know, I and I do it selfishly because I want my kids to grow up in a place that's connected and that sees people for people and NAFRA status. So that's just my goal for me personally. And you know, I'm out here just trying to find people who are like-minded, and whether it's fitness or business development or board work, um, these are my platforms that I choose to exercise to help contribute to our community right now.
SPEAKER_01It sounds like the lift is much more than just a gym.
SPEAKER_00Oh, for sure. Yeah, for sure. People, yeah. Yeah, we it starts like obviously it's fitness, it's classes, it's personal training, it's it's open gym, but I guarantee it's nothing like anything else. And that's no disrespect to anybody else's product, but you know, I I poured my heart into this. My wife and poured our heart into this. Our team, they poured their heart into this place, and people show up and they care, and the people have been coming here, have been working out together for 15 plus years, and that's for a reason. Not because my wife and I are cool or our twins are cool, but the fabric of that place is love, and you can't fake that, like that's not something that you can build overnight, and that that trust that runs deep, and and that synergy is just different, and it's unlike any other soon before. And so that's with that in mind, that's why I am challenging myself to see how we can break that outside the walls to reach more people, and to help our community become again more connected and more united because why not like people move here for nature, but they stay for community, and so that's something that has been very apparent, and this hunger and drive to make this a more people focused place to me is helping wellness.
SPEAKER_01That's beautiful. I like this idea that people move here f move here for nature, but they stay for the community.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's definitely I mean it's healing, right? Like I'm I'm a believer that people can heal you. Like sharing stories heals you. Like, you know, my wife and I bought the business at 26 and 24, and we didn't know anything. Like, we're young, wild, and free up to that point. We worked hard, but like when it came to specific business expertise, we haven't developed that muscle yet. So, you know, buying a gym where the average client was 65, 75, that moved down to you know 45, 55 now. Like, there's a lot of knowledge in that. Uh quote unquote chapter three demographic, and you know, the amount of love we got um and expertise, like so. I did mention that in 2020, our twin boys were born. Um, they were born in 29 weeks. So they spent two months in the NICU. And my wife went in for a jack up ultrasound, and she came out and they were like, Yeah, you're not gonna leave this hospital without having these kids. So that led us to staying at St. Charles for a couple weeks and then ultimately getting shipped over to OHSU, where our twins were born at two pounds, 12 ounces, two pounds, two ounces, and spending a month of the NICU over there, a month of the NICU here. And again, this is all during COVID time, so visitors were scarce. Our business finally can open up, but we weren't there. Hannah's younger brother, who had no business, was no business background, was running the gym for us. So it was just we were just stringing along trying to figure it out. And thank God we were able to like get through that time, and again, that was because of the depth of love in our community, and people who know us for six months were holding our business afloat and supporting us and kept showing up. And just that that those feelings like is what charges me up to keep keep going.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You mentioned that you have a new interest to really involve the youth at the lift. Can you tell me about that?
SPEAKER_00For sure. So again, another kind of selfish project is like, you know, I'm 32, but I feel like I'm still 21 in a lot of ways. And I really remember growing up and my high school experience and mentorships and sports and life before technology. And I think about the impact that I had on myself, my friend group, and other like-minded people, and how ultimately easy it was for to find success and find our pathways because we didn't have all the social media and all the noise. Um and so just recognizing from last few years of talking to doctors, parents, teachers, you know, our carrying clientele, of hearing the stories of their kids and what they're navigating for their household's real world problems, it became apparent that technology and phones and iPads are causing huge distraction in our youth, and they are being fed too many messages. And you know, I had my parents, aunts, uncles, family members, close coaches, but my network wasn't that big, and how much of an advantage that is when it's that quiet. So the youth part is just my wife and I try to find ways to help be a positive voice to kids, honestly. Like, not that we know everything, but we 32 and 31, and you know, just start our young family business so we can relate um to what they're going through on a lot of ways besides technology. But just want to have help make the help them understand that you know, where they're at is not where they're going to be in five, ten years. So just trying to paint that picture and you know, I lift we have some sports programs going, trying to develop some rec programs, trying to find um community partners that'll bring that to life. So just trying to find kids who want to be helped in a sense of like, let's go work out, let's go talk sports. You know, I was talking to a kid about um, he's a junior right now, gonna be a senior next year. So the pressures of changing, picking a college, um, you know, again, being a safe space for these kids to help just talk things throughout and not and actually talk about it, not just you know, scroll or beyond chat or AI, whatever it may be. So just being that face-to-face presence, I can show them some love. So that's really the biggest thing when it comes to our youth development.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. And ha having been so athletic in your yourself during your youth, why do you think being in the body is so essential for the growing youth abandon, any other community? Why is it important to get away from screens and get into the gym?
SPEAKER_00And what's emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence and learning how to fail. Two things that are required to find any kind of success. And I say success in a way that's like understanding yourself so you can withstand pressure in bad situations and you can recognize good versus bad, right? Like, I'm not talking about success where I make a lot of money and have all the things, but to me, success is understanding yourself, so knowing how you need to navigate in order to stay healthy, safe, and to lead yourself well. That's success to me. Um, so by being in the gym and being in sports, you're able to communicate to teammates, right? You're able to talk to coaches when you don't disagree, right? There's a safe space to fail on, and I think that you know, I look back in my career, I learned way more when I fail than when I won, right? So, you know, the weight room working out is a great indicator to feel your strengths, your weaknesses. And at the end of the day, we all have weaknesses, and so when we can understand what those are, we learn how to work with them rather than work against them. And to me, that's emotional intelligence because then you'll understand where you need to be at, where you should stay away from, where you can lead yourself to and not from. So emotional awareness and um just failing, honestly. Like those some of the best lessons you can learn as early as possible. Definitely. So the early you learn that, the better you'll be off in my mind. So that's where I selfishly lead from.
SPEAKER_01Um, where can we find you? Where is the lift? What kind of programs are you offering right now? Where can the audience find the lift?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so lift is downtown Bend, Oregon, uh, 514 Northwest Franklin. We have a very small uh window front, and every time somebody walks in, they say the same thing. Wow, this place is so much bigger than the street. So it's a very deep building. Um, we have our own parking lot that's worth a lot of praise being downtown, so you don't have to worry about parking um street or whatever. But if you do come downtown, there is a big parking garage to help support parking. But yeah, we have our own parking lot. Um we have a great staff, um, people that have weathered many storms with us. And, you know, at the gym, you'll find something for everybody from balance classes to lower body strength classes to upper body strength classes to cardio classes. Um my favorite class is called Guns and Buns, because of full body workout, strength training, fill the right muscles, um, core classes. We have a very diverse team with a lot of great experience, a lot of former athletes, people who still compete athletically now in different competitions. Um and we're just there to have a good time. We're not there to judge or intimidate, but we're every single trader we have will meet you exactly where you're at and help you navigate to where you want to go. And we're there for the long run, not just for one day, one class, one week. We're we're committed um to those who choose the journey. So that's we're downtown, great spot. We love going to get coffee afterwards, going to get breakfast. We love just walking around downtown. Um, we think downtown is a very special place, and we invite everybody who is against coming downtown to come downtown to see and to see the community down there.
SPEAKER_01Wonderful. Bend is very lucky to have you, Cornelius. Thank you for being part of this podcast, and thank you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I appreciate it. This has been great. This is uh we need more healthy conversations, so I think that's how change happens, and that's how that connected tissue becomes deeper is as if we talk and sharing stories and getting to know our neighbors, not just seeing them on Instagram, Facebook, all the things.
SPEAKER_01Definitely, yeah. Well, thank you so much. I'm so grateful for your time.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
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