The Making of Robert the Realist

This week, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing my story—no filters, no shortcuts, just the real journey.

From my upbringing to the moments that shaped my mindset, I dive into what built me into the person I am today. I talk about the challenges, the lessons, and the decisions that led me to becoming a business owner.

This episode isn’t just about success—it’s about growth, resilience, and staying true to who you are when the pressure hits. If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to build something from the ground up, this one’s for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, my people. Robert the Realist back today with my co-host Madison Sharp. Hello, hello. So today we were gonna have part two of Jay. And Jay is not able to make it today, so I told the girls that we could pick on, not pick on, but pick who we could talk about today, me or Gia. And Madison flipped a coin. And Madison knew this probably over an hour ago. And they're both Chat GPT questions to ask me because today we're gonna talk about me. So they get to ask the questions. I get to answer them. I figured being Robert the realist that we might as well get real here and see what uh questions, but they were they were thinking it was funny because they were coming up with goofy questions on chat GPT. I said hit record. So they can hear the calling us out, guys. So they can hit the hear the nails clicking on the phones as they type in Chat GPT to figure out questions to ask me.

SPEAKER_05 1:13

So combine a big brain with Chat GPT, anything's possible.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

That's right. That's right. It's a tool. It is a tool, it is a tool. And you're you're utilizing it correctly. I was using it earlier to try to come up with some type of intro for here. I've got Facebook pulled up on my phone. Um intro for our uh podcast. So, but anytime they think they're ready, they're gonna ask me questions. I don't know, Madison's still typing over there. I'm trying to she doesn't have anything. Gia, what do you think? Okay, okay, Gia, let's get this thing going. Let's see what we got.

SPEAKER_05 1:44

It really pulled through with some of these. Let's go. So the first question is if someone met you today, they'd see a business owner. But who were you before all of that?

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Oh, well, that's it's a you know that whole prophetic thing I was talking about last week. The way you just asked that question is how I was gonna start any answer that I gave you, which was to get me where I'm at today, you have to see where I've gone. So your your question really relates to what I was already thinking. I was gonna say, whatever the answer to this question is, let you know that how I got to where I'm at today, which quote unquote successful, I use the quote unquote because I don't define success in money or anything like that. It's like there's a lot of other things. But um, and your question again was what?

SPEAKER_05 2:39

So, like if anybody met you today, they'd be busy you they'd see a business owner. But who were you before all of that?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Okay, that's right. See, I got myself there, but then I forgot. Before? Wow. Um alcohol.

SPEAKER_05 2:56

I guess to like kind of maybe narrow it down, we could also say um what what kind of got you to that point? What like what made you want to become a rock? What was your yeah, what was your turning point for that?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Well, I think my turning point's when I got married to Mindy and met Tyler. Um but prior to that I'd had, you know, we got all kinds of pasts that I can go through as far as um, you know, DWIs and jail time and drinking and smoking and partying and doing all those things. It's when I met Mindy and then she introduced me to Tyler, and then I don't know, something just kind of clicked, like the fatherhood, the dad thing kind of clicked, you know, and I'm like, this is different, you know. And and Tyler really grew attached to me and kind of took, you know, kind of kind of we eventually I adopted him. Most people don't know that when they look at us that he that he was adopted. Um he made it.

SPEAKER_05 3:58

Hey, you guys look I didn't know. That's something I think my parents were talking about a little bit ago.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah, most people are like, what do you mean? I'm like, he's it's Tyler, it's it's Mindy's and his biological father's. Sometimes we joke about that, you know. We're like, we got your blood. No, you don't have my blood running through you. You don't. That's right. I forgot about, you know. Uh, but I think I'm bad with years, but I think that was um, I met him, I remember he was going into kindergarten. He wanted me to fix his hair. So a little spike hair, like you guys probably saw me Sunday. It's with no hat. That's the only way I do my hair, a little spike in the front. So I spiked his hair, a little little, you know, a little front spike thing going on. Um, but that and I won't say that that like fixed everything, and that was a turning point. And I quit drinking and I quit smoking and I quit partying and doing those things, but it did like automatically help me grow up. Um, and it took a lot of other failures and a lot of other issues and a lot of other bad things, you know, to really get to where I'm at today because I I don't know a business owner today or entrepreneur today that says I wanted to grow up and be a business owner, you know, or I wanted to grow up and be an insurance agent. I mean, they crack jokes about being an insurance agent, or I wanted to be a real estate agent, or I wanted to be an agency owner, or anything like that. I wanted to be a mechanic, a diesel mechanic. So I don't really know how those kind of fit together. But it was what it was what my dad did. He was a diesel mechanic, so I wanted to be a diesel mechanic. But I would say that's kind of when the life started turning for the better and started started heading in the right direction. And then a few stumbles and setbacks and you know, failures later, and still no perfection today. But I would say that's probably when the biggest turning point was. So that would make he's 29, he'll be 30 this year, so uh 24 years ago, and I'm 47. So around 23, 24, started making that turn.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

It was a big turn. I mean, it's not like quick, like you know, next day I was thank you, Jesus, and I stopped smoking and drinking or anything. Took several tries later, but that was a big turning point.

SPEAKER_05 6:16

Hey, that's how it happens, though. It is well, how like your high school years, you know, back in the day, what did that all look like?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I was not popular. Um I I don't like to use the word bully because that's it's an overused word these days, but you know, I have my fair share of the overage kids, you know, pushing you in the hallway, punching you in the gut. Um, wasn't super athletic, probably could have been, chose to probably uh junior year chase a girl who was older than me, and that all that led to was drinking and smoking and partying and not playing basketball and not playing, you know, not in track and not doing baseball. Yeah. So I think, you know, when I got to junior or senior, I mean high obviously Higby's pretty small, so I think I there's like 20-ish people that graduated in our class. By the time I graduated, I would say I was, you know, cool. I've got my um quote unquote fingers going here. Cool at that point. Um, it's funny, I'm I'm better friends with all these people now than I was in was in high school. So I don't know. I really I wasn't like a you know, I don't know what you would call uncool or cool. I was just kind of I was in the middle of the street. I was just kinda in the middle, kind of like right now. Just you know, I like I try to do things right, but you kind of stay under the radar a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah, so that's good.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Do you have any questions? It's not giving me any good ones. Okay, okay. I'm trying, I'm trying.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

You've given Madison like an hour and a half now. She can't.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

I'm gonna have a panic attack the whole podcast.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Hey, it's realists, right? It's real stuff, real time, real stuff going on right now. Yeah, it's good. I love it. Yeah, you can add live buffer questions too if you want.

SPEAKER_05 8:09

So I feel like we already kind of touched on this, but like what did your love life look like before you found God?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

47, so uh I think I Yeah, that is wait, when did you find God? I know I was trying to go back when I was well I was baptized in the Higby Baptist Church when I was younger, but I did that because I pastor was talking about that. He goes, I know you you know you all had got baptized when you're younger. I did it because it was cool, right? Everybody want to come up and get baptized, come up to the front, and my friends went, so we all went. Um, and then I think I got baptized at Family Life Fellowship, I want to say 2014 or something like that. But I don't, I it was I don't know, it's probably not the right thing to say, but I still didn't find him.

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

I thought it would be, you know, come out of the water, wash away all your sins, and everything's gonna be, and I'm I'm just being real. It didn't. Um, and that's me, that's my fault. That's not like the people that gets baptized for it.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

He comes to you when he comes to you though. Yeah, yeah. That is true.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, I uh that that I'm not saying that doesn't happen. I'm talking about me and and what I felt. Like I did feel something, and I did feel washed, I do I did feel cleansed, but I still don't and today, let's say when I got baptized, let's just put it like on a percentage, I was probably 60% bought in at that time. And then now I'm 90% bought in. Yeah, I mean it takes time 14 years later, takes time.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

It's crazy too when you can like see the flip from the outside, like after you have came up higher, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, but like the flip of being a baby Christian and you know, well, I'm still am I feel like I still am a baby Christian, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_05 10:02

Like no, me too, me too. Well, I only started doing faith stuff two years ago, so I get it. God is so good.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Gotta so good. He is, he is, he's amazing, and that's you know, one of the reasons why I like to talk about him, and I think this is a good podcast to talk about him too. I mean, kind of both sides, like I said, you know, I didn't get didn't come up out the water going, well, Jesus. You know, I I didn't. I, you know, it took a while. Uh, I think it's a step, right? My the step to me is that outward declaration of look, I'm taking this step to get better.

SPEAKER_06 10:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

And that's what I was doing was hey, fam, look at me. I'm taking this step to get better. I'm not gonna come out of this thing, you know, perfect. Perfect. There's nobody. We only know the one perfect one that walked on this planet, and it's not gonna be us.

SPEAKER_05 10:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

And we're pretty hard on ourselves though when it comes to that stuff. But yeah. But yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:54

That is true. That is true. So, growing up, what did that look like?

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Growing up, um, what I what we would consider today is poor. Um, I had a lot of things like that Madison has spoken about before drugs, alcohol. I'm talking probably the hardest drug back then, cocaine. Like, not me. I've never done, I've never sniffed cocaine, but um seen it, uh, drinking, smoking, had a bicycle, maybe back in my day it was He-Man. I don't know if y'all know anything about He-Man. Yes, yeah, and the power of grace. I know ball. I know ball. Okay, yeah. Um, you know, we had the things that we needed. We didn't starve, but today's worlds, kids wouldn't make it. Like, no shot. So, and abused physically, not you know, sexually or anything. Um, physically, well, today's world definitely would be physically abused. Back then it was just a good old butt whooping, right? And like maybe sometimes getting them a little harder than they should or didn't need it at the time. I wouldn't cry wolf about it. Like I'm all messed up because of my past because I got my butt whooped and seeing alcohol and drugs. And you know, people can play that victim card. I'm I don't do that, right? I know people that do, and that's okay. It's their prerogative. But yeah, I'd say poor, but we had the things we needed, and I wouldn't change one thing about any of it. You know, my dad left when I don't know, I'm gonna say six, seven, and everybody's like seven.

SPEAKER_03 12:32

And I love how he did it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Well, it's like you'll automatically think when you say any numbers you think anymore, it's like 60 or 70 or 6 or 7. But that it was on or around that time. Um I that's why I started that AI kind of book, chronological order of my life, as I remembered things. So because I forget, yeah, and so I wanted to like remember them there for like a solid month and a half, I was going through it. But um, yeah, so that happened, and then you know, from there it got a little rough, you know. Uh from age 18 on, I lived pretty much on my own, and this is not a knock at anybody else, but I've never rented a house in my entire life.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

You lucky duck. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

18. The first house I bought uh was in Higby, and it was a house in two lots, and it was $7,500.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

That's nice. That would be nice. Literally, that would be nice.

SPEAKER_05 13:29

I still live at home with my parents. I know it was a lot of it. Like it was technically technically, I've never rented Madison either.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

You're not Madison, I'm not that old.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

You're not that old, but I mean that's a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Like it was it was a it was a two-bedroom, one bath. Yeah, you're like I know that was a lot of like 75. Equivalent to 75,000 45 years later. No, Madison. I look across the street, and those houses were nice compared to the houses that I were that I yeah, it was worth about $5,000. It was incredible.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Hold on, Madison.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

You're making it sound like you know, equivalent to these days is like $75,000.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Back in my day.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Back in my day, $7,500 got you a house and two lobby.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

I'm saying, I didn't mean to look really funny. But yeah, so that and that's not like a knock and rent. I don't I don't care if people rent or buy or whatever they want to do. It was just kind of one of those things that and I didn't mean to not do it. We got that house and then tore that house down and moved in a double wide trailer. Hey, and that double wide trailer is still there today after I got foreclosed on. Um yeah, after the divorce. I got foreclosed on the on the house and they repo'd the car and I filed bankruptcy and and here we are.

SPEAKER_05 14:51

Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:52

I like it. I like it. So so um, do you think that your dad leaving and all that sort of had a direct effect on you drinking alcohol and like wanting to go out and be wild and crazy?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yeah, it has it's it it's kind of a two-sided coin. Like one, um, I think that's why I did what I did. I followed in the footsteps. Um, I followed in the footsteps of what the Huffman name at that time kind of did.

SPEAKER_04 15:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Right. So like me and my cousin would do the same things as our fathers, which was drink and then fight each other later and then drink after that, if you're you know a little bit more. So that was kind of I think when you grow up with them, you just it's a custom, it's a way out.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

That's the generational uh curses coming up. It is.

SPEAKER_05 15:41

I mean it's the nurture part of it. It is, it really is.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

But what it but what it did is when you know you talked about the beginning, the you know what kind of had me split off from that was Tyler. You know, the option at that point, I think, in my life was to keep going and die or be in prison or or just you know be nobody. And I hate to say it because my dad's dead. His brother is dead, you know. My my cousins, a couple of them have done really, really great for themselves, but they went through it. It took them longer to come out of it. Yeah, you know, a couple of them I'm super proud of. So if they're listening to this, you know, I'm talking to you, you know, one's kind of going still in and out of prison a little bit. So we were just kind of following what we knew.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

And and uh uh yeah, so I mean and then the and then the flip side is where I'm at now, and both of my boys I don't smoke. Both of my boys, I don't, I mean, I know one of them doesn't drink at all, and one of them maybe. Yeah, so it's like the the drinking and the drinking. A couple for social, right? Right, and they're so they're social purposes. They're not it's not part of their partying, never been parties, nothing, none of that.

SPEAKER_06 16:57

So good.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

So it's kind of that's the flip side of the coin. It's like, all right, so I can change this generational curse.

SPEAKER_06 17:02

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

I don't want them to have to go to jail and get you know DWIs and do all those things, have to learn the hard right, right. So, so that's the flip side of the coin. Like, yeah, I've been there, I've done that, but I think I'm trying to reverse that generational curse.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

That's so good. That's so good. Yeah, so good. Um, let me see.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Man, Madison ain't got nothing over there.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

I know. What's the hardest thing? What was the hardest thing for you to surrender? Gosh.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Sweating, I just got done working out. Hardest thing to surrender. Man, now you got me stuck. There's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

It can be more than one.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah. I'm still surrendering.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Amen. That's kind of the answer I was expecting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

I've given up a lot of things that you know. I think I don't remember we were talking about a few minutes ago. I think I don't remember what Madison you were talking about, but the change of you know, being a baby Christian, as you called it, to, you know, us being grown Christians now. Friendships.

SPEAKER_06 18:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

You know, surrendering surrendering friendships. Like I have friends that I made some absolute amazing, amazing, and I still love the memories and I still love them till today, but it involved drinking. It involved partying. It involved all the things that today I just I just don't have it. I don't I've done it enough to know that from the first sip of the beer to if I and my biggest problem is I don't have a I don't have a turn-off valve. I don't turn it off, I just go. But I know how I'm going to feel. Like I feel I'm grown up enough to know I feel different, just like golfing. I don't like drinking when I play golf because I don't play the same golf. It's weird to say, but that's what it does to me, to my mentality. And then I know what I'm gonna feel like the next day. So if I have an opportunity, you know, to go to a friend's house or go to a party, and I don't, I wake up them the next morning, I'm like, thank you, Jesus, man. I feel good. Hey, right. I feel good, thank you. I might not have slept good, but I'm not hung over.

SPEAKER_06 19:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

So probably, and I don't want to say the friendships because they're still my friends, but I don't hang around the same people as I did when all the alcohol was involved.

SPEAKER_05 19:25

Yeah, I mean, peer pressure is very real, whether it's intentional or not. So, like having those people in your life from a distance sometimes isn't a bad thing.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Right.

SPEAKER_05 19:36

I've got a couple friends like that too.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

And I'll I mean that's just life experience, if I can tell anybody. Like, I don't I still see them, I still talk to them, I still I love them. They're just the same. They're still drinking and having fun. It's fine. I don't care, I don't judge. It's not my place to judge anybody.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

It's just a different lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yeah, it's just a different lifestyle, and that's okay. I don't, I'm not any better or any worse, and they're not any better or any worse. It's what you choose to do.

SPEAKER_05 19:57

So just different stages of life, different exactly that yeah, different stages. Different stages of life is literally we all go, we all go through it. It just takes a lot longer to get out of it.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

I just say I get tired of being sick and tired, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:11

Yeah, and that's what it involves when you're doing that. So success is obviously not not defined by money. Um, I never, in my opinion, is not defined by money or anything like that. But like, how has success overall changed you as a person? Whether that's success in your family life, in your family dynamic, in your finances, whatever it may be, how has that changed you?

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Um I I think personally, it can make you a bad person. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:44

100%.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Um, which I I do think there was times where that probably happened with me. I'm not gonna say that, but because I follow that up with saying it's made my life better. Yeah. Um I'm able to provide uh for myself, my family, you know, my boys work for me, um, and doing you know a great job, and they're able to be successful and get the things that they need from you know being successful, um, able to help others because my ultimate goal, which I don't know any other way to say it, that was me running into my uh yeah, any other way to say it than I want to give money away.

SPEAKER_06 21:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Like I want to be able to get to a point in my life where I can help people, not yeah, you know, a hundred bucks here or whatever it is. I really want to and I've already started, but you know, um, but that's what right now success has done for me.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

Yeah, that's so good.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Is and and and to employ people and to have a good place to work at and a fun culture and that's a blessing. It is and not to be you know, not to be biased or anything corporate. You know, corporate America and I I did corporate America and I was very good in corporate America. I just it just it's not me, you know. So be able to, you know, bring some people along with me on the success train is fun too. But so right now it's good. Right now it's good, it's tough.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

Like Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

I don't doubt that at all. It is tough. It's a it's a dog eat dog world out here. I mean, it's especially when you get to that. You're I'm not a super small business, I'm not a large corporation, I'm kinda in the middle. So there's, you know, in on this planet is built for this the super small and the extra large corporations. Kind of in the when you're stuck in the middle, you know, even like the tax breaks, et cetera, it's just it's there's there's not much for you. And I hate to say that. I know there's a bunch of small business owners that it's in my, you know, I know a couple of them, they're like, Yeah, I know what you're talking about. That's stupid. Like if you're not a big corporation or super small business and you're kind of in the middle, yeah, it's it's it's tough. But I shoulder it. It's fine. I shoulder it, it's fine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

Yeah, um, let me see what else I got. Let me see what else Chad GPT has got.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

What's Chad GPT got for you, Madison? What's good?

SPEAKER_03 23:17

Um what's the biggest difference in how you feel today compared to back then?

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Oh ten times better.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah, 10 times just anything from I'm I'm sweating right now from doing my second workout of the day, which is you know, just a lifestyle for me.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

I need to get on that.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

It is, it's just a lifestyle. Now, I did I did have to go into the kitchen earlier and did have to try the carrot cake that Christine made us carrot cake. And she was she made homemade zebra cakes. I didn't eat one of them.

SPEAKER_05 23:49

She made homemade zebra cakes. I have a little bit left. You can have some. It is literally so good, Madison. You do not understand. Sounds so good.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yeah, my wife was baking banana bread when I left this morning. Um Mindy, I need some of the things. I don't even know. I don't even remember what the conversation. What were you even talking about now? You got me talking about food. We were talking about how I feel different. Yeah, what's your favorite food? Uh yes. Yes. All but olives and coconuts. No, you're asking me how how how I feel. I 10 times better. You know, working out a lot doesn't like 100% make you feel better. I'm telling you, my regiment in the morning is what most people can't handle. Um, and if I didn't do that regiment, I'd probably be super You go jump in an icy lake or something, don't you? I get in a 120-plus sauna and then I get in a 50-degree cold plunge right after that. Oh my goodness. After I stretch, after I do my work. It's for sure awake. It's a regimen.

unknown 24:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:42

It's for sure awake. Oh, yeah. I get that sauna and go to sleep. Seven days.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Seven days a week. Seven days a week.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

That's insane.

SPEAKER_03 24:50

We got we gotta sweat though. We really do. You like you have to sweat to get all the like toxins and it's not even hot enough now.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

So now my sauna, I've got it's it's a portable one. I got it turned all the way up, and I have a sweat shirt. Not a sweatshirt, like well, I do, but I have a shirt that's made of the material that makes you sweat. And I wear that as a shirt. I wear a hoodie, I wear shorts, socks, and my hoodie's up, and I'm in the sauna with all that on. Just chilling. I'm actually sometimes I'm like dozing off.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Yeah, see, I would be, I would go right back to sleep. Dude, literally.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

But then I get on the cold plunge, and you wake right up, and then I gotta take like 10 deep breaths.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

I'd have a heart attack.

unknown 25:28

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

I've got it. A lot of people do colder than 50, but it is at the point now where I know it's gotta make it.

SPEAKER_05 25:35

I've seen this girl on my TikTok not that long ago that literally she lives up in uh in Alaska or something and has like a tub outside, and she has to break the ice every morning and doesn't plunge in it. And I'm like, oh my gosh. Yeah, I can't feel my toes watching this video.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Well the problem is that's the problem is that's that your extremities, your hands and your feet. I keep my hands out now because it really hurts my hands and plus my timers on my watch, but my feet sometimes hurt because it like Yeah, I bet I think it's extract, I don't know, something with your blood muscle.

SPEAKER_05 26:05

It like tenses up to where it's trying to get that blood pumping, but it's not a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Sometimes I have to flip the old feet out because they start revealing, yeah. So that's I so I work out now. I didn't start working out till I was you know 30s. And it does it does make a difference.

SPEAKER_05 26:23

I gotta start. I need to go back. I used to all the time, and then I got busy with life. I had three jobs at one point in time, and then I was like, uh, I'm gonna try to go to project on the back burner for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

I got a I mean, I got a gym here, so yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:38

Okay, well, I guess I'm coming here. Yeah, yeah. You're already gonna use this as an acoustic room for you.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

You can play some music, get you the workout on.

SPEAKER_05 26:47

For real.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

There's a treadmill.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

Yeah, do it. Ease. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Oh, we just got some people working out now. That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Yeah, you got a gym, you got a music room. Yeah, you got a music. You got a yeah, a studio. That's what we need in here, is a studio.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

We got a lot of big things happening. We got some stuff going. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

If you could tell someone one thing about God's love, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Um to accept it.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

There we go. Because we fight it. I mean, some like I remember, yeah, fighting it. Like, why, God, why? And it's not why he love me. Well, I think I understand.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Yeah, and I think that's the biggest thing is the people who don't, because they think that if they do, and he loves me, that everything's gonna be perfect. That's what I think too. And everything's gonna work out, and nobody's gonna die, and nobody's gonna get sick, and nobody's gonna get hurt, and nobody's gonna lose money, and everything's gonna be happy and merry, and I'm gonna wake up every day, and everything's gonna be, you know, sunshine.

SPEAKER_03 27:45

It took me a minute after I started coming to church all the time to get out of that mindset. Like, it took me a minute to be like, I gotta serve, and I don't feel like I should go serve right now because it's just so hard to remind yourself that we live in a broken world. That's what you need. Like, because we live in such a broken world. And that's not God's fault. No, it's not, and I think people think it it is. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

There's no more godly person I know than our pastor, and he told you the story that he had to go through.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

Yeah, he broke me with the page indent in his yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

He broke me when he flipped the picture up because I'm in that picture and I didn't know he was showing that picture. Yeah, that picture was like, I don't think I saw it. I left to go get the military men. The militant men, that was my small group that we went up and prayed over Pastor Vic.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Yeah, because then when he I didn't know he was breaking that thing out, and then I had the guys come up to me, and like, you know, one of my one of the guys that was there, his wife came up and to me Sunday and said, Thank you for taking him with you and letting him be a part of that. I'm like, we were gonna pray in the parking lot. Yeah, this was this was not fully. And then Paige is like, you should come up into you know, into the uh waiting room. And and that you can sure. I got like 10 guys, none of us, I or you know, nobody's good under pressure praying. And then we were like, where are we gonna we're gonna pray here? You know, there's people here. She's like, Yep. So we all held hands and prayed, and people were over there and over there. And then she's like, I think my dad needs this. I'm like, oh my god, what you know what? Yeah, my dad, she said, Do you mind waiting? It could be, you know, an hour, 30 minutes, or two hours. I'm like, guys, y'all wanna wait, see if we can go in and pray with Pastor? They're like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:23

Y'all didn't see this, but his eyes were wide, staring.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yeah, so it was uh, I was like, I was gonna get some coffee, and then Paige took off, and then five minutes later, she came back. She said, Well, they're not supposed to let like two or three people in, but they're gonna let you all in.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

That's cool that they let you guys all in. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Yeah, well, it was crazy. So, because so we all got to go in, and then obviously uh wife and two kids were there with them, and and the nurse closes the door behind us. She's like, Here, let me close the door behind you so y'all can have some privacy. It's like 15 people in his room. And then we all made a circle, and he could he was awake, he just couldn't talk. Yeah, and then uh then we all prayed again. So we're praying in front of him, his wife, his son, his daughter, and nine other dudes.

SPEAKER_05 30:11

Yeah, that's rough. That would be so hard.

SPEAKER_00 30:14

And then you gotta go, you know, everybody wants to say the same stuff, right? Because we all know kind of the same prayers, and then you know you had to go all the way around. And you know, Pastor Vic's like, yeah, and the coin, no, literally, yeah, it's a so it, yeah, it was kind of I I won't tell too much, I won't say too much of a story, but it did. I I think I was done praying, I can't even remember who's left to me who all the way around, but Andrew was the last one. He's the one that Pastor Vic talks about, the Air Force buddy, and he did he did amazing. And um, but about second or third person started praying, Trish kind of broke the circle and went into Pastor Vic and like was looking and doing some stuff, and I was like, I'm like, you know, what's going on? What's going on? But yeah, I mean it she actually said that it was at that moment while we were praying. I can't remember, I think it was his oxygen level had improved while we were there praying.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

So that's so it was crazy. I love them so much. Uh on her birthday, she wanted to go to the hospital or whatever and pray with people, and she didn't know that she was going to the same room that Pastor Vic was going into. And Pastor Vic goes, no, that's good because the room's prayed up. And I never would have thought about you know what I mean. Like so true. That is so true.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

You had to get that room number just in case. Right.

SPEAKER_03 31:24

That's what I'm like giving. Just in case, you know. I don't know, I don't know who was in the hospital, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Man, see, I even forgot what the question was again. Hopefully, I answered your question. I think so.

SPEAKER_05 31:33

I think so. Yeah, that was uh that was a crazy time for the church. Oh, it was and that was that was whenever my uh internship first started. I started my internship there in like late January, and that was like within a couple months of starting. Isn't it crazy? And I was like, am I just supposed to be on airplane, like autopilot mode? Like, what am I doing?

SPEAKER_00 31:54

So that was a crazy time. Yeah, you're talking about God's love, and then I converted over to him and how he what he went through to show that it's not always perfect. Yeah, that we gotta go through hard stuff.

SPEAKER_05 32:04

Oh, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:07

So do you have any more questions or anything like that? I do. Because I think we can just do a closing question. Yeah, unless you have one that you want to know.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

I almost said clothing question. Sorry. Uh white. Closing. White t-shirt.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Make real estate great again. Make real estate great again, t-shirt. Yeah, no hat because I was sweating through it.

SPEAKER_05 32:28

I was so excited to go show my good ending question. Thank you, Chat GBT. Um, if you could go back and tell your younger self one thing, what would you say?

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Man, what a good closing question. Well, I'd have to say, since I am who I am right now, and part of my testimony is that God has always watched over me. Meaning, even when I didn't know, it's why I'm still here today and the person that I am today. Because when I was drinking and driving, he put the highway patrolman there to catch me instead of crashing into somebody killing me, whatever, whatever it was. He put me, I he didn't put me in jail, but here's your hard time. You know, you you you you know, you gotta go through this to know that hey, I ain't doing that again because that was horrible. Um I would it have to be to to find God and like at that time, young. Like I don't know what I probably a statistic we could look up, but what age you should or could be to really understand God and Jesus and what they did. Because I would go back to that age, whatever that age is statistically, and say start thinking about it.

SPEAKER_05 33:49

Start and go just playing that seat.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Yeah, go to church, which I did, and real quick story on that, it's crazy story. Uh, I went to the Higby Baptist church, and I was made to go to church. I did not want to go to church, and I was made to go to Sunday school, I did not want to go to Sunday school. Um, not like I didn't believe, right?

SPEAKER_03 34:07

That's why I didn't invite Stella like all the time. Yeah, like because I don't want to ruin the church experience for it. Sorry, I wasn't trying to.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

No, you're good. No, it's my story is crazy because um I'll just this this lady named, I'll just give her first name, her name's Joanne, and she was uh my Sunday school teacher. And again, this this is a segue off the off the question of you know what I'd go back. I like the segues. I would stay in church, yeah. Um I didn't realize this until about four or five years ago. I sat down with Joanne and her husband and talked about business related stuff that I do. So I'm not using this to plug for that. Um and she said, uh I'm glad we finally, you know, got to sit down and talk again. I said, What do you mean? She goes, and I'm glad to hear you're going back. I've heard you're back in church. I'm like, yeah, yeah, family life, good fellowship, good church, blah, blah, blah. She's like, well, because I thought that since I kicked you out of Sunday school service and you never came back, that was my fault that you never went back to church.

SPEAKER_03 35:11

Oh, can you imagine carrying that? Um, she needed that conversation with you.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

I'm talking like a lot 30, forty, thirty some years that this lady, and I'm still friends with her today, that thought that the reason I didn't go back to church is because of her.

SPEAKER_05 35:34

Poor Joanne. I know, poor Joanne. Poor Joanne.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

I might send this podcast. We love you, Joanne. Yeah, I do too. Just and she is this, but yeah, so that's that was what I mean. I kind of segued off of it because I don't know what age, I don't even remember what age I was then, but if there was an age that uh you could, you know, because the brain's gonna develop at a certain time. Right. And start internalizing it, really understand it. Like, you know, my daughter's 12. I think she gets it. Um, she fears him, she understands, she loves him, but I still don't think that there's such a deep thing.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

It is like it is it is such a deep, deep thing.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Yeah, it is but to go back to that question is that like when I could and should found God, but again, I wouldn't change a thing that's happened.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

You wouldn't have all the experiences to relate to other people. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 36:29

You would have the that is literally my motto. I'm like, I wouldn't change a single thing I'd been through, even if it was hard, because that allows me to relate with people.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:37

So it calluses you, yeah, builds you up, and you need them, you need them, especially in today's day and age.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:44

Like yeah, you definitely feel like we've all been through a reckless stage. Like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah. So that was that was pretty good. Chat GPT derived questions.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

That's right. Yeah, I like it. Not me like, oh, your co-host, Madison, you should uh start getting some answers.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Give you like an hour and a half to learning experience.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

Okay, that's all right.

SPEAKER_05 37:03

I think I think we did great. We killed it.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Yeah, we did good. It's real. I liked it. No, it was good. And and I'm always go tea. That's the one thing about me, though. I mean, I'm always open for questions or thoughts or you know, whatever it is, but be prepared to get whatever it is.

SPEAKER_05 37:18

Yeah, be prepared to hear the answer.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

If you want to be on this podcast, you give us a a a good shout. Yeah, shout. Come on there.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Right, yeah, we'll uh we'll bring you on here and ask you questions and give you our opinion and give your opinion.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Gia sometime. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, we gotta we've got there's so many people out there, we gotta get some people in there. But also, you know who we should get in here?

SPEAKER_03 37:39

Pastor Vic.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Mr. P Vick. I feel like we could. Let me start that conversation. Yeah. Let me start that conversation. Let's see what he says.

SPEAKER_05 37:46

Yeah, and we'll pray about it. I mean, he talked about I mean a good chunk of it on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

So we can well now that he's got some of that out, he'd be probably more willing to send out and talk about it because he still doesn't have it all out.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

Yeah, no, no, and but then there's a lot of people that still need to hear it. So yeah, and he knows during that whole time. He knows that. He knows that.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Actually, I got smaller with him Sunday. I'll I'll bring it up to him Sunday. I like, I like a little person to person cornering. Yeah. All right. Well, that was awesome. I appreciate you girls. Yeah, Madison. Yeah. J Gia. That's right. Yeah. All right, guys. I appreciate you. If you don't mind, go ahead and like, follow, subscribe, wherever this is at. And we look forward to getting Jay back in here for part two. We're all pumped up about it. He had some things he had to get done, which is fine. So he said next Tuesday for sure. So stay for stay look for that podcast. That's all right, guys. I appreciate you so much. All right, Robert the Realist. Out.