Latest / Real STRength with Sarah Draper / Creating Daily Encouragement with Cindy Waddle and Willie Merrell | #22

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Creating Daily Encouragement with Cindy Waddle and Willie Merrell | #22 · Real STRength with Sarah Draper

• speaker-0: Their business started with grief, connection, and three hundred and sixty-five handwritten cards. speaker-1: Words matter, encouragement matters, kindness matters. We talk to ourselves more than we talk to anybody on this earth. But we're not very kind to ourselves. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: We help provide the words when you can't find them. Connectivity is lost and we need to bring it back. speaker-0: Welcome to the Future Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Drapert. Each week on the podcast, I explore tools to help you lead your best now and into the future, and I talk with top leaders to see how they stay focused when life gets cluttered. It's time to stop reacting to your life and start leading it. Welcome to Future Walk. Welcome to the Future Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Draper, and I'm so glad you're here. Today I'm joined by Cindy Waddell and Carl Morel of Desire to Inspire, an inspirational card company that's changing how we think about encouragement. Cindy spent 40 years in human resources before making a leap into entrepreneurship, and Carl had a career in the Army before he moved into entrepreneurship as well. Their business started with grief. connection and 365 handwritten cards and I'm gonna ask them to tell you about the rest of that story. It's beautiful. This start revealed their mission, which is to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. And from that, desire to inspire was born. So today they offer card sets of 28 different topics, everything from healing and hope to military support and mental wellness. And unlike traditional greeting cards that deliver a one-time message, they have these sets that provide 30, 60, 90, or 365 days of daily encouragement. And the recipients say, These messages feel like they were written just for me. So, Cindy and Carl, welcome to the podcast. speaker-1: Thank you, Sarah. We're so happy to be here. speaker-0: ⁓ I'm so thrilled to have you here. So I would just love to dive in and hear your origin story, how Desire to Inspire was formed, was born really. speaker-1: Sure. So as a hospice volunteer, I was invited into some of the most intimate moments of people's lives. I sat beside patients and listened to stories they wanted to be remembered. I read aloud when they no longer had the strength to hold the book. I listened to their favorite music. I laughed with them. I ⁓ helped them preserve the memories they wanted to share with their family. I gave exhausted caregivers a break so they could run errands or simply catch their breath. And sometimes I just sat quietly beside someone during their final hours. Really, Sarah, those experiences taught me something profound. At the end of life, people rarely talk about titles, their promotions, or their possessions. They talk about relationships and they talk about the love they had for the people that will be left behind. ⁓ my very first patient was somebody I'll never forget. When I walked into the hospital room for the very first time, what I saw was a beautiful, spirited, middle-aged woman who was fighting for life. I introduced myself, I sat down, and we began to talk about her story of her health. It was really quite sad. She had been misdiagnosed, and ⁓ I think something that could have saved her life, really took her life. ⁓ but anyway, she had voluntarily served in the military for over 20 years. She had a loving husband, beautiful daughters who were 19 and 21. And as I sat beside her and listened to her, I couldn't stop thinking about the daughters. ⁓ I lost my own mother when I was in my twenties. So I knew what those girls would be going through the ache, the loneliness ⁓ the moments that they simply would need their mom when their mom wasn't there. So I looked at the two young women. I wasn't seeing strangers, I was seeing myself. I knew the heartbreak that was waiting for them. I wanted to know what I could do for them. How could I help somebody that was about to lose their mother? That question followed me home. After work, I sat at my kitchen table and began writing. I wrote three hundred and sixty-five. Cards worth of wisdom and inspiration for each daughter. And I made the cards different so they could compare. I wrote down their traditions, their loves, what the patient loved, what they did as a family, all the things that I could their birthdays, their anniversaries, anything I could glean from them. And I gave them a year's worth of encouragement, a year's worth of wisdom. And a year worth of say of their mother saying, I'm still with you. When their mother passed, I presented the cards at the daughter's funeral. And honestly, Sarah, I had no idea what impact that would have. A few weeks later, their grandmother called me and I can still hear the emotion in her voice. She said, Cindy, I want to let you know that you changed our lives. She's I sat there holding the phone with tears streaming down my face. speaker-0: Mm. ⁓ speaker-1: Because in that moment something became crystal clear to me. Words matter, encouragement matters, kindness matters. The simple act of telling someone they're loved, appreciated, valued, or not alone can change a moment, it can change a day, or it can even change a life. And that's how desire to inspire was born. speaker-0: Wow, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, words, words absolutely matter. ⁓ just well, so many, so many things. Like thinking about first about the power of encouragement. ⁓ kind of is interesting to me to recognize that we have to say that, right? Because it's such a human thing. Why do you why do you think that might be? That that's just not an innate thing we automatically do for each other. speaker-1: Here's what Carl and I have talked a lot about. We talk to ourselves more than we talk to anybody on this earth. But we're not very kind to ourselves. Yeah. We look in the mirror and we're, you know, I'm like, ⁓ my goodness, I'm too fat. I need different hair. I, you know, our self-talk is so ⁓ powerful and we're not kind to ourselves. And so it's hard to encourage ourselves much less encourage others. And in this world right now, we need encouragement. We need to look in the mirror and say, Man, this inner soul is beautiful. And ⁓ I am so blessed to be here. And then we need to share that with others because it's so lacking. speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, we do. Thank you. And you've created, you've grown this beautiful way of of doing this. I I have to think about so I've lost my sister. I lost my sister, it'll be five years ago this winter. upcoming time. And and she had two teenagers at the time. I've lost my dad. And so I've seen hospice at work. I've just experienced and I'm gonna get to it now thinking about it, you know, with my mom and a sister living too right this point, just caregivers. ⁓ have seen the power of of love and encouragement and presence with people in in the really r maybe the roughest times of their life and and helping them to find some peace and some beauty even in the in those moments. ⁓ It takes something incredible though to to be drawn into that role. How how did you end up as a hospice volunteer? speaker-1: First of all, let me see. I'm sorry for your loss. I've I've lost all my siblings and my parents and so I definitely can relate to ⁓ but ⁓ you know I I being in HR, you deal with so many issues and so many people at their lowest and their highest and you know, ⁓ but I wanted to give back to the community and hospice just touched my heart. speaker-0: Thank you. speaker-1: Yeah. And I love their mission, I love what they do and I love that they help people and that's what I wanted to do as well. speaker-0: ⁓ well thank you for that. I mean it's just such a gift. I I'm only emotional right now. Like I've I've worked through the grief. I just I I is full of love for people like you that that create again that beauty or that connection and some of the most difficult places when a family member can't be there or maybe there's not a family member or maybe the family members overextended right to to have someone there it's just such an incredible gift that hospice provides so thank you thank you and the gift you guys provide that keeps on giving so Carl how did you find your way into this? You came out of the army near and dear to my how did you how did you come about working with speaker-1: Thank speaker-0: Cindy and I worked in the the same building in Heidelberg. ⁓ so was I. That's great. I was stationed in Heidelberg. Sorry to interrupt you. So yeah, so ⁓ we ⁓ were working in in desktops there and ⁓ we were actually going to a briefing ⁓ one afternoon. And it was ⁓ I was I was running a little late and so was she and and we just met in the parking lot because we were trying to get into the meeting on time. And really when we got into the the the room, ⁓ there were two seats and we just sat next to each other and from there our a conversations ⁓ developed and ⁓ we didn't even know we worked in the same building or or any of that thing 'cause we hadn't met before. And so ⁓ From there, friendship blossomed and it has been ⁓ since that time, that was like ninety ninety one. So so it's been that long. And ⁓ from that time, you know, we we've ⁓ talked with each other about life. You know, when you have time to talk, you talk, right? ⁓ Cindy retired and so she she called and said, Hey, look, I'm I'm retiring and ⁓ would you guys come out? So my wife and I went out to Denver and ⁓ was able to enjoy the hospitality of of Cindy and Randy, and Randy's her husband, and he was in the military. So he was there in Heidelberg with us at the same time. So ⁓ that's the the the origin of of the beginning for for us. After she told me about this ⁓ project that she was working with Desire to inspire and at the time it was it didn't have that name but You can see that the name is so appropriate for ⁓ the mission that we have, right? It is just spot on. And ⁓ so we said, Okay. ⁓ she said, Well, would you guys like to be a part of this? You know, and at first I was like, Well sure, but I'm I'm trying to f figure out, you know, how do you make ⁓ an an inspirational card company work, right? So we've grown and evolved into where we are now. But let me tell you, ⁓ it has been an emotionally exciting journey thus far in getting to it because you start to realize you you know to your point a minute ago about something being innate and why we don't talk to ourselves about these things. I I'm a firm believer that, you know, when people teach you, then you know. You you you don't just know what you don't know. And so someone has to teach you. So when we talk about self talk, right? So someone has to teach you that self-talk is real, that it's important, that it's powerful, and that it can work for you, right? It can really, really work for you. You know, so many times we just take life as a a walkway and we don't really look at the intricacies of what's actually involved in it, right? Like I get up every morning, I have a routine. ⁓ do I say something positive to myself? And if I do, now some people automatically has that. capacity to do those kinds of things, right? But not everyone. And then as life happens, you know, and you start getting into the the issues of of of management, you know, is it's sort of like if if I ask a room of people, do you want to be a manager, for example? And they would say, not every hand would go up. And 'cause some people don't want to be a manager, right? But little do they know they manage every day. Right? They manage themselves. They manage the relationship with their families, right? They manage the relationship with their peers, with their ⁓ co-workers, you know, and so management becomes a part of, and so now we take that part and fold it into our card sets, right? Because managing you or managing me or managing the individual is very much part of what we do every day, whether we know it or not. So, you know, so we put a name to it, ⁓ and now we want folks to understand that, yeah. This is a very real part of you enjoying the life that you want. Because I Sarah, I think we all want the same thing. I think we all want peace of mind. I think we all want prosperity. I think we all want health and wellness. And so that's what our car set does. And so after ⁓ going through the analysis of what desire to inspire had to offer, I I was sold. I I was sold. I was sold on the supportive aspect and from the celebratory aspect. of what our carts could do and provide. And that has been just a wonderful thing for me. ⁓ just getting involved and now I'm I'm just sold. Yes. So ⁓ okay, so so I'm sold and I am just really excited about getting this product to the public. ⁓ as we were talking earlier, you know, consumers now are like CEOs of their own bodies. They can research, they go to medical ⁓ D, they say, Here's what, you know, we have and this is just another extension of that, right? You know, so if you have this as ⁓ part of your recipe or antidote in the mornings, it can just make all the difference in the world for your day. How did your day start? You know, and so we just like to be a part of that, ⁓ with ⁓ really with this country. You know, America is a great country. Mhm. And and we'd like to be part of sharing our ideas and our thoughts with what can help it help to make it ⁓ better. Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. And like starting with a life. It's starting with a person in the mirror, right? When you look at yourself in the mirror, you guys get to help that person see that person who's looking right back at ⁓ and has for their entire life a little differently. And then they take that out into their world and then that goes out from there. And that's how collectively it extends as well and it it it starts inside. What what are some of the yeah what are some of the things you've heard back from people that have ⁓ grown with your pro with your product, with the your cards, with these words of encouragement. speaker-1: You okay, so we have gotten so many positive ⁓ comments. ⁓ I there's a gentleman that bought a set of cards and he said him and his wife cannot get home soon enough every night. The first thing they do is go to their box, they pull their card for the day, they share it with one another, they share the meaning with one another, and they love it. ⁓ another lady told me that she bought my best friend for two of her best friends. and she said one of them pulled some cards out of her purse the other day and said, I cannot tell you what these mean to me. She said, They remind me of you every day and our friendship and the gift of that. And I'm telling you, Sarah, we have not had one negative comment, not one order returned. Everybody loves the cards, and I think that they are, you know. really starting to develop a habit. I'm gonna pull a card today. I'm gonna read it. I'm gonna pull a card tomorrow. I'm gonna read it. Carl has one in his stand that has been there for a month because that card resonated with him. And he looks at it every day and he leaves it there. And you know, ⁓ I I and they're beautiful gifts. They're beautiful for yourself. They are just daily inspiration and motivation to keep going to know that today is a good day. speaker-0: ⁓ that's beautiful. Carl, would you read? Would you be willing to read the one on your stand? Yes. Okay. So Carl, this is your card that you have today. Give God all the glory when he works miracles in your life. That is beautiful. I mean beautiful words, a beautiful illustration there. Do you guys design the illustrations or how do you where do those come from? speaker-1: Every card is created by us. Every illustration. ⁓ we work with Canva. Every illustration, every quote, everything is done by us. And you know, we have to be really careful with our quotes because the author has to be dead 70 years or it has to be in the free domain. So each card is a lot of work. ⁓ speaker-0: I bet I bet, I bet. Well that's just that's just what a a wonderful, amazing, amazing thing. Mm-hmm. I just just like to share a an another card with you, if you don't mind. Yes. Allow your marriage to grow stronger with each passing day. ⁓ what a great like conv ⁓ and that's day one. Is that day one? Is that what that says on there? speaker-1: Yeah, day one. speaker-0: So what a great conversation, Scarter. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, things that are reminders, we say, be ye transformed through the renewing of your mind. And our card sets do that, I believe, for intuitively. It's like, okay, great. This is a great message for today. This is a great message for tomorrow. ⁓ I look at mine every day and it it has been there for a while. I I but I absolutely love it, you know. So that's what we think we can do. We can share this. We can share this with ⁓ with an audience that ⁓ that are in need of it. And after a while, you know, it's like if you do something for for twenty one days, they say it'll become a habit. And if it becomes a habit, then it's something that you'll do as you you indicate practice. Practice, right? Say it every day. Just say it every day. And so that's where ⁓ we are with ⁓ with our card sets. You know, we have so many ⁓ that either s ⁓ celebrates life or supports life. And then we have the ones that are actually humorous, you know. We have a a set called ⁓ Tired and Retired, ⁓ for folks that are retired, right? Yes. And it's it's wonderful. ⁓ a lot of laughs. so it's ⁓ yeah, it covers a variety of of topics and things. That last card here was one on ⁓ We call that set forever and always. And it's for newlyweds, you know, and maybe for those that have been married for a while, you know. If they can just just allow that marriage to grow stronger each and every day, ⁓ you know, i it takes a lot to make it work, but it will if you want it to, you know. Yeah. So one of our cards say Go ahead, I'm sorry. No, go on. Sorry. No, no, please go on. No, I was just gonna say one of our cards say, you know, people do things for you because they want to, not because they have to. And you should be doing things for yourself because you want to, not because you have to, but you desire to, right? And we want to be a part of that. We'd like to share that journey with you. I love I love that. ⁓ my goodness. yeah, just just changing. I mean, it's not a simple small change from I should to I want to, but it's just a word difference, but it's a big transition or transformation to I want to, I want to do this for myself. I want to do this for my relationships. I want to do this for the world around me. speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-0: You know what also love about your I mean the cards, right? Like I have probably a few couple apps, two, three apps that have daily affirmations, but it's it just pulls me into my phone more, which is something I think most of us are trying to pull back from more. I love the tangible aspect of it. Just the the like w what is it about that? That like what do you think it is about holding something? that really helps it connect to your soul. speaker-1: So you know, connectivity was lost with COVID. ⁓ we all got on our phones, we got on Zoom, we didn't see one another, and we rely so heavily on those ⁓ social media aspects that I don't think are always healthy. And so I love the idea of being able to hold something for it to resonate with you, for you to touch it and connect with whoever gave that to you, or even if you gifted it. yourself it's still a reminder that you matter and it's tangible and it's not reading a text or not reading an email. You're right. We're on our phones, we're on our computers, we're on all of the social media, and it just is something that I think is so important that physical touch ⁓ to know wow. You know, Sarah, you gave me this beautiful card and I'm thinking of you today and I'm thinking of you tomorrow and the next day because you gifted that to me and you know that connectivity is lost and we need to bring it back. speaker-0: That's so true. And I think of a gratitude practice, which is writing a gratitude letter to someone and sharing with them how they impacted your life, why you're grateful, you know, and and you could do it with someone current. I know people have done it with someone who's past or someone who was a coach or a teacher, you know, like 30, 40 plus years removed, all sorts of of different people that could be the recipient of that letter. There's something a part of it. A big part of it, the power in it, is the recipient holding that letter, knowing like your pen touched it, you wrote it, you sent it to them, you took the time to get everything together and send it. ⁓ my mom is in this stage right now where she's really big on thank you notes, writing thank you notes. She also expects them from everyone else, but she's it was interesting, cleaning her house out recently this past year. speaker-1: Exactly. speaker-0: I she's always been a big letter writer and I found drafts of the letters and cards and notes I later received as well as a bunch of other people. I had no idea. She would spend time pre-writing it, figuring out what she was going to say with pen, editing, moving things around. And I found some of those drafts throughout the house. And I'm like, there's just something so personal about holding something that's got a connected piece of the person who sent it to you. speaker-1: Absolutely. Yeah. You know, ⁓ one of my most prized possessions is a letter my mother wrote me when I was twenty years old. She wrote it on my birthday and it's in her handwriting ⁓ and it's it's my most prized possession. So, you know, I and you know, one thing about our cards is they can be customized. So, you know, if somebody wants to give ⁓ a set to a mother, a father, a best friend, whatever, we can customize certain cards for the for them. And that really just makes it even more special, makes it more real to that person. speaker-0: So personal. It's this that's wonderful. how you have what twenty-eight different ⁓ speaker-1: I think we have thirty now. I think we have thirty different sets, yeah. speaker-0: So so what are some of your more popular ones and what are your some of your more niche ones? And I'm curious what like if you have any reflections about what matters to people based upon the types of card sets that they gift. speaker-1: So we have our probably one of our most popular, unfortunately, is Grace while grieving, because that's for somebody that's suffering the loss of a loved one. Best Friends Forever has been big. We have one for the loss of a cat, for the loss of a dog, which is very unique. We have them for PTSD and depression and anxiety. We have them thanking our veterans and ⁓ for active duty service members that ⁓ just need reminders that they're appreciation. That their service goes ⁓ not forgotten. ⁓ First responders, we have a set for your mother. We have a set for your father. And they're not just for Mother's Day or Father's Day. They're for every day of the month, the 60 days, 90 days, or 365 days, to let your mother know that you appreciate the sacrifices she made to get you into this world and to allow you to become the human that you are. And we just have so many sets that resonate. And you know, I can't say there's one more popular than another because the needs are different for each person and they buy what's needed for them. speaker-0: Do you find a particular like age range of people who are your givers? Or is it v varied? speaker-1: Really, it's anybody that buys cards. So 80% of our our ⁓ people are are women because women are more card givers than men, right? But we have had some men buy cards and love them, but it's mostly women ages 25 to 70, 60. Anyone that loves greeting cards. And and the reason we're different from a greeting card company is you go into Hallmark and you buy a greeting card and it gives a message for an occasion. ⁓ you know, we give different messages every day ⁓ to help you help that resonate with you. And that's where we differ. speaker-0: This is this is so nice. how do you what what does it do for you when you're creating them? Like I I you know, when you look at your evolution over time as you've started creating this, who are you now compared to where you were or who you were or how you were when you started? speaker-1: That's a great question. And man, have we grown. Yeah. ⁓ because I didn't know the first thing about being a creator or a designer or anything. And, you know, ⁓ we were just kind of fumbling through at first. But now I am so proud of the products that we produce and I feel like they are top-notch, top quality. We've redone every set, and I absolutely love them. And I'm proud because it's our voice. It's our creation and it's us making a difference in this world. speaker-0: Thanks. How about you, Carl? Have you changed during this process? Yeah, very much. when we started we had an initial idea of ⁓ what we wanted the cards to say, what we wanted the image to look like, and how we wanted all of those pieces to come together to transfer this message, ⁓ so that the messaging would be correct, right? on regardless to which of the sets we we were working on. And so now we have a very ⁓ in-depth sort of like review cycle, right? Like does the quote match the image? You know, are we saying exactly what we would like to say here? ⁓ and that part takes time. It it really does. You know, it becomes an involved process ⁓ making sure that ⁓ the quality of the product meets our expectations before you see it, before it goes out. and then to make sure that we can ⁓ get our audience to understand exactly what it is that we want to provide for them and then for them to participate in the process to become a part of of something larger. You know, Cindy and I have been talking about ⁓ she she came up with this idea of inspiration nation, right? And and I'll let her speak to that, but because I think it's a great idea. ⁓ and we've grown to wanting to get that to ⁓ America, right? And and we've come now to the point of wanting to establish ⁓ communities of care. So if we're able to get communities of care established throughout the country, then you know, people will gravitate toward this because they'll understand the importance of what it does. ⁓ It does so much for self. And it does so much for those around us, right? In terms of, you know, when you're happy, we say, Hey, a smile is only a thought away if you say it every day. If you say it every day, you can have that smile. It's amazing what happens when you have like a smile begets a smile. It's amazing what happens when you have positive ⁓ things happening with you. then it touches the people around you, you know. ⁓ Because we're of impacted by so many variables in our lives. We're impacted by going having to provide for ourselves. We're impacted by our relationships with family. And I and I stay there because it seems simple and we have this thing that said, could it be so simple that all you have to do is believe? Do you believe in you? Do you believe in self? And what happens, I don't think you can measure really what happens when a person starts to believe in themselves, right? And what it is that they have to offer. And so we want to touch that part of of of the consumers out there, you know. That one of the challenges that we face is people respond to their senses, what they see, what they hear, what they taste, what they touch. With words, it's kind of ⁓ intricate way of getting that transferred to someone. You know, if you go to dinner and take a picture of your meal and say, ⁓ I gosh, I've got to send this to someone. I'm having a this this delicious meal. Well people can resonate. You know, they understand and say, ⁓ look at that. That is great, right? ⁓ i if if you say I was in a showroom and I absolutely love that car or I actually absolutely love that painting, you know, or what have you You can see it. The senses are open up and your your whole is open up. Words are a little different. Because you can't touch them physically like this card. No, you can can't see them. And so transmitting that message of the value that's there ⁓ is what we try each and every day to just get better at. They just get better at having you to understand that words have power. Words do have power. They matter. They matter. And sometimes yeah, sometimes there's feelings or senses that don't even have a word in say English that matches that. So that creativity of being able to convey that same, whether it's an emotion or encouragement or whatever, to someone else is is impressive. But you know, sometimes people say, Hey, y have you heard people say Well, I never thought about it like that. Yes. How often do you hear that? You hear it a lot, really, whether it's spoken or not, right? So now we're saying, well, let us help you with that particular thought. Let us reframe the stage that you may find yourself on, right? And and put it in a positive light. And it can actually impact your day and your future, you know? ⁓ and that's what we want to be a part of, a positive part. Yeah. That's good. What what are communities of care? You mentioned that and how does that how does that connect with this? Well we we we're we're t toying with this or examining this idea now of what does it mean if in your community see we all okay, so let me let me say this. We have non profit units out there in our country that's doing some really, really wonderful things. And they have already sort of have a community of care in their own space, in their own sphere. And we would like for our cards to become a connector to that community of care, to those communities of care, right? So that they now have a way to connect. They can build relationships and they can maintain those relationships. Yes, yes, within that community and with each other, you see, because ⁓ our card sets can be used for yourself. Uh-huh. It can be used to give to a relative. It can be used to give to ⁓ a coworker. It can be used on an organizational level so that ⁓ you could use it in your your your organization to get your managers more connected to ⁓ their employees, to the supervisor, to to anyone, right? So That community can be wherever you want it to be, for example. ⁓ we have a set for ⁓ for realtors. Okay, yeah. speaker-1: So here's here's the thing, Sarah, is you know, we help provide the words when you can't find them. A lot of times people want to say something but they don't know what to say, and we provide the words. speaker-0: That is beautiful. You provide the words. There's another thing you said earlier too. ⁓ say it every day. Just looking back at my notes, right? Say it every day. yeah. Can I can I share? Yeah, go right ahead, Carl. Okay. So ⁓ this is one of our flip books. Okay. I don't know if you can read that. It's probably too much. But ⁓ I see the book. I can't quite read it, but yeah. Let me read this. Okay. speaker-1: It every day. speaker-0: When you read our cards, we want you to savor the words like you would the taste of a gourmet mill. Cherish the meaning of the words like the fragrance of a rose. Hold on to the power of the words like a warm embrace. Let them excite your senses and transform your mind, and allow them to bring peace, comfort, and connectivity to your soul. Wow. Please comfort connectivity. Amazing. Yeah, that's what we would like for our cards to be able to do. ⁓ that's yeah real good. And I think everyone seeks peace of mind. For me right now in particular, that is just so, so vital and important, you know, to everyday existence. ⁓ the older I get, the more I realize that some things that I thought were so important are not as important. And ⁓ just living a good life, a wholesome life. And Cynth and I talk a great deal about just having people be good humans. Mm-hmm. Just good human beings, you know. It it is such a a relief because that that's just another part, you know, that ⁓ everyone needs relief from life in some way, shape or form. Some people, you know, whatever it is, right? and we want to be part of that relief. It doesn't have to be catastrophic, you know. There are times when you when ⁓ folks have moments of gosh disbelief, moments of doubt about themselves, moment of of quiet desperation. Yeah. And we can put a positive light on those moments through our card sets. ⁓ and you know, so as Cindy was in earlier, it's not like you have to take one card. every day you can if you choose. But it's not every one that resonates with you. Yeah. But when you Yeah. But when you find that one that does, then you grow it. You know, you just grow it, grow it, grow it. And and so yeah. Desire to inspire. Say it every day. What do you guys each have one thing do you say to yourselves each day? Do you have like a personal mantra or something that you just your statement you say to yourself or or how do how do you do it in your own lives? speaker-1: Basically, I just tell myself I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna get up. I'm gonna conquer this. I'm gonna not not give up on it. I am going to keep going and I'm going to be successful at at spreading the word. ⁓ speaker-0: Great. Al along the same lines, and this is one of our our our cards, another of our cards, and it says ⁓ success is not final and failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts. The courage to continue. Yes, that's true. Yes. Success isn't like the end of the story, neither is failure. No, right? They're both power points. Absolutely. And and so ⁓ Sometimes when Cindy and I are are talking, I mean I'm here in Orlando and she's there in ⁓ Parker, ⁓ we may end with it's the courage to continue that counts. You know? I love it. Yeah. It's ⁓ that's that's great. That I mean that's a great way to start to kind of start to conclude here. But before I do that, I I wanna ask what you both do. Outside of the cards, outside of the inspiration with each other, what do you do to keep going? You know, big part of this podcast is for people to share their stories, their shares share, share their stories of struggle, share their stories of overcoming, of staying the course, of getting back on course in life with really what matters the most. So what are your practices for that? My my practice, ⁓ we said, Well, so what keeps me going is just the thought that maybe I can make a difference. ⁓ maybe I can make a difference, you know, in someone's life in terms of how they view themselves, in terms of how they view ⁓ the each and every day events that occur. everything doesn't have to be awful. You know, it depends on how you see it. It depends on your perspective. And for me, my glass has always been half full. Yeah. Yeah. And so I like to share that with folks, you know. I as I said earlier, how many times do you hear people say, Well, you know, I never thought about it like that? And I'm like, Well, yeah, right. Well well, why not? Ta take a moment and think about it like that, right? In a positive way. ⁓ because I do believe that positive thought generates positive actions. And it does. Your brain opens up. Yeah, so ⁓ words have power. Transform your life. ⁓ it doesn't have to be gloom. It can really be ⁓ a beautiful day in the neighborhood, you know? That's beautiful, beautiful advice from someone who's lived and continues to live an amazing life from the army on through your entrepreneurship career and now helping others find find that good, create that good around them. How about you, Cindy? What are your practices? We shared earlier, like you like to be outdoors and think and breathe. speaker-1: So I you know, I'm a social butterfly and so I love to be around people, I love to I love to be kind, I love to be generous, I love to be giving, I love every day I'm out, I find somebody that I can tell you are beautiful. I love to spread messages. I put cards in my purse. I hand them to strangers. They might be sitting in a restaurant. They might not even they might not even want a card, but I give it to them and they love it. And I think it's just so important to spread kindness. I'm just gonna tell you one little thing. I was on next door the other day and realized all the negative comments when somebody just makes a comment. And so I wrote a message and I wrote from the heart. And I was telling Carl last night, I have had 22,000 views of my message. I have had 200 comments and over a thousand emojis just from speaking from my heart about why can't we just be kind to one another? Why don't we You don't know it's easy to spew ⁓ vile things behind a keyboard, but you know what you don't know what that person's going through. Just be nice, be kind, be generous, be loving. And that's what our world needs. speaker-0: Thank you. Thank you both so much. What a beautiful way to kind of wrap up this conversation about the gift that you provide for others. Truly, this has been a gift for me too. ⁓ the idea of turning this moment, this time, it's not a moment, it's a time, a season of grief ⁓ for that family into something that now serves so, so, so many. And probably countless numbers of people are served. by your work, your customers, but then those that they positively impact in their own worlds. And you know, it's it's a good reminder. Like what we do matters. Words matter. How we view our starts with how we view ourselves. And sometimes we need a little help, right? If if that's not a very If that's not a very friendly voice we hear in our heads, ⁓ sometimes having having an alternate message can it can really help with that. And that's one thing that your your work provides. Just that daily practice of courage and hope and connection when people really, really do need it most. Starting here is how we make a better world out there. So for everyone listening, you can find Cindy and Carl at Desire with a Z, desire to inspire dot com. ⁓ please check out their card sets on now 30 different themes. And Encouragement should travel freely. So, right now, are you still offering free shipping? Is that still happening? Okay. Encouragement should travel freely. That is also a very, very huge gift. So again, thank you for being here. And if you're enjoying this podcast, please follow to make sure you catch the future episodes and leave a comment about what resonated most with you. I would love to hear about something you're going to do today. To start with yourself and then make someone else's world a little bit brighter. And then this week, ask yourself: who needs encouragement that I haven't reached out to? What would change if I made encouragement, a daily practice for myself and for others? And then take a future walk, thinking about this question of either who needs it or what would change for me and others. Take a future walk and think about that. and see what becomes clear. So until next time, build the life you're working for. Thank you. speaker-1: Thank you, Sarah. Appreciate you.