Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / The Why Not Today? Podcast - Season 3 - Episode 44, Freddi Donner, Business Stamina

Transcript

The Why Not Today? Podcast - Season 3 - Episode 44, Freddi Donner, Business Stamina · Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Why Not Today podcast where we celebrate Kura's determination and the
• 0:06
  power of saying, Why Not Today?
• 0:08
  I'm your host, Leslie Cain, and in each episode we dive into inspiring stories of individuals
• 0:13
  who have taken bold steps, face their fears, and embrace the possibility of today.
• 0:17
  From entrepreneurs to artists, dreamers to doers, we explore the moments when somebody
• 0:21
  said enough waiting, Why Not Today?
• 0:24
  Join me as we uncover the heartwarming, the audacious, and the transformative, whether
• 0:28
  it's pursuing a lifelong passion, overcoming obstacles, or simply choosing joy.
• 0:32
  Our guests share their journeys and inspire us all.
• 0:35
  I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often said, Why Not Today?
• 0:40
  And remember, you're just one decision away from changing your life.
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  And I'm excited.
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  My guest is Freddie Donner, who is somebody I've known for years and connected through
• 0:50
  networking, through my dad.
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  We kind of crisscrossed, ran into you at a party the other day within, you know, we're
• 0:57
  get it done kind of gals.
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  We had a, by the next night we had an appointment to meet for coffee, met last week.
• 1:05
  And then it's such a great conversation about courage.
• 1:10
  Why Not Today?
• 1:11
  And then the one word.
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  So I reached out to you and we're recording this right before Christmas and life is lots
• 1:16
  going on, but we're squeezing this in because I feel like it's so important as people start
• 1:20
  the new year and a year to have some clarity.
• 1:24
  So yeah, we're connected in lots of different ways, even lived on the same street for a while.
• 1:28
  So yeah, crisscrossing, you know, it's those people in your life that just keep popping
• 1:33
  in and out.
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  And you know, it might not be consistent, but it's meant to be.
• 1:37
  So Freddie Donner, introduce yourself a little bit in a fun fact.
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  Okay, well, again, thanks Leslie.
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  It's always a joy to be in your presence and on your show and with you on your journey.
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  So first of all, the name Freddie came from my great uncle Fred that my mother was very
• 2:00
  close to and since she didn't have any boys, she named her daughter, Fredrica, but decided
• 2:05
  to call me Freddie.
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  Everybody asked me that question.
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  You know, I was going to ask where they come from.
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  I love it.
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  Yeah, so as a child, it was brutal.
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  I was a little girl being the only girl called Freddie in my world.
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  But as an adult, it became quite valuable because everybody remembered my name.
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  And then as I got older, it was even harder because then I couldn't remember their name.
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  But anyway, I think just being called Freddie, it was part of formed me as the character
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  that I am as a girl with a boy's name.
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  And I have been married for over 40 years now and I have three sons and I have four
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  grandchildren.
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  Two of my three sons are married and and we're all very close, which I'm incredibly grateful
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  for.
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  That's awesome.
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  The fun fact is I am now in business with my husband as a Christmas tree farm company.
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  Love that.
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  That's a fun thing.
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  He started it seven years ago and lo and behold, never did I realize exactly the impact that
• 3:14
  was going to have on us and this business and that I was going to be part of that business.
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  So we opened this year for our first time in Firstville, Virginia.
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  So next year, think about Donner Farms.
• 3:27
  Yes.
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  So let me ask you this.
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  You never thought it'd be a part of your life.
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  Was there a why not say moment when he said, I want to do this or you decide to dive in
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  or do you remember where you were, what you're doing when this happened?
• 3:39
  Yeah, well, it was really his decision because we bought the farm to because he grew up on
• 3:46
  a farm.
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  He wanted a farm.
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  He had a lot of tractors and so we ended up buying a 15 acre parcel of property that had
• 3:53
  a big barn on it.
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  No house, just barn and lots of cleared land.
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  And then he met with the Fairfax County or excuse me, Loudoun County EDA wanted to put
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  it in farm status and they recommended Christmas trees.
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  So here we are seven years later.
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  And so he said, why not?
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  And off he went into the Christmas tree business not having had any experience in that.
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  And so then we got to the point where there was more labor needed.
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  And I said, well, I can come out and help you mow.
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  And so when you mow, you're driving a zero turn mower, which is quite a big machine.
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  And that was another why not learn how to do this kind of a thing.
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  I was like, you know, I'm sure it just takes a little lesson, which I got.
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  Yeah.
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  And we can do anything if we learn.
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  Yeah.
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  So fun.
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  Well, I can't wait to come check it out next year.
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  I did go the route.
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  I never thought I'd ever do this that I have a artificial tree.
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  Yeah.
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  I never thought I'd do it, but you know what?
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  It is so much easier.
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  And I think I found I was allergic to the needles that a real tree, my hands would itch
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  and I'd be all congested over the holiday.
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  Yeah.
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  So like one of my sisters I was talking to about the other day, she goes, I will never
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  do that.
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  Well, she's 16 years younger than me.
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  I'm like, just let's talk in 16 years.
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  So I can't wait to check it out.
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  So what does courage mean to you, Freddie?
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  Courage means doing it scared.
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  Whatever it is that you want to try or do, even if you're scared to go ahead and do it,
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  like learning to drive a zero turn mower.
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  One year I decided I wanted to take singing lessons.
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  And so I took voice lessons and the requirement was that if you take voice lessons from that
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  particular teacher, you had to do a recital, which meant that I had to get up and sing in
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  front of a small group of people.
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  Oh, wow.
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  And to make it even worse, she taught me how to sing Phantom of the Opera.
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  Oh my goodness.
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  And when she told me I'm going to teach you how to sing this, I said, you're out of your
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  mind.
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  There's no way I can do that.
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  And she said, yes, you can.
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  And you will.
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  And I did.
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  And I was shaking the entire time, but I did it anyway.
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  How'd you feel when you're done?
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  Amazing.
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  Pretty fabulous.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, I learned so much about myself just by saying yes.
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  And why not today?
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  And I think we all need to push ourselves to do those little things and do them scared.
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  And I always tell people, like when you have that thing that's scary or you don't want
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  to do, or even if you do it all the time, like just like working out, you know, you
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  don't want to do it.
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  Like walking this morning and it's, I don't know how cold it was.
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  Yeah, it's in the team.
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  You dress it up and you go and you're like, I can always turn around.
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  But once you start, you feel great.
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  And I always tell people, like when you put your head on the pillow at night, when you've
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  done that scary thing, how are you going to feel?
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  Yeah.
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  It's amazing.
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  And if you didn't, you think about it all, slip and day, long, week, month.
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  I mean, how many things do we have on our to-do list that we put off forever?
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  We think and put so much more effort into thinking about it.
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  And when you do it, it's like takes no time.
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  I'm like, okay, that was silly.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Absolutely.
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  So I know you've had an interesting career and coaching and I'm not even sure the beginning
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  of it.
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  Yeah.
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  But, and as I said, we were talking the other day and we were talking about the one word
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  which I'm very passionate about.
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  And I loved your pivot from last year to this year and how you're changing.
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  So I'm going to let you take it from here.
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  Like, do you have some why not say moments, some courage in your journey that could encourage
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  people and then let's talk about your one word.
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  Okay.
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  And evolved in your whole picture.
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  Well, I think probably a pivotal moment was in 1993 for me when I actually got fired from
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  my job.
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  And they said, you're just not being a team player.
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  The reality was they, they, the organization was in a little bit of a transition and they
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  didn't know what to do with me.
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  I was really employable, I found.
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  Yeah.
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  So, so I, I took some time to think about what I could do.
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  And I said, well, I could go get another job because my career at the time was marketing
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  and business development.
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  My first career was commercial interior design.
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  So marketing and business development in the commercial real estate industry.
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  And I got that why not today kind of thought like, why don't I just try my own business?
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  And I started marketing 101 and ran that for 20 years.
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  Oh, wow.
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  Before I went back into corporate for a couple of years, and then I had another wall and
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  I hired a coach.
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  And I found out that's what I wanted to do was to be a coach.
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  And so I began my coaching practice in 2001 by calling up a former client and just said,
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  I am now coach.
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  I'd like to come talk to you about what I can do for you.
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  Oh, wow.
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  And so again, another moment of courage.
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  Why not if you don't ask, you might not receive.
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  So that's how I started my coaching practice.
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  That's encouraging.
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  Yeah.
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  And I've learned a lot.
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  I've failed a lot, but I've also grown a lot.
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  And I do my best to help young coaches get started because it is kind of a scary journey,
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  especially if you don't come from a BD background.
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  But last year, last year, I had a great year in coaching and in my coaching practice, which
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  is also part of my ministry.
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  And my word of the year last year was at ease, the symbol with ease after it, because the
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  year started out very slowly and I was just praying about it and going, okay, Lord, so
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  you want me to kind of just take a rest this year.
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  And so I didn't have a high volume of work, but I had high quality work.
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  And it was new for me to not be busy all the time.
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  And so I embraced it and I learned to just relax and enjoy this free space between coaching
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  assignments.
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  And then I started pondering 2025 and I took myself to the library for a day to think.
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  That's all I wanted to do was to think.
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  Wow.
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  I didn't want to be doing anything or filling out forms or writing a to-do list.
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  I just wanted to stop and think.
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  And what came to me for my word of the year for 2025 is imagine.
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  Imagine all of the lives that you could touch by being highly more visible and more deliberate
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  about your coaching and what you have to offer.
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  And the impact that you can have on homes, because a lot of my clients, when they learn
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  about who they are and how they are, they can also change who they are and how they
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  are at home.
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  And that can really make more lives peaceful at home.
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  So true.
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  And I love that word.
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  And I love how you came about it.
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  So let's kind of back up a little bit.
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  First I want to talk about the ministry you've done.
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  So you've done some networking around your faith before.
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  And I think that's so powerful.
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  So talk about that and what you've done.
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  Yeah.
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  I used to run CEO roundtables for Christian business owners where it was a peer setting
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  where other business owners who were also believers came together to solve business problems
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  based on biblical principles.
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  We would do lessons from the Bible and then say, how are we applying that to our business?
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  I did that for over 10 years.
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  And then it just felt like God was calling me to stop.
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  And so I dissolved that.
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  But still stay in touch with that community.
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  It's actually the faith at work community is large in Northern Virginia and getting
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  larger.
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  And it's designed to get people to understand that prayer and work go together.
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  Work is a form of worship.
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  And when you know that your work is aligned with your faith, it feels amazing to be able
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  to get up every day and do what you want to do and what you know God wants you to do.
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  Yeah.
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  I think we talked about this the other day is with my 30 years with Mary Kay.
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  Mary Kay's mission and philosophy was God first, family, second and career third.
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  So I grew up around that.
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  And from working in corporate before to working in that environment was such a difference.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Having that alignment is so important.
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  Yeah.
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  I can't wait to pursue some of these other things you recommended.
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  And how do you connect with Casey Beach, who is a good friend of mine, did you through
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  the commercial real estate or through the faith component?
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  Yeah.
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  So Casey and I met at the commercial real estate days.
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  And then when, when I started the Christian business roundtable, he, because he's so well
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  known, I connected with him only to find out, which I didn't realize at the time, just how
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  involved he is with this faith at work community.
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  Yeah.
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  And so then he put me in touch with a few other people that again, you know, I, we, when,
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  when you're going into a new adventure, you want to surround yourself with people that
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  see what you see, believe what you believe and want to be on that journey with you.
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  And Casey's one of those guys, you know.
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  And so is a lot.
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  So are a lot of people like you that are in his world.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  You know how I know middle school, middle school.
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  Oh my gosh.
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  We went to hermit intermediate together and I went, we started high school the year South
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  Lakes opened and those listening somewhere totally different.
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  We'd lived in the same town and they finally opened a high school in our town and there
• 14:26
  was enough room.
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  Everybody on the lake and side of rest and went to hermit and everybody on the other
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  side and yes, there is a difference which side you live in rest.
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  Yeah, that's right.
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  And debate.
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  But yeah, so they split us up and but you know, we just kept in contact and his dad
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  and my dad were good friends and see the evolution.
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  So I ran into you at their holiday party and I talked to somebody else is more a little
• 14:54
  older and more friends with my dad and Mr. Beach and said, yeah, the party's kind of
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  become more Casey's thing.
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  It's kind of a fun thing.
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  But yeah, it's interesting to just see how our world's kind of crisscross.
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  Yeah.
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  And I mentioned this in a podcast many times that somebody shared with me when you see
• 15:11
  all those Godwinks and those crazy coincidences happen.
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  It's really it's when you're living your life in alignment with your values and what
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  you should be doing.
• 15:19
  Yeah.
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  And you're they're happening all around, but you're just not aware of it.
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  So you need to keep your eyes open and be aware.
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  I love your evolution of the word.
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  So how did you learn about the one word or how long have you been doing it?
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  Because I know I've been doing it for a long time and explain a little bit in your words,
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  what it is and how it relates and how it's right.
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  Well, one of my previous roundtable members gave everybody in the roundtable this little
• 15:48
  tiny red book called the one word.
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  Yeah.
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  And that was probably eight years ago.
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  And I've been doing it every year.
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  And I do value that exercise again to stop and take your thoughts captive and think about
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  what you're thinking about and think about what is the theme or the thread that you want
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  to pull through the entire year for you wherever you are on your journey.
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  If you're dealing with a health issue, the focus might be all on healing and getting
• 16:27
  stronger.
• 16:29
  If you're dealing with a relationship issue, it might be forgiveness.
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  It could be anything.
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  But when we make a decision about what our theme is, you'll see it.
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  You'll see it more often.
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  Just like if you bought a new car, you'll all of a sudden see that car all over the road.
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  But you didn't see it before.
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  Our reticular activating system.
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  That's right.
• 16:59
  Exactly.
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  Yeah.
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  And I know in the book it talks about look in.
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  So pray, think about it.
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  Yeah.
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  Look up, pray about it and then look out and see where you see it.
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  Yeah.
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  And I was, when we were together the other day, I told you what my one word was and you suggested
• 17:15
  another one and I'm looking at it and I'm seeing it more and I'm like, maybe that's
• 17:19
  the word.
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  And I was telling that to a friend of mine and she's like, you always change yours at
• 17:23
  least four times.
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  I'm like, yeah, because you've got to have the word that's right for you.
• 17:27
  Yeah.
• 17:28
  And it totally unfolds differently.
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  Like the words can have many definitions.
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  Yeah.
• 17:34
  And you start one way like 2020, my word was connect and one of my good friends word was
• 17:39
  gather.
• 17:40
  Oh, nice.
• 17:41
  You know what happened in 2020.
• 17:43
  So we had to learn how to connect and gather in totally different ways.
• 17:47
  Wow.
• 17:48
  Yeah.
• 17:49
  Like how we started the year envisioning it definitely was different.
• 17:52
  Yeah.
• 17:53
  Yeah.
• 17:54
  Yeah.
• 17:55
  And I really love the way you summarize the word that it starts within and don't rush
• 18:00
  the process.
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  Give it some thought, give it a day, a week, a month.
• 18:07
  There's no hurry.
• 18:09
  But when you get it, you'll know that it's the word for the year.
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  It just feels like it fits you like a great piece of clothing.
• 18:17
  And then you see it everywhere.
• 18:19
  Yeah.
• 18:20
  So I have done a lot with the one word and we do a painting event every year painting
• 18:23
  our one word.
• 18:24
  Oh, really?
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  In front of us.
• 18:27
  And I did two years ago, I did an episode just talking about the one word and beginning
• 18:31
  of December because you got to start thinking about it.
• 18:34
  Now some people may not get their word till later in January or you could change it middle
• 18:37
  year.
• 18:38
  But if you start in the beginning of a year, you got to start thinking about it in the
• 18:42
  beginning of December, like thinking about it as soon as you can.
• 18:46
  Last year I had two people talking about their one word on the podcast that do one.
• 18:52
  She owns a gym and she teaches about intentions in your word and she actually you can get,
• 18:57
  she does a one word event, intention event and you get a bracelet with the word on it.
• 19:01
  Oh, nice.
• 19:02
  That's a great tool.
• 19:05
  And she said this person in front of my list, she did it and she said her word a couple
• 19:08
  of years ago was present.
• 19:09
  And so she looked at it and like when she was with somebody to be present with them.
• 19:14
  Yeah.
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  Just sit down and.
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  And that takes some discipline.
• 19:19
  It's a choice every time you get in front of someone as to how present you can be, but
• 19:25
  it's a choice every single day, like what you're thinking, what you're eating, how you're
• 19:29
  moving and for, I just want to encourage anybody who's listening to this, don't think you don't
• 19:38
  have time to do this.
• 19:40
  When you make the time to do this, you'll realize how much time you have to focus on
• 19:44
  it.
• 19:45
  Yeah.
• 19:46
  And what do they say that one hour planning is worth so many hours of work.
• 19:50
  Yeah, exactly.
• 19:51
  I figure out where your track is going to be.
• 19:54
  And I'm one of these people that like the FOMO and me, so I heard your word.
• 19:58
  I'm like, Oh, I really like that.
• 20:00
  No, I don't think that's mine.
• 20:02
  I don't think that's worth sitting because I don't probably don't need to imagine anymore.
• 20:06
  They are.
• 20:10
  I was watching last night.
• 20:12
  This is one of my favorite shows of the year, the Kennedy Center Honors.
• 20:15
  Do you ever watch?
• 20:16
  Oh, nice.
• 20:17
  Yeah.
• 20:18
  And they had it and I don't remember what artists they were doing talking about, but
• 20:24
  talked about the possibilities and imagined.
• 20:26
  The impossible dream that song.
• 20:29
  Oh, that's great.
• 20:30
  Yeah.
• 20:31
  And that was my favorite song.
• 20:34
  It's like, you know, anything is possible.
• 20:35
  I think that's part of the why not say message.
• 20:38
  Like we need to think bigger and believe better, bigger and trust.
• 20:42
  And if it's something that you're thinking about is keeping you up at night, you just
• 20:46
  can't let it go.
• 20:47
  Or someone says to you, Oh my gosh, you'd be so good at that.
• 20:50
  Or you do, you do such a good job.
• 20:52
  Or how do you do that?
• 20:53
  You're like, What do you mean?
• 20:54
  It's so easy.
• 20:55
  And then that's a hint like you need to do something.
• 20:58
  Live your life for not promise tomorrow.
• 20:59
  We got to enjoy it.
• 21:00
  That's right.
• 21:01
  That's right.
• 21:02
  And your father was such a great example of that.
• 21:04
  And that's my next question.
• 21:06
  Let's talk about my dad.
• 21:07
  How did you know him?
• 21:08
  What was connection?
• 21:09
  Do you remember your first encounter with Patrick Kane, which he was memorable?
• 21:14
  Yeah.
• 21:15
  Yeah.
• 21:16
  So I think we met at Reston Chamber of Commerce and somehow we ended up sitting next to each
• 21:21
  other at one of the outskirt tables, like, you know, not in the center of the room, but
• 21:26
  on the edge of the room.
• 21:28
  And it was some awards dinner.
• 21:31
  And I somehow got, I somehow won something.
• 21:36
  And so I walked up and got it and came back and we started a conversation.
• 21:41
  And at the time he was wheelchair bound.
• 21:44
  So it was after a stroke.
• 21:47
  Yeah.
• 21:48
  So he needed help moving around.
• 21:50
  And I was like, well, who do you want to see?
• 21:51
  I'll take you around and, you know, help you get around the room.
• 21:55
  And then somehow we, we struck up a friendship and I used to stop by and sit with him at
• 22:01
  his office and listen to him about how he imagined Reston.
• 22:07
  And it was so fun to be in his presence and hear his side of the story as a planner, as
• 22:15
  an urban planner, what he saw, what he realized and what else he thought was possible.
• 22:23
  And it was just so joyful to be able to have that precious time with him.
• 22:29
  And I think maybe we probably had five or 10 visits before he passed, but it was, it
• 22:34
  was such a fun time just to be in his presence.
• 22:38
  He definitely made people sing.
• 22:39
  And the kid growing up, I did not appreciate it.
• 22:42
  And I'm looking back, I definitely do in some of the conversations I've had with people
• 22:46
  since he's passed away.
• 22:49
  That he did, he made you think, he asked you questions.
• 22:51
  Yeah.
• 22:52
  He made you imagine and think bigger.
• 22:53
  And it's often, you know, living in Reston, which I've been here since I was two.
• 22:58
  And Reston, I think is a year older than me.
• 23:02
  People are always asking me like, what do you think of it change is so much so different?
• 23:06
  Like, you know, my dad was a planner and that was part of the plan.
• 23:10
  And it grew up around me and grew up with me.
• 23:13
  Yeah.
• 23:14
  So, and it's kind of a funny story is after he had a stroke, he was pretty much unconscious
• 23:19
  for months and in the hospital.
• 23:22
  And he would talk about the Metro coming to Reston and how there'd be commercial and
• 23:27
  retail all combined and residential.
• 23:30
  And they're like, oh yeah, he's still not here.
• 23:33
  And like, no, you know, when worked with downtown Herndon and things that he talked about 30
• 23:40
  years ago are happening now.
• 23:42
  Right.
• 23:43
  It's really incredible.
• 23:44
  Yeah.
• 23:45
  He gives me chills just thinking about it.
• 23:46
  Not bigger.
• 23:47
  And his imagination was unbelievable.
• 23:49
  So I definitely got some of that.
• 23:51
  Yeah.
• 23:52
  And I was going to say other ways to connect things that you said, obviously knew my dad.
• 23:59
  But I think I mentioned the other day that he had a cousin at Christmas tree farm in Seattle
• 24:03
  and he'd go help work the Christmas tree farm at Christmas and literally brought trees home
• 24:07
  on an airplane.
• 24:08
  It's crazy.
• 24:09
  I can't imagine.
• 24:10
  And then as kids, my parents bought property with other people off Route seven.
• 24:16
  There was a street going towards Lee's bestirling area.
• 24:21
  Utica, I think street or something.
• 24:23
  I don't remember the act, but we had a tree farm there and it was just and and we'd go
• 24:28
  cut wood for our fireplace.
• 24:30
  Yeah.
• 24:31
  Yeah.
• 24:32
  And then talking about one of the things he always said is asked, you know, you never
• 24:36
  know what somebody's going to say.
• 24:37
  But if you don't ask, the answer is no.
• 24:40
  Well, I always say that if you really want to become memorable, you have to be interesting
• 24:47
  and interested in the people in front of you.
• 24:50
  Yep.
• 24:51
  And, you know, there's so many topics we can talk about other than what's popular on
• 24:55
  Netflix or, you know, what the weather is like.
• 24:58
  I mean, the weather.
• 24:59
  Okay.
• 25:00
  Let's talk about it for three minutes and then move on.
• 25:02
  Because there's so many other topics.
• 25:04
  Were you standing me at, were you with me at the party when that gentleman walked up?
• 25:08
  I think you were because he thought you were married.
• 25:10
  Somebody thought you were married to him.
• 25:12
  He was standing there and he asked, he introduced himself like, what do you do for fun?
• 25:17
  Was a great question.
• 25:19
  That's a great question.
• 25:21
  Yeah.
• 25:22
  I don't know if you heard the rest of that story.
• 25:24
  The reason he asked that is he said a couple of years ago, he was an ICU and didn't think
• 25:27
  he was going to live and he had to call his daughters to say goodbye.
• 25:29
  Wow.
• 25:30
  And realize how precious life was.
• 25:32
  And so ask him, what you do.
• 25:35
  Which, you know, being in the Northern Virginia area, that's everybody asked that question.
• 25:38
  And the, the quest, the answer when people are like, how are you, everybody usually answers,
• 25:44
  well they used to answer busy.
• 25:46
  Yes.
• 25:47
  Now I think it's more overwhelmed.
• 25:48
  Yeah.
• 25:49
  Yeah.
• 25:50
  And so how can we take time?
• 25:51
  Like I love how I'm to the library for the day.
• 25:54
  Yeah.
• 25:55
  Yeah.
• 25:56
  For me sometimes it's getting in a car.
• 25:59
  Mm hmm.
• 26:00
  And just by myself getting in the car, even listening to stuff for podcasts or even music,
• 26:07
  but my brain starts to move.
• 26:09
  Yeah.
• 26:10
  And just, well, I do, I do know we have access to be pumping information into our brain all
• 26:16
  day long.
• 26:17
  Yeah.
• 26:18
  And I think overwhelm is caused by feeling like you have to absorb it all.
• 26:25
  And we get clear on what it is our purposes in life, we can begin to make choices about
• 26:31
  what doesn't fit.
• 26:34
  What and, and not to say that, I mean, I've been volunteering my entire career, but I'm
• 26:41
  taking a volunteer diet because I want to focus on my coaching practice.
• 26:48
  And then, you know, what's appropriate for the farm and what, what, what's possible there.
• 26:54
  Which means that my volunteer hours need to be just set aside for this season of life.
• 27:01
  And I'll get back to it, but we have to make choices.
• 27:04
  You never know where you're volunteering as you're working.
• 27:07
  Yes.
• 27:08
  Right.
• 27:09
  You know, and what is volunteering but helping other people and giving back.
• 27:13
  Yeah.
• 27:14
  We can help other people and give back by doing what we do every day.
• 27:17
  And you know, yeah, I always wear a starfish necklace often.
• 27:22
  And did we talk about the starfish story?
• 27:23
  No, we didn't.
• 27:24
  Oh, yes, yes, yes, we did.
• 27:26
  Yes.
• 27:27
  Yeah.
• 27:28
  So, you know, you never know who that one person you're going to make a difference.
• 27:29
  He's watching you.
• 27:31
  You have no idea who's paying attention, especially with social media.
• 27:34
  And the one thing that I will continue to volunteer is, is helping young professional women who
• 27:41
  need a mentor.
• 27:44
  There's not, I didn't have one when I was in commercial real estate.
• 27:47
  I was like flying solo.
• 27:49
  There weren't many women.
• 27:50
  I didn't have really anybody to help set the guiding path for me.
• 27:54
  So I want to be that for others.
• 27:56
  Yeah.
• 27:57
  And I think we need that.
• 27:58
  I think owning a business and figuring out what you're doing.
• 28:01
  It's lonely.
• 28:02
  Yeah.
• 28:03
  I mentioned I had coffee with somebody the other day that started franchising.
• 28:06
  She was almost in tears.
• 28:07
  Yeah.
• 28:08
  And said how lonely, nobody ever told her how lonely it was.
• 28:11
  And she was going to be in an event with me the other day and couldn't come because somebody
• 28:14
  called in six.
• 28:15
  So she had to cover and she said, I texted her to say, are you okay?
• 28:20
  And she said she was just pretty much having a meltdown.
• 28:23
  I'm like, do you need anything?
• 28:24
  And I ran into her again the other day and she was telling another friend that story.
• 28:27
  She goes, Leslie cares.
• 28:28
  I'm like, yes, I care.
• 28:29
  Yeah.
• 28:30
  Yeah.
• 28:31
  And we need to be in community with each other to help each other on those spots, even
• 28:36
  if it's just a five minute conversation, right?
• 28:40
  It can really lift you out of the delt rooms.
• 28:42
  Yeah.
• 28:43
  And then going back to that ask, like if you need help with something ask, reach out.
• 28:47
  And again, they could say no, but what if they said yes?
• 28:50
  So what is that one thing that will inspire you?
• 28:54
  And that goes back to your word courage Leslie, because sometimes we're not courageous enough
• 28:59
  to ask for what we need.
• 29:02
  And so, yeah, just get the courage to ask everybody about what it is, who do you know,
• 29:08
  who do you know, like how can, how can, how can we be connectors for each other?
• 29:13
  Right.
• 29:14
  Exactly.
• 29:15
  Ask who you're looking for.
• 29:16
  And the one person I would love to interview in my podcast, and I've mentioned many times
• 29:20
  is Daniel Pink.
• 29:21
  Oh, yes.
• 29:22
  I love his stuff.
• 29:23
  Yeah.
• 29:24
  He started a book called about regrets, or he wrote a book about the time I started
• 29:29
  the podcast or I read it.
• 29:31
  And he started an initiative with the Washington Post called why not?
• 29:34
  I don't know if you've seen that.
• 29:36
  Oh, no, I haven't.
• 29:37
  A lot of people are like, you need to reach out to him.
• 29:39
  So I did the other day, I sent him an email and didn't hear back, but I'm going to keep
• 29:43
  asking.
• 29:44
  Well, ironically enough, when he wrote his first book drive, I got to be on a call with
• 29:52
  him and I got to talk to him about the educational system and how it has not redesigned to model
• 29:59
  what he's talking about.
• 30:00
  Well, one of his first question for why not was why not pay teachers $100,000 a year?
• 30:06
  Yeah, that's a great question.
• 30:08
  Really?
• 30:09
  Wouldn't that, wouldn't that transform the educational system?
• 30:12
  Yeah.
• 30:13
  Yeah.
• 30:14
  I think so.
• 30:15
  All right, we can talk forever, but how would you inspire somebody else, whether to say
• 30:20
  why not today or for their work, finding their word or just to be creative?
• 30:24
  Well, I would say, think about what you think about.
• 30:30
  Notice what you think about.
• 30:32
  Man, take your thoughts captive.
• 30:35
  If your thoughts are motivating you, inspiring you, or if they come to life, then, and you
• 30:44
  like it, keep it.
• 30:46
  But if your thoughts and your words come to life and it's not in service to the people
• 30:50
  that you love, throw it away.
• 30:53
  Get rid of it.
• 30:54
  Replace it with something else.
• 30:56
  Take your thoughts captive because what we think about, we create.
• 31:00
  Oh, true.
• 31:01
  Amen.
• 31:02
  So, so many good tidbits.
• 31:05
  So thank you.
• 31:06
  And I will share all your contact information in the show notes.
• 31:09
  And as people are listening to this, share your one word.
• 31:11
  What do you do with it?
• 31:13
  How has it evolved?
• 31:14
  And then, or if you had a word last year, how, how did that change your life?
• 31:18
  And obviously this could, somebody could be listening this 30 years from now.
• 31:22
  Who knows?
• 31:23
  But hopefully we'll make a difference.
• 31:24
  So thank you, Freddie, for your insight and your stories.
• 31:28
  And I can't wait to, I can't wait to imagine what happens in the new year for you.
• 31:34
  Well, thanks for letting me be on your show, Leslie.
• 31:37
  I'm wishing you the best luck.
• 31:38
  Yeah, thank you.
• 31:40
  And thank you, everybody, for joining us on this inspiring journey.
• 31:43
  Where every day is an opportunity to take action, chase your dreams and make a difference.
• 31:47
  So why not today?
• 31:48
  You can subscribe, share and keep pushing forward.
• 31:51
  Share more information about this podcast.
• 31:53
  You can find everything you want about Why Not Today at the whynottaypodcast.com, wherever
• 31:58
  you want to see or watch your favorite podcasts.
• 32:02
  And we're actually on YouTube as well.
• 32:04
  And I really want to spread the Why Not Today message with Why Not Today merch.
• 32:09
  So we've got T-shirts and cups.
• 32:11
  And let's share that message and encourage other people to be courageous.
• 32:13
  So thanks again, Freddie.
• 32:15
  Okay.
• 32:16
  Why Not Today?
• 32:17
  I just need to figure out how to turn this recording off.
• 32:22
  Hi, everybody.