Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 27 with Sarah White, an active member of the community & candidate for Delegate in Virginia's 13th District

Transcript

Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 27 with Sarah White, an active member of the community & candidate for Delegate in Virginia's 13th District · Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane

• 0:00
  Hello, my name is Leslie Kane and I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast.
• 0:05
  This podcast is to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, why not today?
• 0:10
  I started this podcast to honor my father, Patrick Kane, who often said, why not today?
• 0:14
  I'm based in Rusty, Virginia, a Planned community right outside of Washington, DC.
• 0:19
  Thanks for joining us today.
• 0:20
  So I'm excited to have my guest today, Sarah White, and she is the first repeat guest on,
• 0:26
  we interviewed her in the beginning and her story has completely changed.
• 0:31
  And we had coffee the other day and she's just sharing about some things going on in
• 0:34
  her life.
• 0:35
  And I'm like, it's a podcast episode.
• 0:36
  It's funny, I talked to somebody else yesterday that was on a podcast before and she's got
• 0:40
  some twists and turns in her life.
• 0:41
  It's like, oh, that's another podcast episode.
• 0:44
  So I'm super excited to have Sarah here, who is we met virtually, pretty much the only
• 0:50
  virtual networking event I went to.
• 0:53
  And it was one of those divine.
• 0:55
  I had to know Sarah, like she popped up in my Facebook feed that morning and jumped
• 0:58
  on a Facebook or a virtual zoom and she was there.
• 1:02
  And then a day or two later, my sister's like, you need to meet Sarah White.
• 1:05
  I'm like, okay, I need to know this Sarah White person.
• 1:07
  So I feel like even though it was a while before we physically got to see each other,
• 1:11
  I feel like I'm blessed to have you as a good friend and business partner in the world out
• 1:16
  there and just part of my tribe.
• 1:18
  So Sarah, why don't you introduce yourself and share a fun fact about you?
• 1:23
  I know you were on before, so share another fun fact maybe.
• 1:26
  And then let's talk about your courage.
• 1:28
  All right.
• 1:29
  So Sarah White, like Leslie said, and I run five restaurants getting ready to open my
• 1:34
  fifth restaurant and the first one that I will technically own coming up in the summer.
• 1:38
  I am very excited about that.
• 1:40
  That's a fun fact, right?
• 1:42
  Is it part of the same brand or?
• 1:46
  No, actually, it's going to be Westover Taco in Westover Arlington.
• 1:50
  And we're super excited to get it off the ground.
• 1:52
  It'll be the first of its type.
• 1:54
  And that along with running those five restaurants and like you said, running for office before
• 2:00
  having done a few things around here, I'm in 25 groups, including the Virginia Restaurant
• 2:05
  Logic and Travel Association and seven different about to be eight different chambers.
• 2:09
  I just love meeting people and use the word tribe, which is a big deal to me and surrounding
• 2:14
  myself with all the right people.
• 2:17
  And how are you going to meet them if you don't get out there?
• 2:19
  They don't knock on your door.
• 2:21
  I don't know.
• 2:22
  It just doesn't happen.
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  So I always say I'm like waiting for somebody to knock on my door and I live in a secure
• 2:27
  building.
• 2:28
  It's like you got to get out there, which is so true.
• 2:30
  And just like we met, I mean, you can meet people virtually or through social media and
• 2:34
  never know who that person that you're supposed to meet.
• 2:37
  So what's a fun fact about Sarah White?
• 2:39
  Okay.
• 2:40
  So aside from opening the restaurants, which you know, this is going to be our fifth restaurant
• 2:45
  and the first one that I own, which I think is very exciting.
• 2:49
  I think a fun fact, let's just say about my restaurant is that we're looking to do something
• 2:53
  a different a little different.
• 2:55
  I'm friends with some folks at the Asian American Hotel Association and they are teaching me
• 3:00
  how to make chicken tikka from one of their five star chefs who is going to make my recipe
• 3:07
  perfect so we can put in tacos.
• 3:09
  Oh, fun.
• 3:10
  All right.
• 3:11
  So we need to plan a date.
• 3:13
  I think we had this on the calendar at one point, but something happened.
• 3:16
  We didn't make it happen.
• 3:17
  Have you been to Mama Tigres yet?
• 3:19
  I have not.
• 3:20
  I'm still waiting to do that.
• 3:22
  The last week in February.
• 3:23
  Let's schedule something.
• 3:24
  It is Mexican Indian fusion.
• 3:30
  That's awesome.
• 3:31
  Yeah.
• 3:32
  Some so fun.
• 3:33
  So the other cool kind of connecting fact that I think endeared me to you when I first
• 3:38
  met you this year, email was something OBS and you went to the outer banks on vacation
• 3:44
  and just stayed and I'm so connected to outer banks and lived didn't personally officially
• 3:50
  live there, but was there so much everybody thought I lived there knew everything that
• 3:53
  was going on.
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  So I've been there for seven years.
• 3:55
  Lots of friends still go back to say hello.
• 3:59
  Miss it a lot, but love Northern Virginia.
• 4:01
  Yeah.
• 4:02
  Well, I was actually talking to friends last night about a trip to outer banks in a couple
• 4:06
  weeks because also in time.
• 4:08
  So all right.
• 4:09
  So what does courage means you as a definition change?
• 4:12
  Do you still have the same one share with courage?
• 4:14
  Which means you I have to say it and you already know this, but for everybody listening, I
• 4:19
  went through some health challenges and I've had them my whole life, but this past year,
• 4:24
  I actually had to have a surgery where they removed about 30% of my pancreas and I knew
• 4:30
  going into it that it wasn't a sure bet.
• 4:33
  I had been told for months that they wanted to wait till I was stronger, wonder wait till
• 4:37
  it was healthier and it just wasn't happening.
• 4:38
  And we knew we had to walk in anyway and do the surgery.
• 4:42
  And so courage was getting up that day and walking in anyway and saying, let's just get
• 4:47
  this done because it can't, it can't hinder my life any longer.
• 4:51
  I have places and people and things to do.
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  Like I got to go.
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  This is not working for me to live in a hospital.
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  I was in the hospital for most of 15 months and just walking in anyway and high five in
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  my surgeon and saying, let's do this.
• 5:07
  Yeah, that's awesome.
• 5:08
  Well, and you came back on the other side.
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  So let's talk about the courageous things in your tribe and how you've just gotten so
• 5:14
  connected.
• 5:15
  So you haven't been in Northern Virginia that long compared to my world in Northern Virginia.
• 5:19
  How long have you been in Northern Virginia?
• 5:20
  So it's coming up on seven years.
• 5:22
  Seven years.
• 5:23
  Okay.
• 5:24
  So, you know, you and I met, we talked about through networking, became friends.
• 5:28
  And I remember it was probably November of 2021.
• 5:33
  You reached out on Facebook and you built a great tribe on Facebook and you reached out
• 5:38
  on Facebook and said, I'm in the hospital and you just were, you were sad.
• 5:44
  You were lonely.
• 5:45
  You needed connection.
• 5:47
  And I remember seeing that post.
• 5:48
  And although I know you knew you, I didn't know you that well.
• 5:51
  And I was, it was not an inconvenient time for my world, but I'm like, you know what?
• 5:55
  She's reaching out.
• 5:56
  When people reach out, you need to react to that.
• 5:58
  So I went, I remember meeting with you and we walked up and down the hall and not to
• 6:03
  focus on your pain to distract you.
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  You're like, talk to me.
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  And we just start talking.
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  And honestly, you were one of the people that really encouraged me to go forward with this
• 6:12
  podcast from that conversation of you in the hospital.
• 6:15
  But it was such a fun conversation to have.
• 6:17
  And it was a distraction and, and you are part of my tribe.
• 6:21
  I think from day one, we knew that was just going to be a thing.
• 6:24
  Yeah.
• 6:25
  So you're showing up for me when I needed somebody, when I needed someone most.
• 6:29
  And I got to say, I was fortunate to have a lot of friends who came out of the woodwork
• 6:32
  that I didn't even like, I didn't realize that they considered me close enough.
• 6:37
  To show up for something like that, because you know, that's, that's kind of a personal
• 6:40
  thing and, and you don't know who's going to walk through the door.
• 6:43
  And the number of people that I didn't know that they considered me that close of a friend
• 6:49
  to do that for me was, I mean, there were days over in tears, my eyes, I was just like,
• 6:54
  so overwhelmed with the amount of love that was shown for someone that they barely knew.
• 7:00
  And you know, of course my close friends were all there as well, but walking up and down
• 7:03
  the hall and having those conversations and being able to be there for you and talk it
• 7:08
  through and say, you know, well, you're asking other people, why not today?
• 7:12
  Why are you questioning it?
• 7:14
  This is the point we've got to get this done and, and getting to do that for other friends
• 7:20
  and talk about whatever it was in their life, because I didn't want to talk about me.
• 7:24
  I didn't want to talk about what was going on.
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  I needed any distraction and just getting to be there for other people while they were
• 7:30
  helping me through that was amazing.
• 7:32
  Yeah.
• 7:34
  And you, you were very smart about that.
• 7:37
  Like reaching out, ask, and I admire that you asked for help.
• 7:41
  So many people don't ask for help.
• 7:42
  So you've been here in seven years of which almost half of those seven years have been,
• 7:48
  we were in lockdown for part of it.
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  And so you really built friendships, tribe community through social media and virtual
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  methods.
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  I found something in my life that I think a lot of people overlook is that, and it's
• 8:05
  all started from, you know, loan a book to a friend or to somebody who isn't your friend,
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  because then they'll think you're friends.
• 8:13
  Right.
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  And I, Thomas Jefferson, I don't know, I can't remember who's that was.
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  It was a founding father.
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  And I, I've taken that and I've grown on it and said, you know, tell somebody something
• 8:23
  you're not sure you want them to know, because showing that little bit of vulnerability often
• 8:30
  makes other people go, wait a minute, if they trust me with this, like we're friends, like
• 8:34
  that's, that's my person and I can trust them with things.
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  And so you find that it opens this door and this connection between souls of like, we're,
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  we're each other's person now, you know, you know, something about me and I'm trusting
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  you with it.
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  And, and, you know, maybe it's not the biggest secret in the world, but something that I
• 8:52
  wouldn't have told, you know, somebody at the grocery store while we're picking out
• 8:56
  meat for this week's dinner.
• 8:57
  So it is something personal and it is something that you might not have wanted to share or,
• 9:02
  or didn't think that you were going to share at that moment.
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  And for whatever reason, I feel like I always know the right, right thing in the right time
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  when you're having that conversation with somebody to say, you know, this is, this is
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  what they need to hear from me to know that I consider them my person and I want them
• 9:18
  to consider me the same way.
• 9:20
  That's awesome.
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  And I think it's a gut thing.
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  It's an instinct.
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  It's saying, why not today?
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  Like, I'm not a hundred percent comfortable with saying this, but I'm just going to do
• 9:28
  it.
• 9:29
  And you know, I was talking to coaching a friend yesterday about something, a hard conversation
• 9:33
  like just envision the after how good you're going to feel.
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  And I think that is where this podcast has evolved.
• 9:38
  I can't believe it's been almost a year, but it's, we're talking about subjects that people
• 9:44
  can relate to and make, make us normal and real.
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  And people are saying, that's me.
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  Like I can relate to that.
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  Somebody I shared this podcast with somebody the other day, and this is, I'm going to share
• 9:55
  this coach says, why not today is such an inspiring message.
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  And I love how each person shares her own personal experiences of choosing that for
• 10:02
  themselves.
• 10:03
  It gives your listeners permission and courage to do that for themselves.
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  Okay.
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  Isn't that powerful?
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  Like, and that's, I think that's what we're doing.
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  And so what you did and what you showed and witnessed and let people, oh, you opened up
• 10:18
  your world to them and you showed that you needed help.
• 10:22
  And I think we're too afraid sometimes to ask for help.
• 10:25
  And yours were simple health.
• 10:27
  I remember one day and I was out of town so I couldn't help you, but you like, I need
• 10:31
  Rita's frozen ice or whatever that stuff's called.
• 10:33
  Yeah.
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  And I showed up at the hospital and the hospital was out of Italian ice and I was on clear
• 10:38
  Italian ice.
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  I was wanting it so badly.
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  And I have to say that the first day that I asked three different people showed up throughout
• 10:46
  the day.
• 10:47
  And then the next lunch, dinner, three different people brought me Italian ice.
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  If I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have received, right?
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  Like you have to throw it out there what you need.
• 10:55
  And my options really, when I was put in the hospital for, you know, and at the beginning
• 11:00
  I didn't know it's going to be 15 months, but I knew I was going to be missing for just
• 11:03
  a little while.
• 11:04
  And my options were to let the entire world know that something is wrong and I could use
• 11:10
  some support and here's what's going on with me or let everybody think I just disappeared,
• 11:15
  that I flaked, that I was gone.
• 11:17
  And I couldn't live with that.
• 11:19
  I knew at the end of the day, I couldn't live with all of the great people and the great
• 11:24
  connections I had met just thinking I was gone, that I was not part of their group anymore,
• 11:31
  didn't want to be friends or wasn't going to hang out.
• 11:33
  And then they can read their own stories about you.
• 11:35
  Right.
• 11:36
  I wanted to make sure that everybody knew exactly where I was and that I would be back,
• 11:41
  that I was not far away.
• 11:43
  And if you want to come to me in the meantime, let's do it.
• 11:45
  If you want to talk on Zoom, let's do it.
• 11:47
  But know that at some point this will end and I'll be right back to who I was.
• 11:53
  Right.
• 11:54
  And you are and I admire you for that.
• 11:56
  So you know, you reached out for help and my mom is a helper and loves to do things
• 12:02
  for people, but she doesn't want people to do things for her.
• 12:04
  And I always share with her like people like to help and we want to be useful.
• 12:08
  We don't know what that looks like sometimes.
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  And so you requesting what it looked like.
• 12:14
  I remember one time you just said, call me.
• 12:16
  I need to talk to people on board.
• 12:18
  Like you were still in the midst of setting up networking things.
• 12:22
  You took care of yourself.
• 12:23
  I remember one day I got a phone call from you and like, I need some new Mary Kay colors.
• 12:27
  I need some lipsticks and some eye colors.
• 12:29
  I need to feel better about me.
• 12:31
  And all those things are just so important that we forget.
• 12:34
  So when you don't ask for help, you block the blessing of somebody else that wants to
• 12:38
  help.
• 12:39
  And that's how I felt about it is how would I feel if any one of these people that are
• 12:43
  doing this for me, I knew that they, they needed something and they just didn't tell
• 12:47
  me, you know, I would feel left out of their life.
• 12:50
  I would feel like I wasn't a part of it.
• 12:52
  And so I wanted people to know that they are a part of my life.
• 12:55
  And you know, one day it was, I need conditioner.
• 12:58
  Like I was just at a conditioner and my husband was working and one of my friends called me
• 13:05
  immediately.
• 13:06
  He starts texting me.
• 13:07
  He's like, I'm at Walmart.
• 13:08
  What kind do you use?
• 13:09
  And it was just, it's the little things that I was able to just say, Hey, I'm going to
• 13:15
  throw this out there and not ask somebody specifically.
• 13:18
  Cause you know, I don't know who's busy today and I don't want anybody to feel that, that
• 13:22
  kind of obligation to me, but I'll bet if I throw it out there, if there's somebody
• 13:28
  that will jump up and say, Hey, I've got 20 minutes, let me go get that for you.
• 13:33
  And I love that you used pretty much use social media to do this.
• 13:36
  Oh yeah.
• 13:37
  Facebook.
• 13:38
  Social media is something it's like that I have, it's like, I don't want to be distracted
• 13:43
  by it, but I know I need to use it and use it as a tool, which you did to meet people,
• 13:47
  to network, to build relationships.
• 13:49
  It's social media because you want to be social.
• 13:52
  It's commenting, it's engaging, it's getting to know people, it's learning about their
• 13:56
  lives and you know, we're so focused on making everything perfect.
• 14:00
  I feel like the right people see it at the right time too.
• 14:03
  Like, you know, if I put it on Facebook, I can be pretty sure that somebody that was
• 14:07
  busy at work probably wasn't on their Facebook.
• 14:09
  So they weren't feeling torn or obligated to get to me because it was somebody who was
• 14:14
  scrolling Facebook.
• 14:15
  Yeah.
• 14:16
  And somebody that, you know, it was a perfect time.
• 14:19
  Just like when I came to see you and you helped me tremendously when I was helping you and
• 14:23
  in that how it all works that you give and you get and, and that's really what networking
• 14:28
  is.
• 14:29
  So, and I love that you're just open to meet everybody.
• 14:30
  And I look at our mutual friends when we first even met.
• 14:33
  Now I look at them like, okay, how are you connected with that person?
• 14:36
  And you're just twisting and wrapping into my life and all the worlds.
• 14:40
  And I mean, I've been in this world a long time in the North Virginia area and you are
• 14:44
  just totally, that was one of the things that impressed me is you just connected.
• 14:48
  So talk about your jacket or your t-shirt.
• 14:50
  I love this.
• 14:51
  I know you love my t-shirt.
• 14:52
  I had it made up by a small company and it just says on the back, it's got a golden retriever.
• 14:59
  I'm the golden retriever of people.
• 15:00
  I'm excited to meet everybody.
• 15:02
  Every time I walk into your room, it's how many people can I meet?
• 15:05
  And so we put a golden retriever on the back and it just says, have I met you yet?
• 15:09
  And on the front, it has my name and big letters.
• 15:11
  So one, I don't have those sticky name tags that fall off at every event that you go to
• 15:15
  because my name's already right there, but two, it lets people know that I'm here to
• 15:19
  meet you.
• 15:20
  That's literally what I showed up today for.
• 15:23
  I might tell you about a business or I might tell you about a calendar that I'm running
• 15:27
  or whatever, but at the end of the day, I just want to meet as many people as I can.
• 15:31
  And I think that people have really responded to that like you did and are just like, oh
• 15:34
  my goodness, I love that.
• 15:35
  I've got to know who that is.
• 15:37
  Yeah.
• 15:38
  And you know, for me, I love collecting friends.
• 15:40
  I love to meet new people.
• 15:41
  I met somebody connected on Facebook the other day and we have a hundred and some mutual
• 15:46
  friends.
• 15:47
  I don't know how I never knew her.
• 15:48
  We crossed a million different circles and we had coffee and we were talking about some
• 15:52
  ideas.
• 15:53
  I'm like, well, I'm going away this weekend.
• 15:54
  Do you want to come to the lake?
• 15:55
  And afterwards I'm like, okay, is that creepy?
• 15:57
  Like I just found that connection with her and like, I want to be your friend.
• 16:01
  And that's what I love about networking.
• 16:04
  And it's not just networking at the grocery store, at a restaurant, you know, getting
• 16:07
  to know people.
• 16:08
  And I think people, you know, I came by networking very organically through my father.
• 16:13
  I didn't really realize what he had taught me.
• 16:16
  Many lessons on just connecting with people.
• 16:18
  And when you're out, just getting to know people, because you never know, like, you
• 16:23
  know, you, you work at restaurant, run restaurants, owning a restaurant, but that's not your single
• 16:28
  focus lane.
• 16:29
  You know, my source of income has been Mary Kay for years, but there's so many other parts
• 16:36
  of Leslie and of Sarah and we have vast resources.
• 16:41
  Like if somebody's looking for something, you know, 99% of the time you or I can connect
• 16:45
  them to the person that needs to have that done.
• 16:48
  Yes.
• 16:49
  Well, and here's a funny story that I've not told you before is that when I was in North
• 16:54
  Carolina, it's very, very common for you to be shopping for cereal and somebody goes,
• 17:00
  oh, hey, I have a coupon for that.
• 17:01
  Here you go.
• 17:02
  Or you're looking for bacon and they're like, oh, don't use that brand.
• 17:05
  Use this brand.
• 17:06
  And like, you cannot leave the grocery store without three people talking to you.
• 17:10
  You can't like it's impossible.
• 17:12
  And so when I first moved to Northern Virginia and people don't do that here, like, you know,
• 17:16
  it happens a little, but it's, it's not common.
• 17:18
  And like the second time I went to the grocery store, I called my mom and I was just in tears
• 17:22
  and she's like, what's wrong?
• 17:23
  Like nobody speaks to me.
• 17:25
  Like I don't know what is wrong, but you say hi to people in the grocery store.
• 17:28
  They just don't even respond.
• 17:30
  And I just didn't understand that that's not common everywhere.
• 17:34
  That's not, you know, that's not the way that it is.
• 17:37
  It isn't everywhere, but it is also the person, how focused some people are and how people
• 17:41
  live in their little bubble.
• 17:43
  I walk around my lake all the time and say, good morning.
• 17:46
  Hello to people.
• 17:47
  I met someone one day and she's like, I'm like, oh, I've met you before.
• 17:52
  She didn't remember.
• 17:53
  And finally she's like, oh, you're the person that always smiles and says hello.
• 17:56
  I'm like, okay, that's a good thing to be known for, but that's kind of scary that other
• 18:00
  people aren't known for that.
• 18:02
  Well, that's, I used to walk to work every day.
• 18:04
  I lived at two blocks from one of my restaurants when I first started there and I would walk
• 18:09
  every day.
• 18:10
  And so every day I would say, hi, good morning, whatever it's whoever's going by, you know,
• 18:15
  maybe pet a dog here and there.
• 18:17
  And at first they were looking at me like she's a crazy person.
• 18:20
  I know they look at you and they look down and they don't want to acknowledge that.
• 18:24
  But it was funny by the time I left, it wasn't the same way.
• 18:28
  They would say hi to me first, or they would, you know, let the dog run over to me because
• 18:33
  they knew that's what was coming.
• 18:34
  And it was just such a change.
• 18:36
  And you can be that change.
• 18:38
  If you, you know, that's the kind of neighborhood I want to live in.
• 18:41
  Me and all of my friends in my neighborhood.
• 18:43
  Now we have a chat thread that blows up all day because we talk to each other every day.
• 18:48
  And it's like, be that person that you want to meet because that like attracts like.
• 18:53
  Oh, absolutely.
• 18:54
  And I think that's one of the things that attracted me to you is just making friends
• 18:58
  and meeting, connecting with people.
• 19:00
  And you know, I spent a lot of time down at Smith Mount Lake and I've got tons of friends
• 19:04
  and connections here because I meet people and I'm deliberate about it.
• 19:08
  And I did grow up in Northern Virginia, but I think I acquired skills that can do meet
• 19:12
  the people and connect.
• 19:13
  And, you know, a funny, another connection story to Outer Banks is that when I was there
• 19:19
  in college, spring break, we were, me and my friends were at the grocery store buying
• 19:24
  beer or something for spring break and ran into these guys that they were shopping at
• 19:29
  the grocery store.
• 19:30
  And they asked us what taco shells weren't wouldn't crack.
• 19:34
  And so that was 30 some years ago.
• 19:38
  And I can't tell you how many connections I have from that conversation.
• 19:42
  One of the original guys that was there and are still great friends.
• 19:47
  And my life, I wouldn't be where I'm sitting right now if it wasn't for that conversation
• 19:52
  at the grocery store at the Outer Banks 30 some years ago.
• 19:54
  Never know where it's going.
• 19:55
  You just never know.
• 19:56
  And here's my other thing.
• 19:58
  I finally, you know, I'm in my forties and I'm watching my nieces who are now teenagers,
• 20:06
  one's preteen and one, you know, is getting ready to be 16.
• 20:10
  And I just keep thinking, what if we instilled in our daughters that not fear of people?
• 20:18
  Like I wasn't raised with that.
• 20:19
  I learned that all on my own.
• 20:21
  I learned that I'm very socially anxious to walk into a room.
• 20:24
  So if I know half the room, I don't have to be afraid.
• 20:27
  So what if we taught that to the next generation of like, it's okay to meet new people.
• 20:32
  You know, we were all raised with don't talk to strangers and that's great advice up to
• 20:36
  a certain age.
• 20:37
  But at a certain point, even strangers are all with our friends.
• 20:42
  Yeah.
• 20:43
  You know, and how are they ever not going to be strangers if you never speak to anybody?
• 20:47
  So it's just getting that, that confidence level up and showing them that, you know,
• 20:52
  there's a time and a place that there are certain strangers, you know, you don't talk
• 20:55
  to, don't walk up a dark alley in the middle of the night and say hello.
• 20:58
  But you know, maybe when you're walking down the sidewalk in the middle of the day, it's
• 21:02
  great to say hello to everybody.
• 21:04
  Right, and make those new friends and, and you never know too, when somebody's just having
• 21:08
  a really crappy day and they need a friend.
• 21:11
  Oh yeah, for sure.
• 21:12
  There's just so many things that make a difference.
• 21:14
  You get that call and you didn't see it coming and it's a friend out of nowhere and you didn't
• 21:18
  realize how much you needed to hear their voice until you...
• 21:21
  Exactly.
• 21:22
  You just never know.
• 21:23
  So, and we need to be those friends and I think you and I both do a good job with that.
• 21:28
  So anything else on the courage world you want to share?
• 21:32
  Do you want to share what your next step is in your political world?
• 21:35
  Are you ready to talk about that?
• 21:37
  Sure.
• 21:38
  Or platform for that?
• 21:39
  I'm bouncing out of the two party system.
• 21:43
  I've had enough of it's either this way or it's that way because I just don't see the
• 21:47
  world in black and white.
• 21:49
  And I don't understand how we've come this far and in these two institutions that just
• 21:55
  see things and either you're on our team or you're on somebody else's team period.
• 22:00
  So I've decided to run independent this year to show that there's another way.
• 22:03
  And if you give me a platform from a group, I'm going to agree with half of it.
• 22:08
  I'm going to disagree with half of it.
• 22:09
  I'm never going to be a party line or any other line follower.
• 22:14
  I don't belong in a box.
• 22:15
  I dislike boxes.
• 22:16
  No, you are not a box girl.
• 22:18
  I am not.
• 22:19
  So I enjoy being able to speak my mind and be the person that I am and be true to myself.
• 22:27
  The thing we've all been kicking around this year is putting the PO in politics.
• 22:32
  We're pissed off of being told we have to be one thing or another.
• 22:37
  And I really want that to shine through this year is that you don't have to be in a box.
• 22:43
  There's nothing telling you this isn't Dallas versus the commanders.
• 22:48
  It isn't.
• 22:50
  This is your life.
• 22:51
  These are things that affect your family, your friends, the people that you know, your
• 22:55
  neighbors.
• 22:56
  And we need to take it more seriously than to just cheer for a team.
• 23:00
  And so I am going to be district 13's team.
• 23:03
  That is it.
• 23:04
  Like all I care about is our you know, does my family does your family eat?
• 23:08
  Does my neighbor's family eat?
• 23:10
  Do my employees families eat?
• 23:12
  That is what matters at the end of the day.
• 23:14
  You can tell I'm a restaurant person.
• 23:15
  It focuses a lot around table issues.
• 23:18
  You know, what are you talking about at your table?
• 23:20
  Because guess what?
• 23:21
  That's probably what we're talking about at our table too.
• 23:22
  And how can we fix it?
• 23:24
  And another thing I think that politicians don't do enough and I know that's a dirty
• 23:27
  word.
• 23:28
  I don't even like being concerned that word to be honest.
• 23:31
  But you know, if you don't take into account what everybody else is going through and hear
• 23:37
  their two cents of how they see the solution working out, you know, you can't be an effective
• 23:43
  leader because guess what?
• 23:45
  I don't know everything.
• 23:46
  Don't I mean, don't be afraid to share that.
• 23:49
  You're willing to learn.
• 23:51
  The all knowing Sarah White.
• 23:53
  You're learning, willing to learn and ask those questions, which I love.
• 23:57
  Well, I'm hearing you on.
• 23:59
  I wish I could vote for you, but I will be supporting and cheering on whatever I can.
• 24:03
  And I love that you talked about, you know, everybody needs to be eating in around the
• 24:07
  table.
• 24:08
  And I went through the leadership Fairfax program a couple of years ago and our project
• 24:11
  was around food insecurity.
• 24:14
  And people don't realize in Virginia, that's an issue and rest and it's an issue.
• 24:17
  And so I'm happy to support and help you.
• 24:20
  And the other thing too, you mentioned is being around the table.
• 24:22
  And one of the things with Mary Kay, we always say, you know, we meet people around their
• 24:26
  kitchen table and you get to know people.
• 24:28
  And what a great way to get to know somebody around food and it all kind of ties in.
• 24:32
  So we could talk forever and ever.
• 24:34
  And I know you got to bounce to something else, but before we leave, I want you to share
• 24:38
  what would, what would you say to someone to encourage them to say, why not today?
• 24:45
  So I think this is a resounding theme in yours and mine's life and every conversation we've
• 24:51
  ever had.
• 24:52
  And it always comes back to you.
• 24:54
  If you're thinking of that one thing that you want to do and you know, you know, you
• 24:59
  want to make these steps and you know, you need to make these steps for yourself and
• 25:02
  for your mental health and your sanity.
• 25:05
  Thinking through it, like, how are you going to feel tomorrow?
• 25:08
  If you didn't do it, how are you going to feel next month when you still didn't do it?
• 25:12
  And do you want to be, you know, I know what it's like to be laying there on a deathbed
• 25:16
  at this point.
• 25:17
  Like, you know, we didn't know if I was going to survive in November.
• 25:20
  And I know what it's like to lay there and think I should have done just one more thing.
• 25:25
  Don't let yourself get caught up in that because how are you going to feel when you did do
• 25:28
  it?
• 25:29
  How are you going to feel when you did it and it was successful?
• 25:31
  What are you going to learn if you do it and it's not successful to make it better for
• 25:35
  the next time?
• 25:36
  What are you going to, what lesson are you going to pick up?
• 25:38
  And I often share that.
• 25:40
  Like when you have something you need to do and you don't feel like it, like just do it,
• 25:45
  you're going to feel so much better.
• 25:46
  And when you put your head on the pillow at the end of the day, how are you going to feel
• 25:50
  when you did it or you didn't, if you didn't do it, you're going to be thinking about it
• 25:53
  all day long.
• 25:54
  You did it.
• 25:55
  You're going to feel amazing and you can check it off your list and feel better about it.
• 25:58
  And if it's not perfect, that's okay.
• 26:00
  It's all good.
• 26:01
  So nobody, nobody on our deathbed thinks about all of the things that they did, that piece
• 26:06
  of dessert that they had that they really should have.
• 26:09
  They needed it that day.
• 26:10
  You know, that's not the things you're thinking about.
• 26:11
  You're thinking about the things you didn't do that you wish you had gotten to.
• 26:14
  So let's, let's eliminate those.
• 26:16
  Let's get rid of as many of those as we can so that when you're laying there, you can
• 26:19
  think about nothing more than that dessert you had and you deserved it.
• 26:23
  Exactly.
• 26:24
  You deserve first.
• 26:26
  I always say that.
• 26:27
  You deserve first because ice cream does not travel well in a doggy bag.
• 26:30
  No, not at all.
• 26:32
  Well, you know, the other question I always, or the thing I always finished the podcast
• 26:36
  was this connection to my dad.
• 26:38
  And I know we talked about, you were the first person I interviewed like I've never met your
• 26:41
  dad.
• 26:42
  What's the connection?
• 26:43
  But I always tried via conversations and it's still true.
• 26:47
  Like just the way you network and meet people.
• 26:49
  My dad was very much like there was never a stranger.
• 26:52
  Even when he navigated the healthcare system when he was sick, he knew everything about
• 26:56
  like the nurse would walk into the doctor.
• 26:58
  He knew where they're from, everything about them and got to know them.
• 27:01
  Their care, you know, his caretaker.
• 27:02
  He wasn't like, I read this the other day too.
• 27:04
  It wasn't focused on his health and the crappy situation he was in and not feeling well and
• 27:11
  being stuck in a hospital.
• 27:12
  He was like trying to help other people and being creative and trying to connect them
• 27:16
  and doing things.
• 27:17
  And that's what you lived through.
• 27:19
  Absolutely.
• 27:20
  And it's the same relationship to wherever you're at.
• 27:24
  And we do happen to have nurses in common is that, you know, my nurses and getting to
• 27:29
  know that they became my family for a little while.
• 27:31
  They were who was there with me day in and day out.
• 27:34
  And they were the first ones to say, by the way, you haven't been able to drink for years
• 27:37
  and you're going to be able to have a drink when you're done with this.
• 27:39
  So yeah, we're all taking you to happy hour.
• 27:42
  Like this is happening.
• 27:43
  So I think making that relationship.
• 27:47
  That's fun.
• 27:48
  And another kind of fun story of my dad talking about the hospital that pulls it all together
• 27:51
  with being in a hospital and politics is when he was in the hospital, he had had several
• 27:57
  strokes and he had left neglect.
• 27:59
  So he couldn't see from one side and he was missing an eye and his arm didn't work.
• 28:03
  So one time the nurses brought breakfast in and we know the health care system, they are
• 28:07
  short staff and they brought breakfast and he couldn't navigate his plate.
• 28:11
  He needed help from the nurse and he couldn't find his call button.
• 28:14
  And so it just happened to be a political season and a politician called on a cell phone,
• 28:18
  which he had and asked for him to support this politician.
• 28:22
  And he goes, tell you what, I will support you if you call the nurse's station on whatever
• 28:27
  floor of rest hospital and you send a nurse down here, which they did and they did.
• 28:32
  And he wrote an op ed in the paper about it.
• 28:34
  So exactly what you need.
• 28:36
  It sounds like he didn't hesitate to either.
• 28:39
  So you guys are very much like that.
• 28:41
  I'm so excited to have you as my first repeat guest.
• 28:44
  So thank you for sharing and being on here today and lots of great nuggets.
• 28:48
  And so if you like this podcast, listen to it on Spotify, we're on iTunes, we're on Google.
• 28:56
  We have the website now, which is why not today podcast.com share it with a friend, review
• 29:01
  it like it.
• 29:03
  Let me know what you think.
• 29:05
  And if you know other people that want to be correct, Kurt have done things courageous.
• 29:08
  I'm looking for other people to interview.
• 29:11
  So thank you again, Sarah.
• 29:13
  And let's put on the calendar date to go to lunch and soon because you're done with being
• 29:18
  in the hospital.
• 29:19
  That's right.
• 29:20
  I'll see you soon.
• 29:21
  Yes.
• 29:22
  Well, thanks again.
• 29:23
  Thank you.
• 29:24
  Let's bounce to our next things.
• 29:25
  Bye.
• 29:26
  Bye.
• 29:27
  Bye bye bye.