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Cruz vs. Carlson on Foreign Policy: Cruz defends a strong U.S. alliance with Israel and supports aggressive action against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Carlson is portrayed as advocating for isolationism, opposing U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, and questioning support for Israel. Tensions and “Gotcha” Moments: Carlson challenges Cruz with questions like the population of Iran, which Cruz admits he didn’t know offhand. Cruz criticizes Carlson for using such moments to create viral clips rather than engage in substantive debate. Iranian Threats Against Trump: Cruz cites intelligence and DOJ reports alleging that Iran has plotted to assassinate Donald Trump and former Trump officials. Carlson is skeptical or unaware of these claims, leading to a heated exchange. Accusations of Anti-Israel Bias: Cruz accuses Carlson of obsessively targeting Israel and groups like AIPAC, suggesting a double standard not applied to other U.S. allies. Moral Clarity and American Exceptionalism: Cruz argues against moral relativism, asserting that the U.S. and its leaders are fundamentally different from authoritarian regimes like Russia or Iran. He emphasizes “peace through strength” and a foreign policy based on protecting American interests. Trump’s Position: Trump is quoted supporting Cruz’s stance and reaffirming his own “America First” doctrine, particularly in opposing a nuclear-armed Iran. Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson and the Ben Ferguson Show Podcast Wherever You get You're Podcasts. Thanks for Listening #seanhannity #hannity #marklevin #levin #charliekirk #megynkelly #tucker #tuckercarlson #glennbeck #benshapiro #shapiro #trump #sexton #bucksexton#rushlimbaugh #limbaugh #whitehouse #senate #congress #thehouse #democrats#republicans #conservative #senator #congressman #congressmen #congresswoman #capitol #president #vicepresident #POTUS #presidentoftheunitedstatesofamerica#SCOTUS #Supremecourt #DonaldTrump #PresidentDonaldTrump #DT #TedCruz #Benferguson #Verdict #justicecorrupted #UnwokeHowtoDefeatCulturalMarxisminAmericaYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Service excellence emerges when businesses solve problems others avoid tackling. This week I spoke with Zohra Shroff from Sealink Logistics, a freight forwarding company that started in 2005 from a one-bedroom apartment in LA. Zohra joined the family business in 2006 and has helped grow it into a comprehensive logistics provider. Our conversation walked through the complete journey of shipping a container from Houston to India. Zohra detailed every step of the freight forwarding process, from initial customer vetting through final container return at destination. Their technology platform allows customers to book shipments, track cargo, and manage payments through their mobile app, maintaining this edge for over six years with live tracking and monthly rate updates. Their approach evolved from simply moving freight to becoming a complete logistics partner handling sea freight, air freight, and domestic transportation under one portal. When customers face problems like container mix-ups or space constraints, Zohra's team works directly with steamship lines to resolve issues rather than leaving customers stranded. This service model applies to any business where customer problems become your competitive advantage. When others walk away from complex situations, stepping in to solve them builds lasting relationships and premium pricing power. The freight forwarding industry reminded me that behind every simple transaction sits a web of coordination most people never see. Zohra's passion for helping customers navigate these complexities shows why service businesses thrive when they embrace the hard parts.     SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I explore Sealink's journey as a logistics company founded in 2005, emphasizing its deep family roots and innovative approach to the shipping industry. I discuss the complexities of the international shipping process, including filing shipping instructions with US Customs and securing an AES number. We highlight the challenges and financial implications for shippers when consignees refuse to pick up shipments, emphasizing the importance of financial due diligence. In our conversation, we examine the role of freight forwarders and the critical importance of service levels and customer support in the logistics industry. We delve into Zohra's entrepreneurial journey, from the jewelry industry in India to co-founding Sea Link in the U.S., illustrating the courage and determination required for such ventures. She provides insights into maritime routes and their impacts on transit times, including the choice between the Panama Canal and the Cape of Good Hope.   Contact Details LinkedIn - Zohra Shroff (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zohra-shroff-383276172/) LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance About Sealink International Inc GUEST Zohra ShroffAbout Zohra TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Good morning Zohra. How are you today? Zohra: Good morning, I'm well. How are you I? Dave: am good Now. Are you calling in from San Francisco, or is that just a background you have? Zohra: No, it's just a background I have. Dave: Where are you calling in from? I am San. Zohra: Antonio Texas. San Antonio Texas. Dave: Yeah, soft spot for me. I went to high school in a suburb of San. Zohra: Antonio, oh, that's really nice. It's a great city, you know, small growing, not too big yet, but I guess eventually getting there. Dave: Yeah, Now are you a native of San Antonio. Zohra: I've been here almost 22 years now, so I think I am. Dave: Okay, and what about originally when? Zohra: are you from? Originally from India, Migrated to the US in the early 2000 and came into Jersey. Stayed there for a couple of years and then moved to San Antonio, Got married and moved to San Antonio. Dave: That's awesome. Zohra: So been here since then. Yes, so it's home now. Dave: That is great. So my wife is a native Texan. I'm what I choose to call a naturalized Texan. We have a saying. I got here as quick as I could. Zohra: I think I can say that now too. You know it's been wonderful, and it's home now. So yeah, it's great. Dave: That is great. So tell me about SeaLink. When did the company start? What prompted it to start? Who started it? Kind of a whole story. Zohra: Sure, sure, definitely. So. Sealink was started by Shaizad. He is my cousin and the forwarding business has been in our family for three generations now. Okay, india. And then my father took it over in the early 80s and 90s and then Shaizad joined him as well after he graduated from college. So he worked in the Indian market on at that point we used to do a lot of brick bulk vessels and we used to do containerized vessels as well. So that's how it all began. And then when Shaizad moved to the US I want to say in 2001, he was working for one of the forwarders and stuff for a few years and then he decided that we should, that he should start on his own. So he started Sealink in 2005 from LA, from his one bedroom apartment, just handling freehand cargo that our sister company back in India was anyways consigning to different agents in the US. And so then we took over that business and that's how we started. And then from there we are here today, grown to a fully export plus import oriented forwarder. So I think that's awesome. Dave: And when did you join the company? Zohra: I joined very early on 2006. So it was yeah, not very late on, so started in 2005. I joined in. I think we were September 2005,. If I'm not mistaken, I think I joined March 2006. Dave: Okay, so Shaizad gets credit for the first six months. Zohra: Yes, Shaizad gets credit for it. Dave: But you get credit for all the growth starting in 2006, right? Zohra: I wish I could take all the credit, but he is a visionary. He is a visionary and without his vision or without his farsightedness on you know what like, we don't want to just be called a forwarder. I don't like saying Sealink is just a forwarder. Because of that, because of his vision, I think we are so ahead of the market in terms of our competitors also and in terms of our vendors also, like overall, I think, for the shipping industry. I think we have it one notch up at, I think, at any given point. You know, just because we have because of his vision. I should again say that, because of Shaizad's vision of not only moving freight but making sure that we are giving service with the service industry and also making sure that we are making sure that we are giving the standard of service with the competitive rates at all time, and I think that is one thing that puts Seelink above. Of course, our technology is our greatest selling point. We've had our app I think so for over six years now six to seven years and you can do everything on our Seelink app you can book, you can give your documents, you can download an invoice, you can download an invoice, you can pay an invoice. You can track and trace your cargo. You can do everything on that app so you are not stuck to see that. Okay, what is going on on my shipment? You know where is my shipment. Why do I need to like hassle bustle and call somebody and someone's not answering the phone? So we have live tracking and tracing that shows on your website that your that your shipment has been delayed or there is a vessel delay or there is a longer transshipment hold. All of that information is available on our app, ready to go. Every month we update our rates so the customers know that in February, if my rate from place A to place B was $500, then we know that March 1st that rate is either going to be $400, depending on the market, or $600. So they have visibility of all of this, which is giving them ease of business. They can make their deals. They can look and then get a figure that, okay, you know what, my freight is going to be so much and my material is going to cost so much. This is what I need to do and this is how I can sell. So we give them all that information. Also, not only we are providing a sea, water services or sea services, we are even providing air freight, we are providing domestic, we are providing trade services. So, for example, if I have a customer who wants to move from Atlanta, atlanta into into Moondra, so I have a rate through the vendor from Atlanta to Moondra to Mundra, so I have a rate through the vendor from Atlanta to Mundra. But if he has a facility in Duluth, atlanta, and then wants to get into on the rail, so we provide that drage service as well. So he can put in his zip code that I need to pick up from so and so zip code, take it to the rail and then it'll go out, you know. So we provide that part of draGE as well, which is really helpful for our customers if they want to go ahead and offer that to their suppliers or to their clients as well. So everything is under one portal and easy access. That's what I can say. Dave: That sounds great. So even though I've been in this business for 20 years, working with exporters, I never really understood how the freight moved. So what I would love for you to do is let's imagine that I'm a brand new scrap broker, scrap metal broker, and I have my first load ready. It's in a container and it's at the Port of Houston. And so let's just imagine like, help me just understand all the steps. So I call you up and I say, zohra, how I've got this uh load of uh of scrap metal at the port in houston and I need to get it to uh, um, what would be a good, a good port in india. Zohra: That that, mundra, let's say. Dave: Let's say, so, walk me through like all the things that that like, just walk me through all the steps that have to happen okay. Zohra: So initially, if I'm onboarding a new scrap customer, we we have an onboarding process that goes into place. You know we we run their credit scores. We, you know, ask for references, we make sure the company is in good standing. Because we do all these thorough checks? Because in the end we don't want a long standing container in some other country where then Seelink is responsible. So we have a thorough vetting process. So it's not like you know, somebody didn't just come to me and say, hey, you know what, I want to move one box of scrap and please help me. It doesn't work like that anymore Because you know there has been so many people who have not done the right thing while moving metal scrap. You know they say that it is metal scrap, but they load something else and it happens. It's just the way the industry is right. So, first and foremost, when we onboard a customer, there is a whole onboarding process. We go ahead, we make sure that the customer is vetted completely. For some reasons, if there is no scores, we ask them for their financials, three years financials and sometimes we even ask for a deposit, depending on the situation of the customer. That's how our onboarding process works. Once the onboarding process is done, then they can go on the website or the app and they can see what port pairs they are moving this freight on. Now, for example, if they are buying from Houston and they want to move from Houston to Moondra, they will plug in on my website Houston to Moondra 120 footer metal scrap and they will see all the steamship lines that I have rates on. It could be MSC, maersk, capagloid, you know all of these top three, four lines where I can say that, ok, this is what your price will. If you want to ship with Maersk, your price is A. If you want to ship with MSC, your price is B. It will give them the transit time. Some of the shippers are very, very, very, very concerned about the transit time. Shippers are very, very, very, very concerned about the transit time. It depends on what they're shipping. If they're shipping ferris and it is, like you know, maybe five boxes they might not be very concerned. But if they're shipping non-ferris, they might be like okay, zohra, I need a 45 day transit. So then I'm telling them okay, choose Maersk or MSC, because their transit is somewhere between 45 to 46 days, you so so let's say so. Dave: Let's say I pick mursk mursk. Zohra: Yes, so then you go on my app and then you hit book. Once you hit book, I get a notification saying abcd has made a booking request from houston to mundra for next week's cutoff for 120 footer. I come inside, I come into play, my team goes ahead, makes the booking on Maersk and turns it around and about. I want to say we want to try to keep it under two hours, so we go ahead and we send a booking confirmation that has all the information of this load. So, the customer exactly knows that, okay, this load needs to get picked up, the empty container needs to get picked up at Bayport Terminal. Okay, once the trucker picks it up at Bayport Terminal, they go to their facility, they get it loaded If the customer is doing their own trucking. If the customer says, or I don't have a trucker in Houston, do my trucking, then I'll offer him, I'll say give me your zip code in Houston, I'll give you a dredge rate and then I can go pick up, schedule your trucking. So I will schedule the trucking, get the container loaded, bring it back to the port, return it loaded at the port and then from there it will sit on the port on the day of the cutoff and then from there we will go ahead and make sure that it gets loaded on the ship. There. We will go ahead and make sure that it gets loaded on the ship. Now, that is where the whole process is working in terms of getting this container into the port. Now, once it's into the port, then it is the customer's responsibility to go ahead and send me shipping instructions. Who is he shipping to? Who is his shipper? Who is his consignee? What is the container number? What is the weight. What is the weight? What is the seal? Dave: is there a name for that set of documents? Zohra: yes, it's called shipping instructions the shipping instructions. So those shipping instructions are given to, given by the, the customer, to us. We go ahead and we put it. Dave: I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. I just really want to make sure understand yeah so those instructions? Is that done electronically through your website? Zohra: We can do it electronically. There are lots of customers who send us emails also, so, however, they are comfortable. Dave: Okay. Zohra: If they feel comfortable, there is a way on our website to go ahead and save their shipper and consignees as well, so they can just click, click and say that, okay, this is my shipper, this is my consignee, and then they just change the container name or the container number and weight and seal number. Dave: Okay, so I've given you the shipping instructions. Zohra: Yes, Now you've given me the shipping instructions, I'm going to go back and send you. I'm going to put everything on the BL and I'm going to send you a draft bl. I'm going to say, hey, this is what your draft, a draft bl will look. So you will go ahead and get a draft bl from ceiling and you will check everything your shipper, your consign what is bl? a bill of lading okay yes, the bill of lading, but this is a draft copy, okay, so we, so we can still make changes. If you say, oh, you know what, I don't want to write metal scrap, I want to write heavy metal scrap. So can you edit that for me? Or if your consignee says you know what, I want to add a notify party, so we're going to be like, ok, we'll add a notify party. So we send you a draft copy and stuff like that and we tell you that, okay, please look at it thoroughly, this is what your draft, this is what your bl is going to look like. Okay, so once they check everybody is in order, we go ahead, we take and we file those shipping instructions with the us customs. We tell them that, hey, this person is shipping this cargo from here to here. These are the details. And then we file the entry into the US Customs. They come back with an AES number for us where it is that OK, you know what. The customs has approved your shipment. This is your AES filing number and now you're good to go. Dave: And what does AES stand for? Zohra: It's an automated uh-oh export system export uh automated export documentation okay, yeah yeah. So it's like uh, it's like an ams that you file from the import side, and where does the and then the uh container number? Is that going to be? Dave: in shipping instructions yeah, so it'll still end up on the bill of lading. Zohra: Yes, yes, everything. All this information, shipper consignee, container number, weight, seal, what commodity you have shipped. Everything will appear on the bill of lading, All of this instructions, so everybody has clarity on what has shipped, who has shipped and where is it going. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Also, and if Seelaling has done the trucking for this customer, then I'm not even asking him for the container number because the trucker will give me. He's my trucker, so he's going to be like hey, I pulled this container number. Once I load it, I'll give you the weight and seals. So once we send out the draft BL, it is approved, we go ahead and we send all the information to the Steam ship line, whichever vendor you chose, and we file everything. Dave: We ask the Now where does it, I'm sorry. When does it ship? From being a draft to being a final After the customs process? Zohra: After sailing, after sailing. So once the customs is processed, we have all our information. Once the shipment is sailed, then the steamship line will be like okay, your shipment has sailed, Everything looks good. This is your original bill of lading. Dave: And sailed is a reference to 200 years ago, right With ship that sails Does it? Just mean it's departed the port. It has departed the port, yes. Zohra: So once it is sailed and then after, I think most of the time, they give us a draft in two days of sailing. The original bill will come out in two days of sailing and then from there, once we have the original bill, the customer does have a choice that if he wants a complete set of original bill of ladings, so that means that's a paper copy, or else he wants a telex, which would be an electronic copy. And then he can say that oh, you know what, I don't mind, my consignee doesn't mind a telex release. So if you can go ahead and update this to a telex release, and is the telex? Dave: is it truly going through the old telex system or is it just being electronic? Zohra: It's through the old telex system or does it just mean electronic? It's just meaning electronic. There's no funny how the language just stays around. Right, yeah, okay, all right, so go ahead. Yeah, so once. So then they have a choice to either have some of the guys if they have an lc, they would like the obl so that way they have control on the cargo, they have control on the money, and then they release the bills once they get paid and if they are confident, if they are a regular shipper and a regular consignee, they might go in for a telex release which is just electronic Gotcha. Dave: So then it leaves Houston, and I'm guessing does it go through the Panama Canal. Zohra: Depends on the routing. Some go through the Panama Canal, some do not, so it just depends on what route the steamship line is taking. Dave: I'm just curious. So if it's going from Houston to Moondra, I mean it's got to get around South America. Zohra: Yeah, yeah. So it would go through the canal and if not, because of all the issues that we're going through now, a lot of steamship lines have been routing it to the Cape of Good Hope. Dave: So they've been going that direction, that direction Around Africa. Zohra: Okay, yes, yes, so that makes it a little bit transit longer, but just the safety was more important at that point. Dave: So a lot of routes. Zohra: At least it's a predictable amount of time even though it's longer, and so if it goes, around Houston to Mondra by the Cape under Cape of Good Hope. Dave: How many days does that typically I? Zohra: think it added. I think it added 15 days to the transit. Dave: So what would that? Be total transit so about 60 days about 60 days. Zohra: Yeah, so I think first it was 45 days and then it became 60 days when they were doing, uh, the cape of good hope. Um, I and you know what, sometimes it even is a little bit shorter. I did see a couple of vessels that were doing 55 days also. So I think it just depends on you know how, how how delayed the vessel is, or if there is any any issues on any transshipment ports and stuff like that. So sometimes it's hard to say if it's going to be like anywhere between 40 to 60 days okay, so now it's on the water, is there just no activity at this point? Dave: is there any? Zohra: hopefully you don't want any activity, you just want everything to be good. But there are things that happen, like you heard about the Baltimore issue that happened early last April. I want to say it's going to be a year that everything was good to go. The vessel was ready to sail and it hit the bridge right and that was disastrous and that lasted for six months. Containers, fellers, fell in the water and you know some got damaged and then you know those things. Yeah, we don't want those things to happen, but of course it is. It is an inevitable. Like you know, hazards happen sometimes, so you would want that. Dave: Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry. I know you know this really well and so I'm sorry I have to keep stopping you for such basic questions. Zohra: No, no, not at all Do the containers these days. Dave: Do they have any electronic tracking on the containers? Zohra: Some do and some don't. Okay, so the ones that do like. Dave: Is it RF tracking or a different type of electronic tracking? Zohra: I don't believe they have an RF tracking. Most of our containers do not have a tracker because the lines will only give us 10 plus old, 10 plus year containers to load scrap, I see. So we don't get the nice fancy containers. So, most of us are not trackable. Okay, so my scrap load, load. Dave: It's not being tracked but it's on the boat it's on the boat, and so it's sailing, and then now it shows up in mundra. And what happens now? Zohra: so once it shows up in mundra, the steamship line that you have picked is going to send an arrival notice, five to seven days, to your consignee in India or your forwarder in India, whoever you have put on the BL instructions, so you will get an arrival notice. Dave: Now will you be? Will you be the forwarder in India? Zohra: No, no, we do have our own office in India, but most of metal scrap moves on a master bill, so there is really no requirement of a forwarder per se needed when your shipment reaches destination. Dave: They just need a broker and they can clear their shipment and pick it up at the port. Okay, so the ship arrives, and then that starts the arrival notice. Time clock. Zohra: Yeah. Dave: From the time it's actually lands. No, so the arrival notice you will get from the time it's actually lands? Zohra: no, so the arrival notice you will get five to seven days before arrival. So it gives you it gives you ample of time to say that okay, you know what my shipment is coming in. Let me get my docks ready and file it with the Indian customs. Because you can file, I want to say, four days before your shipment is arriving. Dave: So you're not scrambling, and how do we know that the ship is five to seven days away? Zohra: Is there tracking of the ship? Yes, yes, you can track it. Dave: Does the captain get on the radio? Call Zohra. Yeah, hey, I'm about five days away. Zohra: Yeah, no, so the shipment can be tracked on the steam ship lines website also, and plus on ceilings, on ceilings website as well. so you, will see, definitely that your shipment is arriving in three days or five days. If there is a delay, it will blink red and say that hey, there is a delay. And then when you get your arrival notice from the steam ship line, also it will have a date of arrival. It will be like, okay, you know this shipment is arriving on so and so date, so you are prepared that. Okay, you know what. My shipment's coming in five days. Let me get all my documents ready. Dave: Let me have it send it to my broker, you can start and you can start the process with the india customs four days before. I want to go four to five days before so that way, when the ship lands, the you can you already have your entry done and you already know that. Zohra: You know there are no holds of customs and you've paid your freight and you can go along and say that, okay, you know what, I just need the ship to berth. Once they unload my containers, then you know I can just send my trucker to go pick it up. Everything will show green released. You know, unless they have not paid ceiling, then I'll hold the cargo. Dave: Yeah, okay, and help me understand, because I'm an accountant by training. Help me understand the payment of the shipping. At what point do I pay for the shipping? Zohra: Okay, so we have. I want to say 90% of our customers are cash customers. So, when they need their original bill of lading after sailing. We generate an invoice after two days of sailing most of the time, because the line will give us a BL and an invoice in a couple of days. We go ahead, we generate that, we give it to the customer and when he wants to release his shipment he makes a payment to us. So whether it is an OBL or a DELEX, it doesn't matter. When he will tell me okay, zohra, he can go on my website and say release bill. He can go ahead and it will show him that you owe so-and-so amount for this shipment in order to get your release. He can go make a payment and then within 24 hours he will get a release from us. Dave: Okay, Because without that release will the Indian customs not unload. Zohra: No, the Indian customs doesn't really have any control on that. The Indian customs is only getting involved, saying, okay, I have a vessel that has 200 containers coming into India. I need documents to just make sure that it is what they are claiming it is. So they don't have anything to do with our BL release. They only work with customs release. So if I said that I have moved metal scrap and if there is battery in that box, that's a flag for the US customs and I mean for the Indian customs and they will be like I'm going to hold this box. So at that point that box is on a customs hold. Customs will not worry about a BL hold. There are two types of hold. One is a BL hold where either I or the steamship line is holding it for payment, holding it for payment, and then the customs hold is because there is an exam or there is some kind of uh inspection they want to do on the container or if they find some misdeclarations and stuff like that okay yeah, okay, yeah and then, so it shows up, it goes through customs. Dave: Uh, the freight forwarder there puts it on a truck, yeah, and then the truck goes to the warehouse or wherever they need to originally drop. Zohra: They go ahead, they unload the goods off the container. They make sure everything is weight and the weight is matching to what they had claimed it was. Sometimes the weight has shifted or sometimes they feel like, okay, the weight is less, then internally they will file a claim. It doesn't happen a lot, but some things sometimes do happen. And then, once the shipment has been unloaded, they have to make sure it is their responsibility to return the empty container back to the depot. So, once this empty container is returned back in India, that's when my shipment is closed here. Dave: That okay, you know what. Zohra: My empty container has been returned. This has been picked up. Everything is good, payment is good. We are good to close this file. Okay so one file can be open anywhere from 45 days to 60 days, okay, and then if you have issues with that shipment, then it can go longer. If the consignee refuses to pick up the shipment, the consignee abandons, you know, the shipment and says, oh, I don't, I don't have money to pay for it, I can't pick it up. That's when we get into different problems. You know that. Okay, then we need to figure out what we want to do and we all have to keep in mind that every country, every destination country, gives you a few days of free days. So when my shipment arrives in India with my contracts I have 14 free days. So for 14 days I'm not going to get billed for that container sitting at the port. But on that 15th day the clock will start and then, you know, all those charges for demurrage will start occurring for port charges, and then that becomes an expensive, you know, charge that will be billed back to the shipper here because he will have to take accountability of why his consignee didn't pick up the shipment or whatever happened. Dave: You know, and this is part of why you do your financial due diligence on the customers, because you need to make sure that they're a solid business. Solid business, the customer is going to pick it up. Yeah. Zohra: And sometimes we do the due diligence on the shipper part and you know we don't really know what the consignees are in different countries. So now we've started even collaborating with the US customs and you know we run the consignees also through our AES system and if there is like a faulty consignee, then that gets flagged in our system. This is something very new that we have started and we are proud to say that now we are going to run them also to make sure that you know what. There is utmost ease in this process, you know, not to say that when I run the check he's a good consignee and then in the 30 days or the 60 days of the transit something went wrong. Right, I'm not saying that's not going to happen, but at least at the time of the shipment we know everything is a green check, you know. So that's one extra step that we have started taking now, because of so much long standing in different countries are happening due to consignee abandonments. You know, people not paying the banks, lc issues, frauds, people have said that, oh, they are going to do it and then they don't do it. So because of that we are trying to do this extra check where at least the shipper is also at ease. We are also at ease at the time of shipment, and we have this great tool that the US customer is offering us, and so we've started using that as well. Dave: Okay, yeah. So let's instead imagine that this first container is by a friend of mine. Let's say he tells me oh Dave, these freight forwarders are just so expensive, I'm just going to do this all myself. Sure, I would say to them good luck, yes. I would say good luck, because this sounds like an impossible thing to try to do on your own Virtually impossible. Zohra: So a lot, a lot of customers or BCOs that I can say is like the direct shippers, like, of course, the Walmarts and the targets they have, they have a shipping department that does this, of course. But if you have, like, a small trader who's sitting out of Houston or probably New York, it is not worth his headache to do this, because there are lots of small nitty gritty things that are happening along the way, like, for example, I gave you this booking, okay, from Houston to Moondra. Now you have arranged for a trucker, the trucker is trying to pull an empty and my booking is not on file. Okay you are sitting and making a phone call to that line saying, oh, my booking is not on file. I have a trucker. Your trucker is charging you $65 because he's in line for an hour, gets to the terminal and the booking is not on file. I have a trucker. Your trucker is charging you $65 because he's in line for an hour, gets to the terminal and the booking is not on file. They're not going to let him wait there. He will have to go back in the line. So doing business with a forwarder is bringing you ease of these kind of kinks that are going to cost you financially. It is going to cost you a $65 dry run fee or a $65 detention fee for that guy to turn around and stand back in the line With us. We go ahead and we make sure that their booking is on file. Most of the time the depots are filled with containers. And again, I'm not saying that things don't happen. Of course things happen. But if you are a guy who's moving five to seven boxes a week, you don't have the time to sit and call for every booking and say, hey, is my booking on file? Is my trucker standing there? Do we have chassis, you know? Do the container depots have containers mounted on chassis? Do I have to take my own chassis? What's going on, at least with with us? We are telling them okay, your pickup is here, your booking is on file, go ahead, send the trucker again. Sometimes, when the trucker is there, some things happen. Then we can go ahead and fix it. I just feel like, because we are, our relationships are so much more deeper with the lines, you know what we can try to solve problem faster than someone trying to do this first time on their own or even if they've been in the business. Because these are painstaking things you know, like getting appointments to return. Like APM terminal in New York, it is a nightmare right now. It is a nightmare to get an appointment to return your box. So think about it. It. You pulled a box, you loaded it. Now you need to return it and your trucker is trying to get an appointment right and everything is showing full. Your cutoff is tomorrow. So you know those kind of hassles come in, which all come with the financial costs, and I'm not saying that you know what. Every time we will be coming to the rescue, but I feel like we have. So we have a good leverage to come to solve your problems, to make it easy to ship for you guys. You know our job is to make it easy to ship and you can have, you can have, you can be stress-free and you can concentrate on the growth of your business instead of worrying about how one container is going to move. You know yeah now, that's where we come in well, you've sold me. Dave: When I, if I ever get into the scrap metal business and ship to mundra, you'll be the first call thank you now I understand this now. This may be shocking, but I understand that there are other freight forwarders besides Sealink. Oh yes, oh yes, but help me understand, though I imagine that on the surface it's funny. Every business like when you're an outsider, it looks like a commodity, right, you know, it just looks like they're all the same. So if you don't know anything about, I don't know whatever like, let's say, farming equipment. To me, all farming equipment looks the same. I'm sure there's differences between them. Some do better at some things than others. Some are more expensive, some are cheaper, and so I'm sure that it's like that in the freight forwarding world. So give me an example that it's like that in the freight forwarding world. So give me an example. I'm sure that from time to time you get a call from somebody and says Zohra, my current freight forwarder dropped the ball once again and I'm fed up with them. I want to start using you all. Let's think back to maybe an example of that. And of course you don't mention the customer name or the prior freight forwarder. But what's a typical fact pattern that makes them shift from somebody else to you all? Zohra: so in in all these years of of me being at ceiling, the the majority people turn back to us is because of service levels. If there is a problem, I'm not going to run away. I'm going to sit with my customer, explain to them that this is an issue and we need to work together. It is going to cost. Let's come to that understanding that it is going to cost. Am I going to do my very best to make the cost minimal? Yes, yes, of course, though I know that the customer is at fault or the trucker is at fault, it doesn't matter. But we at Sealing believe that we are not going to haggle our customers when they are in problems to make a quick buck. We're not going to do that. We are never going to do that. So we make sure that if a customer is stranded like I'll give you an example right now, I have a situation I have a booking from A-Line Okay, and we got a container loaded. Okay, we got a container loaded. When the container got returned at the port, we got an email from the A-Line saying hello, this container doesn't belong to us. So then we started digging. We started digging, we found out that my customer had used another forwarder's booking for a line that ceiling doesn't work with. Okay. So there are seven, eight vendors we work with and two, three vendors we don't work with. Okay. So now I have a situation where I have a container loaded sitting in the port which my line is saying Zohra, I can't move it, it's not my box, I can't on hire this box because they won't let me. Though it is a partner box, they won't let me. You need to go to this line and figure out what you want to do. Now, zohra or ceiling doesn't work with this line. And my customer is frustrated because his forwarder, who gave him this booking, is saying oh, I can't do anything. You pulled a box now and my booking I gave it to somebody else so that booking is full. Now okay so now he has no space to accommodate this box here, okay, okay. So I'm not going to tell my customer. Oh, you know what? You got a booking from another forwarder on a line that ceiling doesn't work with. You figure out your stuff, because this container here is already accumulating demurrage, sitting sitting on the boat, which is $250 a day. So now yesterday what I did is I called the line that I don't work with and I gave them the whole rundown. I gave them the container number. I told them see, this is what is going on. I understand we don't work with you guys, but can you go ahead and help us? So yesterday they said okay, you know what, we can help you all. We are going to try to see we can reach out to the other forwarder and increase his booking and make sure that this can get returned at that point. Would that that other forwarder should have taken that step to help his customer, who is also my customer, but because of the service failure, or because maybe he doesn't, he was not able to understand how to problem solve this or troubleshoot this, or probably he just didn't have the resources to do it? I don't know. But if my customer came to me and is stranded. I am going to offer that help. I'm not going to be looking here to make a quick buck and say, hey, I don't work with this guy. Pay these 200 demurrage or go ahead and dray out the container. Pay $900 to dray out the container and then go back reloaded in my Steam Ship Lines box. Dave: I see so what happened in that scenario? Zohra: So now today I mean this is very live. This just happened like two days ago. So now today, hopefully you know, the line that I'm not working with has talked to that forwarder and hopefully we have increased his original booking and now we can attach this container to his booking. Go ahead and tell that line. Okay, please move this. Tell my customer. Go ahead, I have increased your booking. Please go to your forwarder, submit your shipping instructions and make sure your container gets on water on the next vessel. You will have some demerit charges which you will have to settle directly with the port, so they had to find space on the line that owned the container. Yes. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Yeah, the line that owned the container. So right now, because of so much of vessel shiftings, right, every vendor in the market whether it is Maersk, hapag, lloyd, zim, msc, all these lines are relocating services, they're readjusting services. Someone is coming into a new alliance, someone has come out of an alliance. There are lots of new vessels come into the market, larger ships come into the market, so everyone is adjusting a lot of vessels. So that is why it is very space, a space constraint. Right now. There are blank sailings, you know, to make sure that these new services are well adjusted for april. So, uh, so that is why there is this space issue. If there was no space issue, right, there wouldn't be a problem I see the other forwarder could pick up the phone and get it right right and the containers are owned by the shipping lines yes, the container. Dave: That's why, when I see a railroad when I'm sitting at a rail stop yeah comes by. Zohra: I see the maersk yeah, the big blue, because that's one of their containers yes, a musk or any, or a costco hat bag, they they all they all own their containers. Yes, correct, wow. Dave: So how, uh, it sounds like you have to work 168 hours a week, I mean, if you're in the service business yeah, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think moondraw is on a different time zone. Zohra: Yes, yes, yeah it's almost end of working day for them right now. Actually, before this, I was on my india office call. We have our own office in india as well, so we have a call with them once a week to just see what's going on, how's business, what can we do to support from here. So they were already, like you know, getting ready to go home, because it's almost eight o'clock in the night over there so is it safe to assume that you, that eight to five is not the sole hours that you work? there is no eight to five in this industry. No, there isn't. Dave: No, I mean my business you know, is to somewhat the same way. I mean, what I tell my clients is all you need to know about the ic disc is my mobile number. Yeah, that's it. That's all you need to know. Just call me, I'll take care of it. Zohra: Yeah, that's how we are, that's how we are. Customers call us, whatsapp us, email us and we try to service. We try to service. We are in the service industry. We believe our service is, is on top and if, and and I'm not saying c-link is the cheapest, I'm not saying that even at but we thrive on it because we know that. You know our customers, and hats off to our customers. Their support has got us here and they are willing to pay us an extra $25 for what we offer. We offer the app, we offer the service. All my sales reps are very in touch with the customers. They just don't sell and then you never see them. It's not. That doesn't work here. You know we do trade shows. We see our customers there make it a point at least two times a year. We are seeing our customers. We have FaceTime with them. So it's not like you're going to like have a salesperson. Dave: They sell you a rate and then they are gone. It's not going to be like that. Zohra: Your point of contact is your salesperson. Of course we don't want our salespeople to get in operations which they don't. Their work is to sell. But customer is not going to feel like isolated saying that, oh you know what. So, and so was my salesperson at ceiling. They sold me a rate and now have all these problems and I don't know who to go to. You know that problem will never arise. Like you say that problem will never arise like you say that, uh, your cell phone number is what they need for us. It's just just email email me or email one of my reps, and you will get a response, like I can promise that well, you all have a booth at the rima san diego show. Dave: I'll be sure to stop by, will you be wow? Yes, I'm gonna be there I'll be sure to stop by. Oh, that'll be awesome, yeah, we do rima every year? Yeah, we've been doing it for the past several years now okay, yes, so uh, uh, wow, I can't believe how the time has flown. Zohra: Yeah, it's um, it wasn't that bad, like I thought it would, I know. Dave: So, so a couple, so last couple questions what? What do you enjoy the most about your job, like what's the most satisfying part of your role within C-Link. Zohra: Helping my customers. Dave: Okay, I had a feeling that was it? Zohra: I really, really find it satisfying when I see an email saying you know, thanks, Zohra, you saved my life, you know, or you know like. Dave: Chad, he's our sales director. Zohra: You know, thanks, zohra, you saved my life, you know, or you know, like Chad, he's our sales director. You know he'll send out an email saying, okay, you're a miracle worker, not to me, but to my teams as well, right, because sometimes it's, it's very frustrating to get small things done right, and when that small thing gets done, then everything flows. So I feel like once you get them that ease, that, okay, now their cargo is going to flow. I feel, I feel satisfied, my teams feel satisfied, right. So I think, just helping out and making sure we are there, that's, you know, that's, I think, is very important, because if you're missing in this chain, your customer is just going to be stranded, you know. Dave: Yeah, no, that makes makes sense. So last two questions. So one's kind of serious and the last one's fun. So the serious one is um, if you could go back 20 years, and what year did you say you came to the uS? Zohra: I came in 2000. Dave: Okay, so if you could go, if you had a time machine and you could go back and you could give advice to yourself back in the year 2000, what advice or pep talk or insight, would you tell yourself? Zohra: you tell yourself that I should have started this earlier. I did. Dave: I don't know why I waited till 2006, okay, so yeah that you know that's the answer that every client gives yeah, that they, they didn't start the business, or they didn't do this because they were afraid or there was risk or whatever. And the advice they always, almost always, give is don't be afraid, take the risk, do it. Zohra: Yes, yes, I agree. So I'll give you a little background. So before I joined Shaizad, I was working at a wholesale jewelry place. We had, you know, huge wholesale and we had a lot of mexican um imported jewelry. You know, we used to sell a lot like. It was a very different, different field altogether. We used to supply to all the big stores and stuff like that. And then when shazad started this, you know, he told me he's like I don't know if I can, like we'll be able to afford a salary, or you know how it's going to be, because I'm just starting and and and we don't know. You know how it's going to work because right now I don't have overhead expenses. So think about it, right. So, like I said, he's a visionary, right. And he just told me one thing he's like I promise you that you will not regret, right. And at that point I feel he, he was all. He already taken the risk, he had already taken the risk, he had left his job at at another forwarder and taken the risk to start this. And when he told me that you know you won't regret, I just I just took the leap of faith and said you know what? This is it. If I think I would have like thought a little bit more and said, oh, I won't. I don't know how I'm going to replace my income or what's going to happen. I don't know if this is going to work. I feel like maybe we wouldn't be here. So I think sometimes you just take that leap and then leave it up to the big man up and I think it all works out with your hard work. But you have to put in the work, I feel. Dave: Sure, that is great. Well, my last question, a fun one. So in Houston we have a thriving Indian community and I have a lot of great Indian restaurants to choose from. So two questions. One if you want really good Indian food in San Antonio, do you have to go to your kitchen? Zohra: Or are there some good Indian restaurants in San Antonio? Actually, now there are a couple of good Indian restaurants in San. Antonio, I can say that you know. Dave: Because I'm guessing the Indian population in San Antonio is a lot smaller than Indian. Zohra: Yes, it is a lot smaller, but I can now say if you would ask me this five years ago, I would be like nothing my kitchen but, now I can say actually we just went to one day before yesterday and it was pretty nice. Dave: So yes, yeah, I think I am heading to Houston, uh, next week. Zohra: so I'm going to make it a point to go to one of the nice restaurants Indian restaurants to know, get some food, that's great, which I think. Dave: I think the yellow curry is my favorite. What's your favorite curry? Zohra: I think I'm not very fond of curries, but I think I'm not a big. I'm not a big curry person, so, but I think my favorite Indian food would be biryani. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Yeah, the rice with the meat. Yeah, yeah, I think that that is awesome. Dave: Well, Zohra, thank you again for coming on the show sharing your story, the SeaLink story and uh and sharing your passion. It really comes through that you and uh and Shaizad both have a passion for serving your customers, and that's really. It's always fun to hear that somebody's just really enjoying what they do. Zohra: Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you for having me and thank you for letting me talk about sealing, and I hope that whoever listens to this, you know, comes to us and uses us. Thank you. Dave: That sounds great. You have a great day. Zohra: You too, you too. Special Guest: Zohra Shroff.

This week on the Exciting & New podcast, Jason, Andy and Dana welcome Danny back on the show as they discuss the 1985 comedy/spy movie Gotcha!.   Do you need to put a period after the exclamation point, if the exclamation point is part of the title?  Anyway, Gilbert from Nerds is a college kid on the make in Europe and he hooks up with an American spy with the worst Czech accent on the planet.  There is some spy nonsense after that and I don't remember much after that.  It was kinda boring.  We rip on the cast a little, rip on the movie a little, rip on each other a little.  Even the most boring movie gives us some ammo to have fun.  Enjoy the podcast!.

In this episode of "Discovering Grayslake," host Dave sits down with Alan, a local lawyer, to discuss life, law, and community in Grayslake. Alan shares heartfelt stories from his legal career, insights into family and criminal law, and his passion for giving back through local organizations. The conversation is filled with humor, personal anecdotes, and reflections on Grayslake's vibrant spirit—from favorite pizza spots to community events. With a warm, hometown feel, this episode highlights the importance of connection, kindness, and supporting one another in the Grayslake community. Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze Speaker 1 00:00:03  Looking for a car dealer that actually feels like your hometown. Welcome to City Chevrolet of Grayslake, where the vibe is friendly, the pressure is off and you'll always be treated like family. Meet Anthony Scala. He's just not the owner. He's a guy that grew up in the car business, worked his way from porter to owner. Anthony believes in people first. That's why City Chevy sponsors your kids teams, your town events. And matter of fact, this show, they give back every chance they get. Anthony thinks that the experience of buying a car should be fun. No pressure, just honest people who care whether you need a new Chevy, a quality used car, or just service you can trust. City Chevy is here for you. Come visit City Chevrolet of Grayslake right off of 120. And thank you for sponsoring Our town. Our stories, our voice. Let's get after it. Grayslake. Grayslake Rehabilitation Center is a community based private practice physical therapy provider. Do you know they have 13 clinical providers with various levels of specialties including orthopedics, sports, neurology, vestibular geriatrics, pelvic floor and aquatic. Speaker 1 00:01:05  What did I just say? They have a pool. Well they do. And it's the largest indoor warm water pool in Lake County. Featuring two underwater treadmills and swim currents and recently added clinical treatment specialties. In layman's terms. Shockwave. They have both radial and focus units that are the newest tool in regenerative medicine available to everyone. They pride themselves on the most current and up to date specialized care to keep you moving. If you're looking for physical therapy, make sure to see our friends at Grayslake Rehabilitation. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Discovering Grayslake. I'm so happy to be here recording again at Agora Co-working. Agora. As you know, if you've listened to any of these shows, Agora is on the corner of Centre Street and Atkinson. It's a co-working place, so if you guys are looking for a place to get your, your business out of the house for a day, for an hour, for a week or a lifetime home, Luke over here is a great dude, and I'll be happy to help you out. Speaker 1 00:01:58  So shout out to Agora for having us here. so I'm not going to mess up your name because you help me. So I'm here with Alan and Ziggy today. That's right buddy. Speaker 2 00:02:07  Hi, Dave. Nice to see you. And, Hello, internet. Speaker 1 00:02:09  Yes. So, actually, it's funny that we, Just as we sat down, we went over just a short thing of all the people from Grayslake that we just from just the Grayslake people that we know we have in common. Speaker 2 00:02:20  Right? I was living in Grayslake for the last 15, 20 years, and, my family lives in Grayslake. My mom does still, even though my dad passed away and I've been active in the Grayslake Exchange Club for a long time. So that's how I kind of got to know the people in that business community, stuff like that. Speaker 1 00:02:35  Right. Okay, so when I got arrested for the third time when I called you and then I called you, and I've not been arrested. Speaker 2 00:02:42  I would not be able to disclose the details unless you told me it was okay. Speaker 2 00:02:45  So just let me know, and I'm happy to. But we have attorney client confidentiality, which prohibits me from talking about it. Speaker 1 00:02:51  Which means all the fun stories that I want to ask you about to tell me today. You can't. Speaker 2 00:02:54  I can tell you stories, but I can't say like, hey, you know my client, Sergio. Guess what happened, right? I can't say that, but I can say I had this one guy and this one thing. I could do that, right? Speaker 1 00:03:03  He looked a lot like Mike Steiner, but. Speaker 2 00:03:06  Nobody looks like Mike Steiner. No, Mike Steiner is like Mike Steiner. Speaker 1 00:03:10  Doesn't even look like Mike Steiner. Speaker 2 00:03:12  He's like a ten. I mean, he's like, maybe mistaken for George Clooney from time to time. Speaker 1 00:03:17  He gets that a lot. I am. Speaker 2 00:03:18  Sure. Speaker 1 00:03:19  Shout out. Shout out to right at home. By the way, one of the sponsors of. Speaker 2 00:03:21  The show is an okay. Speaker 1 00:03:22  Dude. He's great. okay, so, Grayslake has changed, but what is your job? Speaker 2 00:03:27  Okay. Speaker 2 00:03:28  I am a lawyer. Speaker 1 00:03:29  Okay. What kind of a lawyer? Speaker 2 00:03:30  Okay, so my background is as a prosecutor. And when I was a prosecutor with the state's attorney's office. I guess I'll answer this in a long winded way. The easy question is, I tell people at Christmas parties. Like, what kind of lawyer are you? Divorces and DUIs. Okay. Okay. Because that's an easy way to break down family and criminal law. Those are my two specialties. I'm in a law firm called Johnston, Tommy Lansky and Goldberg. I'm one of the founding partners of that law firm, and we do everything collectively. I have a partner that does real estate. I have a partner that does business formation. I have a partner that does wills and trusts. We do probate litigation, foreclosures. We do all kinds of stuff. But my particular role at that law firm is family. So your divorces, child custody, child support type cases sometimes, and then also criminal cases. And, like, I have a murder right now. Speaker 2 00:04:20  So everything from murders down to traffic tickets and suspended licenses. Speaker 1 00:04:24  Is that normal for me? Because this shows how much I know. Is it normal for an attorney to have such a broad range of things like that? Speaker 2 00:04:30  So for me, I want two things, you know, so two things is pretty normal. If you're a guy that only, let's say only does criminal, it's I don't know you people do that, but I like to have a second sort of, type of case because sometimes it ebbs and flows in what you're getting. You know, the family law cases are hourly. The, criminal cases are a flat fee. Usually both are great. The family law cases are more, I guess intellectually and emotionally challenging sometimes. Which which maybe surprises some people. My criminal cases are usually a joy. Like family law cases can be tough. Speaker 1 00:05:08  Yeah, and that's one thing, because, it's no secret that I've been divorced twice. And, you know, for the for the people. And many people listen to the show, I mean, just from the, from the age demographics that I know that if people gone through these, like, heart wrenching, terrible parts of their life where they need someone like you to help guide them through and and hopefully make it as easy as possible. Speaker 2 00:05:29  Divorces are hard. I mean, a lot of you that are listening, have experienced it or your parents did or whatever. So, divorces are very difficult for people, and the plan with me would be just to get them done on time and under budget with a handshake at the end. Speaker 1 00:05:44  Okay. And I've never heard that before because I, I unfortunately, you know, I was spending a lot of time in courtrooms and seeing stuff like that, that it seems like, you know, the guys maybe that aren't doing well, or maybe they need to pay off their boat or something, string things along as long as they can. Speaker 2 00:05:58  They okay. I would never cast aspersions. I tell you, you might be surprised. The family law bar in Lake County is mostly fantastic people. Yeah. most of those lawyers I really like, I get along with the strength of our bench, you know, which means the judges in Lake County is good. Our bench is good. Our bar is good. there are a couple of lawyers that I'm like, oh, I got a case with her again. Speaker 2 00:06:21  Oh, I got a case with that guy. Right? because sometimes the law, just like any maybe more than some other, professions, can attract people with, like, a type of personality. That's annoying. I don't know, I don't want to. I'm not a psychiatrist or psychologist, so I can't say, like, all my clients come in and they say, oh, my husband, he's a narcissist. Or like, he's gaslighting me. People like those psychological sort of terms from today. Like the now times. Like we didn't know what narcissism and gaslighting was in 1997, right? Or I didn't, but now I do for sure, because all my clients are like, he's gaslighting me, he's a narcissist, he's a blah, blah. Speaker 1 00:07:01  One minute your world is normal, the next it's gone. A flood, a fire, a crime scene. Your home shattered, your business shut down, your life on pause. But in the darkest hour, when chaos knocks at your door, that's when Servpro of Northwest Lake County shows up. Speaker 1 00:07:20  Not just a company, not just a cleanup crew, but neighbors, parents, coaches, locals who care. Drake and his team aren't just restoring properties. They're restoring peace, restoring dignity, restoring lives. So when your worst day arrives, call the oh no guy who becomes your, thank God guy. Servpro of Northwest Lake County, locally owned, nationally known, unshakable and trusted from devastation to restoration. Duration. Servpro, northwest Lake County. Speaker 3 00:07:50  Hey, neighbors, this is Bill Mack with the Grayslake Chamber of Commerce. And if you're looking for a network of hardworking, customer focused and generally friendly local businesses who are dedicated to helping each other succeed, then I'd like to invite you to check out and consider joining our Grayslake chamber. We offer our members so many ways to advance their businesses through social networking events, special events, sponsorships, informative lunch and learns, and the ever popular after hours mixers. Come see why we say we're the new wave of business here in Lake County. Speaker 1 00:08:22  Well, at this time of day, everything needs a label, right? Speaker 2 00:08:24  They throw those labels around. Speaker 2 00:08:26  Which, I mean, there's there's nothing wrong with it. it helps me to identify, at least. Now, I don't know if the person saying he's a narcissist means that. Really, she's right and he is a narcissist. Or if it just is helping me to flag this case is going to be a little bit tougher than maybe some other ones. Truth, right? I could see that. It's like one. Okay. Like in internet. Now, I'm sure people are, like, watching TikTok. Like red flag. Red flag. Like I see, yes, red flags when those kind of cases walk in. Speaker 1 00:08:56  Absolutely. Yeah. And I'm sure things changed like that too. Okay. So I want to go back a little bit because you have a it's a very interesting that for me, if I was doing your job I would love it that you could do one day like you have a murderer thing. Totally. But but then you can have a family law case or maybe help a dad get, you know, custody of his child. Speaker 1 00:09:13  Like, yeah, at least there's a little variety for fun, right? Speaker 2 00:09:15  It's interesting. I mean, today I had a couple of DUIs up, you know? And DUIs are like a bread and butter type case for a criminal defense attorney. Because most people, especially in Grayslake, especially in Lake County, they're not murderers. They're not gang members, but otherwise good dude or an otherwise good lady who is not necessarily manifesting a criminal intent. Like I'm going to go shoplift. It's a guy saying, I've had too much to drink, I'm gonna drive. He's making a dumb choice to drive home, but he's not having the criminal intent. Like I want to endanger somebody tonight. Right. Right. And so a DUI is usually the first time that somebody that's a good person is in hot trouble. Speaker 1 00:09:55  Okay. Gotcha. And, you know, it's got to be nice to, some of these, I'm sure, having satisfaction to be able to to help people out and help them navigate through things they have no idea what they're getting into. Speaker 1 00:10:05  Right. Speaker 2 00:10:05  So. Okay, I used to work for a really fantastic attorney in Round Lake Beach, and I want to make sure to give a shout out to Round Lake Beach. That is an awesome town full of super awesome people. And this lawyer I used to work with, named Bruce Scotland. He taught me a lot. And he's still out in Round Lake. He's a competitor of mine, but I really respect him. And when I started working for him, he. He said, Alan, we love helping people for money. And I'm like, yeah, I love helping people for money. Right. Speaker 1 00:10:34  Well put. Right. It wouldn't be as fun as if you didn't get. Speaker 2 00:10:37  Paid for it. No, but I mean, and that, you know, it's a business. You want to help people? Yes. For money. Right. Right. So. And I'm not trying to sound cold, I do some pro bono. I know it's me, but I don't do pro bono divorces. Speaker 2 00:10:47  No way. They're too hot. They take too long. I'll do a pro bono traffic ticket. I'll give people. I used to volunteer at a safe place, and they have a, a battered women's shelter in Zion. And I used to go there, and I used to talk to the ladies about free legal advice. How can I help you? What do you. They have questions about everything, and I would just volunteer and talk to them. I love that, but, a really hot case to do pro bono is is a big mistake for attorney, in my opinion. Yeah. Attorney in my position, I'd say right. Speaker 1 00:11:16  Okay, so the one thing that really, that I found appealing when I was looking through, when we got connected and I went through your website and I was looking at things like places, like a safe place, like, those are people that really need help, right? Yeah. It's tough. I tip my hat to you for going in there and helping out, because I know there's a list of different things that that you do to give back, which is which is extremely generous of you. Speaker 2 00:11:39  Thanks. I just I just signed up to do the mock interviews at Libertyville High School. That's a cool program. Yeah. Cool. That high school has a really good program where they have these kids that are in the business class, and you give them mock interviews to, you know, improve their skills, to hone their hone their interviewing abilities. And I was blown away by how great the kids were. Really? I was like, you're really smart. You're really smart. Wow. You're what an active, wonderful person. And I was like a bump on the log. When I was in high school, I wasn't active like. Speaker 1 00:12:10  I would have loved to seen what my interview would have been like in high school. Speaker 2 00:12:14  I don't know, they were fantastic, but. So some of the stuff I do, yeah. In Libertyville, I was been active in Grayslake because I lived in Grayslake for many years. over there on West Trail. my mom lives in Harrison Farms and, yeah, that's we were living in Grayslake ever since about the turn of the millennium. Speaker 2 00:12:32  So that that wave of people that like third wave of of immigrants to Grayslake that began in the 90s when the, you know, when they started building the subdivision. Speaker 1 00:12:42  Farms, right? Yes. I think that I was one of the first off the Mayflower to when I landed at Avon on the Prairie, one of the first ones off of Atkinson. That was like one of the first things that wasn't in, you know, Grayslake proper. Right. So to say. Right. Right. That's what we showed up. But but so then how long ago is that? Speaker 2 00:13:01  So we moved here in like 2001. Okay. So my mom and dad bought a place in Grayslake on West Trail North in Harrison Farms. And I remember the first day we came to graze. Like, I'm from Florence, Illinois. Speaker 1 00:13:12  Okay. I was just gonna say. Where did you originally come from? Speaker 2 00:13:14  I'm from philosopher. I went to Homewood Philosopher High School. I was born in Harvey, at Ingalls. and, But that's why sometimes I get, like, a Chicago accent. Speaker 2 00:13:22  I don't know, whatever. It's like, it's a but but floss more is is a nice town in the 90s. I mean, it's like the lake bluff of the south side. Yeah. So we we had a good time growing up. Speaker 1 00:13:31  They should put that on their sign. Speaker 2 00:13:32  By the way. Yeah. Right. The lake bluff off. Speaker 1 00:13:35  The. Speaker 2 00:13:35  South side. I need the. Speaker 1 00:13:36  T. Speaker 2 00:13:36  Shirt. I mean, it is. I mean, it's kind of like being the tallest midget, you know? I mean, but no offense to people that are little people. I love them, too. but, you know, I don't know where I was going at that. Speaker 1 00:13:51  Time of growing up in Hollywood or more. Speaker 2 00:13:54  Grew up there. So then I came to, I lived in Champaign because I went to school down at U of I and Champaign, and it was fantastic. And my parents moved up to to Grayslake. So I come up to Grayslake, and on our first day, the restaurant they took me to was Bill's Pub North. Speaker 2 00:14:08  Yeah, right. Engages like and I just thought in my mind I'm like, I'm in the woods. My parents moved to Wisconsin, you know, where am I? I'm like, this is the woods. I mean, here in Wisconsin, there's a polar bear hanging there and there's fish every on, on the wall. And I thought, this is this is great. And it turned out Lake County's not quite Wisconsin, but it's close. It's an interesting. Speaker 1 00:14:29  Perception, I guess if you've never been here. And that's the place they took, I had to. Speaker 2 00:14:33  The only thing I had done with Grayslake before that when my parents moved here, Let's go to Prairie Crossing. Okay. Because my aunt and uncle lived in Prairie Crossing, which is a interesting. I wouldn't say the word weird, but it's an anomalous little part of the world. Prairie crossing is. Speaker 1 00:14:51  Absolutely. Speaker 2 00:14:51  I had never seen anything like that before, because I think that community at the time was novel and maybe still is. so I thought that all Lake County was like that. Speaker 2 00:15:00  And then I saw Bill's Pub and I went, oh my gosh, I'm in Wisconsin. Speaker 1 00:15:03  What's going on? You have no idea. Speaker 2 00:15:04  Where you're at. Am I at the U.P.? I mean, how is ten feet of snow? You know, this is I came from 708. You know, the land of good pizza and terrible baseball. Now, here I am. Speaker 1 00:15:15  The lake bluff on the south side. Speaker 2 00:15:17  Right, right. Yes. Speaker 1 00:15:18  That's awesome. okay, so, when you're studying law. So when you went to, you went to U of, I, law school? Speaker 2 00:15:25  No. So I went to I was an undergrad at u of I. Okay. and then I went to law school at DePaul. Speaker 1 00:15:30  We're taking a quick break just to say hello, because everybody knows Nano and Nano knows real estate. And actually I believe that's the name of her Instagram page. So if you're looking to buy a home, sell a home, or know somebody in the market for a home, contact nano from Baird and Warner. Speaker 1 00:15:44  She's a Grayslake girl helping out Grayslake people. And when you when you went to law school, did you know what you wanted to practice? Speaker 2 00:15:52  Yeah. So I don't mean to be, like, whatever, a little bit, emotional or emo in the, in the interview, but it was September 11th of 2001. Right. And you probably remember that day, but I could remember that day. I wanted a date with the girl. I looked in the sky and I saw there was no jet contrails. What a what a crazy day. And after that day, I thought to myself, I would like to be in law enforcement because I'd like to help our country for, I don't know, because America, I like America. Amen. And I was mad. Oh, I'm nine over 11, right? I mean, come on. Speaker 1 00:16:27  Everybody was. Yes. Speaker 2 00:16:28  So. But after that, I thought I'd go into criminal law. I thought I wanted to be a prosecutor, So then I got a job with Mike Waller, at the State's Attorney's office. Speaker 2 00:16:39  And I tell you, you know Mike Waller, I owe him everything. I love the guy. I know some people don't, but he's a politician. There's people that hate his guts, people that love and support him. He always was a gentleman to me, and I never. I just thought that, the decision making he made was good, and he gave me a job saving my bacon. You know, and so I got to begin my career as a prosecutor. And I was a line assistant state's attorney in Waukegan. They start you off as a DUI assistant. So, you know, brand new 25 year old kid. I was prosecuting DUIs. Misdemeanor DUIs. Right? Misdemeanor traffic cases out in the branch courts. And that was very good. Fulfilling. Fun work, I liked it. Okay. You know, you did. and then, they switched me to just misdemeanor stuff. And I was prosecuting your retail thefts. And back when weed was illegal, I was prosecuting your weed cases and your trespassing. Speaker 2 00:17:31  And here's your fights. And then they stuck me in the domestic violence division for a long time. Speaker 1 00:17:35  Okay, so how was that? Speaker 2 00:17:38  Okay. You know Lew Frank. Of course. Okay. Lew Frank is a fantastic Grayslake. And he would say felt like five minutes underwater, you know, to to be a line assistant in the domestic violence courtroom is hard. Speaker 1 00:17:55  I. Speaker 2 00:17:55  Bet. Because you have to look at the cases. And so, like, are you familiar with the cycle of violence? This is this theory. Speaker 1 00:18:02  I am not. Speaker 2 00:18:03  Okay. So it's a theory that's a big part of criminal prosecutions of domestic violence. And the cycle of violence goes like this. Right now we're having a fight, and I'm going to use the gender of he and she, you know, whatever. But sometimes women can be the victim of domestic violence. Sometimes guys can. But in a classic situation, let's say he slaps her. Okay. Then she calls the police. He's arrested. But then in a few days she's like, maybe he's not that bad or I need him out of jail so he can, like, work and pick up our kid from school. Speaker 2 00:18:35  Like you've been a parent, you know? And so maybe she takes them back and then they have a honeymoon period where it's, like, passionate, like we love each other, and then it can happen again, you know? And that cycle of violence. The State's Attorney's office was really keen to interrupt it. Right. But then that meant that lots of times you'd have the victims, I guess recanting, they'd say, hey, that didn't happen like that, or I'm not coming to court, you know? And so that was frustrating. And then sometimes you had cases, not all, sometimes you had cases where it was a situation where the family's going through a domestic violence thing. Maybe. But maybe what it really is, is a child custody thing. And somebody ringing the bell of domestic violence to get a leg up on somebody in a child custody type proceeding. Right. Like, like I'm going to get an order of protection against him. So I get our kid, which, I mean, I get that, but you need to really be careful about abuses of the system. Speaker 2 00:19:32  So as a line assistant with the State Attorney's office, as back then, I mean, things have changed a little bit now. They have had two different, changeovers between the state's attorney. but anyway, long story short, you still have to use your discretion to decide what really happened. And at least at the time I was a state's attorney, we were empowered with a good amount of discretion. It was awesome. Speaker 1 00:19:53  Really. Speaker 2 00:19:54  So. Speaker 1 00:19:54  Yeah. And and I'm sure with that, too, like, you probably get to be a really good read of people. but then sometimes you probably think you are and then people bamboozle whatever. And you probably don't even know. Speaker 2 00:20:06  I mean, you ever been lied to about your own kid, right? Speaker 1 00:20:09  I mean, you believe. Speaker 2 00:20:09  Him, and then you believe him, and you're like, I have egg on my face. I was lied to in kind. You know, so sometimes, you know, you just you don't have a, a lie detector that buzzes when she lies or he lies, you don't know. Speaker 2 00:20:25  So you have to do your best with what the facts are. But there was a good team at the time. But yeah, I did. Two and a half years as a as a domestic violence prosecutor. And then so when I left the State's Attorney's office, I thought to myself, well, I've been doing family law cases basically already. I may as well do them as a business. Sure. You know, so that's what I did. So now my practice is a hybrid. That's why I say divorces and DUIs. It's family law cases. And then it's criminal law cases too, because I've done all that. Speaker 1 00:20:52  Wow. So your resume is quite deep for all kinds of different things, right? Speaker 2 00:20:58  I guess. Speaker 1 00:20:59  Right. Speaker 2 00:20:59  You know, it's just like, I don't know how other people get through life. This is just what I did. Right. Speaker 1 00:21:05  Well, and everybody, you know, people look at different people, whether you're a doctor, whether you're a lawyer, whether you're a podcaster, where whatever you do that, everybody does something for a line of work that, you know, people are. Speaker 1 00:21:16  You deal with very delicate situations, people going through stuff. And especially the one thing about the family law stuff, it it must be hard for you to stay. You have to almost train yourself to not get emotionally involved in some of those things, right? Speaker 2 00:21:28  I sometimes. Speaker 1 00:21:28  Do. Speaker 2 00:21:29  I remember my first adoption. You know, we had a case that was a very ugly family law case, and it went on a long time. And then at the end of it, the dad, he agreed to put the child up for adoption. To the mom and her new husband. Okay. So the dad was making a very hard choice. Because, I mean, to give up your child, you know, and to look in the mirror and say, all right, I wasn't doing that good of a job. This new dude who's married my ex girl, he'll do better in the best interest of my child. It takes kind of like a man to do that. Speaker 1 00:22:06  Oh, that's a big decision, right? It's a big leap of faith. Speaker 2 00:22:08  But on the other hand, too, you know, maybe people are judging him about. You walked away from your kid, you didn't fight harder. So it's very tough, you know. And that's the type of case I remember I had, like, one manly tear going down my. Speaker 1 00:22:18  Face. Speaker 2 00:22:19  Looking into my steely eyed gaze. No it wasn't. I was bawling like a baby. I was so happy for them, you know? But also that's that's. Those are big moments. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:22:30  So you cool stuff too? Yeah, right. And to see people come through stuff that they deserve that the, the law can either work in your favor or against you. And it's nice when it actually works, right. Speaker 2 00:22:40  It's hard. I will say, okay. I was worried as a kid that I would come into the law and see a lot of weird stuff, like judges tossing cases in exchange for Cubs tickets. I have never seen any of that in Lake County. Really? I have never seen anything crooked or weird. Speaker 2 00:22:58  Everybody's been really professional. I mean, and I'm like, me that right? It's not just because I want to keep on working with these people. Most of them are fantastic. Speaker 1 00:23:06  Well, well, the Cubs have been doing that. Speaker 2 00:23:08  Well, no better than the White Sox, sadly. Speaker 1 00:23:11  Now, if somebody did something bad. Speaker 2 00:23:12  For White Sox. Speaker 1 00:23:13  Tickets, we really question what. Speaker 2 00:23:15  I heard. You could buy some chili at Wendy's and you get free season tickets to the White Sox, right? A cup of chili at Wendy's. Speaker 1 00:23:22  So well. In all seriousness, it is really good to hear you say that because, you know, everybody watches all these TV show, every law TV show and court TV show that people have this fantasy of things, how how they how they go along. Speaker 2 00:23:34  I don't ever watch any legal TV at all. Ever. I just don't. That's probably a good idea. The last legal movie was probably Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, which is a fantastic movie. Speaker 1 00:23:46  Very serious movie about the law. Speaker 2 00:23:48  I don't because I like do it for a living. And then honestly, at 502 when I'm at home, I'm like, I'll see you tomorrow. That sounds like a a modern day problem, al. Speaker 1 00:23:58  Right. Right. Speaker 2 00:24:00  So no, because otherwise you go insane. Speaker 1 00:24:02  No. Yeah, well, everybody needs a break from their job. Nobody wants to go home and do it. And that's why, you know, I've been self-employed for a very long time. That's why most self-employed people end up getting in office in hopes that when you go to the office, you can leave and leave your work there and go home. And if they can make that work. Speaker 2 00:24:20  That's why I don't work from home. Ever. Speaker 1 00:24:22  Yeah, well, good for you. Speaker 2 00:24:23  I mean, I guess ever is a word, I mean. I, I don't. Never say never. I don't like to work from home. And I very, very, very seldom. Speaker 1 00:24:30  Do. Speaker 2 00:24:30  It. Speaker 1 00:24:30  Right. Okay. That's good. Speaker 1 00:24:32  let's do something, because I have a couple other questions to ask you, but, you've said you've listened to a couple of podcasts. Sure. so we do something about halfway through. I call the Grayslake hot seat, where we have some rapid fire questions to get to know you just a little bit better. Speaker 2 00:24:45  I ain't scared enough. Speaker 1 00:24:46  Remember when you said, are these open ended questions, or is this an interrogation or whatever? I ain't scared, right? The Grayslake hot seat is brought to you by Joe Velez, JP financial. It's often said that those who fail to plan are planning to fail. Joe Velez and his team at GPB financial create unique financial plans that are some of the most difficult challenges that people might face as they get older, no matter what stage of life you're in. Having a proactive financial plan can help navigate some of the difficult decisions you'll face, helping you live your life by design, not default securities and investment advisory service offered through Mosaic Wealth, Inc. member Finra, SIPC. Speaker 1 00:25:26  Now for the Grayslake hotseat. Hey. Thanks, Joe. This is where we need the, This. We should have done with a surveillance camera to do this, I think would have been really good. Speaker 2 00:25:36  I've seen lots of those police interviews. I'm looking around for the mirror with the guy behind it. Speaker 1 00:25:42  It's just. It is behind there. We just have the, newer ones, so to say. okay. So, Grayslake. Casey, did you play a, a sport in high school in the lake bluff of the the swimming. Speaker 2 00:25:58  I was on my country club swim team. The floss. More flyers. Yeah. Wow. Speaker 1 00:26:03  Yeah, that sounds bougie as all good. Speaker 2 00:26:05  It was kind of bougie, but, I mean, at the time, I didn't think it was. And at the time, I thought I looked fat in that Speedo. But now I look at those pictures, I'm like, you looked awesome, right? Speaker 1 00:26:13  Well, you got to look back. Speaker 2 00:26:14  Were you wearing a Speedo and everything? It was the 90s. Speaker 1 00:26:17  Were you good? Speaker 2 00:26:18  I mean, okay. Okay. I didn't come in last place because I'm kind of tall, right? And they made me swim a lot. I mean, in the morning, they would say it's 7:00 in the morning, do a bunch of laps. And when you're 14, 15, 16, you do that a lot. You get to be fit. Speaker 1 00:26:32  Oh, absolutely. It's the best. Speaker 2 00:26:34  That was nice. I like that I played T-ball as a little kid. but no, swimming was my jam. And then I became a lifeguard. I was a lifeguard for the H.F. Park district. That was fantastic. Speaker 1 00:26:43  Yeah, that's not a bad gig to have. Awesome gig. Yeah. Nice. First car. Speaker 2 00:26:48  Well, Volvo 740, a blue baby blue Volvo 740. Speaker 1 00:26:52  Nice. I'm a Volvo. Speaker 2 00:26:54  It helped me get one of my first girlfriends who was, honest to God, a Swedish foreign exchange student at my high school. No way. Anne-Marie. Honest to God. Speaker 2 00:27:04  And she. Speaker 1 00:27:04  Got her with a Volvo. Speaker 2 00:27:06  Because they make them in Sweden. And she. She sees it and she goes, oh, she goes, what an awesome car. But I wish it was a Saab. Speaker 1 00:27:14  You did? Speaker 2 00:27:15  She did. Totally. Speaker 1 00:27:16  That's so great. And, folks, I want you to listen closely. Maybe. Hit the rewind button there, because that is the first and last time you'll ever hear on the show about how a guy got a girl because of a Volvo. Speaker 2 00:27:25  That was unlikely. Speaker 1 00:27:27  The only reason that it will happen, totally. Speaker 2 00:27:29  But it was it was. That was my Volvo. It was my in with the Swedish girl. I was fine by me. Speaker 1 00:27:34  That was hilarious. Yeah, and they don't make many blue ones like that either. So it. Speaker 2 00:27:38  Was cool. It was a baby blue Volvo. I mean, whatever, I don't think it was. No, it wasn't cool, but it got me from A to B and. Right. Speaker 1 00:27:45  Whatever, man. Speaker 1 00:27:46  Hey, I got 200,000 on mine sitting in the parking lot. Speaker 2 00:27:48  I had a Dodge Neon for a while. I love that Dodge Neon. Right. I can talk about cars. Speaker 1 00:27:51  Yeah. You were, Yes. The the, two of the hottest cars. I could think of. Hot stuff in my head. speaking of that. So this is what? Oh, maybe this would be a fun one for you. What's the fastest you've ever gone in a in a vehicle? Speaker 2 00:28:06  Well, I got, like, an airplane, like. Speaker 1 00:28:07  No, no, no, we'll leave that out. Speaker 2 00:28:09  Like in. Speaker 1 00:28:10  A car. In a car. Speaker 2 00:28:10  I don't know, a hundred. Speaker 1 00:28:12  Just a. Speaker 2 00:28:12  Hundred, you know. Yeah. Because, I mean, I was a kid and stepping on it. Right. And nowadays, if you do that, like, I never do that anymore. I don't speed anymore. I don't, because the consequences. And I don't mean like death and dismemberment. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:28:24  That happens. Speaker 1 00:28:25  That's all legal consequences. Speaker 2 00:28:26  Yeah. The cops light you up, you know, and the the cases are class A misdemeanors. and they're punishable by up to a year in jail and or a fine of $2,500. Speaker 1 00:28:36  Wow. Speaker 2 00:28:37  Back when I was a prosecutor, I became friends with some police. And maybe they don't say this anymore, but I used to hear nine year fine, 11 year mine. Okay. All right. Which is consistent with my lived experience. Speaker 1 00:28:49  Of going nine miles over. Speaker 2 00:28:50  Nine year fine 11 year. Mine is what the police would say. And and that bears with what I've seen during the time that I've, I've done lots and lots of traffic tickets as a, as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney. And you never see somebody getting pulled over for five over. Right? You know, they are looking at you for 11 to 15 starting at 11, maybe 15 now 20. They want you right? You know, but like I said, nine. You're fine. Speaker 2 00:29:15  11. Your mind. I think that's pretty good. That's the advice I give a lot of the kids that I represent. This is. Speaker 4 00:29:20  Bob Churchill. I know you are always there for your family, caring for your children, your spouse, and even your parents. But in critical times, will you be able to make decisions that assure the best result for your family? Power of attorney may be necessary if, on behalf of a loved one, you need to talk to a doctor, a bank, or the college infirmary. A power of attorney may sound daunting, but the lawyers at Churchill, Quinn, Hamilton and Van Dantzler can easily create this document for you. We are right here in Grayslake supporting the community for over 122 years. Reach out to us at Grayslake law.com or call us at (847) 223-1500. Whether you need a power of attorney, a will or legal help with your business, we'll take care of you so you can care for others. Go to Grayslake Law.com today for more information. Have a wonderful day. Speaker 4 00:30:09  And now back to the program. Speaker 1 00:30:11  Interesting. That's good advice, too. which is funny. I won't tell you how fast I've gone then, because I would not have been fine. Tell me something. Do you like to travel? You have not been. Speaker 2 00:30:25  So I've been like Johnny Cash. I've been everywhere, you know. I have been to lots of different places in this country because my wife is a maniac for travel. She loves it. And we have little kids and we take road trips. But we had little kids. Now they're getting old. my oldest is a sophomore in high school. Speaker 1 00:30:40  Oh, my gosh, it goes fast. It does it really. It just moves. It moves moves, moves so fast. And then I think I heard you have a ten year old too, right? Speaker 2 00:30:46  He's he's a wonderful guy. Awesome guy. but yeah, I have a of a 16 to 12 and a ten, and we've always done road trips around the country. you know, I don't know, early ones where? Tennessee and Kentucky, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, all through Wisconsin. Speaker 2 00:31:00  Indiana. Out to Maine. East coast, Florida. A lot of times we've flown out to California, Utah and Nevada. so around the country And then, like I used to, I lived in Europe briefly. I lived in London for a few years. Speaker 1 00:31:14  Did she really? How cool is that? Speaker 2 00:31:16  My mom, she was a lawyer at, Amoco. Right. The the gasoline company, you know, Amoco. They used to have that big white tower in downtown Chicago. The Amoco building, right? Absolutely. Formerly Standard Oil of Indiana. John Rockefeller's thing. And then they trust. Busted it. Whatever. Monopoly busted it. Right. So. But Amoco, if you remember, in the 90s, merged with BP, British Petroleum. So they moved my mom's job from Chicago to London. So we lived there for a while, and I was kind of in school in champagne and going to London in the summertime. That was awesome. Speaker 1 00:31:47  Oh yeah, especially at that age. But it was really cool. Speaker 2 00:31:50  I worked at a bar. I worked at a pub called the Prince Albert Stafford. That is the guy. It was awesome. Speaker 1 00:31:58  Folks, this isn't a real interview. Just so you know, I just brought one of my buddies in. Speaker 2 00:32:02  I worked at a at a pub called the Prince Albert, and it was in, Notting Hill. Right. You remember Notting Hill with the Hugh Grant movie? You've probably never seen that movie. Speaker 1 00:32:11  I've seen the movie poster. Speaker 2 00:32:12  I saw the poster. Yeah. So Hugh Grant, I thought he was good in the dad movie. But I never saw Notting Hill. But I worked in Notting Hill. so. Yeah, I don't know. Travel places. Speaker 1 00:32:23  There's nothing that you have, like a bucket list. Like I gotta. Speaker 2 00:32:26  Go. Like I don't need to go to Thailand. I don't know. I guess if I had infinite money, I'd travel Europe again, I like it. Sure. Speaker 1 00:32:32  You know, when the. The age of your kid. It sounds like you did your traveling and you did what you wanted to. Speaker 1 00:32:36  And your kids have got, like, some of the best education that kids can get is traveling all over the United States because the United States is cool. Speaker 2 00:32:43  It's fantastic. And like when you travel the United States, like the other day I was coming back from Florida on I-65. We stopped at the Bucky's in Athens, Alabama, which is, you know, a Bucky's is like a like a, you know, if you, you know, a Bucky's, of course. Yeah. It's a giant gas station in front of a giant Walmart, basically. You know, or maybe more like a Kmart. Speaker 1 00:33:03  But one of my favorite places, one of my favorite things, if anybody goes on TikTok right now, there's a woman that explains what Buc-ees is and is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I love it. Like, if you want to feel like your true, true white trash, she explains exactly what it is. And because we all get excited to go to a Bucky's right. Speaker 2 00:33:22  My kids were stupid excited. They were. And I'm like, guys, it's a gas station that's in front of a K-Mart. What are you talking about? You know. Speaker 1 00:33:29  Exactly what. Speaker 2 00:33:30  It is. I mean, whatever. Back in the old days, Kmart used to have barbecue sandwiches, too. True. Speaker 1 00:33:35  You just couldn't get a puzzle. A sweatshirt and a, you know, corned beef sandwich? No. All at the same time. Speaker 2 00:33:40  It's a fancy dress I've traveled around. It's great. I like. Speaker 1 00:33:43  The train. I like the Bucky's. Was one of the highlights on your trip. Kept coming back. It kind of was. It's kind of. It's kind of fun. And we're getting one close to here now. I keep seeing the signs. God love. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:33:53  God love them. I hope that they take over. I'm ready for Bucky's to be the only employer in the United States. Speaker 1 00:34:00  Did we talk? What was your first job when you were. So you lifeguard was a lifeguard? Speaker 2 00:34:05  Yeah, I was a lifeguard. Speaker 1 00:34:05  Did we call that a job? Is that a job? Speaker 2 00:34:07  Oh, really? Man. Lifeguard. It could be my career. That is a fantastic job. Speaker 1 00:34:12  Maybe when you want to retire, you can go back and be a lifeguard. Speaker 2 00:34:14  My uncle, actually, he was like a car salesman and stuff. And then when he retired, he used to be a lifeguard at his, you know, apartment complex. Like, that's a great job, dude. Come on. Speaker 1 00:34:24  Wow. Maybe when I grow up, I'll look into that. Speaker 2 00:34:26  Be a lifeguard. Speaker 1 00:34:27  It's cool. I'm gonna. Speaker 2 00:34:28  It's cool. Speaker 1 00:34:29  I think it could be a. Speaker 2 00:34:30  Tad creepy. Speaker 1 00:34:31  If I applied at the Grayslake pool right now. Speaker 2 00:34:33  No, I mean, they need people that with with with maturity and experience. Yes. You know. Speaker 1 00:34:39  I have a shirt that says that that's for my requirements. Speaker 2 00:34:42  And it was nice. And I worked at Jewel. I worked at the library in summer. I mean, it was great. Speaker 1 00:34:47  So you had a lot of different jobs? Yeah. Speaker 1 00:34:48  So you actually were taught some work ethic as a as a child from your parents as well? Speaker 2 00:34:53  Well, they worked hard. My parents, they loved each other. They stayed together the whole time. They were both lawyers. They worked. And I just wanted to work. Right. Speaker 1 00:35:01  I don't know. They said very good examples, right? That's awesome. first concert you ever attended? Speaker 2 00:35:07  Man, I don't know. okay. It was, the World Music Center, right? Yeah. Q101 had one of those concerts that's like, not it wasn't, not not, Twisted Christmas. It's the one they did in the summertime. And I remember that garbage. Jamiroquai. Mighty, mighty. Speaker 1 00:35:27  Boston's nice. Speaker 2 00:35:29  Were there. I mean, that's, like, awesome. And I went with a Swedish girl. Really? So. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:35:34  Did you drive the Volvo. Speaker 2 00:35:35  There, though? Maybe I might have got dropped off by my parents, so. Speaker 1 00:35:39  Good, good. Good concert. Speaker 2 00:35:41  I saw the Smashing Pumpkins down there, but that was a different day. Speaker 2 00:35:44  Oh, nice. Billy Corgan, love that guy. Speaker 1 00:35:46  Yeah. He, Billy was at that because I had forever. I forget that where they're from, around North Shore. Yeah, right. And I was hanging out, and I was doing a daddy daughter dance, and a guy came up that looked a lot like Billy Corgan and asked for a song. And I had told him no. Yeah, because it wasn't really. It wasn't really appropriate. Yeah, right. And then somebody came back and one of the people said, well, Mr. Corgan asked for a song, and I guess you told him that you weren't going to play it. And I'm like, okay, well, it just didn't fit with what we were going to do, because I like to think that I do the right thing, right? You do the wood, you work music, you do the right thing for the party. You got to know your audience, unless it's Billy Corgan. And then you just say. Speaker 2 00:36:23  Do what he says. Speaker 1 00:36:24  Right? Speaker 5 00:36:24  Despite all my rage, he's awesome. Speaker 2 00:36:27  It was the best. Speaker 1 00:36:28  And it wasn't a pumpkin song, though. Speaker 2 00:36:29  Oh, that's too bad. Speaker 1 00:36:30  I wish I knew what the song was, though, to look back. Speaker 2 00:36:32  I would think that Billy loves putting on pumpkin songs. I would think that he lists the pumpkins all the time. Speaker 1 00:36:38  He's driving around right now listening. Speaker 2 00:36:40  To all these new stuff because his old stuff is for posers. He's like that old stuff. I'm over it. Only my new stuff. Only Billy and Machines have got to listen to right now. Speaker 1 00:36:48  Yeah. That's hilarious. if you had to have a superpower, what would it be? Speaker 2 00:36:54  Being the greatest golfer ever. Speaker 1 00:36:57  Really? Speaker 2 00:36:57  Yeah. Speaker 1 00:36:58  Come on. That would be good. But then you wouldn't have. Would it be any fun? Because then you beat everybody all the time. But yeah, you could play with people though. Speaker 2 00:37:05  Then you'd be good at golf. And that's what my dream would be. I would love to. Speaker 2 00:37:08  I'm not that good at golf. I wish I were okay. I practice and practice and the people that are naturally gifted, I look at them with such envy, you know? Speaker 1 00:37:17  Now, being a being an attorney makes you a better golfer, though. Doesn't like doctors and attorneys and like. Speaker 2 00:37:22  Yeah, yeah. And some of the attorneys really suck, which is great because I can just stuff them. You know, these old guys especially that that don't play that much. Oh, I'm way better than them. That makes me feel so good about myself just to stuff them. Yeah. Hey. Nice chat counsel. Oh. Speaker 1 00:37:38  That's fantastic. what do you wish you learned sooner in life? Speaker 2 00:37:43  Spanish. Really? Totally, dude. Speaker 1 00:37:45  It's a great answer. Speaker 2 00:37:46  Spanish. Speaker 1 00:37:47  Wow. Okay. So, you know, young people, people in high school, people go in and they're like. I have to tell them. It's probably one of the best things you can do. Right. As an education level, Just. Speaker 2 00:38:00  Your friends, your coworkers, your clients. You know, I mean, learning Spanish is awesome. I personally have a super awesome, legal assistant, and, she is bilingual and she helps me do so much. So I shout out to Crystal. Crystal, you're fantastic. But, like I said, if only I had paid more attention in school and I was better at Spanish, I wish. Right? Speaker 1 00:38:21  Yeah. No. And it's really. That's a great answer. I'm going to. Maybe I'll start learning a different language. have you ever eaten a roller dog from a gas station? No, really? With all the all the road trips you've taken. Speaker 2 00:38:34  I don't do that. Speaker 1 00:38:35  Maybe I'm smarter than me. Speaker 2 00:38:36  Because I'm worried about, like, dying from bacteria. Like it's. Guys, it's only ten more hours to Chicago. Stop 11. Speaker 5 00:38:43  Times. Speaker 2 00:38:43  Or having. Speaker 1 00:38:44  Explosive diarrhea on a. Speaker 2 00:38:45  On a road trip. You know, I don't either. I never eaten, I mean, I've bought stuff at gas stations, beer, I've bought smokes, I've bought lots of things. Speaker 2 00:38:53  if I'm gonna shop for food at gas stations, it's probably beef jerky. Speaker 1 00:38:57  They do have some coffee. Speaker 2 00:38:58  Beef jerky. Maybe some candy. Speaker 1 00:39:00  Okay, nice. what's the chance that, Bigfoot exists? Speaker 2 00:39:04  0%. Speaker 1 00:39:05  Really? Speaker 2 00:39:05  It's a hoax. Speaker 1 00:39:06  Really? Speaker 2 00:39:07  Yeah, I don't believe. I don't think so. Cryptids. Speaker 1 00:39:09  Really? Speaker 2 00:39:10  I'm not aliens. I'm not sure. Ghosts I don't believe in. Okay, okay. Speaker 1 00:39:15  All right. Okay. We were friends right up until. Let's see, what's the mark on there? 3605. Speaker 2 00:39:21  It's okay. You think that Bigfoot exists? Speaker 1 00:39:23  I. I think that the best, the best answer I ever got from it was from Doctor Terry Silky. our wonderful big. One of the biggest philanthropists in town. who's a orthodontic specialist for Lake County. Big shout out, Terry. he said that we think about all the things that we've gone through, like from history, from dinosaurs, to, like, all this thing. He's like, if you don't think it's a distinct possibility that we have a Bigfoot, maybe. Speaker 1 00:39:48  Maybe not today. Right. But maybe in the past. Like with all the things that we've had, he said. But, you know, this guy's been on 20 safaris and you've seen the whole thing. Speaker 2 00:39:58  You would think that there would be, like, Bigfoot heads mounted in the Smithsonian, you know. Speaker 1 00:40:03  Or at Bill's Pub. Speaker 2 00:40:04  Or Bill's Pub. Definitely. You know. I mean, there would be that. And I mean, the fact is, like, I know people lie and they sometimes lie for attention. So ergo, could it have been a hoax, too? Oh. Speaker 1 00:40:15  Maybe. Speaker 2 00:40:16  Right. Speaker 1 00:40:16  And actually, if anybody's watching, I just got this shirt as a gift. It's come from. It's from Logan, Ohio. And they have a, in the summertime. They have a Bigfoot festival there. Yeah. So my only thing is, if he doesn't exist, because this is this podcast is really about Bigfoot. It's not about you. Just so you know. Speaker 2 00:40:35  But I. Speaker 1 00:40:35  Hear you. But why or why is it such a big hoax everywhere? Then why do they have festivals for these? Speaker 2 00:40:40  Cute. I mean, like, people, you know? I mean, people, like, they think he's adorable. He's funny. He's like a meme. I think before memes. Speaker 1 00:40:47  Kill people, I think that might be. Speaker 2 00:40:49  What about Harry and the Hendersons? He was nice. Speaker 1 00:40:51  Yeah, that was just a. That's fiction. Like, he was nice, like Notting Hill. Speaker 2 00:40:54  He would always be like. He would always, like, hide bashfully in the closet. He's cool. Speaker 1 00:40:59  And John Lithgow, isn't that too? Speaker 2 00:41:00  He's nice. Right? He's always frustrated here. He does something. Speaker 1 00:41:04  Well, when I have evidence, I'm calling you. Speaker 2 00:41:06  Call me. I would love to be proven wrong about this, and I will. I would be happy to to to shake Bigfoot's hand. Speaker 1 00:41:12  Okay, good. Because now that we have these new phones that have better, you know, they focus better. Speaker 1 00:41:16  Now we'll get a clear picture of them, not just the fuzzy ones. Speaker 2 00:41:19  I only wish that Nessie was existing. The Loch Ness monster, that's my favorite cryptid. And I have never seen any good proof of that. That's a darn shame. Speaker 1 00:41:28  Yeah, well, hey, you never know. We're finding out all kinds of fun things these days. You never know. All right, so I think it's time we switch off of our hotseat. Questions that we've covered the really important stuff. Thank you. one thing I want to thank you for, because I know that you are a part of an organization, here, which is the Exchange Club. Yeah. so I know that, let's talk for people that aren't familiar with the Exchange Club. What is it? What is it based upon? Speaker 2 00:41:53  Okay, so the Exchange Club is cool. It's really an old organization. It's from, I don't know, 1913. And it is a group that I like in Grayslake because I just get together with my friends and have lunch. Speaker 2 00:42:05  Right. You know, so it's a bunch of business and community leaders. or not even, I mean, not at all. Some of them are just regular people. We have a, you know, like, I don't know, I want to say a retired teacher, not a community leader, but, you know, retired teachers come. And we had a retired accountant lady for a long time. And, you know, people that are just townies. Right. and, they come on, they have lunch where at first draft it's noon. if anybody wants to come to the Exchange Club, it's free lunch. Call me. (847) 549-0600. You can be my guest, but I like the Exchange club, because the main thing is that they plan big parties for the town. You know, they have the craft beer festival, you know, they do, stuff with, I got a taste of Grayslake downtown summer thing. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:42:46  And what did you change the name of all the time? Summer days. Speaker 1 00:42:48  Summer days, Summerfest. Speaker 2 00:42:50  They. but they they do cool stuff. They raise money and then they give that money away to kids in grades, like to go to school, right? Speaker 1 00:42:56  SIPs for scholarships. That's what the, the the craft beer festival is. Speaker 2 00:42:59  Yes. And then and it's good money. They're like, here's a thousand bucks, kid. And it's a Grayslake student that's a top student to go to college. You know, they do good stuff like that. They promote Americanism. you know, what is that? It is what? It's that Americanism is like liking 911 and being interested in our country and like. Right. You know, so it's a cool organization. Check it out. Speaker 1 00:43:21  Yeah. And I like all the nice things they do and the, the men and women that are involved in that. I happen to be fond of a lot of them. Yeah. I think the one day that I knew I knew nothing about the Exchange Club, and I think it was the day that you guys were doing your, you you had picked a couple of kids for scholarships. Speaker 1 00:43:36  You were giving them. And I saw these kids first. I was walking down to have an afternoon beer at the first draft or something like that. So I saw these two kids, like walking back to school and these big smiles on their faces. right? So I get to the bottom and a bunch of the Exchange Club members are hanging out, and to see these men that were standing there, and they were so blown away and so happy and so just straightforward, just happy about what they did. It was it made me really have a fondness for the organization. Speaker 2 00:44:05  And I just want to shout out to the Grayslake kids from North and Central. They're like really fantastic kids, you know? the some of the kids that are winning these awards, I mean, back when I was a kid, I tried to get good grades. I tried to do well in my tests, but otherwise I just went home. Speaker 1 00:44:22  How did I get so smart? Speaker 2 00:44:23  I don't, and they. And they have the energy, this boundless energy that is really. Speaker 2 00:44:27  It's admirable and kind of scary. So God level, I mean, whatever. Speaker 1 00:44:33  Which is. Speaker 2 00:44:34  Good. Don't you ever nap, you know, don't you ever eat too much pizza and then go to sleep, right, like me. So. Speaker 1 00:44:39  Right. Right. And especially as a high school kid. Right. And these guys are doing really, really well with things. Yeah. Speaker 6 00:44:44  Hey, Lake County, I know you know, a teacher out there that needs to be recognized. I'm Jodi, former educator, now realtor, and I'm here representing Educators Advantage. We want you to nominate a teacher of the month. Click the link in the show notes and nominate your favorite teacher. Make your favorite teacher feel appreciated and give them a shout out. Speaker 1 00:45:09  Cool! So I love to see people that get involved with organizations, especially like when going back, like the Safe Place kind of things. So explain this to me too. Are there more than one location for Safe Place? Because there's one in Zion. Speaker 1 00:45:21  Is there also one in Mundelein? Speaker 2 00:45:23  So okay, that is the family visitation center. Okay. Okay. That I believe has moved. Okay. So you'd want to check with Safe Place about the details for when I was involved in the organization. They had two places. They had a women's shelter. That was like a big apartment building in Zion, and it's tucked away. So you don't know about it, right? God love them. But then they also have a really important role that they play, having to do with, facilitating visitation or exchanges of parties that have, like ops against each other. Orders of protection. Yep. Okay. So you've got to go there. You, like drop off your kid in the front, and then dad comes in the back, and then they have like a meeting and they hang out for an hour and have pizza. And then there's people watching, like little child. Jimmy smiled when you saw dad. Right. And they take notes and they give that to the court and the safe place. Speaker 2 00:46:16  Like, honestly, so many exchanges, so much visitation just couldn't happen because of the acrimony between the parties. But for what a safe place does. So they're cool. They're they're fantastic. Speaker 1 00:46:27  I love them and it's nice. And I like places that are put together that look for the best for the children and to keep them safe to and keep, because sometimes just two people just don't get along. So that's a nice way to then get in there. Speaker 2 00:46:38  It's one of the toughest things about family cases is when you have a tremendous amount of acrimony, even like a good divorce, where it's just. I don't love him anymore. You know, you've got to co-parent the kid. But when it's a situation where it's like he raped me or he beat me up, or he right got 60 Y's or he. Whatever those cases, you know, the judges are very reluctant to totally shut out a parent. So they'll give him or her sometimes. Sometimes it's a her, you know, supervised visitation, wrangled by a safe place or supervised by perhaps somebody else, like a mom or grandma or whatever. Speaker 2 00:47:13  Okay. but those, those organizations that facilitate the, the best interest of the kid and the, the parenting time, the the courts. I don't know how they could function before that. That, safe place started doing that. Speaker 1 00:47:26  Yeah. No, it must be a really, really hard thing to do. well, one of the things that I really enjoy, I have to tell you, because I was having a conversation before we got together today, and a man was, who's potential, guest on another show was asking me my my, my motivations on why he wanted to come on. And the guy clearly, wanted to come out and just advertise his business. Right. And I was trying to explain to him that this these are the conversations you are having. You and I are having right now that I really like that. very soon, hopefully, we're gonna have Chief Myra chief of police on, because I really like humanizing. some people have jobs or positions that people don't really get to know, right? So if I had to hire somebody for a family attorney or a DUI attorney or a criminal attorney, I hope that I get to listen to the show so that they get to know your personality, to know that you're a human being, right? Speaker 2 00:48:16  My personality is is unique, but there are a lot of really good attorneys in Lake County. Speaker 2 00:48:21  I'm happy to help people. Whatever. Speaker 1 00:48:23  Yeah. Well, no. And I think it's nice. Speaker 2 00:48:24  I like to be humble. I'm not trying to. Well, you're very humble out there, right? I'm not. I'm not trying to be like. Oh, yeah. I'm like the only one around because I'm not, you know, and like I said, in Lake County, we're blessed with a strong bench and bar, right. You know, and honestly, I get along with just about all of them. Speaker 1 00:48:40  That's cool. Okay, so let's do this. because of people. So let's, to help our listeners out there listening. So let's talk. first of all, when starting to divorce proceedings like they're they know they're going to get divorced, maybe some advice on how they go about finding an attorney that would be right for them. Is that a hard question? Speaker 2 00:49:00  Yeah. So finding an attorney. I mean, a lot of people want to do word of mouth. They talk to their their cousin. Speaker 2 00:49:06  How you got divorced in Lake County. Tell me who you use and then call that guy. That's probably a good decision. Speaker 1 00:49:12  Not to tell you who not to use. Speaker 2 00:49:13  Right? Speaker 1 00:49:14  In their opinion, though, totally right. maybe the decision didn't go their way so it could be false information, right? Speaker 2 00:49:21  Totally. A lot of people just go to Google and they'll Google like Libertyville divorce attorney or Lake County divorce attorney or whatever. And you can get hits there. And you look at their Google reviews we have I mean, my law firm has fantastic reviews, but that's just because we try to just, I don't know, do a good job and then clear the case. You know, try to Because, like, if you take one guy's divorce case and you're like a vampire on his neck and you drain him till he's totally out of blood. Well, you know, that's one case, okay? I'd rather just, like, help a guy and then get a good review and help another guy and get a good review and help a guy and get a good review, and then just, like, kind of build it up that way. Speaker 2 00:49:56  That's way better, right? Speaker 1 00:49:58  And with integrity, when you're walking away, then you can sleep at night and make sure that you know that you can help people out. Speaker 2 00:50:04  I sleep. Speaker 1 00:50:04  At night. Right. That's good. Yeah. All right, so how about, DUI? Speaker 2 00:50:09  So. Okay. How to find a DUI attorney or. So same. Speaker 1 00:50:13  Thing. I know how to get one. Speaker 2 00:50:14  I know. Speaker 1 00:50:15  It's just not the. Speaker 2 00:50:16  Attorney. So, I mean, man, I use Lyfts now. Yes. You know, I, I really do I. Speaker 1 00:50:21  I cheapest thing to do. Right. Speaker 2 00:50:23  It's 20 bucks here and back and you don't have to worry about. Am I going to get in trouble. Right. You know, and you don't have to worry about. Am I going to hurt somebody or whatever? Speaker 1 00:50:32  So yeah, I heard somebody. Maybe it was another stupid social media thing I saw. But there again, like it was a $20 ride home, right? For, let's say I have to go from Grayslake up to Atkinson, like at the bar. Speaker 1 00:50:42  How many Lyft rides would it take to equal to a two? Would it cost to hire an attorney to go through the DUI process? Speaker 2 00:50:51  So I think it was NHTSA, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, one of those organizations, used to run a billboard campaign here in Lake County. And one of the billboards I remember was a picture of a kid blowing into a portable breath test. And there's the police cars, lights behind him, and it says, you just blew $10,000. Speaker 1 00:51:12  Most people have no idea what to do with their aging loved one who needs help. Well, there is a solution. A company that provides care and assistance to make your loved one feel right at home, at right, at home. Their mission statement is to improve the quality of life for those they serve. They offer extensive services personal and companion care, safety, supervision and transportation, fall prevention, dressing and bathing assistance. Medical reminders, meal prep, hospice support, ambulation support, stroke recovery, Parkinson's support, the list goes on and on and on. Speaker 1 00:51:43  If you have an aging loved one that needs help, call. Right at home. Most people prefer to age in their home rather than moving to an assisted living or nursing home. Right at home can make this happen. Contact right at home at right at home NHL.com or give them a call (847) 984-0103. Now back to the show. Speaker 2 00:52:02  You know, which I think is like not inaccurate. Speaker 1 00:52:06  Ten. Speaker 2 00:52:06  Grand right. Because like so the legal fees like, I don't know, cheap one 2500, you know, a hot felony DUI 568, whatever, $1,000. So that's good money there. But even for your first time misdemeanor DUI, you're spending 2500, $3,500 on a lawyer. And then you get the fines, the court costs. There are 3 or $4000. There's treatment that you must do, you know, so you do alcohol or risk evaluations and pay for the classes and then woo woo. It gets to be expensive. So yeah, you know,

- Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell- Bill Murray NYT Interview- Scion xB 2004- Any Person Is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert- Normal Distance by Elisa Gabbert

Jason, Andy and Dana welcome Danny back on the podcast to discuss what they were up to this last week.  Gotcha! coming this Wednesday.

 This is The Spoon, where Peter Anthony Holder is our guest, and we're Venice Beach for parkas.  Music By Doug And The Slugs  Bedouin Soundclash Nathaniel Rateliff Kim Mitchell Spoon Feeding Trailer Park Boys Malus Zine  Portrait Artist Of The Year Employee Of The Month The Men Of The Spoon Robbie Rist Chris Jackson Thom Bowers The Spoon Facebook Group The Spoon Facebook Page Email: the_spoon_radio@yahoo.com

Fresh from a techno festival, Andrew's planning an escape to Lion's Head National Park in Canada while working through therapy insights about procrastination.

Tornano Federico "Fedellow", Mirko "Gotcha" e Omar "dimagicmerchant" a parlarci dei giochi in uscita quest'estate. Regia: volmay

37:00 Context from the Whatever podcast that the tweet deliberately omits. Big thanks to Andrew Wilson for helping us find the timecode in that 6 hour stream! Join us on the show as we give our perspective on a clip that "exposes" Andrew Wilson for the FRAUD that he is! Or does it?

Just going through the email and everything, you know? Just going through the email. Let's do this. Let's go to the phones again. Let's go to, Joe in Rock Hill. Yes, sir. Hey, Bill. How are you doing today? I'm okay. Thanks for holding, by the way. Thank you. No. It's good because a great topic of why you have to escape blue states. I escaped Long Island, New York 3 Years ago because the corruption and this is on Long Island. This isn't even the city. It's just astounding. My taxes on on a home that was 1,900 square foot and a quarter acre of property was over $13,000 a year. Now that was property taxes, school taxes and town taxes combined. But you start seeing all the grips. You got teachers making $200,000 a year, superintendents of school districts making a half a million dollars a year. You got the county executive making $250,000 a year. His wife is in charge of the park parks department making $250,000 a year. He's brought up on corruption charges. The DA is brought up on corruption charges. The chief of police was brought up thinking he was the Old Beach, serial killer at one time. They haven't solved that case either. You you start seeing where all your money goes, and then I'm I'm driving on streets that have potholes that are taking out my rims. You call the town up. Well, that's not our problem. You know, it just and you look at the town employees. They all have the same last name. It it's just like you can't you can't defeat these people. And trust me, I tried for years involved in my local school boards. You start finding out the people elected to school boards are teachers in other districts, so they gotta keep the grip going. Right. Because if their contract doesn't get passed, then the one the district they're in won't get passed. It's it's such a uphill battle to try and fix these places, and and the last call is right. Until people really start going and serving real jail time, it it nothing will ever change. And the other problem is is these officials, the taxpayer always ends up paying the lawyer's fees because they were official employees of the town or or or or or the the the county, and and there's an obligation to pay these lawyer's fees, which turn out to be connected law firms that make millions of dollars fighting this stuff over periods of time. It's crazy. Yeah. I I've always I know some people are out of New York like yourself and some of the things they tell me about how deep and how winding it is and you're thinking, well, sooner or later just because of the law of averages, I should run into something that isn't full of grift. But you never do, do you? No. It it it just never you know? And to give you an example, okay, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. I was about eight years old when they started building it. I was still paying on my electric bill a surcharge for a power plant that was built and dismantled. And one of the reasons we had some of the highest electric rates in the country because they decided that it it we couldn't have an evacuation plan. They would never let it run. But every taxpayer or every investor on that project got paid out, and and and they're still paying for that power plant. The one school district that benefited for years, they at one point, it came out in in a newspaper article that they were paying for violin lessons for four students that was costing the school district $500,000 a year because of all the extra money they were getting from the power plant that never ran. Right. It's like the bridge to nowhere in California. Gotcha. Anyway I can't take it anymore. You the the best thing to do is to get out while the getting is good and go enjoy life somewhere where it's actually America. Yeah. Because I I I now I had a very rare full carry permit for the state of New York, because of my connections in law enforcement and stuff. But, I I sold my house there for max money. And if you would have told me in twenty something years what I would have sold my ...

Kiera is joined by Mark Rasmussen, CEO of Moolah, to talk about the landscape of credit card fees and how to reduce them, membership discount plans, and other bonus features offered by the dental payment tech company. (Pssst, Mark was last on episode 866, It's Time to Modernize Payment Processing!) Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I am super jazzed because I have a guest here who's going to help us with cashflow leaks, modernizing your practice, figuring out those membership plans, all the things that you need and want. We're going to talk about some case studies. This is one of my absolute favorite guests, Mark Rasmussen, CEO, owner, founder, Moolah. How are you today, Mark? Welcome to the show.   Mark Rasmussen (00:22) Hey, Kara, I'm doing fantastic. I'm doing awesome. So, so, so it's connected with you and your listeners and excited to get into all this juicy good stuff about revenue and payments and modernizing things. Let's do it. I love it.   Kiera Dent (00:31) Yeah.   Let's   do it. So I have a slight crush on Moolah. Like truly you guys like just make credit card processing easy. And so what I want to start off, if you guys don't listen, Mark and I have done other podcasts in the past together. ⁓ But I don't know, Mark, what you guys say on your email subject lines, like on your little, what is it your signature, but I feel like it should be like your new favorite credit card processing company. Like that's what I feel like Moolah's tagline should be because I wanted to do a couple case studies with you since we last chatted.   Mark Rasmussen (00:40) Hahaha   Kiera Dent (01:05) ⁓ Mark knows, like, I do have a crush on Moolah. I try to get them to come and be our processor too.   Mark Rasmussen (01:10) I need to like soundbite clip that,   like I have a crush on Moolah just like everywhere in social. I love that.   Kiera Dent (01:15) I   do. do because I like companies that make things easy, but also are like the cheapest on the market and credit card fees are one of my biggest beefs. Like really truly I get annoyed when I look to see how much credit card fees are charging. And when you guys, ⁓ deadly team listeners, just so you know, I'm going to throw it out there. Like anybody who goes through our link literally saves 10 basis points. ⁓   on it, which is huge to get anywhere in the credit card industry. So you're getting below that 2.99. So you're getting 2.89 on cards not present and 2.39. And I hope that Mark, I'm allowed to say that because I'm just going to be bold and brazen. And if not, we'll cut that out. So don't stress about that.   Mark Rasmussen (01:52) No, no, no, for sure. And   not only that, it's like, that's not just a like teaser rate, like they look, your practices will get that preferred rate forever, right, which is awesome. And, and it's like you and I were talking a little bit earlier, too, of like, a bit of shock and awe of like, I and myself as well, I've been seeing like some statements from potential practices. And I'm like, ⁓ my God, I'm like, I'm seeing like,   Kiera Dent (02:03) which is so big and you don't add extra heat.   Mark Rasmussen (02:19) six, seven, eight percent, like net effective rates. I know you were saying you have been seeing even higher. It's crazy. Yeah, that's crazy. It's almost criminal.   Kiera Dent (02:25) Mm-hmm. Yeah, so it   does feel criminal because like here's the thing like you might get a cheaper rate somewhere else but when you look and dig into the details and this is where it feels annoying and obnoxious to me and doesn't happen right away it happens like when you've stopped looking at it you're like I've checked my credit card company for years they don't do anything and then all of a sudden it starts creeping up and being eerie and that's where I just get annoyed and that's why like I have a crush on Moolah because you guys don't do it and you guys stay consistent for it so   I felt Mark and I, you didn't listen to our last podcast, we'll definitely link it in the show notes for you. But Mark, I felt we should kick today off with some case studies because I have some clients that I've recommended over to Moolah. And I think my favorite one is we were looking and I had a practice and our overhead was high. So like this practice, they don't love to like look at numbers. They have an amazing CPA. Like I will say we do look at numbers, but they're kind of like, yeah, carry it. We'll just like out produce our problems a little bit. And that's fine. Like anybody can have that. But I said, Hey,   Mark Rasmussen (03:17) Alright.   Kiera Dent (03:21) Your credit card fees are really high. think that they were honestly like 10%. And I'm like, is that really true? Like that just seems outlandish. And they said, well, Kiera, we're in a contract. Mark, do you want to throw up with contracts? Tell me about credit card contracts.   Mark Rasmussen (03:33) Oh, I hate contracts. I hate contracts   like really in anything in my life. I don't know. So yeah, but that's, it's just crazy. The industry for the longest time has like felt the need to like lock these business owners and not just Dennis, but business owners in like these typically it's like three year contracts. And then, you know, they'll have like termination fees. And so they take advantage of that. And like you were saying, I talked to so many practices are like, Oh, I'm paying X and you know, they were paying X the first month that they signed up.   And then they didn't look at it, like you said, and then six months later, eight months later, the processor started like nudging it up, nudging it up, nudging it up. And to the point where when you look at what their rates are, you know, two years from when they signed up, it's like almost 180 degrees difference. So yeah, please you guys out there, please make sure you stay on your credit card processing. Look at those month end statements. Look at, you know, what is being nudged up because   Kiera Dent (04:19) Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (04:28) You know, they'll just slip it in a little statement message. They're not forthcoming about it. I promise you they're not like, shooting you multiple emails or calling you and be like, hey, we're going to increase your rate. No, no, no, no, no. They're going to slip it under the table and hope that you never pay attention to it, which is really what happens because you guys are all busy. You guys are all doing amazing care on patients and you're not paying attention to that. That's the reality.   Kiera Dent (04:49) And it's creepy to me because it's also done on things that don't make sense. Like I feel like reading a credit card statement with what they're charging is like reading very highly processed foods. And I'm like, I have no clue what 90 % of these words are. And I feel like it's the same thing when you come to a credit card statement. And so back to this practice, what we did, there's two case studies I wanted to bring to the table today that are my own personal clients that I've referred over to Moolah that I signed up with Moolah. So this practice, again, overhead, let's out produce our problems.   Mark Rasmussen (05:00) That's a good comparison, I like that.   Kiera Dent (05:18) And it was wild because the first month they switched to Moolah, their CPA sent a letter to all of us and said like, hey, what'd you do? Did you switch credit card companies? Your fees are so much lower. Like that fast first month drop down. So we went from about a 10 % fee on what they're producing and collecting to then dropping it down to this 2.89 to 2.39, depending upon if card was present or not, which is super awesome also because then you can get cards.   Mark Rasmussen (05:28) guys.   Kiera Dent (05:44) on auto renew, like on just processing internally and you don't have to, like you can have cards present or not present within the practice, which is so awesome. ⁓ But I was shocked like that fast. And then another practice that we brought to Moolah, they were locked in with another credit card company. And so I didn't know you couldn't do this, Mark. So this was like rookie mistake on me. Like I was, I'm scrappy and I thought, well, okay, fine. You guys are in a contract. So.   just stop processing through that processor, switch everything over to Moolah. Well, you know this Mark and I was rookie so you know what happens. Do you know what happens with those companies?   Mark Rasmussen (06:21) No,   listen, I said that a lot too because technically, really, if the practice is in a contract, and I've said that before, you probably have these miscellaneous junk fees, these monthly minimums that are gonna hit maybe 20, $30 a month. But even if you're paying that minimum and you saved thousands over here, who cares? Pay that minimum, just write that contract out. What happened here in this scenario? Okay.   Kiera Dent (06:44) That was exactly what I said too. So   that's what, cause I was like, why not? I thought the exact same thing. I'm like, okay, if we're looking at, you're able to save 3%, 4 % like higher amounts and we're processing, even if you're processing a hundred thousand or 200,000, like that extra two, 3 % do the math. Like that's surely going to offset the cost. Well, what happened is we actually did that. So a client signed up with you guys. They did that. And we got a letter from the other processor saying,   Mark Rasmussen (06:54) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (07:11) that, we have a minimum and if we don't hit it, it was going to be substantial and to get out of contract, it was going to cost us a thousand dollars. So we literally said, fine, take the thousand dollars because we'd already saved that much through Moolah's savings to be able to like, we're just like, like it's a done deal. Like they were trying to threaten them with this thousand dollar fee, but we were like, that's so minimal to get us out of this contract based on how much we were saving. Now this practice was processing a decent chunk.   Mark Rasmussen (07:32) Right. Right.   Kiera Dent (07:38) But I think even if you're processing like 70,000, 80,000, that one, 2 % stacks up. Like it's insane how much we pay in credit card fees. So those are like the two that I wanted to bring to the, like I said, this is why I have a crush because I hate credit card fees so much. And that's going to lead into our next topic. But Mark, anything you want to add? Cause these were two cases that I've watched since we last met.   Mark Rasmussen (07:45) yeah.   I love that.   Kiera Dent (08:00) ⁓ I'm constantly on the prowl for cheaper people. I love that you guys don't charge for the terminals. You have it set up the next day. There's no contracts. Like that's where I said, like it's your new favorite, like credit card processing. You don't increase the fees. You give our clients reduced rates. If you have multi locations, you guys also take care of those practices. Like it's amazing what you guys do. So that's my like pitch for Moolah, but if you want to add anything else.   Mark Rasmussen (08:22) I love that. wanted to, because you just   like rang a memory. So what you were referring to in that practice, right, where like, okay, you can't just skate by and just pay the minimum, right? Or they were gonna hit him with his fee. Well, another thing I'm gonna tell your listeners out there is, listen, if you don't go with Moolah, great, do your homework. But one thing to look out that I've seen in contracts, which is crazy, is that sometimes you'll see a contract, all right, if you cancel early, it's like a 350 termination fee. Okay, fine.   but I've seen others out there where the processor says they try to enforce liquidated damages. So the processor will say, oh, we've been making, you're in a three year contract, on average we're making like, whatever, $500 a month on your processing. If you leave us now, it's not early termination fee, we're gonna calculate that $500 for the remaining 16, 17 months and they hit you with this liquidated damages thing, crazy. So just be on the lookout for that. If you're doing anywhere that's a contract,   Kiera Dent (08:57) No.   Mark Rasmussen (09:20) Look out for liquidated damages, that's no bueno, but better yet, find somebody that's just not gonna put you in a contract. Much easier.   Kiera Dent (09:26) Yeah. And   also like, okay, Mark, help me understand. And maybe you don't know because you guys don't do this and that's okay. But to me, it feels really funny that I signed a contract with them and there's got to be something in the fine print because I'm like, how did they go from what they told me to being able to add all these extra surcharges later on and increase it when we're in a contract?   Mark Rasmussen (09:43) for sure it's in the fine print.   yeah. It says that any, it basically says that any time at our discretion with 30 days notice, we can make an adjustment to any of your pre-schedule. And so they'll just do that. And then they'll just put a little message, you know, really small font in whatever kind of notification. And you know, in their minds, right? All right, well, we checked off the box. It's super shady. It sucks, but it's, you know, it's out there. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (10:05) Yeah, it is what it is. And I would say   they'll like look at it because two clients that were in contract, we were able to send over every person that I've sent to you guys have just loved who you are, that it's easy, that it's fast, that it's the cheapest processing. And there's a few other features that I think we should talk about. I feel like I'm on like a Moolah sales pitch right now. Like I'm truly not. I just get giddy. Like if you guys hear me talk about Swell,   Mark Rasmussen (10:27) Ha   Kiera Dent (10:30) was Zeke and Google reviews. I have a crush on Swell. They just do Google reviews better than anyone else. And right now, Moolah for sure, you guys are taking the cake on being able to do credit card processing better than any other company that I've come across, which I think is amazing. And so something else that I think is ratcheting fees on practices when we're looking for some of these cashflow leaks is on membership plans. Now, I'm a huge proponent of membership plans. I also think with the economy, with where insurance is reimbursing, ⁓ people are starting to look at like   should we be going out of network? And my big proposal is, hey, yeah, of course, if you want to do that rock on, membership plans really can help with that. But ⁓ there are some membership companies that actually charge pretty outlandish fees. I never wanted to pay for that. I was scrappy in a practice. So what I did is I just charged the patient an annual fee. Well, that was like eight years ago that I was charging an annual fee. And I think you look at today's world, no one wants an annual fee anymore. They just want like a monthly fee and they want it to be low.   Mark Rasmussen (11:02) for   Right. Right.   Kiera Dent (11:28) But managing that is nonsense on my own paying for it. And Moolah, like I've heard through the grapevine, you guys are doing something with membership fees. Can we talk about the membership plans? Talk about how you guys do this. Is it easier? Is it something we can do? Because I think membership plans have to come into play with the insurance situation that offices are in. And also possibly a cash leak if you're paying for heavy management fees on your membership plans.   Mark Rasmussen (11:37) Yeah, yeah, absolutely.   Yeah. So listen, membership discount plans. I've since I've been, I've only been in the industry, you know, dental industry for about four years now. And every year I feel like it's getting traction. More practices are asking about us. I have practices that are doing demos with us and they're like, Hey, I'm doing this demo is driving it because I heard you guys do, you know, membership, discount plan management. And so yes, the answer is we do. ⁓   And as you were looking to, there's a lot of great vendors in this space that just do that, right? And I'm not going to name any names, but there's a lot of great vendors, but they're not inexpensive. Like, you know, there's some decent SAS fees and then you pay per patient enrollment. ⁓ And so when it's, you know, when you look at the net net and you're like, okay, is this really making sense? So what's nice is that we have complete membership discount plan management built into the platform. You can create all your plans. ⁓ You can easily onboard the patient into the system.   Kiera Dent (12:21) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (12:48) whether the patient wants to go monthly or annual, like you said, you were doing annual and a lot of the practices that I run into have historically been doing it annually, right? Because to think about billing it on a monthly basis has you like pulling your hair out. But the reality is that the patients and the consumers in the world that we live in, ⁓ everybody looks at whatever they're gonna bring into their life, whether it's a Netflix subscription or it's a car payment or it's anything else, everybody kind of looks at at a monthly basis.   Kiera Dent (13:02) Too hard.   Mark Rasmussen (13:17) And so that is what you want to be delivering. And so with the Moolah platform, you can absolutely manage an in-house membership discount plan and offer both annual and monthly options and truly set it and forget it. Not have to think about it. The system's going to run. The system's going to automatically post that payment into the ledger. In open dental, we even go a step further where when you enroll the patient into the membership, not only are we handling the billing element of it,   But we're also going into the PMS and we're associating that patient to that membership discount plan and keeping track. You know, that's what's really doing all the heavy lifting of keeping track of whatever the one free cleaning of the 10 % off services. And we keep that in lockstep. So if there was like a billing issue, we automatically disassociate the patient from the plan to really just kind of make it pain free. you know, membership discount plans are phenomenal. It's a win win for patients and practice. First of all, it brings some really great reoccurring   Kiera Dent (13:51) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (14:14) like trackable revenue into the practice, right? Number two, it's bringing patients like butts in seats ⁓ as well. ⁓ Because the patient looks like, I'm paying $40 a month. I should use it. I should be in there. ⁓ And it's bringing value to the patient. So it's literally just a win-win all around. I really love that for, you know, when you're looking at out of network patients ⁓ and the absolutely, you know, the platform has it built in. So you guys, please, if you're looking at discount plans, memberships,   I encourage you to look at some of the other great vendors out there and then come take a look at us last and see like the value that you get that's included.   Kiera Dent (14:49) That's awesome. Yeah. And again, like there are so many great people out there that are doing it. I just feel, ⁓ when I heard that you guys were doing membership plans, I was like, well, it kind of makes sense because you're already processing credit cards. Like you're already doing the processing. So now something else that is doing a processing is in my processor, into my software, which I just, that was so incredibly clever. And, ⁓ like again, I had another client who, who scoped you against other companies and they were like, gosh, like there's no fees.   Mark Rasmussen (15:03) Great.   Kiera Dent (15:17) compared to other companies with moolah. So that was something I was really excited about. I'm big on just, it's like my insurance. I've been with State Farm forever. And Jason and I giggled, we're like, we need to go and actually like assess and make sure that we're truly getting the best plans. And so I just think like it's good to periodically go and assess and make sure our credit card fees, what they were when we set up.   our membership plans making sense? Is it time to look to possibly renegotiate some certain things? And again, I'm not here to propose one company over another. Like Mark said, do your homework, figure out what's best because there's so many great companies out there. I just really love when it's simple and easy. And that's something I love about you guys, Mark, you guys have the fact that we can send patient statements and like have payments online and they can pay it all times of the day. Like just that alone boosts offices, collections with Moulin. So Mark, I want to go into a dicey topic with you though.   because this one's hot. We had it in our in-person ⁓ doctor and leadership mastermind when we were in Arizona and I loved it. It was like a hot, hot topic and heads up like this might be awkward for you. I don't think it will because of who you are, but there's the question of, and it was hot, like the room was split of people who were pro and con. So the question is with credit card fees being as much as they were, we talked about at the beginning, like ways that we can reduce it.   Mark Rasmussen (16:10) Let's do it.   I know, I wanna hear what the feedback was, because I know where you're going.   Kiera Dent (16:40) Then we talked about reducing membership plans. Now there's a question of, should we actually charge patients the credit card fees? Like this is becoming really popular and I don't blame businesses because inflation's high, labor is higher. So now we're trying to figure out like where could we cut? And so people are like, well, sweet, we're just gonna pass on the credit card fees to our patients. And the room was spicy. There was like people that were so pro and people that like literally people were bristly and it was a...   Mark Rasmussen (17:05) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (17:06) It was quite interesting. So your credit card company, which is where I feel like it's a little awkward to ask you this question, but I want to know, we pro, are we con? Should we charge the patients from your perspective? We're in 2025. So many companies do this. Should people be charging patients the credit card fee? Should they just raise their fees and bake it in? Like, what are your thoughts on this? Because my room was 50 50 split. And I will tell you some of the feedback if you want to hear it, cause it was quite interesting.   Mark Rasmussen (17:13) Yeah.   Okay, okay.   I do. Okay, so the first   thing I want to point out is I expect you to say that the room is split, right? Like half of them are like, yeah, absolutely. You know, I'm not paying for my patients' reward points. And I think the other half of the room was like, yeah, but I'm worried about the optics. Does it look like we're trying to be cheesy or nickel and diming our patients, right? Those are the two ends that are battling each other. The interesting thing is that this hot topic, ⁓ if you would have asked that just three years ago,   Kiera Dent (17:38) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm. No.   Mark Rasmussen (18:01) it wouldn't have been 50 50. It   would have been like 80 90 % saying no way and 10 % made me do it. So the trend is is like it is going right and two or three years from now I have a feeling it's going to be like 80 % are doing it and 20 % are not doing it. So the cat is out of the bag. Let's just get that you know right out there in the open. What do I think about it? I'm to be super Switzerland about this and I'm going to say that I think   Kiera Dent (18:06) Agreed. 100 % agree.   I would agree with you.   Remember he's   a credit card processing company.   Mark Rasmussen (18:31) Well,   no, I'm going to say that I think that as a vendor who delivers credit card processing service, I think that I should enable our practices to make that choice for themselves. I think whatever you think you should do for your practice, I want to support it. So if you don't want to do surcharging, great, we love that. If you do want to do surcharging, great, I love that. I just want to give the tools to the practice so they can make that decision. Now, aside what I think about it,   It's a very interesting topic to talk about. Well, what is the net result? I like, all right, how does it work? What does it save? Let's get into it if I may. Okay, so there's a couple ways. There is absolutely there. There is, and there's a couple flavors to this. There's a couple flavors to this. ⁓ there, the, the, what that we do, let me talk about that first. So what we do is what's referred to as compliance surcharging and with compliance surcharging, what is, what you're doing is that   Kiera Dent (19:06) I agree. Cause like, are there rules around it? Like, you actually have to do anything? Okay. I have no idea. Okay.   Mark Rasmussen (19:28) When a customer's paying you with a credit card, the system, system, I'll just speak to our system, most others are similar, but when a patient is paying you, whether it's in practice on the device or whether you sent a text to pay or it's an online payment, our system automatically, real time, looks at the number that the patient put in or used on the terminal. And within a half a second, we're looking back at the credit card network before we even charge it, and we say, is this a credit or is this a debit? If the patient is paying with a credit card,   We then pop on the screen, either on their mobile device or on the terminal, we say, hey, we see you're using a credit card. We're going to add 2.99 % as a fee to you for using a credit card. If you want to use a debit card, you will avoid that fee. So in Compliance Surcharging, what I really like about that is that you're not charging us fee across debit and credit, right? You're still giving your patient the convenience of being able to pay with plastic.   Kiera Dent (20:19) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (20:25) and still use a debit card because the reality is if you have a credit card in your wallet, there's probably 99 % chance you've got a Visa debit card in your wallet as well. And so you're not pulling away that convenience of them being able to pay plastic and just saying, hey, if you want to avoid that fee, pay cash or check. That's kind of archaic. So with compliance surcharging, you are going to offload your credit card fees to the patient, only the credit card fees. When they pay with a debit card, you will still pay for that, okay?   Kiera Dent (20:43) I agree.   Mark Rasmussen (20:55) With doing that with Moolah, if you're going to pay the debit fee and not pay the credit card fee, we see that the overall net effective rate for the practice ends up being below 1%. It ends up being like, I'm going to throw out a weird term that people are going, what the heck is that? It's usually going to be around 75 or 80 basis points. About three quarters of 1 % is going to be your net overall cost, which is huge savings, right? Huge savings.   Kiera Dent (21:07) No.   Crazy, like insane. Just do   some math. If you did a million dollars and you were able to basically save, gosh, so much.   Mark Rasmussen (21:28) No, let's just say,   the reality is you're probably saving one and a half percent. So on a million dollar practice, that practice is gonna put about $15,000 back to their bottom line. Like, and that's it, and it was painless. And you're still not really, yeah, exactly.   Kiera Dent (21:37) Exactly.   And that's also for payments you're already collecting. Like this is already   money we're collecting, we just get to keep more of it rather than having the credit card processing fee.   Mark Rasmussen (21:47) Yes.   And it doesn't need to like, you know, break brain cells for you to try and figure it out. Like the system is going to automatically calculate it. We're going to organize it. ⁓ It's just, it's painless. We're handling it in the PMS correctly. listen, the savings cannot be ignored. Like we talked about the cats out of the bag. You're going to see more businesses across more different verticals. ⁓ And the reality is   We've all been around it for a long, long time, right? Who's been doing it forever? Gas stations, right? We've seen it on there. Cash credit, right? That's been there forever. And we're all used to it. And you also typically see a lot when you're dealing with like state or federal agencies, you ever gone on and make an online tax payment, they usually charge a fee there. So it's just now getting more, you know, ⁓ rolling out. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (22:40) Nail salons for the girls out there. We all know the   nail salons. They'll say like, it's a 3 % charge if you use credit card. I'm like, here's your cash. Like it's clever. They push us to what they want.   Mark Rasmussen (22:49) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.   So it is listen. So I, I believe in delivering the technology to our clients, I don't have an opinion one way or the other, whatever you feel is good. I will tell you though that I think a lot of practices, especially on the on the one half of the room that are like against it. I think what we're finding is that people are not pushing back as much as   you think they are because consumers are just getting used to it. And again, the fact that at least with our practices, you're still giving your patient the ability to have that convenience and pay with a debit card and not have the fee. If they were doing like the model where they call it, know, cash discount, where you're going to hit the debit card and you're going to hit the credit card, I think you get more pushback on that, but you're still giving that convenience. So yeah, I'm a fan of it. We get, like I said, more and more requests of it. ⁓   It's not going anywhere. yeah, we're here to support your practice. If you guys want to try it out, try it out and listen, here's the thing.   Kiera Dent (23:50) Yeah.   How does it work in practice   though? Like, so someone's standing in front of me at a terminal, I'm collecting money in person. How does this work? Because it's not gonna pop up on my like treatment plan that I just gave them or on my ledger. So how do I do that?   Mark Rasmussen (24:00) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   It'll pop up on the terminal.   so first thing we do, we give the practices, ⁓ you know, some template messaging and they'll just want to put up something by the front desk. And it says something to the effect of that, you know, this office adds a surcharge when using a credit card, ⁓ not beyond, you know, what our costs are, right? This is not a money, additional money revenue is trying to like, you know, make arbitrage between costs and no, I'm only going to pass off. And so.   Kiera Dent (24:32) Great.   Mark Rasmussen (24:35) the patient is aware of it, they've seen it, and then when they go to use it on the terminal, if they're in practice, when they go to run the credit card, it will pop up on the screen and your team can just show it to the patient, they'll see it, that it's adding it because they're using the credit card. And it'll give them an option if they want to accept it or if they want to back out of it and try again with a debit card and avoid the fee, really easy.   Kiera Dent (24:58) Okay, that's actually really helpful. And now I have a question because I don't know this. How does this work? Because technically the practice is collecting more money, right? Like we are taking the fee plus the credit card fee. ⁓   Mark Rasmussen (25:10) Let's say it's $100 and let's just say we're   adding that surcharge so now it's $103. Okay? Yeah. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (25:14) Right, so that's $3 more per $100 transaction. But   does that impact them in tax? I would think no, because credit card companies still charging us the 3%. Like, how does this work? Are you following what I'm saying? how does this impact you?   Mark Rasmussen (25:26) Yeah, I do. So you   don't have anything else to like, you know, break your brain on that. Our system, first of all, will break out the surcharge in the reporting. Okay. So it's really clean. Furthermore, the addition, the $103, right, like the customer got charged, the patient got charged $103. But our system automatically calculates it, that you have a fee of 3 % and that you surcharge the patient 3%. So the practice is still just going to get the full $100.   Kiera Dent (25:36) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (25:56) It's as if they took a cash payment. So it's easy for them. They're not getting 10.99 at the $103, so to speak. It's just still truly only taking $100, which is great.   Kiera Dent (25:57) Gotcha. Okay.   Mm-hmm. ⁓   Yeah, because that's what   I was curious like, and like some things have sales tax. So didn't know like surcharges, do they get taxed differently or is it just like accepting cash, same thing for a practice? Okay. Now, so that's really helpful. And that helps me see on the ledger. So are you guys synced into the PMS for it to say, because like if my ledger says a hundred dollars, but I'm now doing 3 % surcharge on it.   Mark Rasmussen (26:18) Exactly, total amount, total amount, yeah.   Yes.   Kiera Dent (26:35) I'm going to be posting $103. How do I make sure that all of my ledgers match up?   Mark Rasmussen (26:40) So   we'll post $100 in the ledger, okay? And then we'll have a procedure code for the surcharge. And then we'll also have an offsetting so that it doesn't mess up your balance. So you can easily run reports based on the procedure code. I can see what my surcharge is, but it's not messing up and showing that, I took in $103 on this $100 transaction. So your ledger is gonna stay nice and clean.   and not be a nightmare, 100%.   Kiera Dent (27:10) Okay,   because that's I was like, Oh, great. Because there was another office that I heard about. And Mark, I'm just curious about your opinion on this. And then we're gonna get back to this like spicy and thanks for walking through this. There was another practice, I've literally never heard of this before. So I'm curious if you have or if you recommend or don't this practice. So let's say a patient, the total is $100, they pay the $100, the practice literally posted on the ledger.   Mark Rasmussen (27:28) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (27:38) instead of being $100 because now they lost $3, they posted $97 on the ledger and they were taking out the surcharge. Have you ever heard of that? Because I had never heard it. I was, do you recommend that? Because I've never recommended that, right? And I think as a patient, I'd feel really angry though. no, I gave you 100 bucks, but you gave me 97. Like I would just.   Mark Rasmussen (27:48) I haven't.   That seems wonky. Yeah.   Right. Or   continue that on. How about now all of a sudden a week later you go to refund it and we're we're refunding you 97. You're like, no, no, no, I paid you 100. It's gonna be messed up in so many levels.   Kiera Dent (28:09) Right. I was just curious.   I was like, I mean, maybe I'm archaic on how I do this. I used to just do it that way and then accept that that would just be a cost on my PNL. But now there's a way for you to actually offset it with the process. So my question is going back to that, that's actually helpful. Thank you. So if you're doing that, definitely recommend not doing that anymore. ⁓ But I was like, Hey, I've never heard of this. Maybe that is the right way to do the accounting on it. But it felt very messy to me. Now,   Do we as the practice need to put in the surcharge as that procedure code when we're charging that out or does Moolah automatically sync it in and put the surcharge of the procedure code?   Mark Rasmussen (28:48) We have, yeah,   automatically done. There's nothing for you to do. Yeah. So during onboarding, we will set up, we will work with the practice, obviously. We'll make sure that we have a procedure code set up for them. And so during the onboarding, we'll have that so that when you do run a surcharge transaction like that, there's nothing you need to do. It'll all be handled in the ledger correctly.   Kiera Dent (28:51) Amazing. I love it. This is why I said I have a preference on you.   and you're in all softwares. What softwares does Moolah sink into?   Mark Rasmussen (29:10) Yes, so ⁓ Open Dental, ⁓ Dentrix, G7, and ⁓ newer server-based, not Ascend. And we're actually going to be ⁓ releasing, finally, this has been a long time coming, we're finally going live with Eagle Soft ⁓ Beta at end of next week. So Open Dental, Dentrix, and Eagle Soft. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (29:28) Awesome.   That's awesome. Okay, very cool. And   then if you're not in one of those and you can just obviously add this in, it wouldn't be automatically synced. And I think like of those ones though, huge win this way. Okay, now we'll go back to the spicy. I will tell you guys how the room was divided. The room was divided, I'll be right. The do it, don't do it. And then the like, there's a middle ground, which I thought the middle ground was kind of convenient. ⁓ There wasn't, but I did see people like it. I did feel like it was like,   Mark Rasmussen (29:45) Yes.   Was there any physical fighting going on? Okay.   Kiera Dent (30:00) like politics and religion status. Like it was like very cut through the room. I do agree with you. And that's what I said. I was like, you guys, this 2025, this is going to take place in the future and it will be very common. just, think our early adopters going to stay or not. It's your choice. Um, I've always been of the opinion like, no, just bake it into your fee. And now I'm like, well, everybody's starting to charge for it. Like, why not? Um, so it was don't charge for it now. Another was like, no, put it in. People are doing it anyway. And the middle ground, which I thought was   Mark Rasmussen (30:02) Right. Right, right, right.   Kiera Dent (30:30) of a good way to do it is in person. They didn't charge a fee, but any of their online statements, they did charge a fee because they said most people who pay online know there's usually a service fee associated with it. So I thought that was kind of a, an easy way. If you guys are looking for a navigation through it. ⁓ but I think like, honestly, it's just like anything else, train your patients if you want to, but don't feel like you have to, I think it'd just be something to consider. So, but again,   Like get the reduction, like if nothing else, like switch to a processor that's going to be reduced fees anyway. So even if you want to continue offering it, you're still saving on that. Mark, I have one last thing that I wanted to dive into. I'm hearing from a lot of like integrated softwares. So like dental Intel and Flex and some of these other ones that literally make practice lives easier. They're having processors in there that are just integrated right into that. They're using it all the time.   Mark Rasmussen (31:20) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (31:25) How does Moolah play in those worlds? Like, do you get the same pricing? Do we not get the same pricing? Are some of those better because they're already bundled in? Again, I'm putting you on like really awkward topics, but I just want to know. I want to know how does this work.   Mark Rasmussen (31:35) No, no, not at all. So listen, you mentioned Flex. We   love Flex, okay? I love Flex, not just because, yes, they're a partner of ours, right? And yes, your Mool account works beautifully and integrated with Flex. But I love Flex just because I think they're like cut from the same cloth that we are. Like we just, at the end of the day, we want to over-deliver, right? We want to over-deliver, whether it's technology, whether it's value, and they have that mindset. And so I love the Flex team. Full disclosure.   ⁓ And so we've been an integrated partner with Flex for, gosh now, I think three years. So yeah, I think they deliver a ton of value to any open dental practice. So anybody out there for sure should check out Flex. They are amazing. Dental Intel. So we used to be, ⁓ not to bore the audience, but like we used to have an integration with Modento and then Dental Intel acquired Modento.   Kiera Dent (32:33) Yep.   Mark Rasmussen (32:33) and   then Dental Intel wanted to roll up their own integrated credit card processing. And so they have now. so, listen, ⁓ we wish Dental Intel the best, wish them well, but yeah, we're no longer integrated with Dental Intel, but yeah, Flex, we love Flex.   Kiera Dent (32:49) Okay, because I was just curious. Now, I feel if it's bundled, is this a time where offices should just be strategic? I'm not saying anyone's doing it. I haven't looked at it. So I'm not here to like cast judge or I just want to make sure offices are being smart. I would think when they're bundled or they're integrated, offices should still check even using MULA. They should still be watching their credit card statements every single month, right? Like no matter what, just to always make sure things are staying clean and also before we sign up with anybody.   Mark Rasmussen (33:08) Mm-hmm.   100%.   Kiera Dent (33:19) Like literally read the fine print and look for it. Yes. No. I from like, let's just go all the way back.   Mark Rasmussen (33:23) Yeah.   And I would always say that, you know, let's just take the Flex example. Flex has, you and I won't name anything, I'll let you guys out there, you go check it out to yourself, but there are three options. I encourage you, especially when we're talking about a vendor that you're looking at, and especially when this vendor that you're looking at revolves around your cashflow, right? Like it's a pretty integral part of a vendor that you're bringing into your ecosystem. call them, talk to them.   Kiera Dent (33:46) Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (33:54) Call in the middle of the day. Do they pick up the phone? Do they answer? Can you talk to somebody very easily? Like really pop the hood and take a look at who you're going to get in and do business with, especially when it's, you know, that vendor is like controlling your cash flow on a daily basis. So yes, please you guys out there, do your homework, look at the agreements, ask questions, and see what's right for you. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (34:10) Yeah.   That's awesome. just, again,   I wanted to like go into it because these are things I'm hearing. I'm hearing people say like, this seamlessly integrates. I know you seamlessly integrate. I know you guys are constantly working to refine, to get into more and more practice management softwares to make it easier. Just Mark, as we wrap up, like this has been fun. I love the like, thanks for going into some of the spices with me. ⁓ But just as a quick rundown, like what are some of the features that Moola does? We talked about the membership plans. We did talk about that Dental A Team clients get 10 % basis points less for card present or card not present.   Mark Rasmussen (34:33) Always is.   Yep.   Kiera Dent (34:47) Which to me that alone, I would just look into it and see, like I said, two clients literally saved money by like dumping their contracts and moving over, which I think to me, like before I can have a crush on a company, I test them pretty heavily. So to see the proof in the pudding, I was so just elated and it made me even like you guys more. But what else does Moola do? Because I know you guys do a lot of other things that just make life easy.   Mark Rasmussen (35:05) I love that. yeah, yeah. So   at the end of the day, we do a lot, but it's all payment related and will always be payment related, right? So we're focused on being like, we try to be like the end all be all payment solution for dentists. And so when you look at like, what does a dental office need from a payment perspective, ⁓ it's in practice payments, right? So we provide you guys the physical devices. So   No more having to buy rent or lease those terminals. We're going to include them. you know, not only, yeah, they're wireless. Yeah, they're really cool. Aesthetically, they look really good. Yeah. And, and here's the other great part too, that I think it's kind of underrated ⁓ is of course, not only did we include them. the practice didn't need to buy them, but like normally, you know, with our peers, you have to buy these devices and then you buy them and then it's like one year warranty, right? And then like Murphy's law always kicks in.   Kiera Dent (35:37) They're awesome too. They're portable. They can go back to the hygiene operatories. It's amazing. So your hygienist can take it. Like they're awesome. It's so great.   Mark Rasmussen (36:01) like it loves to do. like, okay, month 14, the device just, you know, went out on you. And then you're gonna sorry, you got to buy another five $600 device with mula you guys will literally never have hardware expense ever because we give them to you on the front end. And we will warranty them forever. As long as you're with us. I don't care four or five, six years. If there's new devices that come out and your guys age out, we're going to replace them. Even if you drop it off the counter and crack the screen.   We don't care, we're gonna replace it for you. There's no fear or premium. So, in practice payments, we have you covered there from a technology standpoint as well as a hardware standpoint. Moving on, there's also, have the ability to, like you were talking about earlier, store patient cards securely tokenized. Nothing's ever touching the practices servers. It's all on our servers, but it's giving you the convenience of having those stored cards for the patient. You can have as many stored cards as you want. You can even send a request to the patient.   before their appointment and the patient from easily from home from their mobile device could add their credit card. And so when they come in, it's already stored and it's available to use. So stored cards, yeah, yeah, yeah.   Kiera Dent (37:07) With that, can I ask, do you guys have   the compliance paperwork? Is there anything you have to do to get a patient to have a stored credit card that we can run for future payments? once insurance pays, because I know that's a big thing of storing cards on file, do you have anything with that? Because I know that this is a zone.   Mark Rasmussen (37:23) Yep. What I...   Yeah, no. So it's very obvious as far as the process of the patient adding the card. Like when you send the message, it says, hey, would you like to securely store your card on file? Right? Beyond that, what I've seen some practices do is just they'll just include it in their overall like new patient intake forms and kind of include it in their terms of service of that. Hey, listen, if you want to store a card on file with us, you can. And you allow, once you store a card, you're giving us the authorization to utilize that card.   Kiera Dent (37:35) Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (37:51) for other future balances. As simple as that, that's all you need to do.   Kiera Dent (37:54) which is so smart you   guys think about it. This is where so many other industries do this. They have a card on file. I mean, I go to the spa, my cards on file, they run that card when I'm gone, like I authorize it to happen. So they never out of money. They're never chasing money down. Like it just to me makes so much more sense of a way to process.   Mark Rasmussen (38:12) Can you imagine if   Netflix or all the other subscriptions, if they had to wait for a payment every month and wait, come on, no. Subscription is the way, 100%. So, okay, so store card on file they get. The other thing they get is the ability to create and manage in-house payment plans. And of course, automatically post those payments to the ledger. We have some great things where if the payment fails, right? They're into the plan for three months and all of sudden the July payment fails.   Kiera Dent (38:18) No. No.   Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (38:41) our system will automatically notify the practice, notify the patient, and what's cool is that the software will allow the patient to self-administer and fix it. So the software is not telling the patient, your card failed, call the front desk. No, we're gonna save a phone call there. The software will allow the patient to tell the software, okay, either A, try to charge that card again, or B, they can actually upload a new card on file.   So the cool stat on that is that in failed transactions in our payment plans, we see patients solving it between themselves and software within the first 24 hours at a rate of over 80%, which is huge. So payment plans, and then we talked about earlier, you also get the ability to manage any of your in-house membership or discount plans. ⁓ We have the collecting on a balance when the patient is out of practice, ⁓ sending a payment request either   Kiera Dent (39:20) Holy cow, it's amazing.   Mark Rasmussen (39:37) allocated or unallocated payment request can attach a statement. ⁓ We also have the ability to host a payment page on their website. So if you want to put a little navigation, click here to make an online after hours payment, we'll host that page for the practice. ⁓ So yeah, we really kind of just looked at it a full circle of like, where are all the payment touch points that our practice is dealing with, and just trying to deliver these really amazing tools. And again, as you know, our model.   ⁓ There's never any monthly fees. There's never any set up fees. There's never any annual fees ⁓ All there are these two simple flat rates and again, you can cancel it anytime you want never locked in anything   Kiera Dent (40:18) That's awesome. Mark, I appreciate this so much. How do people, like know they just connect with you, schedule a demo. You guys will look at their credit card processing, see how you guys can fix it. How do they connect with you specifically if they're interested? And specifically The Dental A Team, The Dental A Team, perks.   Mark Rasmussen (40:33) I would recommend and maybe we can list this in the podcast, but there will be a specific Moolah URL. It's like forward slash The Dental A Team They should go there and then they can schedule a demo. And then if they go there, then we're going to know it came from you guys. That way we can get them that 10 basis point savings forever. So just schedule a demo with us and no pressure. We're like the most like   the least salesy organization I think that you guys will ever run into. All we wanna do is inform you. We wanna show you what we have. We're not for everybody. ⁓ But assuming that you guys love what you see, we encourage you to try us out and check us out and see if we're gonna be a great fit for your practice.   Kiera Dent (41:13) Yeah, for sure. You guys, honestly, I love Moolah They're incredible. So on our website, we will link it. So the way you get to Moolah, it's on our website, TheDentalATeam.com. And then you can click on the About Partnerships Mulas right there. ⁓ And the actual, like if you guys want our direct link here, it would be TheDentalATeam.com slash partnerships slash Moolah. And that should take you right to Moolah's page. It's also mula.cc slash partners.   So that helps you guys will also link that in the show notes mark. I appreciate you guys so much Things are being on the podcast things are going through the spicy with me. I appreciate you so much   Mark Rasmussen (41:52) Any time, love you guys, you guys are the best and ⁓ have a great rest of day.   Kiera Dent (41:58) Hey, you too, for all of you listening. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.  

Our weekly podcast - even more rambly than usual as we chat with ASB about attracting new players, having a positive scene + Beastmen are on the way.And, of course, patreon questions!!Oh and we ramble so much we really don't cover beastmen but I'm sure we will this week as it arrives :)[0:00:23] ASB Intro[0:03:38] Gommo sizzles some Warhammer book hobby for later[0:04:20] New player v competitive player conversation starts[0:54:15] Gotcha chat[1:29:15] Patreon Shoutouts, a Question[1:39:48] Really brief Beastmen shoutout... (why does OWF hate beastmen?) [1:45:55] More Patreon Questions![1:54:30] Apparently Newcastle Legions Club has closed?![1:57:10] Josh throws some absolute podcast shade[2:00:30] ASB Hobby[2:11:10] Gommo Hobby (never mentions his book thing tho - mysterious!)[2:14:42] WrapupJoin our live stream chat on Discord if you want to share hobby - https://discord.gg/9ZfQtvGUA4Shop Old World @ Element Gameshttps://elementgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures-by-manufacturer/games-workshop/warhammer-the-old-world?d=11247Let's get into it!!Links and Shoutouts✨ Old World Rankings - https://oldworldrankings.comSquare Based Renegade Pack - https://www.squarebased.com/Support the Show

A CNN journalist interviewed comedian Tim Dillon and tried to smear him as a right-wing stooge. It backfired spectacularly. I break it down in this episode of the Brad vs Everyone podcast. Plus, streamer Asmongold's viral take on free speech and what he gets wrong. Send me a voicenote: https://www.speakpipe.com/bradvseveryone Check out the merch: https://bp-shop.fourthwall.com/ Subscribe to my 2nd channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MoreBradPolumbo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky recently bought a house in Coastal Oregon and had some issues with the matinence that was going on. Instead of getting a second opinion or a different company to fix it all, she decided to play games...

In this episode of Building Texas Business, I speak with Brian Birdy, the CEO of PMI Birdy Properties and a regional developer for Dill Dinkers. Brian shares insights about managing his family business, which his father started in 1979. He discusses the complexities of succession planning and how involving family members can strengthen the business for future generations. Brian's latest venture, an indoor pickleball facility, highlights his ability to identify emerging trends and foster a unique business culture. We explore effective strategies for business growth as Brian emphasizes the importance of a solid foundation. He talks about the need for a strong team, comprehensive training, and well-documented processes to navigate unexpected challenges. Additionally, we discuss the hiring landscape post-COVID, where Brian advocates for a proactive approach to recruitment and the importance of adapting to new employment trends. As we move into the topic of franchising, Brian shares his experiences with Dill Dinkers and the potential of using repurposed industrial spaces for pickleball courts. He reflects on the benefits and challenges of setting up a franchise in this fast-growing market. His connection to San Antonio adds a personal touch, as he expresses his passion for the local community and its cultural vibrancy. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I discussed with Brian Birdy, CEO of PMI Birdy Properties, about managing a family business founded by his father in 1979 and his strategies for succession planning and family involvement. Brian shared insights on the importance of building a resilient business foundation through strategic planning, comprehensive training, and process documentation, emphasizing adaptability to technological advancements. We explored the post-COVID hiring landscape, where Brian highlighted the significance of a proactive hiring approach, prioritizing candidates with a positive attitude and aligning with changing employment trends. The conversation delved into the burgeoning pickleball market, with Brian expressing enthusiasm for his new venture in opening an indoor pickleball facility and the potential of franchising with Dill Dinkers. Brian revealed the challenges and opportunities in the residential property management industry, particularly in differentiating oneself in a competitive market and adapting to shifts in housing demand. We examined the process of opening a pickleball franchise, discussing the benefits of franchising for newcomers, the importance of choosing the right franchise, and the potential for repurposing industrial spaces for pickleball courts. Brian emphasized the value of surrounding oneself with capable people, investing in staff, and being open to new ideas and changes to drive business success, while reflecting on his connection to San Antonio and the local community. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About PMI Birdy Properties GUESTS Brian BirdyAbout Brian TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Chris: Brian, welcome to Building Texas Business. Thanks for taking the time to come on the podcast hey thanks for having me. So you know, let's dive right in and talk about some of the things that you're doing as an entrepreneur and business owner and just introduce your companies to the audience. Brian: Sure. So I'm the broker and owner of Birdie Properties, which is a real estate company that specializes in residential property management. It has been in business for over 46 years. My dad actually started that business back in 1979. I've been running it and working at it and eventually running it since about 97 and have grown it to one of the largest residential property managers in South Texas, learned a lot of lessons in growing that business and the newest adventure is Dilldinker's Indoor Pickleball, which I'm sitting in, and I'm very excited that we will be opening our first location here in about a week and a half. Chris: Well, that's great. So two full-time jobs, it sounds like. Brian: Yeah, Well, the other one's a family-owned legacy business. It's three generations deep. Like I said, my dad started it. My brother and I both worked in it. I've owned it and run it for 20, 28 years and currently all of my three adult children and my daughter-in-law all work there and do the heavy lifting. With a little bit of guidance from me, that gave me the ability that could run effectively without my daily requirement, gave me the ability to actually continue that entrepreneurial spirit and try something completely different, which is indoor pickleball. I saw a true need in my city for this. There wasn't anybody delivering it. I saw it as an up and growing and when I actually started on it, less people knew what pickleball was. In the last 18 months it has really come to the forefront and so I got on. I started riding the wave at the right time and I hope it just keeps rolling, yeah well, it's certainly taken the last couple of years. Chris: It's taken on like a life of its own, it seems like. So let's go back to, I guess, Birdy Properties and maybe the unique part of what it's like in a family business to do the succession from your dad, who was the founder, to you and your brother then taking over that business. What were some of the maybe the pain points and lessons learned about doing that and what maybe advice you might give to someone that's in the process or thinking about it, of what to do or not do? Brian: Yeah, running a family business it's wonderful and it's tough, both hand in hand. The wonderful part about it is their name is on that business. Their future is tied into that business. Their commitment generally if they really care about it is they're a lot more committed than just an individual employee. But at the same time it's problematic in that you can't separate yourself from business. Family meals are filled with business. Taking an entire family vacation becomes almost an impossibility. And then succession is an issue. I bought the business from my father and it was clearly me. I own it. So my brother continued to work there but was not in ownership of it. That has its own problems. We found a way for him to actually build a business out of this and he's actually gone out on his own, is specializing in short-term management and is running his own business now, and so that was a way to kind of figure out how that could work. So he is the owner, sole owner, of Birdy Vacation Rentals. But I've got three kids that work for me. Each of them have unique qualities. They own all own a very important part of the business and they really can't survive without them working together, which works great now, but it's going to be. I'm going to wonder, I keep wondering and trying to figure out how, what is the best way to pass this on? And I don't have the right answer for it, but continuing to work at it, you know, giving them all individual pieces that they could own and be the masters of, and then by doing that, everyone needs each other kind of helps with that whole process. You can't no one of them can survive without the others. Chris: Well, it seems, if that's the case, right then you've set it up well for success because that fosters that team environment and team mentality. And you know we love talking about culture. So obviously you have the unique relationship with your children. How have you tried to take that beyond the family relationship with the other employees so that they feel the same engagement with the organization and tied to the organization's success? Brian: So we've gone through lots of that and growing and basically anybody who works for us can see that. I mean their last name isn't Birdy, they're not in the succession plan but we treat everyone within our business as if it was a big family. We believe in family. We believe in quality time. Individuals who work for us recognize we want them to do a great job for us but when they need time, when they need something they know they can ask for it, they can get it and just building that kind of culture has allowed us to have. Number of people who have worked for us for 15, 13, 12, I think is my current people that are out there have been here for a very long time. They're part of the family even though they're not. You know, their last name doesn't say birdie on it, but we work really hard in building a core that can. You know, property management is a tough business. I've said all along one of our core values is that we're going to have fun, and so one of the things we've always built is if we can have fun doing the worst part of that business, then we got it made. So we have a lot of fun when we're doing the fun parts of the business and when we go out of our way to make sure people are going to have fun. But we also find ways just to have fun and to really own that. There are tough parts of that business also. Chris: Sure, well, true for any business, right. There's always, yeah, the piece that you don't enjoy doing. But you know you have to right, it's a necessary piece but it may not be the most fun. I think you're right. If you can bring joy and fun into that, then the rest should be easy. Brian: right, because it's the stuff you like to do and want to do and, as I think about, I've been doing that for 28 years and I love going to work there. I love people that I work with and even though it's in a very tough and stressful because I mean, at times I have to evict people from their homes, I mean that isn't something that's fun, you know. But it has encouraged me that I'm waiting to see how much fun is running a pickleball facility going to be, where we have a core value of bringing joy to everyone through the sport of pickleball. And I'm like, if I can have fun doing property management, I think I should find it a little easier to have fun running a pickleball facility. But I don't know yet. We haven't opened our doors yet, we're going to find out, but it's. I mean, I'm just it feels like it's going to be fun, but you know, I don't know what, I don't know yet. Chris: So going back to Birdy and property management is anything innovative? Or you know how? Has technology or innovation kind of helped you be more efficient in what you do and maybe more profitable? Brian: Yeah, so we've. We have challenged ourselves to chase technology. You know, if you go all the way back to probably, I mean, and we've done this for a long time and we've had a website since 1998 when it didn't do anything and most people didn't have it, I mean we have a five letter URL. I mean we are www.birdy.com, you know, and people have wanted to pay a lot of money to buy that name, but it's just something. Fortunately, my dad said I think this might be something someday, let me just get our name now. He was lucky, he did that. But from that we've continued to chase the changes. Every business has had major changes. I will tell you that, coming out of the 07, 08 mortgage industry collapse and all the problems that happened, property management got brought way up into the forefront and technology, of course, coming on strong at that time saw this as an open lane that nobody was in and they have been chasing after us like crazy. And we have said all along if we want to continue to be relevant, if we want to be a hundred-year-old business, the only way we're ever going to get there is we have to embrace technology, embrace change, figure out the ways to do that, race to it, understand it and apply it. You know however that is, and so we've dramatically changed our business from where we first I mean when we first started, you know everything was on paper. It was all in a folder. The folder was in a cabinet. You know, you met people face to face. I mean, everything has changed and you know, at our last national event, the big thing that was there was all AI driven. Not only have we used technology and we use computers and we've automated some things, but now we're having the computer starting to figure out what can they really do for us in the industry, and I see that being big changes coming forward as to what can it really do for us. Coming out of COVID, we learned we can do a lot and we don't really need an office to do it anymore. We can have remote team members. We can do a lot on Zoom. We can do everything with computers. I think AI is just going to push that, and that even runs into this business. Bill Dinkers has changed a lot and it's only a couple of years old, but it's incorporated on court cameras that film the sessions for the players, and now that company is building AI, so it's going to be able to tell them automatically. You know some statistics from their match, you know counting things for them and I'm like, and so again, very early stages open landscape that technology and AI development is just stepping into, and I'm just curious and excited to see what can that take us to. I mean, because that's the future of our business, all of our businesses. Chris: Oh for sure, I mean, technology is not going anywhere. I think I had someone tell me one time never bet against technology. Technology always wins right Eventually it continues to evolve and you may not be an early adopter, but you better pay attention and learn how to integrate it sooner rather than later, or you're going to get left behind. Brian: Well, right, and it'll show you ways that you can like. We can manage more properties with less people. Because of technology, we can have individuals working for us now all over the world and we have been embraced that for a long time and we're about a 50-50 business. Half of our employees are here in town. The other half are all remote team members and primarily in Mexico, because I'm in South Texas, so I need people that can speak Spanish, and what greater way to have somebody work for me whose primary language is Spanish? So that part has been a significant change in the property management side of it. And that comes with technology. Right, because they have a computer. They can do everything. They have a phone line, so you call my office and you hit the phone. It's calling them Because phone is now what? A computer? Everything is a computer. If you can learn how to adapt the changes in your business to automation, you find ways to grow and to make money when you're doing it right. Chris: So you mentioned the 08 kind of market crash. What were some of the lessons you learned? I think that's a pretty important or severe impact on your business business and we always learn, kind of through some of those crises. So what were some of the things that you learned, maybe about your company or, more importantly, about yourself that kind of helped pull the company through to continue on a path of success? Brian: Well, if you think about it, most people saw that as a crash, as a problem. In my world it was actually a good thing. Besides the fact that people were losing their houses to foreclosure, that was certainly a negative. That didn't help me at all. But what came behind that was investors, and investors were buying those properties and turning them in to single family rentals and they needed management behind it. People who wanted to hold onto their house but had to leave them could not sell them Again. Another thing we were ready for growth. We were prepared for growth and we were not scared to grow as fast as we possibly could In those years. We doubled in size in both 07 and 08. And I think a lot of that was we were preparing for growth and then something happened that we didn't expect. But we were ready and I don't think anybody else was, so we benefited from that. We exploded over about a two or three year visit and really skyrocketed us up that. We've never lost that position since. Chris: That's amazing. So you talked about you were preparing for growth before those events happened. What was it you were doing to be preparing yourself for that growth? Brian: Making sure I have the right staff, all my training, all my processes, systems, policies and procedures. You know, you, when you first start and you're an entrepreneur, you have this great idea. You know how to do it all in your head, you make sure it can work right. What a lot of entrepreneurs aren't great at is writing it all down, systematizing it all and teaching people how to do it. And so, as you're growing, you're just throwing things trying to fill in these holes and you have to learn there's got to be a better process to your business and growing your business, and an individual who is forward thinking and really crazy ideas and just really interested to go do all these wonderful things can come up with some great stuff, but they're not the person that's going to carry it the long-term, step-by-step and so, understanding what you're good at, learning who you need around you to fill in those pieces where you're not and luckily for me, you know I have children who are from me but not really like me and so and they're not really like each other and so, collectively, the four of us and others that we've built into that start to create more of a complete package, and we learned and we're continuing to learn. We are forever changing and we are forever growing. It never stops, and that's, I think, it. I think at that time, what we wanted was I wanted to grow. We were talking about growing and I was trying everything to be visible because, remember, technology hadn't taken over. You know, people weren't finding you online. You had to. You know, I was still paying for ads and newspapers and the yellow pages because I wanted people to find me. But I found technology earlier than anybody else. I found a program called allpropertymanagementcom when it first opened and it was the first marketplace for property managers on the internet and I raced to it. I was the only one there in 2007. And that's when everyone started freaking out what am I going to do with my property? They looked and they found me, and that was a big part of so just the little steps like that was like not, I mean, that was an investment, I was paying money to do that, but I thought there would be a payoff. I didn't expect the tremendous payoff I got, but it really was a lot about just making sure you know what you have around you and a lot of times, what happens is we don't hire for growth, right, we want growth, then growth happens and then we get squished by the work. Everyone gets overworked, everyone gets stressed, nobody's happy, culture starts to get hurt and you can't sometimes, can never hire fast enough to catch up to train them all. So, knowing your business, watching closely, investing in growth by investing in your people, those are some of the lessons I learned because I did all that wrong at first and I suffered because of it and I've learned to do it differently because of that. Chris: Yeah, that's a beautiful point. I mean to your point about if you start to grow you haven't, excuse me, hired for it then you start making hiring decisions out of desperation and that's a recipe for disaster, as opposed to being able to follow that process. As you mentioned, that process is in place, that you stick to that. You follow that. You're always looking to evolve and change and tweak as times change. But if you're behind the curve, if you will, then it's hard to catch up. Brian: You also have to change with times. I mean when you can be hiring, when you don't need to hire someone, you're not in a hurry. During your interview process you don't settle for okay, this person's good enough, right? You're like, if none of them are good enough, well then they're none. Keep looking right. But if you're in a hurry, if you're in a need, then anyone close you're going to take and it may not be a good fit for you. And I would tell you, before COVID you had people in large numbers applying for jobs, but after COVID that changed dramatically and it became a point. I mean I used to say if I could get 10 people to interview, five of them would show up, or maybe six, and one or two or three potentially could be good opportunities there and you'd be able to windle it down to possibly one good quality candidate. After COVID you were lucky if one person showed up, and I don't think that's really changed dramatically even yet today. Chris: That was my question. It feels, like in the last, say, 12 months or so, there's starting to be a little bit of a maybe it's slow, but a swing back towards people realizing. You know you hear the bigger companies saying five days back in the office and you know that you know where we had the quiet quitting going on in 21, 22. It seems to me there's a little less of that and it's coming back. There are maybe more people out there and you hear that you know new college graduates are having, you know, really difficult times finding jobs because it seems like it's tightening a little bit Well. Brian: Luckily I'm in a season in which I've not needed to hire and I've got everything placed out right, and so I hope when I start hiring again in that space I do see that change, because I've noticed a big difference there and even had to change my whole process of what's really important when I interview people I mean I have put you know the number there are two things that are at the top of the list, and that is an overwhelmingly positive attitude and an undeniable desire to work. And if people come in with those two things, I can take them from there with anything else, because I can't give them either one of those. I can't culture that to anyone, I can't teach that to anybody. They have to have those two things If they have those, if they have those two things clearly, and you can find figure that out pretty quick. Chris: So I have a chance to identify with that, because the words I use are we look for effort and attitude Right. And I like your desire to work. You would think that would come natural, but you and I both know it doesn't. You're interviewing people. They just want a job sometimes or a paycheck, and they don't really have a desire to work or work hard. So I agree, you have to have an interview process that can kind of figure that out. Brian: That's true and we've, and that's something you have to learn and experience and get through and continue to tweak because, as you think you have the best experience, your market of applicants change and then you have to change and adapt with them. BTXBAdvert Hello friends, this is Chris Hanslick, your Building Texas business host. Did you know that Boyer Miller, the producer of this podcast, is a business law firm that works with entrepreneurs, corporations and business leaders? Our team of attorneys serve as strategic partners to businesses by providing legal guidance to organizations of all sizes. Get to know the firm at boyermillercom. And thanks for listening to the show. Chris:So we kind of look at the landscape out there. What are some of the headwinds that you either are dealing with now or that you think may be coming around the corner, that you're trying to prepare for to kind of not let them slow you down? Brian: I think that in the residential property management space, when times are good we do well, when times are bad, we do even better. So generally making sure that we're running the best business that we can, that we're providing what people need, figuring out a way to be being better Everyone wants to say they're better, but being better doesn't really necessarily draw anyone's attention anymore because it's like are you really better? You're just saying you're better. But when you're different and you can show someone why you are different, that's what really changes it, and I and so we focus on how are we different, why are we different, how can we be different and what differences are going to be important in the next five years that may not have been important in the last five years. Chris: That's really good. Yeah, I could see where and I would think even the lots have been written about it how difficult it is for people to purchase a home. Now, right, the interest rates, one thing, maybe the lack of accumulated wealth or down payments because of the lending markets. I can see where that would boost your business. Brian: I would tell you that in 2024, nationwide the market said that rental markets should have been skyrocketing and doing well, but for a variety of reasons it was not the best year. 2025 has started out as a much better year. Last year was a rough year on most residential property managers and when we look at that it came back to a tremendous amount of apartment complexes that were built coming out of COVID that opened and it drew a lot of the market space away People not buying, not moving, families coming together in one location, which reduces right. But we've seen a big change this year at probably one of our busiest first quarters in a while, so we're hoping that just continues. Chris: Very good. So, shifting gears a little bit Sounds like a company that you love. You said you love to have fun doing it. I guess we're in it for most of your life, bought it from your dad. All things going well, Kids are in it, Kids are thriving and against that backdrop you decide to step out and take on the pickleball business, which there's certainly some competition there. Maybe San Antonio's market was a little lacking. There's certainly some competition there. Maybe San Antonio's market was a little lacking, but there's all kinds of people doing pickleball courts now. So what was it that inspired you or drove you to make that decision and take on that risk? Brian: Well, so I started playing pickleball for the first time coming out of COVID in 2020, when our mayor said, okay, you can go and gather, but it has to be outside. And so there was a tennis place that had converted on a tennis court. Still, they converted and made these makeshift pickleball and I went out and said, hey, this is a lot of fun. Eventually, chicken and Pickle opened in San Antonio. I went inside to that and I thought, hey, I really like this, and started playing there. Quite regularly. My wife and a non pickleball related injury broke her ankle and we were out for about a year. When I came back one year later, everything had changed. It was almost impossible to book a court. The age of the players had dropped 20 years in a year. It used to be forties and fifties and I walk in and now it's twenties and thirties and I was like, okay, something has really happened here. So I did a lot of research, looked at all the numbers and then I started saying, okay, we don't have enough courts and we don't have any indoor courts, and I was like I think we could do a good job at this. I was first trying to find a place to go play, and what it led me to is there's a need. Maybe I can solve that need. And then, in researching it in the state of Texas, san Antonio was lacking in indoor courts In the country. We're doing awful. Houston was the only city in Texas even on the radar for the number of pickleball courts, and the number of indoor pickleball courts they have more than anyone in Texas. They have more than almost any other city in the country. So that city had figured it out and I'm like we hadn't yet. And I'm like we hadn't yet and I'm like, hey, if you're going to do something and you're going to be different, one of the greatest ways of being different is be first, because if you're first, you're different. There's nobody else, right? And so so I dove in, found a great Dill. Dinkins is a national franchise and I believed in what they put together and and so I'm one of their first franchisees. I'm going to be opening up my first club here in about 10 days here in San Antonio, and I'm a regional developer, so I have the right to develop up to 20 clubs. Whether I open them or help somebody else who wants to run their own pickleball location here, I will be supporting them and getting them open, and I can open all of my clubs. Other entities can open all theirs. There will not be enough pickleball, because if I fill all my clubs up all 20 clubs open and they're all completely full that would only represent a fraction of 1% of the Bexar County population, and so there's room for everybody and there's room for growth. And that's kind of one of the reasons why I got into this is that I'm like hey plus, I love it. I have so much fun, and I'm going to tell you what running a property management business has been a lot of fun, but I really hope that running a pickleball business is going to be even a lot easier to have fun. We'll see. I don't know yet. Chris: Yeah Well, in 10 days you'll start to figure it out. Brian: Well, that's free, that's free week, everyone's coming for free, so they're going to love me for at least a week, for sure. We'll see what happens after that. Chris: Good strategy there. Yeah, I know. Look, we've worked with some entrepreneurs and developers here in the Houston area doing this right, developing pickleball venues with the bars and the food service, and that's where they did the market research. And even in Houston it's interesting to hear your numbers on the covered courts in Houston, kind of leading all cities but there is a lack of courts in light of the demand especially, you're certainly private clubs have taken converted tennis courts or extra space where they put in pickleball courts, but if you're not a member of that club you don't have access. And so for the general public to have access, things like what you're doing and chicken, chicken pickle, et cetera, and some of the maybe non-national brands just worn off local things there's still a ton of demand for that. Brian: Yeah, if you look at it, lifetime Gyms and LA Fitness have both decided they're going away from basketball and they're going all in on pickleball. And I talked to their national developer and I said why are you making this change? And they said well, basketball has led to altercations and fights and problems and pickleball equals new membership and so they're all in and you can see, most of them are converting them. I have a couple of Gold's Gyms in San Antonio that have converted into pickleball in their courts. It's just there's such a need, there's such a desire. A lot of people say they find a way to play, they'll play anywhere. A lot of people haven't played because they say it's too hard to find a place to play. So we're hoping we can be part of the solution to that and start giving lots and lots of options for people to come out and play and see how easy it is, how fun it is. The community that's built around this is unlike other sports is the community that's built around this is unlike other sports? It is. It is a unique game in which it is the most gender equal and age equal. I can go out on any given day and lose to an eight-year-old or an 80-year-old, and both of them could be a male or a female. It doesn't matter, because this is. It is the equal sport amongst all sports. Chris: Yeah, well, I'll say you know, given the timing when you're opening and the fact that you know we're in Texas, being covered courts is going to be a nice added bonus, because I don't think you want to be in the middle of summer outside on a pickleball court for too long. Brian: Well, they've been doing it for years. What I have to do is get them in here so they can see, and that's the thing about being different. So some things that are different with us is we have pro cushion courts. They're all individually fenced. We have special LAD court lighting that's designed specifically for pickleball. Of course, it's not windy in here. There's no rain, there's no heat, there's no humidity and, as you can see behind me, all the walls are black in the playing surface, and that's so. When you're standing on your court and your opponent hits the ball pops, you know it's coming outside. You don't see that. You got wind, you got heat, you got sweat, you got movement, you got craziness, and so that's where we've dove into being different and we're hoping it'll pay off. Chris: No, all true. I mean having played myself. You're right, if you're outside and depending on where the sun is, you may, it's sometimes hard to see the ball. Brian: Yeah, true, not in here. Perfect lighting, perfect temperature, perfect courts. And the one thing I get annoyed I'm a spoiled. I'm a pickleball snob. Now. I cannot stand playing on a court where the court right next door is not separated and their ball keeps coming into mine. I'm like I can't even play that way anymore. I'm, I've become a. I've become a pickleball snob. I expect to be able to get on my court and play my game and not be disrupted by anybody else. Chris: There you go, as every man and woman should have a right to right. That's right. So so you kind of bit this off as a franchisee. Let's talk a little bit about that. What are some of the things that you learned about that process that maybe you weren't expecting that you could share with some listeners, and maybe a lot of people look at franchise opportunities. Brian: So I tell people all the time. So I've been involved in franchising in a couple of other ways. I went for about a four-year period and worked for a nationwide property management franchising company called Property Management Incorporated and I was up at the corporate level seeing. So I learned about franchising itself and people go why are you doing this, why should I do this? And I would give them reasons why. If you're already running your business, you already know what you're doing. You don't need a franchise when you're starting out from brand new and you have no idea what you're doing and you're not really sure how you're going to do it. You have to consider that Anyone can do the business on their own right. Even me, I could have opened this on my own. But do you know how much stuff I didn't know about pickleball that I learned from my franchise organization and the attention that it has drawn me? You have to figure out when that might be right for you. I think that there's been a lot of benefit of doing that. But you got to examine them all. I went and looked at every existing franchise when I started to do this Now. Since then, there are five new Pickleball franchises available and I'm sure there'll be five more in the next six months. So there are a lot of choices. I looked at them all, I checked into their history, I interviewed, expect what they need to do, and then I went and did a discovery day in Columbia, maryland, to find out what was Dill Dinkers all about, and a big part of it is who is the leadership? Who's going to be guiding you? Who are you going to be working with? And I absolutely loved the people that were involved, and that's a big part of this. You're going to be in business with them at the same time, and so this made a lot of sense for me. They were structuring in a very smart way of doing it, and they're the fastest growing Pickleball franchise that's out there, and they've sold 27 regions across the country. They've made great strides at improving everything that we do the play site cameras that we talked about earlier, with the AI involved that's something that's new. The pro cushion courts that's new from when we first started, and now all of our pro shops are powered by Pickleball Central, which, again, is also something new. So when you look at a franchise, it's like, yeah, they exist, but what are they doing to evolve? What are they doing to be different, because you're going to rely on that and work with them to show them how else they can be different. I decided this was the way for me to go and by being a regional developer here in town, I have my first one opening, I have my second one already under construction and I've got 18 more to go, but I'm probably not going to open all 18 of those. So there are opportunities right now and the way Jill Dinkers is, they have your corporate staff, but I'm the local representative. I'm here to help develop anyone locally. So anyone who wants to open one here has me helping them, and I've already gone through all the pain and suffering of what does it take to open a place. I know all. I know what you need to do to have it happen. They taught me what they knew. Now I've experienced here locally in San Antonio. I know what's going to happen here. Those are some of the advantages when you start looking at franchising and say, hey, I want to do a business, I don't want to do it alone, I don't want to start and it's tough. There's things you've got to know to be successful right out of the gun and you may not know everything on your own, it makes sense. Chris: And I said there's the franchisors got to show that value right. The why you're going to be making payments and getting the benefit of some of their things. It occurs to me too, one of the advantages, at least to what you're doing with these indoor courts and just kind of looking behind you is that you could take advantage of some of the big box locations that have been abandoned right that there's every city has those where there was some store that has either now gone to a bigger complex but left that space behind it looks like that's what you can kind of take advantage of from a real estate perspective. Brian: Right and I figured, with my real estate background, that this was going to be a piece of cake. But let me just tell you, san Antonio is a healthy city. We don't have big boxes just sitting around empty. Finding the location was the biggest challenge for me, and that isn't true everywhere else. That's why I'm franchise number one, but I'm not the first franchisee to open, because there are people who found it much quicker. The gentleman up in Pennsylvania went on his very first visit and found two locations and has opened both of them. One of them has 17 courts inside with 75 foot ceilings and no columns. Wow, I think it was like an aircraft hangar at some point. It was an indoor soccer facility for a while and it is like the perfect layout for indoor pickleball. But he found it in one visit, found one landlord, signed two leases and opened them both up. I have been to hundreds of places because I have to have the right hype, I have to have space between columns. I got to have air conditioning, I got to have bathrooms and I got to figure out, you know what's it going to cost to convert the place? And in San Antonio we don't have a lot of space just sitting around empty. Well, that's a good problem, it's good, it's good for the city. I mean, I found this one and I found my second one and I'm continually looking and there will be more opportunities and there will be more opportunities and there will be. Yeah, I think the strange thing in my city is we have probably the most vacant space in our city is industrial space. There's industrial warehousing all over and it's all empty and they don't want to talk to me yet. But they're going to one day they're going to say you know what I'm tired of being empty. Maybe we should talk to these pickleball guys, because it's the perfect layout giant empty buildings just sitting around empty. One day, when I can start turning them into pickleball, then the life's going to be real good. Chris: For sure. So just real quick, though, I want to ask about you kind of just as a leader right, your leadership style and how you think that's evolved over time, and kind of what you've learned maybe about yourself and about leadership in the process, in that journey. Brian: You know I learned leadership pretty young. I mean I go back and think about it and say you know, my dad was in the military. I was a military brat. We were all part of scouting. That was you start learning leadership and scouts right. I joined the Air Force myself, I served time in that and that the leadership is pretty well defined there. I mean, you know you can grow into being a good leader through that process. But in the military leaders comes with rank. Sometimes you don't really you haven't earned it, but you get it because you wear the rank and there's a difference in just knowing and understanding. And in that I learned I'm like if I want to be a leader, I've got to earn the right to be the leader of other people. As I started growing my own business, the challenge was I know how I want everything done. I like it done. A certain way. Most entrepreneurs are type A personalities we got an idea, we're going to run with it, we want to do it and no one could do it as good as we can. Well, you're going to be awful lonely and awful small if you think you can grow business all by yourself. So lesson you have to learn is how do I surround myself with people who make me better, who fill in the gaps of the things I'm not, and how do I let go and let them lead? So I've learned to invest in my staff and invest in them being leaders and letting it go. And remember, if you get from point A to point B and it doesn't cost any more money and it isn't illegal, does it really? And it doesn't use up any more time, does it really matter if they got there different than I would have? And honestly, it doesn't. But that's a lesson I had to learn. I was not very good at it, so my wife and my kids pulled things out of my gripped hands because they were like you got to let this go or we're never going to grow. And then you look back later and go wow, I'm so glad I did that. I mean, they're doing a better job at it than I ever did. And then you just have to make sure you're continually watching over what you're doing right, building good systems, checking on what you're doing, investing in your people, which means spending money on them, spending money to educate them, spending money for them to go out and try things, and also, don't be scared to try something. It's probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned Don't be scared to try something new that no one else has tried, because they're not all going to work, and I can tell you some of mine that were absolute failures. You figure it out, you go eh, switch back, we're done. But the ones that didn't work grew the business, made me money right, made us more efficient, and not being fearful to just change, adapt and be different is a big part, and when your staff sees that you're willing to do that and you're encouraging them and you're investing in them and you're giving them the ability to lead, you'll be surprised what they can do for you. Chris: Right. Well, so first, thank you for your service and second, yes, I think part of that for me is you can't be scared to fail, nervous. And second, yes, I think you know part of that for me is you can't be scared to fail. Uh. So if you don't take any chances, you won't learn, you won't grow. So you've got to be willing to do that and be observant of is it going well, is it not? Do I need to pivot, do I not? For your business and for yourself? Right? Brian: and you have to listen to your staff around you, because at certain point when you grow a business effectively, you start to get out of the day to day, and so you've got to check on it, you've got to hear from them, you've got to build on it and you've got to give them the ability to tell you maybe it is time to pivot, maybe we need to do something different, maybe there is a need out there, even though you didn't recognize it. They need to know. They can bring it to you and you'll listen Doesn't mean everything is going to change, but you give them a chance to speak it up and then it's out there and then you talk about it, and we do that regularly and it really changes the business when people have the freedom to bring up ideas and not be afraid of it. Chris: So let's move from the business side of things to just personal. Tell me what's your favorite part about San Antonio and why you decided to call it home. Brian: I moved here with my dad. He got stationed here when I was 13 years old and this has been my hometown almost ever since I joined the Air Force and I did leave here and I missed it all while I was gone. There's something about the community here in San Antonio the people, the events, the city that I missed. I've lived in other places. I don't think I ever missed not being there as much as I missed being here, and so this is truly my hometown. I love the city, all that we have going on, the fact we continue to grow and get big but we still feel like a small town Never and there's something for everyone. There's everything you possibly can want to do. You can do it here. I mean, we're in the middle of Fiesta. It's been going on forever, but there's still something in Fiesta that I still probably haven't even done. As many times I've gone out and done things and it's exciting just to be involved in that. I've been a Spurs fan since I moved here. I actually saw the Spurs as soon as I came back. We were coming back from Italy, moving to San Antonio, and the Spurs. I was 13 years old. The Spurs were in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Washington Bullets and they were up three games to one and I watched them lose the next three games and then not, and then I followed them and we didn't make it back to a conference championship for 20 years in 99. And then the next 20 years was a good payoff. We had a lot of fun and won a lot of games. Chris: So this is my town. Brian: I love my city. I love all that we do here. Chris: Yeah well, it's definitely spent enough time there to get a feel a very unique and welcoming culture and vibe. You mentioned Fiesta, but I don't see any badges on you. Brian: They're on sale at the front counter. Gotcha yeah, I actually was we made one, we've made one, we've traded some. A few people have bought them and it's a fun part to be part of that when you run a business in San Antonio. Chris: For sure. I've had the benefit of being there for a week on business during Fiesta and learned the whole thing about the badges and the trading and still have them with me. That's a lot of fun. Brian: Yeah, last weekend one of my managers took them all, went down and was down there handing out badges and also handing out flyers about our business Just getting the word out and getting connections to both people and other businesses. It's a unique time when everyone's just willing to talk to you and get face-to-face and everyone wants everyone else's medals. The Fiesta medals are kind of a cool thing, yeah for sure. Chris: Okay, last question Do you prefer Tex-Mex or barbecue? Brian: Tex-Mex for sure. I'll tell you this in traveling the country. There are other places where you can get barbecue. Maybe not quite the same, but there's some good barbecue out there. There is no good Tex-Mex anywhere except here. Chris: Yeah, yeah, I think it's a pretty accurate statement. Well, brian, I really appreciate you taking the time to kind of share your story, both on the property management side and Pickleball. Good luck with the grand opening coming up and look forward to seeing you guys succeed in that industry as well. Brian: All right, well, hey, great Thanks for having me on Great conversation. All right, take care. All right, bye, and there we have it. Special Guest: Brian Birdy.

Sky recently bought a house in Coastal Oregon and had some issues with the matinence that was going on. Instead of getting a second opinion or a different company to fix it all, she decided to play games...

Get Connected Communicator Online Course before the price goes up May 10. Save $50 and get the latest AI conversation opportunities newly added to the course. Go here to join now. In charge of hiring for your company? Go to Indeed and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring? Indeed is all you need. Go to https://www.indeed.com/aee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan and Billy's persistence finally gets Ryan Blaney to admit that everyone in NASCAR is a dirty, rotten cheater. AND LESS TALKING, CARL! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grandia II Part 6: The Birthplace of the Gods Was A Research Facility Square Roots - Episode 462 Quest Log: 28:40 Level Up: 01:48:15 GOTCHA! The Birthplace of the Gods was a research facility, which definitely means that Granas and Valmar were scientists who got turned into gods, and weren't aliens. With the Birthplace of the Gods being a research facility my logic is flawless and Matthew, who still needs to mail me ten dollars, is left speechless as we finish GameArts's classic JRPG! Also: We All Have An Oblivion We'd Rather Be Playing Chris Plante Sent To A Nice Click Farm Upstate A Lot Of Tiddy Talk It. Popped. Out. Tomax and Xamot Fan Fiction Vanessa's Private Network In The Krang Bin This Week: Finish Grandia II! Next Week: Finish Year I and Year II in Grim Fandango! Our Patreon: http://patreon.com/squarerootspodcast Thanks to Steven Morris for his awesome theme! You can find him at: https://bsky.app/profile/stevenmorrismusic.bsky.social and https://www.youtube.com/user/morrissteven Contact Square Roots! Twitter: @squarerootspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/486022898258197/ Email: squarerootspodcast (at) gmail (dort) com

Since the UK Supreme Court ruling clarifying the definition of woman in the Equality Act, trans activists have decided 'transmen' now matter and are using this tiny cohort of women to claim sex-based public toilet arrangements cannot work due to them as a 'gotcha' against the ruling. We discuss the features of the 'gotcha' and how each one fails. We also discuss the superficiality of transgenderism, how photos or TikTok's don't mean someone 'passes' in real life, Gendered Intelligence's lies to 'transmen', the trans to detrans to trans attention-grift arc, and transgenderism's fundamental relation to the Freudian / Lacanian concept of castration. Plus, we call for prosecutions for GBH and conspiracy to commit child abuse, how ‘bottom surgery' for ‘transmen' is the Western version of FGM, and how the gay third sector sold out gay people yet we're somehow meant to pretend we're a community.

Bangkok's a big city that's got her own rules. You can try to fight them, but in the end, in certain situations, no matter how much you beg and plead, Bangkok wins, and you lose. Greg and Ed discuss ten ways Bangkok can own you: frustrating ‘gotchas' that are devilishly difficult to avoid. Even veterans of the city with tons of experience still sometimes forget the nuance or fail to think about the what-ifs and end up standing there like a fool, muttering under their breath. This still definitely happens with Greg and Ed, so if you don't want to get burned on your next visit to Thailand, keep these in mind - learned from cold, hard experience. From sidewalk squirts and freezing aircon to improper documentation and lack of change in a taxi, Greg and Ed recount multiple ways you can get ‘got' in the Land of Smiles. Sometimes you beat Bangkok, but sometimes the city owns YOU.  Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.  

During the first week of the trial, after the jury has been selected caputured some real "gotcha" moments for both the Prosecution and the Defense. Discover those so called "gotcha" moments and see for yourself who you think in so far winning in this explosive 2nd trial. See how both of the Lawyers in this trial have skills unlike any other, and put yourself in the seat of the jury. This and more on this episode of Charlie Crimebuster as he covers the first real week in this trial.  Contact me: charliecrimebuster@gmail.com  Support: www.peacemakernetwork.com  website: www.charliecrimebuster.com  youtube: www.youtube.com/@charliecrimebuster 

Toshia finds herself in a predicament. By BradentonLarry – Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. NOTE: The events of this series (as a whole) follow immediately after Lost in Eros Book 1: The Manor. It is strongly suggested to complete that book first. Chapter 1 Toshia strained against the cords that held her fast. Her arms and legs were stretched out against an X-shaped cross, tied securely at the wrists and ankles. The muscles in her thin, strong arms and her bare legs pulled and struggled as her lithe, naked torso twisted against the cross. She had been trying to pull herself loose for what must be an hour now, and was convinced there was no actual hope that she would free herself. Only fierce stubbornness drove her to struggle again and again. At first, her captors had been gathered around Toshia, laughing at her as she fought futilely against her restraints. They had pinched and fondled her naked body, not as if they were trying to arouse her, but out of amusement at her defiant helplessness. They had squeezed and twisted her nipples, not playfully but cruelly, until tears were rolling down her cheeks. Hands had crushed her breasts roughly and slapped her face and thighs until her skin was burning and bright pink. Rude, unloving fingers had been shoved into her pussy, without intending to excite her, only to violate her. It was infuriating to her that her body had responded to this intrusion with grasping, hungry wetness. Although her mind was rebelling against her situation, and the rest of her body was being so badly mistreated, her vagina – and the damned XYZ in her veins – was ready for sex. Toshia didn't give in, though, and wouldn't. That had been the problem. Toshia wouldn't play along, so they tied her up and put her on display in the middle of this broken down old castle. They had good fun with that, hauling the kicking and fighting naked young woman off and holding her down on the cross while they bound her and then raised the framework to fit into its base. Toshia particularly remembered one of her tormentors, a big redhead with freckles over her cheeks and nose, who laughed in Toshia's face and then licked her cheek with a broad, wet tongue. After a while though, they got tired of abusing her and wandered off to find other things to do. Now and then someone would pass her by. Sometimes they would prod, pinch or fondle her body, but more and more they would just walk by, laughing. At first she had been happy to realize she'd been taken by the warrior women. Given her previous experience in Eros, Toshia expected to find herself in a Sapphic harem, surrounded by playful, horny women. After what she'd gone through, particularly since being separated from Don and the girls, the thought of some girl-on-girl action was quite welcome indeed! As soon as she was dumped out into the courtyard of the castle and looked around, though, Toshia realized this wasn't going to be any nice little harem situation. The stones of the courtyard were rough and cold on her bare skin. The women who stood around her were anything but welcoming. They looked down at her with various expressions of contempt and amusement. Each of these warriors was clearly very strong, with well-defined muscles on her arms, legs and abdomen. Odd pieces of armor were combined with tattered garments to barely clothe their athletic bodies. Each one held a weapon of some kind, mostly spears. "She's a scrawny one," said one of the women with a sneer. "No tits to speak of," said another derisively. Toshia was crouching there in front of them, trying to cover her nudity for the first time since she and Don had awoken in the Manor. "I'll bet she didn't put up any fight," one of the women scowled with distaste. "What about it, little pup? Did you put up any fight or did you just let them fuck you until they were done with you?" Toshia had twisted to get a look at the woman who had asked her those questions. She saw a tall woman with long jet-black hair and icy blue eyes looking down at her. The woman's expression gave the impression that she smelled something particularly rank. Toshia tried to think of what to say, but was distracted when she felt the butt of a spear shoved under her behind, and a voice saying, "I'll bet they screwed her ass too." The blue-eyed woman kept watching Toshia, as the woman behind her shoved the spear harder, pushing Toshia up to a kneeling position. Another woman asked, "Well, what is it, girl, did the goats fuck your ass?" "She's blushing," laughed one of them. "I'll bet she liked getting fucked in the ass by the goats." The blue-eyed woman smiled wryly and said, "As if you don't like a good ass-fucking, Wanda." "Well, yeah, but not from a goat!" Wanda protested. They all laughed at this, but Toshia didn't feel any more comfortable. The woman with the black hair and blue eyes was still looking down at her contemptuously. "What are we going to do with the scrawny little bitch, then," one of the women asked. "Give her to the men?" "It doesn't look like she can fight, so what else is she good for? She's too skinny to be any fun." "I don't know," said the blue-eyed woman haughtily. She reached out and caught Toshia's chin in a strong grip. She turned Toshia's head to the right and left, looking at her face coldly. "She's kind of cute." Cute!? Toshia suddenly realized how incredibly pissed she was. Things hadn't been going exactly well for days but she'd put up with it, thinking that Don and the others would turn up and get her out of this mess. Toshia was nothing if not a good sport; she hadn't actually been hurt and she'd managed to have fun in the process, but somehow a line had been crossed. This bunch of obnoxious women was too much to put up with nicely. A simmering rage welled up in Toshia's breast. The cold woman in front of her seemed to see the fury in Toshia's eyes. She smiled cruelly and said, "What do you say, little pup, will you be a good little pet for me?" "Fuck you!" Toshia spat. The smack came from somewhere off to the right and batted Toshia's head to the left. A spear shaft came down hard across her bare back, stinging like fire and knocking her forward onto her hands and knees. "Show respect, you skinny bitch!" said an angry voice. Toshia glowered at the gray stone in front of her, thinking furiously,I'll be damned if I'm going to be anyone's fucking cute little pet! Then she saw a sandaled foot extended under her face. It moved upward and Toshia lifted her head to avoid making contact. "There, there," said the blue-eyed woman. "I'm sure she'll behave now that she understands that she'll be punished if she doesn't. Right, little pup?" Toshia glared up at the woman and said nothing. "She's a wild one," a blonde woman with braids on both sides of her head, and who looked more than a little like a valkyrie to Toshia, said cheerfully. "Better watch yourself, Daphne." The blue-eyed woman, Daphne, sneered coldly and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Brigit. She'll be a good little pet for me, won't you, pup? Show the girls you'll play nice and kiss my foot." Toshia was keenly aware of the fact that she was surrounded by a gang of big bullies with sticks and worse, but she was past caring. She pushed herself up so that she was kneeling on her haunches and said, "I'll tell you what, I'll kiss your foot right after you kiss my ass." The blonde, Brigit, thought this was very funny, and Toshia thought some of the others laughed a little too, but again she was smacked – this time so hard that she tasted blood. Daphne, who wasn't laughing at all, then said, "It looks like the pup needs to be house-broken, ladies. Let's see how she likes being tied to the cross." So, Toshia was woman-handled until and after she was tied up and put on display in the middle of what seemed to be an ancient, decrepit hall. Fortunately, the women had tired of tormenting her, but they made no move to release her. Toshia pulled again, straining all the muscles in her lithe body against the bonds restraining her left wrist, trying to pull her hand through. She felt the wood of the cross against her back and butt. It seemed as if she would pull her hand off the end of her arm, or at the very least dislocate her shoulder, but nothing gave. She sagged, breathless, against the big X, hanging from her restraints. Toshia resigned herself to waiting until they untied her. In the meantime, she thought back to her adventures since she and Don had come to Eros, both in the Manor and since that day, about a week ago, when they had left the Manor and headed out into the forest. She knew reliving some of those events would make her horny, in spite of her situation, but thoughts of her life before coming to Eros would only depress her further. In any case, there was little doubt that the XYZ would have her horny soon anyway. Chapter 2 The Rite: centaurs & witches & crones (oh my!) Right after leaving the Manor Don found himself in strange company. It wasn't the fact that he was accompanied by four sexy women (each of whom he had slept with, sometimes with the active assistance of the others), including the love of his life and best friend Toshia. Nor was it the fact that two of those women had no memory beyond when they had awakened here in this strange place. Rather it was the presence of the amiable centaur, Ralph, who made the situation so surreal. They had gathered around Ralph in the shade of the first trees on the edge of the lawn spread out in front of the Manor. "Well, we call this the forest," Ralph answered Toshia's question. "No," she insisted, "what do you call everything -- the place where the forest is?" "The world? Oh, you mean Eros," Ralph laughed. "People call the world Eros sometimes." "Naturally," Don shrugged, smiling across to Toshia. "OK," Toshia tried to resume her explanation, "Don, Nicole and I aren't from Eros. We come from a place called Earth, and we would like to get home." Ralph frowned and scratched under his long, dark beard. His equine tail swished a bit too. Then, he said, "I can't say that I've ever heard of this 'Earth' place, and I've traveled extensively throughout the world -- Eros. Oh, would you mind scratching right there, dear?" Amy, who had utterly failed to resist the urge to caress Ralph's strong flanks, obliged him by scratching at his brown hindquarter where her hand had been. "Well," Don tried, "if you wanted to find a way to Earth, is there someone you would ask for help?" "Hmm," Ralph said as his forehead creased with his thought. "I suppose the first place one could try is the Witches of the Glen. Perhaps they could summon the Crone. She is very wise. If anyone knows anything about this 'Earth' it's likely to be... That's very distracting, my dear." "It certainly is!" Shelonda said. She had knelt down next to Ralph and was caressing his prodigious sex organ, which was, naturally enough, responding to the attention. Don wondered if the native fauna responded to the XYZ in the same way the human transplants did. He apologized to Ralph, saying, "I'm sorry. My friends have never encountered one of your kind." "I appreciate that," Ralph said. "It's just that it's been a while since I've been with a mare." "There aren't many centaurs around?" Don asked. "No... not too many..." By now Amy and Nicole had joined Shelonda in caressing and stroking Ralph's large phallus. Toshia was watching them with an expression that seemed a violent mixture of curiosity, shock and titillation. Don almost laughed at her reddening face. He saw that Amy was now kneeling on the ground with both her hands on the column of horse flesh pointing at her face, pumping her hands back and forth on it. Meanwhile, Shelonda and Nicole were similarly stroking Ralph's cock. Don thought it was fortunate for everyone concerned that they hadn't come across an actual horse. "Oh my!" Ralph breathed. Then a deluge of white cum erupted from him, virtually covering Amy's face and front. Pearly droplets splattered everywhere. Shelonda was able to say "Wow!" in the moment before a second bucket full of cum shot out of Ralph and onto Amy's face, and then there was a third much smaller one, followed by a stream that drizzled out. Nicole reached out and caught some of this in her cupped palm, and brought it up to her mouth, only to pronounce it "Yummy!" The girls on the ground proceeded to giggle and laugh as they scooped centaur cum off Amy and slurped it down. Toshia watched this for a moment, until she saw Don watching her with amusement, and then said, "Oh, what the hell?" and got down to join in the fun. "I hope that wasn't too rude of them," Don said to Ralph. "Oh, no -- not at all!" Ralph laughed. "It was a bit kinky, you know. I've never been pleasured by such tiny females, but I'm certainly not complaining." "Well, good," Don smiled. "Now, I was wondering if you could help us find these Witches of the Glen that you mentioned." Once the women managed to finish playing with Ralph's cum and to clean Amy up a bit, the centaur led them through the forest at a pretty brisk pace. Don was happy that he was a good hiker. The women took turns getting rides on Ralph's back, and took the opportunity to bring themselves to loud orgasms along the way. At first Toshia seemed shocked by the fact that Amy and then Shelonda were so openly grinding themselves against Ralph's spine and then so obviously coming, but, after Nicole took her turn, Toshia climbed up and enjoyed the ride for all it was worth. Don watched her bowing her head against Ralph's shoulder blades as she gasped and sighed with her orgasm, and smiled to himself. It was good to see her enjoying herself so thoroughly. For his part, Ralph said he was happy to return the favor done him as much as possible. Amy, however, insisted that she was unconvinced that there wasn't some further way in which Ralph could be of service to the ladies. Don found himself a bit happy when they came upon the glade they were seeking before Amy could put any of her ideas to the test. He sensed that Ralph was a bit relieved too. They were on a cleared hilltop high over the rest of the forest, sloping dark green all around them. The sun was sinking toward the horizon. In the center of the glade were a large stone altar and a large arrangement of wood, ready to become a bonfire. Off to the side, against the tree line, was a large tent of crimson cloth. Ralph led them toward this tent. Before they got there, though, or even called out, a flap was tossed aside and a beautiful woman in a dark red robe stepped out and said, "Hello, and welcome." She had a thick mane of yellow and gold hair falling to her shoulders in an unruly tumult. She looked the party over with eyes of light blue-gray and a knowing smile. "My name is Cassandra, how may we help you?" "Hello Cassandra, I'm Don, and this is Toshia, Nicole, Shelonda, Amy and Ralph." "It's good to see you again, Ralph," Cassandra smiled. Her voice was musical, friendly and confident -- in short, extremely sexy. "Thank you for guiding our new friends here." "It was an honor, mistress," Ralph bowed. "More than that," she winked, "judging from the smell of things." "An honor and a pleasure," he smiled back at her. "I am glad," she nodded. Then, turning to Don, she asked, "How may we help you, Don?" "Toshia, Nicole and I seek a way to leave Eros and return to our home, Earth," Don explained. "Ralph suggested that you could help us find someone who could tell us how to do that." "The Crone," Ralph added. "Ah, yes," Cassandra nodded, taking all of this in with apparent simple acceptance. "I see. We could perform the summoning rite, though you will have to help. We will need a fresh offering for the guardian of the portal, and then there will be a price to be paid to the Crone as well." "What sort of offering and price?" Toshia asked. She had dismounted from Ralph's back and stood next to Don. "Oh nothing quite so dire as you might imagine," Cassandra smiled enigmatically. "Any of you young ladies will do, though I suggest you or Nicole would be most fitting." "Fine," Toshia said firmly, "as long as it's nothing life-threatening, I'll do it." "Wonderful," Cassandra nodded. "And you, Don, will have to pay the Crone's price. Surely you will be as brave as your companion." "Of course," Don nodded, very much conscious of the fact that he was nowhere near as sure of himself as Toshia seemed to be. Cassandra smiled at them both and then turned to the tent behind her and called, "Come on everyone, we have to get ready to summon the Crone!" There were excited exclamations from the tent, followed by a dozen men and women all wearing robes just like Cassandra's. They busied themselves immediately around the firewood and the altar. Don would have paid more attention to what they were doing, but Ralph took this moment to say, "Well, I will leave you in Cassandra's capable hands, then." "You won't stay to see what the Crone says?" Don asked. "No," Ralph shook his head. "I want to find myself a mare as soon as possible, and, to be honest, these magical rites are a bit too intense for me." "Are we safe here?" Don asked in a hushed voice. "Oh, yes!" Ralph laughed. "Cassandra's a sweet, kind person. She won't let any harm come to you, but ... well, it's just going to be intense, that's all. It all gives me the willies. Anyway, good luck!" The girls all bid Ralph goodbye, and then he trotted off into the forest, which was already quite dark in the dusk. "Please, Toshia, come with me," Cassandra said. While they went into the tent, a pair of red-robed women came up to Nicole and Shelonda and led them off toward the fire area. A tall young man approached Don and said, "Sir, if you will accompany me." Don followed the man to a wooden chair that had been set off to the side, with a clear view of the altar without actually being close to it. The young man said, "During the rite, you will sit here until the Crone summons you. Do not participate in the ritual at all until that time. It is very important that you save yourself for the Crone. If you do not, she will know and be displeased." "Okay," Don nodded. "Sit in the chair and don't have any fun -- got it." "Oh, and remove your clothing." "Um, all right," Don said. After disrobing and putting his few items of clothing, and his staff, on the ground next to the chair, Don sat down and tried to make himself comfortable, watching the robed witches go about their preparations. He wasn't surprised to note that everyone in what he was thinking of as the coven was in good shape, even though they seemed to represent a spectrum of different ages, from quite young -- like Nicole or Shelonda -- to as old as in their sixties, if Don was any judge of such things. Knowing what he now knew about Eros, though, Don realized that each of these people could be much older than their appearance would indicate, thanks to the rejuvenating powers of the XYZ they drank as water. After the sun set Don was left alone in the clearing, as the others all disappeared into the big tent. Eventually, the group came out in a solemn procession -- one by one -- with Cassandra in the lead. Toshia came second and was wearing a white robe. The entire group made a circle around the pile of firewood, and most of them began to sing some sort of hymn the words of which Don couldn't make out. This went on for several minutes, until, abruptly, Cassandra raised her hands high over her head, and the wood in front of her burst into flame. Well, that was certainly a neat trick, Don thought to himself. He caught himself, though, and tried to make a point of not being quite so skeptical as usual. After all, we're trying to play along with this world's rules here. Maybe things won't work if I've got the wrong attitude. The witches had stopped singing now, and Cassandra took Toshia by the hand and walked her over to stand with her back to the stone altar; the other witches, along with Nicole, Shelonda and Amy, closed the gap in the circle. Facing Toshia, Cassandra raised her arms, with her palms up to the sky, and called out, "O wise mother who guides us and watches over us, we beseech thee to join us this night that the travelers among us may share in the gift of your knowledge and beauty." The witches around the bonfire repeated Cassandra's words, and four of the men lit torches in the fire and placed them in holes Don hadn't noticed before. These torches were positioned about a meter from each corner of the altar. When the men returned to the circle, Cassandra reached out to caress Toshia's face lovingly. She called out, "O guardian of the portal, we offer you this supplicant who comes seeking knowledge and will give you that which you most desire." Then, Cassandra untied the simple knot at the base of Toshia's throat that held the white robe closed. Toshia shrugged the robe off her shoulders and stood there naked in the firelight. If she was frightened or anxious Don could not see it in her expression or posture. Instead, she stood proudly, with her shoulders back and head high. To Don it seemed that it was Toshia, not Cassandra, who was the high priestess of this affair. As the witches around the fire began a low chant, Cassandra took Toshia by the hand and led her to the foot of the altar, and up a set of steps Don hadn't seen earlier. Toshia gently knelt down on the altar and then turned around and lied down upon her back on the cold stone. Don was fascinated to see her bare, pale flesh in the flickering orange and yellow light. He experienced a strong desire to go to the altar then and ravish Toshia even if it did mess up the rite. Instead, he forced himself to sit still in his wooden chair, and kept watching intently. Cassandra moved around to the opposite side of the altar, away from the bonfire, and produced a large pitcher that seemed to be made of clay. The witch proceeded to pour water over Toshia's naked body. From the sharp gasp and sudden tightening of her muscles, Don could tell Toshia had not expected this, but she lay still on the altar. When she'd emptied the pitcher over Toshia, Cassandra set the pitcher out of the way on the ground somewhere behind the altar, and then leaned over the naked, wet offering and kissed her on the lips. Cassandra came around the altar and joined the circle of chanting witches. Once she was there, the group slowly began to move around the fire. The chanting became a bit more rhythmic, and the witches started to move almost as if they were dancing. One by one, each of the participants broke away from the circle to approach the altar and kiss Toshia on the lips. When they had kissed her, each one dropped his or her robe to the ground in front of the altar before returning to the circle. Nicole, Shelonda and Amy each took their turn in this kissing and disrobing ritual, as if they had done this kind of thing many times. As this went on, with an increasing number of naked chanting, dancing celebrants, the rhythm and pace of the chant very slowly rose. The dancers were now holding hands or had their arms around each other's waists. Finally, only Cassandra still wore her robe, so she returned to the altar, kissed Toshia again and exposed her own naked body to the fire-lit night. This seemed to be a signal to the others, for the chanting shifted to a much more rhythmic cant, and Don swore there were now deep, distant drums keeping the beat. As soon as Cassandra returned to the circle, the dancing around the fire became more playful. Now sweaty bodies glistened in the orangey light. Don saw Amy moving along between two men, in each hand a stiff cock, while their hands groped her body. Shelonda passed by with a lovely young woman trying to get her mouth on Shelonda's beautiful heaving bosom. Nicole had allowed a man to catch her from behind and the two of them managed to move around the circle while he kissed the back of her neck and reached around to run his hands over her front. Cassandra danced past with the wanton sensuality of a belly dancer and a certain regal bearing, somehow both reveling in the energy of the rite and aloof from the playfulness rapidly spreading around the circle. The air seemed to be throbbing with the rhythm of the ritual chant, and the heat of the fire and rising eroticism flooded the night. Don looked over to the altar and saw that Toshia had begun to writhe on the stone. Her hands moved over her upper body and her legs rubbed against each other as she felt the aura of lust pulsing from the fire and the dancers. Don watched as she moved her left hand down between her legs, and he had little doubt what she was doing there. As for himself, Don's cock was lying thick on his thigh, growing harder as the rite progressed. Looking back to the fire, Don saw that the dancing had now stopped, though the chanting and the unseen drums continued on. The witches and company were giving in to their desires. Nearby, backlit by the fire, Nicole, had fallen to her hands and knees, and the man who had been following her so closely was now even closer -- fucking her from behind. Don was unsurprised to see that Amy was kneeling between her two men sucking one cock while stroking the other, and then switching. He couldn't see Shelonda, but figured she must be on the other side of the fire. He could see Cassandra, though, straddling a muscular young man, her head thrown back and her breasts thrust up in the night air as she rode him. When he turned his attention back to the altar, Don was surprised to see that a strange dark figure was standing there at Toshia's feet. Don almost sprang from his chair, but somehow managed to remember what he had been told, and resolved to sit still and wait. The figure, which Don presumed must be the guardian of the portal, was hard to discern at first, only a darker shadow in the night, but as Don concentrated it resolved into a tall, distinctly masculine form. Don was sure the shadowy "man" had long horns springing out of its forehead and sweeping back over its head. Toshia didn't seem to notice the creature's presence until it reached out to touch her ankle; the jet black hand seemed more like a talon at first, but then just a hand with long fingers. Toshia looked down to see the figure at her feet, but didn't seem frightened or even surprised. Don could see that she said something, but if there was any reply he could not tell -- he couldn't make out any features of the guardian's face, though he had the distinct impression that there were two fiery eyes of dark red in the shadows. Toshia parted her legs for the darkness and Don watched the claw-like hands moving over her relatively pale skin. As the shadow rose up and lowered itself over her, Toshia's hands left her own body and reached out for the dark shape. Her back arched as the shadows enveloped her. Don found it hard to focus on what was going on atop the altar. At one moment he saw Toshia with her head thrown back and a black creature with its mouth on her neck, and the next there was an almost billowing shadow enveloping her. Then there was a glimpse of her thighs and butt as they flexed while she was fucking the shadow enthusiastically. Her torso strained and tensed, and a mouth with sharp teeth was on her white breast. And then darkness swirled around her. Don was aware that all around the fire the orgy had become general, even though the chanting and the sound of drums went on. He knew that Nicole was now on her back while a new man was between her legs, thrusting with nearly crazed lust. He knew that Amy was being fucked from behind while she took a cock in her mouth. He knew that Cassandra was passionately kissing one of her female subordinates, while another suckled at her tits and reached down to play with her, all while still riding her initial partner. Don could feel his untouched cock, straining painfully in its excited, engorged state. However, he could not seem to look away from the altar. Though he couldn't hear anything but chanting, drums and the moaning of the witches, he was sure Toshia was crying out in a long, hard orgasm. He could tell the shadowy creature on top of her was not finished, though. "No," said a voice next to him, "he will not be finished anytime soon. His need is ... special." Don looked up to see a woman with long white hair swept away from her face and down her back. She was watching the altar with a smile on her thin, red lips. Her dark eyes sparkled in the firelight as she went on, saying, "His phallus is so very hard, like a thing of steel wrapped in a tight sheath of leather. Not as big as one might imagine, but so, so hard, almost painful to touch, until it fills you and you feel his need becoming your own." She was thin, but tautly muscular, and stood confidently and comfortably next to Don. She wore a black sleeveless shift, bound around her narrow waist with a silver cord. "What is his need?" Don finally managed to ask. Her features were sharp and aristocratic, but her smile was friendly as she looked down at him and said, "Sex, obviously, but not like you or them, or her. The guardian feeds off the carnal pleasure of others, particularly the woman with whom he is engaged -- but especially if she's new to him. The energy he draws from her orgasm makes it possible for me to come to you. He will couple with her as long as she can take it, drawing sustenance from her orgasms, and the lust of the others. He does not couple for release, though, but for the reverse. If he comes, which is quite rare, it will be a fiery jet of liquid ecstasy filling up her body -- every fiber." "A fiery jet?" She looked down at him again and smiled warmly, "Don't fear; I was being poetic." Don smiled back, "And your need?" She held out her hand, and Don took it and brought it to his lips, kissing her palm. She laughed and said, "Come with me, Don." A Covin of Witches Desire Toshia. Don stood and moved around his chair, following the white haired woman toward the large red tent. He stole one more glance over his shoulder and saw that Toshia had been pulled to the foot of the altar; her legs were wrapped around the column of deep shadow that stood over her there, her hands were on her breasts and her head lolled to the side with eyes tightly closed. Don imagined that the guardian of the portal was fucking her vigorously with his steely cock. He looked back to the woman leading him, who was looking back at him with an amused smile. Don said, "I didn't see a portal." "The portal is somewhat metaphorical. Cassandra called to me and the guardian, the guardian came, then Toshia came in the other sense, which made it possible for me to come to you." "So he's really not a guardian, but more of a conductor." She laughed as she drew aside the flap of the tent and pulled him inside. "Yes, that is perhaps a more apt description." The tent was lit by a number of candles, and was sumptuously appointed with large, soft carpets and many pillows. "And you are hardly what I would call a 'crone'," Don smiled, admiring the cool beauty of her face and the lithe sexuality of her form. "It's a title, not a description," she answered as she untied the silver cord cinching her gown about her narrow waist. "However, if you would prefer a different appearance..." She changed abruptly into an ancient, toothless hag, straight out of a stereotypical fairy-tale, or Macbeth. She laughed harshly and said, "Perhaps not, though. What about this? Something more befitting the images conjured up in your mind by the rite you witnessed so patiently." She was now a pale woman in a white nightgown. Thick dark hair fell in a tumult down around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark and glowing with a feral lust. Her full lips parted to show long, sharp canines, and were red with blood -- blood that covered her chin and had splattered all over her generous cleavage. Don immediately recalled his fevered teenage fantasies and felt his cock strain despite the obvious danger of the situation. "Or maybe you would prefer I took the appearance of someone more familiar," she said with Toshia's mouth. Don watched as Toshia shrugged out of the black shift the Crone was wearing, to reveal the slim body he had lately come to know so well. Don was both taken aback by these sudden transformations and now completely convinced that there was more to all of the evening's events that clever tricks. He swallowed and managed to say, "No, your original appearance was more than satisfactory." "Ah, thank you," she smiled, and stood before him as she was before, though now naked. Her breasts were not large, but firm for a woman of her apparent age, and the rest of her body was obviously fit and trim. She reached out to take his hand again and drew him to her. As Don's arms slipped around her unusually cool body, her hand took his straining cock in a strong grip. When their lips met and his tongue slipped into her mouth, Don found himself suddenly remembering his first kiss with remarkable clarity. Then he was reliving the moment he lost his virginity (in the basement of his teenage home), the time he had had sex with his girlfriend while another couple were doing it only feet away (in a cheap motel), the time he had slept with a certifiably unhinged woman who was also a completely uninhibited wildcat in bed, the first and second of the threesomes he had enjoyed, and every other memorable sexual moment from his life before the Manor. The memories flooded through his mind in vivid detail, as the Crone kissed him passionately, sucking on his tongue and stroking his cock in her tight grasp. He felt himself being pulled down to the sea of soft pillows as scenes from his time in the Manor played out in his mind. He remembered waking up next to Toshia in that strange bedroom, the wild, unexpected encounter with the Nymphets (including the first time he'd seen Toshia come), the sexual escapades involved in that dodge ball game (including seeing Toshia fucking the Player), the orgiastic ball, the night with the Lady, the first time he and Toshia had sex, watching and participating in Toshia's little gangbang in the second floor corridor, the wild night in the Disco, and the orgy in the steam room, and many other intense erotic memories swept through his mind. Don felt himself entering the Crone's surprisingly hot and wet vagina. The strong grip was no surprise. Still reliving his wilder sexual memories in exceptionally vivid detail, Don held on to the strong but slender woman beneath him and fucked. He fucked her both as if it was the only thing he could imagine doing and as if his life depended upon it. He felt as if his cock was penetrating deeper into the Crone than was physically possible. Her muscles squeezed and pulled at him with incredible dexterity and strength. The vision of Toshia being taken on top of the stone altar was in his mind when Don began to come. To say this was the most intense orgasm of Don's life would be a severe understatement. The cum boiled out of his balls and shot out of him into the Crone in a gushing torrent. He shoved into her and continued to pump jet after jet of cum. He felt her arms and legs wrap around him, pulling him tighter to him, even as her pussy squeezed and pulled at his cock. He thought for a moment that it felt that there were more than just two arms and two legs holding him to her. He opened his eyes and saw the Crone looking at him with a cool, happy smile on her lips. Don felt the orgasm slowly subsiding but then that preternaturally skilled pussy pulled him on, and he was squirting still more cum into her. When he could no longer pump any cum, it seemed that her pussy went on sucking it from him. The ecstasy of coming became a frightening overdose of pleasure and then a painful ordeal as what seemed like minutes passed and he was drained of cum. He groaned wordlessly, and surrendered to the blackness of unconsciousness. Don had no idea how long he was out before he felt the Crone caressing his face with her cool fingers and kissing his lips lightly. When he opened his eyes, she was smiling down at him. "You seek the Sage of the Tower," she said. "Go down into the valley and follow the river there to its source, and you will find the Tower." "Oh, but wha-?" he tried. "Shush," she smiled, "that is all you need to know. Thank you for your gift, Don." Don thought he should say "my pleasure" but he wasn't sure if that was true, and in any case he was already falling asleep. Chapter 3 Toshia Saved & Caught; rough sex in the forest Like Don had done a week earlier, while he was with the Crone, Toshia found herself reliving the erotic adventures she had had since waking up in the Manor. The sounds of the warrior women feasting and carousing nearby only taunted her with the thought that someone might remember her and bring her some food and water. Her deliberate mental game of remembering her time in Eros while she hung tied to the big, wooden X-cross served to distract her from not only her hunger and thirst but also from her frustration and dejection at being in this predicament. These depressing thoughts reminded her of the day ...Was it three days ago already? She must have been very close to drowning, her vision darkening and her temples pounding, when the strong slender arms had slipped around her from behind and she was hoisted up to the surface of the river. She had gulped air into her lungs desperately, and allowed herself to be drawn to shore. Too weak from struggling against the current, Toshia was limp and useless as she was hauled up onto the sandy bank. She lay there gasping, until she felt soft feminine hands brushing the wet hair out of her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw a beautiful young woman with big eyes of blue-green and long straight hair of emerald green looking down at her with concern. "Thank you for saving me," Toshia finally managed. The green-haired girl smiled at her with full inviting lips. She touched Toshia's lips with light fingertips. She licked her own as she traced the outline of Toshia's lips. She looked over Toshia's naked, wet body, and Toshia raised her head enough to see that the girl was also naked and, obviously, wet. She seemed to be very thin, but strong, and quite pale. The girl looked back at Toshia's face and smiled again, and Toshia thought this smile was a bit friendlier now. Well, this is Eros, after all, Toshia thought to herself. It's probably customary to sleep with anyone who saves your life. As if she could read Toshia's mind, the girl leaned in closer, brushing Toshia's skin with her wet hair, and kissed her mouth tentatively. The girl's lips and tongue were cool and moist, and Toshia found herself returning the gentle kiss happily. After only minutes earlier thinking that she was about to drown, this interlude was a most welcome turn of events. Toshia slipped her arms around her rescuer and held her body against her own. For some time, they lay there on the wet ground, kissing each other languorously. Then, with a smile, the green-haired girl pulled away a little and then moved a bit lower, so she could kiss her way down the curve of Toshia's breast. Toshia shuddered as the girl took her nipple and sucked on it. Toshia parted her legs in anticipation as she felt the girl's hand moving up along the inside of her thigh. Suddenly, though, the girl raised her head and looking into the nearby tree line with obvious alarm. In another second, Toshia heard the sound of someone coming toward them through the undergrowth. "It's OK, that's just my friends looking for me," Toshia smiled at the girl, who immediately shook her head and pulled away from Toshia's embrace. Toshia took the moment to look around a bit more carefully and realized that she was quite a bit downriver from where she had fallen in and, moreover, on the wrong side. It couldn't possibly be Don and the others making all that noise in the woods. Toshia looked warily at the woods, and then back to the girl who had saved her life. She was alarmed to see the green-haired waif diving back into the water. "Wait!" Toshia called as she scrambled to her feet. "Oh, damn!" said a masculine voice behind her. "She got away!" "Of course she did," said another. "The way you two go crashing about, it's impossible to sneak up on anything!" "At least we've got a consolation prize this time," said a third. Being called a consolation prize almost wiped the shocked expression off Toshia's face. Out of the forest had emerged three figures, about five and a half feet tall, with long, dark, curly hair and beards, and bare, muscular torsos and arms. They also had short, curled horns growing out of their foreheads and the hindquarters of goats. Naturally, they also had very prominent and generous male genitalia. Of course, after meeting Ralph the centaur she should not have been so surprised to be confronted by bona fide satyrs. In fact, Ralph hadn't even been the strangest thing she'd encountered since leaving the Manor; there was the demonic guardian of the portal to name just one thing.One thing that had fucked my brains out! she thought to herself. Still, in spite of herself, Toshia was shocked by the sight of these half-man, half-goats. "She does look like she'll give us some sport," said one of the satyrs with an obvious leer. "How about it, toots," grinned the third one who'd spoken, "you up for some fun and games?" "Um, actually, I was just going to find my friends," Toshia said taking a step toward the forest away from the three satyrs. "We can be your friends," suggested the satyr who had spoken first. He took a step closer to her on his hoofed feet and gave his already hard and thick cock a squeeze. "We're very friendly." "Oh, well, I'm sure, but I should really be going." "What's the hurry?" said satyr number two, without taking his eyes off her naked body. "Come on, honey," said number three, "we'll show you a real good time." Toshia was simultaneously revolted by the smarmy attitudes, alarmed that it seemed clear they had no intention of taking "no" for an answer, and annoyed with herself for being a bit aroused by the thought of having a "real good time" with three goat-men. Goddamn that fucking XYZ! "Tell you what," said number two, doing his apparent best to sound good-natured, "we'll give you a head start, and if we catch you we'll have some fun." Thinking it was a good idea to take advantage of a chance to put some distance between herself and them, Toshia nodded and said, "Fine." Without waiting for them to say anything else, she sprang for the trees and made for the nearest hillside up away from the river. Tree branches lashed at her bare skin, and she wished she had fallen into the river with her sandals on, but she didn't slow down. She clambered up a hill, vaulted over a large rock and then half-ran, half-fell down the other side, only to start up the next one. Ducking under a thick branch, she turned to the left and started running along the ridge of a line of hills that seemed to parallel the course of the river. She was trying to close some of the distance between the satyrs and where she had fallen into the river. She was vaguely aware that there were now sounds of pursuit echoing in the forest. Toshia slowed just a little to catch her breath, but that only allowed her to realize that the satyrs were getting alarmingly close. She even caught sight of one moving through the trees off to her left, cutting her off from the river. Plunging ahead again with renewed determination, Toshia clambered up the side of the next hill almost on all fours. At the top of the steep slope, she saw a sunlit clearing in the distance. With the vague hope that she might be able to get someone's attention on the other side of the river, Toshia set her sights on reaching that clearing. She might have made it too, if she hadn't tripped on an ill-placed root. Toshia went sprawling in the thick forest carpet of leaves right in front of an enormous tree trunk that had fallen years ago and was now covered with a deep layer of green moss. She heard someone coming up the hill close behind her, and frantically scrambled to her feet. Toshia hurried to get hold of the mossy tree trunk and raised her foot to get purchase on it so she could vault over, but then felt a strong, hairy arm slipping around her waist to pull her back down. "Gotcha!" the satyr laughed, as he pulled her behind against his front, at the same time pushing her chest and face forward against the soft moss in front of her. Toshia struggled, trying to twist out of his grasp, but he was too strong and she was too winded. She felt the head of his cock between her legs and rubbing up against her outer lips. He pushed her against the moss with one hand, holding her in place, while using the other to get his sex organ in the right position. Toshia gritted her teeth as he pushed himself into her. It wasn't an enormous cock, but it was hard and thick, and she had to admit at that moment, with the XYZ and the adrenaline of the chase coursing through her veins, it felt good to be filled. Toshia clutched the mossy trunk, and closed her eyes, as the satyr held on to her hips roughly and began to fuck in and out of her from behind, shoving violently. In addition to the sensation of the penis sliding in and out of her all too eager pussy, Toshia was keenly aware of the thick mat of fur brushing against her legs and butt as he took her and the fact that her tits were being pressed into the yielding moss with the solid resistance of the tree behind it. She knew that she was, basically, being raped by a half-man, half-goat creature, but she also knew she was enjoying it. The question of whether she should actually consider this rape would occupy her mind quite a bit in the days afterward, and particularly while she was strapped to the X-cross. On the one hand, she had actually said "Fine" to the satyr's proposal that "if we catch you we'll have some fun", but, on the other, at the time of that agreement she had been convinced they were going to have their way with her in any case. However, she knew that rape in the normal world she called home was not really a crime of sex but of violence. Someone who raped another wasn't really trying to have sex with them, but to hurt them. Somehow, Toshia did not get the sense that these satyrs wanted to hurt her in the least; they seemed to just want to fuck, and given the nature of this world, it might be reasonable for them to presume that she would enjoy a good tumble in the woods. Still, the girl who had pulled her from the river had obviously wanted to avoid getting caught by the randy goat-men. Later she would ponder these issues, but for that moment against the moss-covered tree trunk she just let herself enjoy the rough fucking. It wasn't too long before the goat-man began to shove into her with even more force, and then his cock swelled and shot his hot satyr cum into her. It felt like there was quite a bit, and it took him some time before he pulled out of her and slapped her butt happily. Toshia slumped against the fallen tree trunk, both relieved and frustrated. She started to push away from the tree, to make an attempt at gaining that clearing ahead somewhere, but another pair of rough hands took hold of her and pushed her back against the moss. "Not so fast, toots," said satyr number three. Without any other preamble, he shoved his cock into her pussy, squishing his partner's cum out to run down the insides of her thighs. Toshia surprised herself by letting out a happy moan as she was filled again. While the satyr proceeded to fuck her with great enthusiasm, Toshia let go of the moss with her left hand and managed to get it down between the trunk and her body, so she could get her fingers on her clit. She began to stroke herself frantically as the cock pistoned in and out of her almost savagely. In only moments, Toshia found herself gasping and moaning as her orgasm tore through her violated body. She shook and whimpered while the satyr had his way with her until he filled her up with his own flood of cum. He pulled out of her, and she felt more cum running down her legs. Laughing, he said, "Told you we'd have fun." Toshia wasn't surprised to hear satyr number one say, "My turn!" This time, though, she managed to roll around and get her back against the mossy tree trunk. She actually found herself smiling at the hairy goat-man as he stepped up in front of her. Toshia put her hands on his broad shoulders and let him lift her up a bit. Soon, she had her thighs supported on his furry haunches as he pushed his eager cock up inside her. She looked at his grinning, bearded face with its little horns, and even laughed a little as he lowered his mouth to her tits to suck and bite on her nipples. She rocked against him as he fucked in and out of her, letting his hairy torso rub against her clit. Leaning back against the curve of the trunk behind her, Toshia let herself enjoy getting fucked there in the woods by an actual satyr. She smiled when she felt his cock swell inside her to spew a third torrent of cum into her pussy, only to spill in a slow river out of her as soon as he withdrew. She noticed that the other two satyrs were still standing there, watching, with still very hard cocks standing in front of them. Perhaps they would have let her go in that moment, but Toshia had her mind on other things. She laughed and said, "Well, hello boys; are you just going to stand there? I thought you promised me a good time." This prompted laughter from all three of them, and they hastened forward. In the next moment, Toshia was surrounded by all three of the satyrs as they pawed her with their eager hands and kissed and nibbled at her wherever they could reach. Fingers pinched her nipples and pushed up inside her soggy cunt. One enterprising individual got his finger nice and slippery and pushed it up inside her ass. This reminded Toshia of that wonderful time she'd had in the steam room with Don and Peter, only a few days earlier, and gave her an idea. "OK, well, before we go any further, don't you think you should introduce yourselves?" Toshia laughed. Any further? They've each fucked me and they've got their fingers in my pussy and ass! "Oh, I'm Scratch," said satyr number two. "I'm Roscoe," said number one. "And, I'm Bob," said three. "I'm Toshia," she said. "Now that we've got that out of the way. Why don't you lie down on your back here, Bob?" Bob was only too happy to comply, and Toshia promptly straddled him, and took his stiff cock in her hand, pushing the head of it into her pussy, which was quite ready for more action. She sank down on Bob's shaft, leaning forward by placing both hands on his broad hairy chest. Toshia slid up and down on him a couple of times, just because it felt good. Then, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Scratch, can you get back there and fuck me in the ass?" "I sure can!" Scratch said with a grin. There was some scrambling around, and an interesting moment when Scratch pushed his finger up inside her wet pussy with Bob's cock (Oh my! That's interesting! I'll have to try to remember that.). After her own juices and a liberal amount of satyr cum was worked into her butt and smeared over his organ, Scratch slowly pushed himself into her butt. "Oh fuck that feels good!" she exclaimed. "Yes, push it in me!" An unexpected orgasm hit her then, and she held still there as her pussy and ass clenched on the two cocks inside her. Moaning and trembling, Toshia rode it out with a smile on her face. When she had started to come down, she looked down at Bob and over her shoulder at Scratch and said, "Well, what are you waiting for boys, fuck me!" The two satyrs began to do as they were told, working their thick, hard cocks in and out of her. Whether they had practiced this trick before or it was an innate satyr skill, they quickly got into a perfect rhythm, pumping and grinding against her body as if the three of them were one ideal sex machine. Toshia made sure she was giving as good as she was getting, working her pelvis in time with the way the satyrs were pushing and pulling inside her. When she felt comfortable and knew she could keep up, she looked around and beckoned Roscoe over. The third satyr moved over on his cloven hooves to stand in front of Toshia. She reached up with her left hand and took his cock in her hand and pulled it to her mouth, tasting his cum and her own juices on him. Once she had the fat head in her mouth, she stroked the shaft in her fist. Bob reached up to cup her breasts in his hands and to help hold her up. Letting Bob and Scratch do most of the fucking work, Toshia relaxed to enjoy those sensations and concentrated her active attention on Roscoe's cock. She pulled him closer so that she could get her mouth working up and down on him, pushing the head deeper in her mouth so she could feel his thick shaft moving over her lips and her tongue. I wish Don could see me! she thought as she relaxed her throat and sank deeper on to Roscoe's cock. She let go of the base of his shaft and held onto his hips with both hands, both for support and to shove him back if it became necessary, but she was now letting him fuck her mouth and throat. Roscoe was surprisingly careful, holding her head gently in his hands and moving slowly and steadily. Meanwhile, Bob lay under her flexing his hairy abdomen to push himself up inside her pussy, and Scratch held on to her hips and fucked in and out of her ass vigorously. Toshia was intent on making the satyrs come before she came again, but her body had other ideas, and soon she was moaning and trembling while an intense orgasm shook her from head to toe. The frantic clenching of her pussy and ass pulled Bob and Scratch past the point of no return, and they filled her up with more of their cum. Roscoe, who had come most recently anyway, held out a bit longer, but the other two were still inside her when Toshia felt him swelling in her mouth and throat and then pumping gout after gout of sweet, hot cum into her stomach, and then filling her mouth. Pulling away from her, he splashed on final stream of pearly jizz across the bridge of her nose and down her cheek. Still hard, Bob and Scratch continued to fuck her squishy pussy and ass until she came again and again. Only when she had collapsed between them, did they extract themselves and carry her off to their camp in the forest, where they bathed and fed her. That night, the next day, and the night after were spent in a marathon of satyr fucking that left Toshia exhausted. Toshia now, bound to the X-cross, strained again at her restraints, wishing she could get at her pussy and clit now. She needed to make herself come. She remembered how she had awoken the third day, well into afternoon. The satyrs were gone, and she was surrounded by the gathering party from the warrior woman camp. Angry at being abandoned, worn out from the incessant demands of three hard pricks, frustrated at being lost, Toshia had been a bit happy to learn that she was going to be taken to a bunch of women, but that hadn't lasted long. She remembered how they had tied her up underneath a pole carried on the shoulders of two brawny men. The next two days were spent hanging there as she was carried further down river, to the castle where she now stood on frustrating display. To be continued. By BradentonLarry for Literotica

Join hosts Gleenobly and Russ with special guests Ath and Adam as they speak about moments where people don't care what they look like... they're on a mission... they're focused... their IN IT TO WIN IT!  Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/punctuated-by-a-lemon--4617484/support.

We are stoked for Andor Season 2. We are looking back with a bonus epsiode at Andor Season 1, Ep3, Reckoning.  Deputy Inspector Syril Karn and Sergeant Linus Mosk are hot on the trail of Cassian.  But Rael and Andor get the upper hand with Ferrix locals with support.  This episode is so fire! Drop as a voice memo or email at bigtliltpodcast@gmail.com. big T & LIL T

The headlines are loud, the markets are messy, and your gut might be telling you to do something — anything — right now. But what should you actually do when your portfolio takes a hit?   Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com   Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.     Marc: The headlines are loud, the markets are messy, and your gut might be telling you to do something, anything. So what should you actually do when market downturns happen? Let's get into it this week here on ‎Retirement Planning - Redefined.   Welcome onto the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with John, Nick, and myself as we talk investing, finance, and retirement. And, guys, with all the volatility and stuff happening, I thought it'd be a good idea to maybe address some of this stuff. And we've got four key questions maybe to ask ourselves when we're going through some of this volatility and let you guys give some people insights on what you're seeing and what your thoughts are when it comes to this kind of stuff. So welcome on this week, John. How you doing, buddy?   John: I'm doing all right.   Marc: Yeah? A little busy?   John: Just getting ready to start a kitchen remodel, which is bringing its own gut check, but doing all right.   Marc: That is true. Very true. And Nick, how are you doing, my friend?   Nick: Good, good. Staying busy. Obviously a little chaotic right now, but knee-deep in wedding planning. So that's fun.   Marc: So let me ask you guys, before we get into this, when we're seeing this kind of volatility, do you get many calls? I've talked with all kinds of advisors and most of them say a couple, a couple panicked people, but for the most part, their clients have a strategy and a plan in place and it makes it a little easier to handle when there's volatile times like this. Is that kind of the same for you, or what are you seeing out there?   John: Yeah, I'd agree with that. As we mentioned quite a bit in our last podcast, our last sessions, our practice is generally planning based. So a lot of times people are comfortable with where they are, and we do a good job of reinforcing here's where you are, here's your asset allocation, here's how we structure things for a downturn or some volatility. So I think we do a really good job of making sure people are in the right asset allocation, and not only that, but structuring their assets where when they are using their funds for retirement, we have a plan in place to draw on specific accounts when we are expecting this type of volatility.   Marc: Makes sense. Yeah. Gotcha. Well, as you mentioned, gut check as that kind of goes. So let's jump in and do these four items here. And that's the first one. Nick, I'll let you start if you want to. So when is the last time you checked your strategy? When's the last time you checked your plan? I hear people saying, "Oh, the market's down year-to-date, the S&P's down 13%." Well, are you down that or are you only down maybe two or three because you hopefully were properly diversified, right? So when's the last time you checked in on your plan and do you need that gut check? What's your thoughts?   Nick: Yeah, so we try to make sure we're updating plans. We'll go over general numbers each year. And then one thing that we focused quite a bit on last year with clients was updating expenses. With having the inflation like we did for a while, the expenses are obviously a huge driver for clients, and so a lot of our clients are updated. And I know John kind of touched on how many are reaching out. And I would say obviously compared to the clients that we have, there are some that do. And I think the good part about the planning, those that had the planning, we're just reinforcing and reviewing what we've discussed in the past.   I had a couple conversations earlier today with similar thoughts and sentiments, and even though most clients know that they have some sort of mix between stocks and bonds, they rarely think about the bond portion not being as volatile. And so that's something that even where in our minds it might kind of feel basic, these little things, and just kind of talking through and reminding clients about what they actually have, why they're positioned the way that they're positioned and why we did the plan. It's also a reminder for us. We've had some clients that maybe six months, 12 months ago, like, "Hey, should we get more aggressive," et cetera, et cetera. And we kind of emphasized that we've had a really good run for a really long time, and at a certain point there's going to be some sort of pullback. And so I think those clients that both from a being too conservative or being too aggressive standpoint are kind of happy that they have a plan.   Marc: Gotcha. Okay. And so John, that would probably lead to the second step, which is if you are doing that gut check and you do feel like there's some things you need to do, where are you at with your risk? As I mentioned a second ago, people see the headlines and it makes them panic. It makes them worry, it makes us easily agitated. "Oh, it's down 13%." But if you're not taking 100% risk, you're probably not down 13 whole percent, right? So it's about having that risk tolerance adjusted as well.   John: Yeah, and like Nick mentioned, I just had a scenario where this actually came up. They're watching the news and it's doom and gloom. And I'll tell you, I put it on for a little bit sometimes and it's like, all right, if you're watching this all day, I could see where people are panicking. But when we did their review, the person was down minimal year to date, and they're like, "Oh, that's it?" And it's just like, "Yeah, you're doing all right." And then when you reference the plan and you actually show them, "Hey, based on what just happened this last week, you're still in good shape and here's a strategy if this volatility continues, this is how we're going to handle it if you're withdrawing from the portfolio."   And then I will say that what Nick said there as well of, people, when things look good, it's like, "Hey, should I get more aggressive so I can earn more?" And it's really important just to stay the course because you do have these pullbacks and when you do get more aggressive and let's say all of a sudden the market pulls back like we're in the middle of right now and you can't handle that risk, that's when you jump ship and then all of a sudden there could be some news that comes out. Literally there could be one bit of news, especially in what we're dealing with right now and the market could just completely do a 360 and just be positive quite a bit.   Marc: Yeah. At the time we're taping this, we saw that to open up today. It went up about 4% in the first half of the day, and then it started to cool back off. So there's still a lot of things flowing back and forth, Nick, and that again leads back to strategy, right? So that's the third piece of this conversation. Do you have a strategy and are there some things that we should look at, try to find the positives or the silver linings of downturns? What are some things we could maybe, some smart moves we could be looking at?   Nick: Yeah, just even before we get into that, I wanted to touch on John's last point, just from the standpoint of part of the conversation that we've been having with people is that the volatility in the markets, both good and bad, are so much quicker than they were years ago. There's a lot of people that are used to prolonged just slow bleed downturns. And where from hour to hour, day to day, you can have a correction and then claw half of it back within a few days. And just kind of shifting out during that period of time can be pretty deadly for a portfolio.   But from the standpoint of what can be done now or what could make sense now with what you alluded to, dependent upon, it is a good time to kind of do that check on overall risk, potentially integrating in some rebalancing of the portfolio. We try to have clients have some cash on the sidelines no matter what. And it could be a decent time to average in some of that money if they're looking to reinvest.   For those that are still working, I think the emphasis that we put on is buying at a discount when you're averaging in every month and that sort of thing. And then even from the perspective of, and it's something that we are reviewing, tax loss harvesting in taxable investment accounts can be something that makes sense. I will say that unless there's, so many people's positions are up or vary in the green that it can be a little hard even still with this pullback to get some losses and offset some gains and that sort of thing. But we can also take advantage of some of the losses to offset future gains as well. So those are all things that we're reviewing.   Marc: Yeah. And a lot of people are taught, have been wanting to do Roth conversions, for example, right? Well, I mean, kind of silver lining when your accounts are down a little bit in a 401. Maybe you're doing some conversions over to Roth and you're paying lower taxes because the balances are down. And then when the market comes back, because it tends to do, as long as your plan calls for it, then you're gaining that money back tax-free. So different kinds of silver linings. You have to work with a professional, you have to work with an advisor to find your way through some of these tougher times. And so that brings us to the final point, which is unhelpful behaviors, right? So what are some things, guys, we need to stop doing right now if we're getting stressed out? John, you kind of hit it perfectly on the head, said you watched it for half an hour or an hour and it's like, "Yeah, no wonder people are getting down, right?"   John: Yeah, it's definitely doom and gloom out there. So I would say whatever station you're watching the last couple of weeks, it's definitely everything's negative.   Marc: And that's their job. We have to be realistic about that. That's all they're going... They're not going to talk about the positives very often, right? They're looking for the eyeballs from the panic, right?   John: Yeah, hundred percent. I think negative news typically rates better. So that's why you continually see the negative news drip on everybody. But back to one thing you mentioned there, Marc, about the Roth conversions. I just want to point out that is a great strategy when the market dips down, if you're currently implementing a Roth conversion strategy. It is typically a good time to do it when we're having a pullback.   Trying to time it perfectly is obviously going to be difficult to do, but you just try to do your best with that. But when you are converting, just want to make it clear to anyone listening, you typically want to, when you're converting for the strategy of a lower balance and paying lower taxes on the specific shares, you want to do a Roth conversion, that's you keep your shares. So you're doing kind of a transfer of shares over to the Roth versus cashing out and sending the cash over and then rebuying it. So just be careful. If you're working with an advisor, just understand, hey, if we're doing a Roth conversion, are you cashing it out? Are you transferring over the shares? Because we feel it's best to transfer over the shares so that we don't have to rebuy them.   Marc: Yeah. No, definitely. I just was thinking that that was another little piece, so thank you for kind of taking it a little deeper, if that's part of your current strategy. So yeah, turning off the news is certainly a helpful behavior. What else, Nick, you got anything else that you'd like to chime in on that topic?   Nick: Yeah, as somebody that has sometimes a tendency to doom scroll a little bit and try to suck in as much information and try to be able to understand different points of view and all that kind of stuff, it is important to take a break. Something as simple as getting outside, going for a walk, having a conversation. One of the things we try to emphasize with our clients is that if you're getting to that point where severe high level anxiety, maybe concerned about starting to make poor decisions or overreact to anything, is just reach out. Usually the feedback that we get when we just have a conversation with somebody is that able to give perspective. And realistically, what happened yesterday in the markets, which we had a fake post about a change to the tariffs and the market swung like 7 or 8% in five minutes and all this other stuff, really kind of emphasizes the fact that volatility is different than it used to be and overreacting can be something that really hurts you and your overall position.   Marc: That's a great point, right? I mean, we're certainly, the doom scrolling, the second by second feedback, you have to have a strategy, right? And our own worst enemy is ourself. We tend to jump out and do things and then we lock in those losses. So again, before you take any action on something you hear from even our conversation or any other thing that you hear that they're financially based, you should always run that past a financial professional as it relates to your specific unique situation, as the guys pointed out numerous times today in the show.   So if you need some help with that, stop by on the website or give them a call and set up a time to chat, pfgprivatewealth.com, that's pfgprivatewealth.com, or call 813-286-7776. Guys, thanks for hanging out and breaking it down a little bit. Hopefully people keep their heads and we'll see how this plays out. It could be short-lived, it could be a little longer term. So get a strategy. At the end of the day, that's what's important. So the guys can help you with retirement planning redefined. We'll see you next time here on the podcast.

Bible Reading: Galatians 6:4-10Ava yawned as she came into the kitchen. Her brother Jayden glanced at her mischievously, then looked out the window. "Hey, Ava, how'd your bike end up on the roof of the garage?" he asked."What?" Ava ran to the window to see for herself. "Where?""April fool!" Jayden laughed in delight. "Gotcha!"Ava grinned and gave her brother a soft punch on the arm as they sat down to eat.At dinner, Ava and Jayden told their dad about the April Fools' jokes kids played on each other at school. "It's fun to have a day where everyone plays jokes like that," said Jayden. "As long as no one takes the jokes too far," Dad said."Nobody did," Ava assured him, "and everyone was expecting it since it was April Fools' Day." She paused to take a bite of broccoli. "But then there's Louise. Today she was all smiles and sweetness to Mrs. Potter during math class but then said mean things about her at recess. Sometimes I don't know what to make of her. She says she's a Christian, but there are times when she doesn't act like one. Like she's just fooling people."Dad frowned. "I can think of three people right here who don't always act like Christians. Let's keep that in mind. It's possible for any one of us to fool others.""But I've seen Louise do that stuff too," said Jayden. "She acts one way around the teachers and another when they're not looking. It's hard to trust her."Ava nodded. "It seems like there's another side to her that only some of us see.""Well, if what you say is true, that doesn't mean she's not a Christian," said Dad. "We all struggle to do what's right in some areas of our lives. But if any one of us is trying to fool people into thinking we're Christians when we're not, there's someone who can never be fooled. God knows exactly what's in our hearts. We can't hide anything from Him, and we don't have to, because Jesus died for us so all our wrongs could be forgiven. Now, let's pray for Louise and think of ways we can show her love and support instead of talking about her."–Hazel W. Marett How About You?Are you trying to fool someone into thinking you're a Christian? You may fool your parents, pastor, teachers, or classmates, but you can never fool God. He knows exactly what's in your heart, and He offers you grace and forgiveness. Admit your need for a Savior and trust in Jesus today. (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)Today's Key Verse:Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. (NLV) (Galatians 6:7)Today's Key Thought:It's impossible to fool God

Every work day we take our lunch hour to escape from the work day briefly and relax with our crew. Today is top 5 Tuesday where Scott will count down his top 5 favorite "Gatcha" Movies. and can't wait to see what the chat has to offer.  In Addition the age group workouts have been released and we will take a quick look at those.  Cat's new show starts tomorrow night at 8:00PM EST.

Send us a textHappy April Fools Day, Loca!  https://youtu.be/2CLzjKXzwB0?si=sLl_8Muj59M_p3N2Support the showCheck out our books (and support local bookstores!) on our Bookshop.org affiliate account!Starting your own podcast with your very cool best friend? Try hosting on Buzzsprout (and get a $20 Amazon gift card!)Want more??Visit our website!Join our Patreon!Shop the merch at TeePublic!If you liked these stories, let us know on our various socials!InstagramTiktokGoodreadsAnd email us at sortofthestory@gmail.com

April 1st is known as the Day of Dignity only Americans celebrate Fools Day.... Gotcha.... Gotcha....

愚人节这一天，如何轻松快乐的度过呢？今天卡卡老师分享10个既能制造惊喜瞬间，又避免尴尬翻车而且不失幽默的整蛊英语句子。快点学起来吧！New Words:shoelace /ˈʃuːleɪs/ n. 鞋带spider /ˈspaɪdər/ n. 蜘蛛Crawl up /krɔːl ʌp/ v. 爬上来Gotcha /ˈɡɑːtʃə/ interj. （口语）抓住了！zipper /ˈzɪpər/ n. 拉链lottery /ˈlɑːtəri/ n. 彩票bug /bʌɡ/ n. 虫子；v. 窃听1. Your shoelaces are untied... Oh wait, they're not! April Fools!你鞋带散了... 哦，其实没有！愚人节快乐！2. I just saw a spider crawling up your back... Gotcha!我刚看到蜘蛛爬你背上了... 上当了吧！3. The boss said we're working weekends now... Just kidding!老板说我们周末要加班... 假的！4. Your laptop camera is recording... Just kidding!你笔记本摄像头在录像... 骗你的！5. There's a $100 bill under your chair... April Fools!你椅子下有张100美元... 骗你的！6. Hey, your zipper's down... Just kidding!喂，你拉链开了... 逗你玩的！7. I found a winning lottery ticket! We're rich!我捡到张中奖彩票！我们发财啦！8. There's a bug in your salad… April Fools'!你沙拉里有虫……愚人节！9. You've got a parking ticket… Just kidding!你收到罚单了……开玩笑啦！更多卡卡老师分享公众号：卡卡课堂 卡卡老师微信：kakayingyu001送你一份卡卡老师学习大礼包，帮助你在英文学习路上少走弯路

Pags pulls back the curtain on the insidious use of “gotcha questions” in today's media—how they're designed to trap, twist, and push a narrative, not uncover truth. He shares real-world examples of how modern journalism is losing its standards. PLUS—Victor Davis Hanson returns to weigh in on the media's collapse, political weaponization, and what it means for the future of the Republic. This is a powerful wake-up call! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember UFTP? We're back, in pod form.Plan a road trip for this one, UFTP has brought the best and brightest minds from the exclusive IngSoc Social Club for a 2-hr deep dive into all the news that's not worth talking about anymore.That's right, we're closing the book on all the stuff that's getting recycled in the news - are Nazis bad? Are Republicans in the Found Out stage of FAFO? Are taxes good? Well, we're here to tell you of course Nazis are bad, silly. And even if Republicans are finding out, they should still be able to afford insulin. We're undecided on taxes, though. We report, we decide!Topics and time-stamps: Nazis - 17:21The Democratic Party is a Farce - 22:05Two-Party System - 25:49Russia is the Bad Guy - 34:25Media Blackout - 37:15Electric Vehicles (not Tesla) - 43:44Detaining Immigrant Families - 53:23FAFO - 1:01:07Trump is Dumb - 1:22:00Taxes - 1:26:50There is no "Gotcha" - 1:34:12Climate is Still a Huge F-ing Problem - 1:35:41Re-negotiating the Social Contract - 1:49:09

Send us a textSeason 2, Episode 35DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acidToday the boy's are back out on the road talking to their guests Wes Cardy and his very good friend Jan. Wes and Jan are in a singing group called "Cardy and Coke" and have been very successful over the years singing and writing songs for themselves and celebrities Ken Dodd and Daniel O'donnell.Wes was born during the second world war and was fathered by an American over here in the UK as a serviceman, working at the local airfield of Wormingford.For 50 years Wes has been trying to trace his long lost father who had returned to the United States in the 1940's but it wasn't until his very good friend and singing partner Jan gave Wes a DNA testing kit for his birthday.Wes and Jan tells us the whole story and the remarkable events that took place following this life changing gift, they discuss the DNA story and how this is available for everyone trying to trace long lost family and those building their own family tree.This is a remarkable story and we thank Wes and Jan for sharing this very personal journey with us all today.DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, & reproduction of all known organisms including many viruses. It's a double-stranded helix, often visualised as a twisted ladder, with the rungs made of paired base molecules (adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine).  #HeartTransplant#EbsteinsAnomaly#RareCondition#HealthJourney#LifeChangingDiagnosis#MentalHealth#Vulnerability#SelfCompassion#PostTraumaticGrowth#MedicalMiracle#BBCSports#Inspiration#Cardiology#Surgery#Podcast#Healthcare#HeartHealth#MedicalBreakthrough#EmotionalJourney#SupportSystem#HealthcareHeroes#PatientStories#CardiologyCare#MedicalJourney#LifeLessons#MentalWellness#HealthAwareness#InspirationalTalk#LivingWithIllness#RareDiseaseAwareness#SharingIsCaring#MedicalSupport#BBCReporter#HeartDisease#PodcastInterview#HealthTalk#Empowerment#Wellbeing#HealthPodcast#DNACheck out our new website at www.whostomanddick.comCheck out our website at www.whostomanddick.com

Danielle and Emily have our first live audience while recording the podcast, it's Sirius' Gotcha week and he eats a cookie like a weirdo. Then Danielle tells the story of Ruben Borchardt.Socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwmadnesspodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/245696000615540 Email: mwmadnesspodcast@gmail.comSources:https://delanirbartlette.medium.com/diane-borchardt-the-murderous-mrs-b-a8ed554afcddhttps://www.oxygen.com/snapped/season-18/diane-borchardt

The Hip-Hop Digest Weekly Pick Hits 01.Blahzay Blahzay – Danger02.Prince Paul – More Than U Know (feat. De La Soul)03.Angie Stone – Brotha04.Gwen McCrae – Keep the Fire Burning05.Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway – Where Is The Love Digital Freekz … Continue reading →

Y'all ever had a houseguest that just wouldn't leave? Now imagine that—but they're dead.

When leaders casually drop by classrooms, do staff feel supported—or scrutinized? In this episode, Phil Boyte and Shyana dive into the subtle yet powerful ways leaders can transform a gotcha culture into one where teachers welcome visitors with confidence. Through tiny moments of presence, intentional encouragement, and shared leadership, we explore how to build a school environment rooted in trust. Tune in for real stories and practical strategies to shift mindsets, strengthen relationships, and create a culture where every visit feels like a celebration of growth. Learn more about building trust with your team: https://learningforliving.com/ School Culture Summit: https://learningforliving.com/school-culture-summit People First Cohort: https://learningforliving.com/peoplefirstcohort Tiny Moment Challenge: https://learningforliving.com/tiny-moment-challenge  

Daily Study: In Mark 11, let's examine the verbal exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus. They asked Jesus a "gotcha" question, and the scripture shows how He handled it. Jesus' response provides insight into how we can handle similar questions. Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com                  

Grab a beverage and let's catch up! Music by: AlexGrohl from Pixabay Sergii Pavkin from Pixabay Music by FASSounds from Pixabay Editing by: Sith-Web

Daddy Matty J is still in the jungle, BUT he needs your help to take home the crown

In this episode, Tara Sands and Steve Yurko interview Tama Hero. Tama is a self described "Pokemon-loving-girl who makes YouTube videos!" She is most well known for videos featuring commentary on the Pokemon series of games and franchise. The videos we talk about in the interview can be found at https://youtu.be/7xlGV8UgmlQ and youtu.be/MWG8frE2kuw as well as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42O_X4rOjW0 Follow her at https://youtube.com/@Tama-Hero on Patreon at https://patreon.com/c/TamashiiHiroka and at https://bsky.app/profile/tamahero.bsky.social 4Kids Flashback is a behind the scenes podcast about the 4Kids era of television as told by the people who were actually there. 4Kids is the company that brought Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and many other anime series to English speaking audiences. Our website is https://www.4kidsflashback.com/  Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/4KidsFlashback for episodes one week early and ad-free plus bonus content! For merch go to https://4kids-flashback.printify.me/products  Leave us a voice message at Speakpipe.com/4KidsFlashback    Autographs for Charity available at https://www.ebay.com/usr/flashback4kids  Watch videos at https://www.youtube.com/@4KidsFlashback.  Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent or of this podcast and/or it's hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is nothing wrong with your media device. Do not attempt to adjust the sound. We are controlling transmission... Well, we were for a while. On Libsyn and Patreon versions of today's KITM David Waldman might have recorded a sign off, on others though, if you aren't hearing anything after 1:42:18, that is not a very dramatic pause, you're just out of podcast until Monday morning. Anyhow, are you feeling shocked and awed? That was definitely the intent in Trump's freezing of federal loans and grants, which has been rescinded…  but was the order actually rescinded, or just the memo containing the order? Aha! Gotcha! Expect this bullshit. The Office of Personnel Management “survey” contained a “resign” button that either does nothing or ruins your life. Spinning the wheel will never land you on seven months' pay, just a fork in the eye. The Trump DOJ will now drop prosecution of Trump's henchmen, because they are now the president's henchmen. In the over 1,500 Jan. 6 insurrectionists pardoned several have been rearrested or killed in police shootouts, as well they should. And yet some expect the pardon to carry over to their future crimes. Zuck invested another $25 mil to stay out of Gitmo. FU, FIU. With the show ending early, let me offer something constructive to do with your extra 15 minutes: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Make certain that everyone knows their rights. And, if you find yourself with a little extra rights compared to others, spread them around! We now return control of the internet to you, until next Monday at this same time, when Kagro in the Morning will take you to... The Outer Limits.

American politics has become a minefield of "gotcha ”. The media do it to politicians, politicians do it to each other, even the media do it to each other. And it's eroding our entire system, says the man who was once a participant. In this 2006 interview, Lanny Davis talks about his book Scandal. Get your copy of Scandal by Lanny Davis As an Amazon Associate, Now I've Heard Everything earns from qualifying purchases.You may also enjoy my interviews with John Kasich and Andrew Cuomo For more vintage interviews with celebrities, leaders, and influencers, subscribe to Now I've Heard Everything on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. and now on YouTube Photo by Tbenzinger #politics #Democrat #Republican #BillClinton

Daily Study: Today's culture is increasingly hostile toward believers in Christ. Because of this, some people are on a mission to harm you economically by asking “gotcha” questions about your faith. For example, you might be asked about homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, or other controversial topics. If your answer goes against the culture's viewpoint, they may attempt to ostracize you, get you fired, or pressure other businesses to stop working with you. In today's study, let's learn how to handle these gotcha questions. Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com                  

Can focusing on just ONE aspect of your life or practice truly enhance your overall fulfillment and success? Join me as I delve into a fascinating conversation with my return guest Dr. Avi Patel, an expert in the concept of singular focus. Avi eloquently unpacks the transformative power of honing your energy on one dimension of your life or practice. From personal anecdotes of bettering his marriage through therapy to using this single-minded approach in his dental practice, Avi provides a fresh perspective on achieving unparalleled results through the art of simplification.As we explore this captivating topic further, Avi demystifies the age-old conundrum of juggling multiple goals. His advice? Shift the lens from defining a myriad of large objectives to establishing non-negotiable standards. By laser-focusing on mastering one skill at a time and leveraging consultants or mentors who've tread the same path, we can optimize our efforts and enhance our personal and professional lives. Avi shares his current focus which involves expanding his scope beyond the clutches of conventional dentistry and into the intriguing realm of content creation in the dental industry.What You'll Learn in This Episode:How channelizing your energy and resources into one facet of your life can reap more fulfillment and success.The power of simplifying your goals into non-negotiable standards.The benefits of seeking advice from consultants or coaches who have experienced similar situations.The importance of focusing on one KPI at a time and allowing your brain to problem solve and improve other areas organically.Avi's current career pivot - stepping away from clinical dentistry and moving towards content creation.Ready to dive in and discover the untapped potential of singular focus? Tune in now!‍(This episode originally aired on February 5th, 2024)‍‍You can reach out to Dr. Avi Patel here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctor.avi/Avi's Clear Aligner Course: https://www.clearaligneradvisor.co/launchpad‍Other Mentions and Links:‍Podcasts/Publications:438: DR. AVI PATEL | CLEAR ALIGNER ADVISOR‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Avi. So talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning? Avi: So I, my piece of advice would be to kind of simplify, I. Everything you're doing and focus on one thing. And I think a good place to start is with yourself. So, and then even with yourself, right? There's different aspects.There's your mental self, your physical self, your emotional self. And I think if you first focus on your mental self and you do what you can to get that in order and get that into a place where. You have more control. Uh, I'm not talking about mind control, but something, something close to that. But if you, if you focus on your mental self, everything from that point I believe flows.So, um, for example, myself, about two and a half years ago, I started doing therapy. I was doing it because I wanted to improve. Um. My relationship with my wife. Mm-Hmm. And I just wanted to be a better person. I wanted to be able to support her better, but then also myself, just be better. I think that was like the goal.Mm-Hmm. And what I noticed from that point on was I started creating these habits because my focus was on improving. Essentially my mental health or myself. I started creating a morning routine. And so that morning routine was journaling, meditating, stretching. That then led to me being more organized, more focused during the day, uh, less stressed.so that's kind of how it went into the business way of how it helped me in life. But then physically, um, I got into the best shape of my life. I started being more intentional about what I was eating, what I was kinda spending my time on in terms of working out movement, stuff like that.And so just by starting on focusing on one thing by myself or on my mental health rather, all this stuff flowed. And I think you can translate this to other aspects of your life, your business, and everything. Because whenever you're focusing on too many things, right, and I think especially this time of year in January, everyone's got a million goals going on.Probably by the time this thing airs, most people won't have any of their resolutions continuing. But, ' cause I made the same mistake, right? And everyone hears it. Mm-Hmm. And I think I, I felt. So much relief when I looked at the multiple goals that I wanted to basically achieve this year personally and business-wise.And, uh, I felt so good when I eliminated like 90% of them because. I think people get confused on like, having a goal and then actually having something to do, right? So when you have too many goals, then there's so many things to do to achieve all of those goals. You're never gonna get it done. Mm-Hmm.And I kinda just went back to my roots of like, when was there a time in my life where I was growing rapidly, feeling good about myself, achieving a lot of success, and it's back when I was just doing, or focusing rather on like one thing. and so. I kind of remembered that and then I went back to it. Uh, simplified the morning routine again, these days to we're not trying to do 10 things before I start.It's more so just keeping it very simple, very efficient, because what happens is when you start getting those wins, those wins start to stack, and then next thing you know, when you look at it, you know, a year in review, you've achieved so much more just because you were focusing on one thing at a time and kind of chipping away at it.Michael: Gotcha, man. So right now you're kind of mentioning or you're letting us know that have one thing to focus on. Mm-Hmm. so in a specific aspect, we have to have one thing to focus on or like just in general, like, I want a better life, Avi: I would say. So if you are someone who is trying to, like, if you feel lost and you actually don't have a sense of direction or whatnot.Yes, only one thing because what's gonna happen is you're gonna pour, you know you're gonna pour more resources, more time into that one thing, your one big thing, and then from that other things will flow. Right. So if you wanna have a better love life, if you are spending a lot of your free time, you know, focusing on your business, focusing on your health, and like having all these diets working out and all that stuff, and then you're then trying to find time to like do things that would help your love life, you are, it's gonna take you longer to achieve that.Where is, if you say okay. The priority for right now is my love life. That doesn't mean don't do anything for the rest of your, you know, the other aspects of your life. Yeah. But that should be the thing. That should be the main thing. And then once you have that, you, I. We'll find that when, if that is truly what you want to accomplish and like improve your happiness, and there's almost gonna be like a spillover effect, right?Because we're human beings, we're dynamic. It's things are not just, you know, in solitude, but when you're able to focus on one thing, you're able to see, um. More results in that area. And then from that there will be an overflow. Because if you feel more fulfilled in your love life, you are gonna probably have higher energy levels.When you have higher energy levels, you're going to be able to probably do more things, whether it's in your business or for your own health. but it all flows from that one thing where if you're trying to take your limited resource, which is energy, and then spread it out all over the place, a lot of things are just not gonna really move.Yeah. Michael: Could I ask this this year? Like what is it? You're, the thing you're focusing on. Avi: So it's, right now it is, I'm doing it kind of in, in chapters or phases. So we're expecting our first kid in two months. Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah. So I know that's gonna be a huge change.Um, yeah, so basically I was like, cool, well, since life is gonna look different after that, what do, what do I need to do now to be in a place to where I can, 'cause my big thing is all about optionality. I love having optionality. I love, you know, not having to be limited by things. And so the biggest thing that I hear from parents is, you know, the biggest thing that.They get a a, there's a big crunch in time and your energy because now you are kind of giving to this human being. and, and you, you also, and everyone also says it's the most rewarding thing and it's, they always wish they had more time when their kid was younger and they could be there. So I'm like, cool.I need to simplify. Other things in my life to create that space so that way when the baby is here, I can receive that. So for me, from a business standpoint, I have, or I'm trying to currently simplify all the processes in the business. So right now, um. My business is the online ClearLiner Education Program.and a big arm of that is supporting the doctors in the program, but then also creating content on social media to provide free value for people. So I am working on simplifying the content creation part and also simplifying, um. The program itself, so that way it provides the most value for doctors in it.but then also doesn't take up, an extraordinary amount of my time to deliver that support and that value. Gotcha. Okay. Michael: So this, are you only doing now the online Uh, course, yeah. Or are you also working at a practice still? Avi: Nope. So I, I stepped away from clinical dentistry back in September. I was doing it full-time and then slowly went down to part-time, and then with the growth of the program and I.Content creation, social media and all that. I decided to go all in on it because it's just, it's the passion of mine and it's, I feel like it's my calling to help innovate and, um, help move the industry forward And, mm-Hmm. I feel like a quote that kind of stuck with me, or I don't know if it was a quote, but basically someone told me it's like you're either working in an industry or you're working on an industry.Mm-Hmm. And it's hard to work on an industry when a lot of your time is kind of. While you're working in it, right? Mm-Hmm. I think there's kind of like a balance. So I'm kind of using this chapter in my career to kind of step away from the chair and, and dedicate more time and resources into ways that I can help kind of work on the industry.Michael: Yeah. Okay. Man. I like that though. I like that. Um, part of simplifying goals because I feel like goals is like a, sometimes like a shiny, fast, cool word, right? Like, Hey man, I wanna have these goals when it's more, um. Non-negotiable standards. Right? That's what it is. Like I wanna have a non-negotiable standard.This is it. And then I gotta reverse engineering on how to make it happen. And it's easier to do that if you have one, right? Mm-Hmm. One specific one. Boom. Did it next. Right? But if you have all these big, shiny goals and you're like, man, I wanna lose a ton of weight, and you don't know how to do it kind of thing, right?Avi: Correct. Correct. And even just like. Relating it to dentists, right? Like if you've got a practice and you, you have a goal if you want to increase the revenue, right? Mm-Hmm. Where then it's, everyone always tells you, okay, well cool, you pick a number, then you reverse engineer it. How are you gonna get there?Um, from my personal experience, when it came to just like leveling up as a clinician, I found that when I was trying to learn how to do multiple procedures clinically at once, like when I wanted to become a better clinician, I wasn't like. Immersing myself in it, so I wasn't actually able to get as good as I wanted to.The example here is when I started with like implants and aligners, I pretty much learned them both at the same time. and so I was splitting my time between it. Implants. It was a little bit longer for me to kind of get going just because it is surgery and it just, you know, it's very, I mean, it's surgery, so it's, it's, it's pretty crazy.Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Um, but then with aligners I also just started to see, um, more success with it. And then I slowly started to like, immerse myself in that. And so when I was focusing on that one procedure, it wasn't just about moving teeth. It's how do you talk to the patient? How do you get the team on board?How do you schedule them? What do you do? So I was able to like work through all that by being focused. Where if I was trying to like iron out implants, learn it, implement it, and do aligners and like, you know. Do other procedures and, and work with the team and all that, it would be too much. And I know a lot of dentists probably feel that way, but I think the answer is, is like until you're like proficient in something, you should pick like one skill, whether it's business right, or clinical, and focus on that for the year to grow.You will know when you get to a point where you can kind of now choose a different area to focus on. So that's why it's like. I think a lot of dentists, right? Stress comes into play. There's always a lot of hats to wear. but I think kind of taking the pressure off yourself by just wanting to focus on one thing, knowing that other people are going to tell you, oh, you need to look at the KPIs.You need to look at this. You need to look at that. Yes, you do. But what you have to do in the beginning of anything new is focus on one thing. Get good at it and then move on to the next Mm-Hmm. Gotcha. Michael: So then how does that kind of play a role in, for example, software? Right? They're like, Hey, all these features and everything like that, and you're gonna be able to look at your dashboard and your analytics and then you're like, cool.'cause that contributes to the goal that I wanna make more collections. I wanna make a million dollars this this year, right? Like I wanna be Mm-Hmm. A million dollar in collections this year. And then you look at it. I feel like there's too many features of everything. You know what I mean? To just be like, uh oh, we'll focus on this one thing.'cause then like, what if your new patients drop 'cause of the time, or you know what I mean? And all this other stuff. How do we, I guess, keep our blinders Avi: on? So I would say the best thing to do in that situation is talk to someone who's done it before. Right? Talk to the, there's a bunch of dentists, coaches, consultants, people out there who already know what these like successful practices look like.Talk to them, ask them, Hey, if you were to start over again, or if you had to go back, what is one area that you would focus on for 90 days? What is one KPI metric that you would focus on that you feel like has the highest leverage? Right. When you say that, now you're able to lock in for 90 days, you're able to see that metric.And the thing, what's gonna happen is once you go down that rabbit hole, you're gonna find all these other things along the way. So it's not that other things are gonna drop off, you're just, you're shooting your shot. To get better at one KPI, but then when you're doing that, your brain will start to problem solve for ways to improve that KPI.And when you're doing that, you're gonna touch other parts of your practice. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes Michael: a lot of sense. I like that question. What's the one thing you, you know what I mean? Like for, for you looking back, right? Starting out? Yeah. Because I think you told me one time we in one, a previous episode, and I'm gonna put a link to it in the show.It's below, but. You were looking to do practice ownership, right? But then you're like, uh, I don't know. Or kind of thing, right. Or an acquisition, I wanna say Avi: no. I don't know if I went that route. I think it was more my, my story kind of high levels. I was always an associate, but I'd worked in a bunch of practices and so it was like I was looking at okay, like what can practice ownership give me that I don't currently have?Mm-Hmm. And also like. Is it worth for me to go down that route with all the resources, time and everything like that? And I think, I don't have a knock on practice ownership. I think it's great if you're, you know, doing it the right way. But for me, this route of going into like education and like uplifting other doctors to learn this procedure was like the bigger kind of pull for me in terms of my career story.Yeah. So Michael: looking back. What's one metric you focus on for 90 days? If you had to start over, Avi: uh, as a dentist wanting to like do aligners or just as like a dentist in general, Michael: as a dentist wanting to do aligners, like what you're doing, education. Going down that route. I Avi: would, yeah, if I knew, if I started back and knew nothing, I would get with somebody that knows how to do it.Pick their brain to know what cases are easy to treat, what should you not do, right? And then, um, how to get patients to do it. I would focus on those three strategies. And then the actual, like metric, I would hold myself accountable to the point where every week I would start tracking how many patients did I talk to about it, and how many patients said yes.Like very simple. And then. I guess over time I would see like how many patients on average am I talking to a week? How many you're saying? Yes. And then from there, try to figure out, okay, why aren't they saying yes or how can we get more patients to say yes, or how can I talk to more patients, you know?Mm-Hmm. Like that's how I would do it, but how many people I talk to and how many people said yes would probably be the two metrics I'd focus on. Michael: Nice. Okay. Awesome. I mean, thank you so much for being with us on this Monday morning episode. If anybody had any questions or concerns, where can they reach Avi: out to you?Uh, Instagram is the easiest. My handle is doctor.avi and uh, yeah, just shoot me a DM and I'd be happy to chat. Michael: Awesome. So that's gonna be in the show notes below. And Avi, thank you for being with me on this Monday morning episode. Avi: Thanks Michael.

In this episode of the Tom Roland Podcast, we're LIVE from Hawks Cay Marina, celebrating the grand opening of the new marina store. Joined by Aaron from The Qualified Captain and Dave from Gotcha Sport Fishing, we delve into everything from childhood fishing stories to serious discussions on boating safety. Aaron shares insights on how The Qualified Captain started and his mission to educate boaters about safety and proper boat handling. Dave talks about his long tenure at Hawks Cay and shares some of his most incredible rescue stories. We also touch on the challenges of professional fishing, the importance of proper boating education, and some upcoming exciting plans for The Qualified Captain. Check out The Qualified Captain at https://thequalifiedcaptain.com/ Check out Gotcha Sports Fishing at https://gotchasportfishing.fish/ All of my other socials can be found here : https://linktr.ee/TomRowlandPodcast The Tom Rowland Podcast is presented by Star brite! Clean and protect with Star brite, a leading manufacturer of appearance, maintenance, and performance chemicals and accessories, serving the marine, RV, automotive, powersports, hardware, and home care industries for over 50 years. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and with its manufacturing plant in Montgomery, AL, the company produces "Made In The USA" products, including its flagship ethanol fuel treatment, Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment. https://bit.ly/48tNW0y 00:00 Introduction and Setting the Scene 00:39 Fishing Adventures and Weather Challenges 01:17 Meet Dave: The Experienced Captain 01:52 Qualified Captain: Crazy Stories and Safety Tips 04:17 The Birth and Growth of Qualified Captain 07:23 Exciting Collaborations and Future Plans 10:47 Diving and Spearfishing Tales 13:29 Exploring Frying Pan Tower 27:54 Challenges and Rewards of Charter Fishing 37:07 Planning the Resort Stay 37:21 Fishing Spots and Regulations 37:41 Exploring the Keys by Boat 39:32 Boat Docking Competitions 42:47 Boat Ramp Etiquette 46:49 Getting Kids into Boating 48:19 Qualified Captain's Future Plans 01:01:23 Fishing in the Keys 01:09:35 Wrapping Up and Future Plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices