Podcasts about mary is

Want to apply to be coached by us? Follow us on Instagram nor @fitfemaleproject or head to the website www.fitfemaleproject.comQuestions in order:Mary – Is it okay to not track food if weight is stable?Valeria – Seeing body changes but no scale drop; what else can I tweak?Natalie – How do I handle an off-plan afternoon tea?Laura – How to boost protein intake and pick better snacks?Amy Farrer – Difference between reverse lunges and split squats?Jess – Can I repeat the same workouts weekly for full body?Nicola – Is losing 2 lbs in the first week enough?Gemma – Struggling to hit protein due to nausea and low appetite in first trimester—what should I focus on?Bailey – Nervous using gym machines and unsure about creatine timing.Sarah – Tips for drinking more water daily (especially while breastfeeding)?Hazel – How to enjoy my hen do without derailing progress + balance tips for lunges?Niamh – Can I use two weights for straddle lifts to increase load?Angela – Should I weigh mince raw or cooked?Anna – Does tea count towards water intake + chest DOMS stretch suggestions?Sarah – Should I run before or after my workout?Sam C – How to enjoy bank holiday treats without undoing progress?Anne-Marie – Any advice for managing lifting callouses?Annabel – How to ease back into workouts after breaking a toe?Emilie – Lunges still feel hard—how can I improve flexibility or recover better?

(2:00) Bible Study: 1 Kgs 17:1-6 Find out more about Elijah and some of the confusing words in this bible verse. Mt 5:1-12 What does the word blessed mean in this passage? (23:59) Break 1 (24:43) Letters: Father Simon explains mindfulness, where he went to seminary, talks about the History of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, and explains the Josephite Marriage. (41:08) Break 2 (41:40) Word of the Day:  Emptiness  (43:20) Phones: Ed - Could I give communion to somebody in the Greek Orthodox Church? Jane - When St. John and Peter went to the tomb, when they discovered Jesus wasn't there, would they have taken the Shroud? Mary - Is criticizing a priest' homily a mortal sin? Brian - Better to get both bread/wine or just one?

Patrick explores several heartfelt inquiries from listeners, ranging from spiritual guidance for teenagers struggling to sense God's presence, to advice for religious educators on appropriate post-confirmation practices. Patrick also tackles questions about how faith intersects with politics, especially in divisive times. Whether offering book recommendations, encouraging persistent prayer without seeking constant spiritual consolations, or discussing the historical context of political divisions, Patrick aims to provide thoughtful, actionable advice for living a faith-filled life.   Patrick plays and comments on a montage created by the Libs of TikTok about a conference held by the United Methodist Church in North Carolina where those speakers had to give their gender, sexual orientation, and preferred pronouns (01:07) Mary - Is there a book about the Churches view of socialism and Communism? (08:48) Luis – I'm going to The Walk to Mary tomorrow! Alexis - My son is trying to get close to God and he prayer, but he doesn't hear God. What can he do? (18:15) Linda - After receiving confirmation after Mass, is it recommended that the person says a prayer of thanksgiving? (25:03) Barbara - Some priest support Biden and some priests support Trump. I am upset that some priests say Trump is a good candidate. Why doesn't the Church do something? (29:59) Jim - When we say the 'Hail Mary, Mother of God', are we saying she came before God? (37:48) Rafael - We don't come to our politicians for theology, we go to our church for that.  And when it comes to politicians, we go to candidates that lines up with our religious beliefs (43:25) Dana - I think the Apostles were benefiting with prestige and power from preaching the Gospel. It's like they were celebrities. (45:20)

The show takes a poignant turn as a caller, Ronald from Austin, Texas, shares his struggles with drug addiction and marriage difficulties. Patrick listens empathetically and offers counseling, resource recommendations, and connections to experienced priests who can provide guidance and spiritual support.   Kimberley (email) – My in-Laws hate the Catholic Church and refuse to come to the grandkids confirmation. (01:52) Patrick strongly recommends checking out the entire “Beginning Apologetics” series by Jim Burnham and Fr. Frank Chacon Ronald - I am getting divorced because I am a drug addict, but I am trying to get clean (I am a few days clean right now). What can I do? (08:52) Mark - When I am at dinner parties, my wife forbids me from speaking about religion (20:13) Maria – How can I find a good spiritual director? (25:45) Frank (email) – Collecting semen from fallen Israel soldiers so widows can conceive using IVF (35:31) Mary - Is receiving spiritual communion pointless if I have already received communion physically that day? (40:18) Christina (email) – Some family members are finally getting married after living together for 5 years, but it will not be a Catholic wedding.

Patrick covers angelic warfare, the transcendent beauty of guardian angels, and explores the differences in levels of heavenly glory. Learn why the Church challenges modern practices like IVF, and why your path of faith matters eternally. Patrick offers insights into the rosary versus deep breathing practices for spiritual calmness, and gives advice for those seeking sacramental support.   Mary - Is it okay for Catholics to put wind chimes on gravestones? (02:03) Teresa - I say a decade of the rosary in my CCD class. I was told that I couldn't say them with the kids because they are too route of prayers. I was told to do deep breathing with them or play music. What should I do? Lynn - Is the act of contrition require for a valid confession? (14:14) Brett - I am a nurse. I am not Catholic but I have a patient who is a strong Catholic. What religious thing can I give them as they go through cancer? Ryan - What are the different layers of heaven? (25:19) Michael - My niece did IVF to have a child and now is pregnant again with one of the embryos from her first use of IVF. What should I tell her to do with the other embryos? Carmelina (10-years-old) - I need to follow up with someone I emailed as part of the Junior Legion of Mary. I wrote to you and wanted to call and let you know I am praying for you! Emma (11-years-old) - Are there wars between heaven and hell? (45:09)

Join us in this episode of the Class E Podcast as we dive into the extraordinary journey of Callie Goodwin, the mastermind behind a thriving greeting card company born out of the challenges of the pandemic. From a humble start during quarantine to becoming a household name on TikTok, Callie shares her inspirational story of turning isolation into innovation. With her background in education and social work, Callie's path to entrepreneurship was unexpected but undeniably rewarding. Tune in to discover how she navigated obstacles like funding shortages and leveraged the power of social media to skyrocket her business. From viral TikTok campaigns to unexpected partnerships, Callie's journey is a testament to the resilience and creativity of small business owners everywhere. Join us as we explore the highs, the lows, and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking inspiration, practical tips, and a glimpse into the limitless possibilities of entrepreneurship in the digital age. Guest: Callie Goodwin. Founder Sparks of Joy   Host: Mary Sturgill Producer: Isabella Martinez    Transcript: MARY: Hi there, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Class E Podcast. I am your host, Mary Sturgil. This podcast is brought to you in partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University. And today we have a very special guest…you may know her from Tik Tok and some Tik Tok ads. It's Callie Goodwin, who is the founder of the greeting card company, Sparks of Joy. Callie, welcome to our show. CALLIE: Hi! Thank you so much for having me.  MARY: Callie, I want to start with… Do you remember the first time that we met in person? Because we've known each other for a while though. CALLIE: It's been quite a while. I was helping film in Columbia. I don't know what year it was. But it's been quite a while. MARY: It's been at least seven years probably. Yeah. Yeah. I was still in news. I was still a news anchor. And Callie had this drone and I was you know me, I'm a gadget girl. And so I went up to her and I was like, oh, show me what you're doing. Like we were just talking off air that we were flying drones and we didn't really know any of the rules back then. So we just flew them all over the place. CALLIE: I look back now and I'm like, Ooh, yeah, we were definitely breaking some rules then. But honestly before… it was still the wild wild west of drones.  MARY: You were on the cutting edge then and now you're on the cutting edge again. That's your life.  CALLIE: I like to live on the edge. MARY: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So tell us a little bit about Sparks of Joy for people who might not have seen your TikTok ad because your TikTok ad… I say TikTok ad guys but it is all over TV right now. CALLIE: Yeah, so Sparks of Joy started as a pre stamped greeting card company in the middle of the pandemic. I bought a house the summer 2020, moved in, was exposed to COVID had to quarantine and during that two weeks was going stir crazy. Neighbor dropped off a handwritten card and some brownies. And that handwritten card like really kind of sparked this idea of like, I want to send out cards out with my new address like I finally have an address on my own. But I realized that I didn't know what boxes my cards were in. And I didn't have any stamps. And so I used that two week quarantine period to start a business. I design all my own cards. And then we pre stamp the cards so that our customers don't have to or don't have to try to track down stamps at the post office so it has grown I started my TikTok right as I started my business and now it's grown into this massive account and this like really cool opportunity to partner with TikTok on these things. And I never would have dreamed that this loneliness of my brand new house would have turned into this three years later. MARY: Right and so the…let's back up a little bit and talk about your education because everything that you've done in your education so far is geared toward education. For kids right? CALLIE: So I thought I wanted to be a preschool teacher growing up. I worked in preschool for seven years. So I got my Associates in early childhood. And then I transferred to Columbia College and got my Bachelor's in social work, essentially social work, and decided that's not what I wanted to do. I began working at Columbia College doing social media and got my master's in higher ed administration. And now here I am, I work for a social media app for high schoolers going into college. So still kind of like higher ed adjacent, but also run a greeting card company. MARY: Right. So you're doing social media and you're a master at social media by the way. You're doing social media for them and you're running this company that has just literally blown up. How did it come to be that Tik Tok contacted you and said we want you to be in this for us. CALLIE: So I retold the story recently or was talking with the people that this all started with. It started in the spring of 2022. So we actually got a very kind of vague sketch email from TikTok that was like, Hey, we're working on a new upcoming project. If you think you might be interested in being part of this vague project that we can't tell you information about, like fill out this Google form. And I clicked it and like it really was just a basic Google form asking about my business and I'm like, well, nothing I'm sharing here is like proprietary information that they can't like find on my website. So I filled it out. And three months later, they got the green light from legal to start this. It was called TikTok Impact and showing the impact of TikTok on small businesses. So they got the green light to start it and so it started as a website with about I think 10 to 20 of us, representing 10 states. And that rolled into the first campaign with TikTok, which was South Carolina based…a couple of billboards and newspaper ads and stuff that ran in October of 2022. And then thought that was it… thought the campaign was done. And then I was contacted in July of 2023 by a production company, they're like, Hey, we think you're a good fit for a project again, super vague. We can't tell you the client. Like are you interested? And I'm like, sure we've done this before and it's been great. So sure, let's try it again. Turns out the client was TikTok again. But it was a much bigger scale. So it involved filming this commercial, they came to my house. I think there was like 13 or 14 different production team members that came out and we filmed all day long. And then this is part of a national campaign so it's rolled out. I think the commercial is rolled out to South Carolina at this moment, but will continue to roll out nationwide. And then it also included billboards in places like… Vegas is covered. I think there's like 13 or 14 in Vegas. Times Square, the New York subway system… all around South Carolina and it's been really cool to watch that grow. MARY: Yeah I love on your Instagram when you put your…. you took a picture of yourself in front of your billboard in Times Square. CALLIE: Yeah, we went up for my birthday in December and I was like, told my parents we have to go to Times Square to see this. It's just surreal to see yourself in public on these advertisements. So I just flew to Washington DC. And I saw myself in the airport like on the screens and I was like, Oh wait, that's me like, and nobody else around me like notices in this moment that I'm standing here like in all of this ad and everyone else is just going about their busy day, but I'm like, right. Oh my gosh, I'm on this giant screen like that's crazy.  MARY: Yeah,I know that feeling. The first time I saw we had a billboard for one of my stations that I worked at when I was broadcasting. And the first time I saw one of our billboards I had to like stop. I've literally pulled up on the side of the highway. Like oh my god, that's huge. CALLIE: The first night that somebody texted me that the billboards were live in Columbia, because I didn't know that that was part of this campaign. So somebody's like, I just saw a billboard of you and I'm like, What are you talking about? They're like, Oh, yeah, it's over onForest drive and it actually was not on Forest drive. It was somewhere completely different. They got the location wrong. So I'm driving around Columbia, like just looking for myself. And yeah, it's probably crazy, but it's a lot of fun. MARY: I love that. But I do want to point out to our listeners that this is a prime example… I do a workshop sometimes for women entrepreneurs who… how to get your story told. Right? And so let me ask this question… was anything… did you have to pay for any of this?  CALLIE: Not a penny.  MARY: Exactly. So saying yes to things will get you free advertisement. Right? Now, of course, there are a lot of scams out there. So do be careful about that kind of stuff and kind of use the techniques that Callie used to say, Okay, this is just business stuff that I'm giving them, right?  CALLIE: Absolutely.  MARY: And then you can always do your background checks, make, make the phone calls, send the emails, you know, do whatever you need to do to check the background of things like this. But let's talk about how this has blown up your business. CALLIE: Yes, so, through the first campaign, we ended up getting verified on Tik Tok and being able to reach a large amount of people and through that campaign, rolled into the opportunity to… so that started with the vague sketchy email to begin with, which then turned into the first South Carolina campaign, which then rolled into the opportunity to speak at South by Southwest last March on a panel with TikTok which led to go into DC with TikTok, which led to like this campaign, and so saying yes, at all these points, continues to just open doors. But yes, I think I missed the rest of your question there. MARY: I think you got it. Saying yes to one thing opened all those other doors. South by Southwest is huge, you know, being able to go to DC all off this one, you know, thing that you said yes to was really the catalyst for all of that, right. So, let's talk about the art just a little bit because you were an art major, right. And how does that play into part of your personality, part of who you are and into the whole thing? CALLIE: Yeah, it's been cool to be able to take some of these designs that you don't see represented in greeting cards every day. And I know again, like I always tell people like you, if I can succeed on Tik Tok, you can succeed on TikTok. I am selling greeting cards in a digital world. Like people don't send mail, people love to receive mail, but don't take the time to send mail. And so the fact that we've sold over 50,000 cards in the last three years is proof that like people want that connection, they want human connection. And I think a big thing is like people like to purchase from me because I show myself on my account a lot. I also share not just business stuff, but I I share a little bit of the personal side. We talk about mental health. We talked about behind the scenes of packing orders and so people connect on a personal level there and feel like they're supporting a person in a business. And that's something they could get behind.  MARY: Yeah, I think you bring up another good point with that because part of marketing yourself on social media and you just gave us a tactic right there. Right. So it's not all about the business. It's not all about buy buy buy this right. It's about sharing and connecting on a personal level. CALLIE: Absolutely. So originally I had gone back and privated all at the beginning of my TikTok because they were so cringy I couldn't even like stand to see them on my account. They were… it was bad. I was just watching the waters…. and I had to go back and unhide them because the reality is like I didn't want to minimize, like how rough the start was, like sure we're at 113,000 followers now. But we weren't there at the beginning. And we started small. We started cringy it took a while to find our stride. And when I did, it really changed when I started getting on camera and being myself and realizing like, I am not going to be equal to the people that have millions of followers like I don't have the pretty perfect setup. This is me in my garage selling greeting cards and so once I found what was unique to me and just like the fact that like this is who I am and embracing that, like that's when we saw growth because I got comfortable with who I was instead of just trying to be everybody else.  MARY: Yeah. Wow. What you just said is so powerful. Right there. I think that being comfortable with who you are and finding the power within yourself can transcend any area of our life. But at the same time holds us back from all areas as well. Right? If we don't have those feelings. Even in my own daily life I catch myself ... .that self talk, you know that we have that Oh, I shouldn't do this because I don't have this or I don't do this right. And, boy, I need to take your advice today. And I know somebody listening does too. Wow.  CALLIE: I often have to remind myself that especially as my account grows larger, I find myself hesitating before I post up I'm like Ooh, is this worth the post? Like is this gonna fit things and I realize I'm like, that's not how we got here. And that's not how we're going to continue to grow if I'm if I stray away from where like what our tried and true like method is so yeah, everything doesn't have to be perfectly filmed. My hair always looks like a disaster. It's always a frizzy mess. Usually whatever t shirt I wear for the day, or I slept in and just showing whatever I'm working on really connects with people, MARY: Yeah whatever part of your life that it is for that moment. Yeah, yeah. You also brought up the fact that you started with… You know, I mean, everybody has to start somewhere. Right? And so with the followers on Tiktok, you started with small followers with a small number of followers and then that grew over time, the more that you became your authentic self and I think so many of us, me included, tend to not be as consistent as perhaps we should be to help really gain those followers and take advantage of what Tik Tok and other social media outlets have to offer for free advertising for us.  CALLIE: Absolutely. Yeah. It's really cool for me to connect with the people that used to join my live streams like I remember when I hit 1000 followers and I got to finally live stream for TikTok specifically and there was two people that would join my live streams all the time. I think we ever we maxed out at like five people viewing for the first couple months and now whenever I go live, there's sometimes there can be a couple 100 people in there, but sometimes I see those, those original two or three and it's always such a special moment when I see it pop up, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, you're you're still here. Like you're still like, I don't care about the rest of them like you followed me through either there at the beginning. Like it's really it's really important for me to connect with my followers in general in the comments, but then also to like, remember people and remember that, like I wouldn't be here today without the support of the people along the way. MARY: Yeah, that's an excellent point too. And that connection, you know, when those live streams, you're creating community. CALLIE: Yeah. 100% we have whole like, like conversations in the comments, or I think at one point, I was taking a new medication that had to be taken at night and I'm a nighttime like live streamer. Like that's usually when I'm going live and I had one follower who is now a really good friend of mine we've never met but she would remind me every night and she's like remember to take your meds and I was like thanks because I forgot and they're ADHD meds so like it's seem funnier that like usually it was the thing… the thing you need to take to remember to do the things consistently. And so she was my consistent reminder during live streams and he's like, Did you take your medicine and like, Oh, thank you so much. Let me take one right now. And so yeah, we got through that entire, like, season of that specific medication because she reminded me every night because I wouldn't remember. MARY: I love that. So what inspires you? CALLIE: That's a great question. I am fueled by trying new things, and seeing what can happen. So I also love a good challenge. So recently, back in August or July…I had an opportunity to work with a laser company called… and they sent me a laser and I was to make content with it. And so I wanted to do a 90 day payoff challenge. Because I thought, You know what, that'd be a cool like source of content…have all these projects. I need to pay this laser off anyway, like let's, let's do it in 90 days. And so I made a list of all these projects that I wanted to do and started working my way through it. And on day 15, our Stanley topper file went viral and we sold $30,000 worth in nine days on TikTok shop. And so those videos collectively have over 10 million views. My house is a train wreck for weeks as I had about 14,15 people rotating in and out to help me fulfill these orders. But I'm constantly like inspired by trying new things, seeing what will take off and then watching the power of social media work. We've had multiple cards go viral, we've had multiple products and so it's always fun to kind of chase that like new level of success but also like what is going to connect most with our followers. MARY: Right. Do you sell the cards as singles or in groups? How does that work? CALLIE: So we have cards that are available as singles. We have postcards. We have flat cards that go with an envelope and a stamp. And then we have like little baby like mini cards. And you can buy them individually but you can also bundle them to get them at a cheaper price.  MARY: Okay, excellent. So what has been the most rewarding about this process for you… this experience?  CALLIE: I think the experiences and being able to meet people and connect with people. I think social media allows you to really connect with people that are outside of your circle. And so I have been able to make some really incredible friends through Tiktok through social media in general. I actually went to VidCon out in California last year with four creator friends that I had, or three creator friends that I'd never met in person. We all rented Airbnb and went out together and had an absolute blast. But we've just built all these relationships, friendships, partnerships with different people. And that is… it's just so fulfilling. MARY: Yeah, that's really cool. And I think you know for all of its faults, social media does that really well.  CALLIE: Yes.  MARY: Is there any obstacles that you had to overcome that you other than, you know, the self talk which we've talked about, you know, that you've had to overcome in the process? CALLIE: I think our biggest challenge is always like money, and funding. I started this with 20 bucks in the bank account and have used the profits from whatever I sell to reinvest back into my business and so every time we go viral or we have these like big influx, it's like okay, now how do we, how do we upgrade our stuff? Instead of outsourcing, we now print all of our stuff in house. We've purchased the equipment, you know, we've purchased the lasers, we've purchased the shelving like never, never knew shelving was so expensive. But to house all of the cards that we offer, we have about 150 designs. And to also to hire an assistant that helps with fulfilling card orders. That was important but yeah, I think funding especially when not going like traditional, like loan routes, because that wasn't something I wanted to do. It's also sometimes hard to find small business loans when you're brand new, but not like when I still consider myself like a pretty like a baby business compared to like a retail location or something like that. Everything operates out of my dining room and so sometimes that funding is usually like one of the hardest parts.  MARY: Yeah, that's…it is hard, especially for a company that's starting up because for banks to lend you money of course they want to see three years of growth right? CALLIE: Yeah.  MARY: And you're like, Well, how do I get the growth but don't have the money? CALLIE: Exactly, exactly.  MARY: So you have to be creative in the ways that you find. So then when you have this big orders like that $30,000 order right… or 30,000 card order, then you just hire part time people to come in and help you get them out quickly. CALLIE: Yes, my dad was here everyday helping. My assistant was here and then I literally put the call out on Facebook. I was like who has extra time during the day… night. We would have people that would come in at 7:30 in the morning. A friend of mine… I gave her my house code and was like here's the key to the door. She would come in and start working. I would sleep in a little bit. But I would also work until 2,3,4 in the morning with the late night crew and so we made it through like you find your community, find your local people that will jump into help but yeah, August was chaotic. MARY: And that but you know what, that's a great problem to have. CALLIE: Yes, it is. Yeah. Yeah. MARY: So looking forward, what are some of the goals that you have for the card company? I mean, do you I mean, I guess you want to stay in your garage forever. CALLIE: Yeah, I don't know.  MARY: Although that might be kind of nice.  CALLIE: But yeah, it's well, it's nice, not having like an overhead of a shop or warehouse or anything. Our garage is converted so it's like a two car garage size but it's a nice like workspace. For me I think I've specifically this past year I've been operating essentially two businesses under one name. So we have the greeting card side and then we have the laser engrave side and low backs are how the laser engraving came in. It's because no one gets rich off of $2 greeting cards. Takes a lot of greeting cards to build up by capital. And so we introduced laser engraving personalized items to help get our cost per order up. But they still kind of feel like two separate verticals. So the goal this year is to invest in a UV printer, which will allow me to take the full color designs of my cards and print them onto cups, wood, stuff that I can use in my laser engraver and be able to finally merge those two businesses and have them like mesh a little bit more cohesively. So that's a large investment of a pretty expensive piece of equipment. And so yeah, I'm sure I'm excited to figure out how we obtain that but that is the ultimate goal for 2024. MARY: How do you proceed TikTok helping you in the coming year? CALLIE: Well, this specific campaign is not a short, the ads may stop running soon, like the print and digital ones. But this is… it's going to be a long term advertisement for them and for me, and so I know that's going to help with business. I already get orders all the time. That's like hey, we saw we saw your ad like we're now ordering. But TikTok the platform itself is… 98% of my customers find me through TikTok so that's where we put all of our time and effort. We have Instagram, Facebook, we don't put as much stock time investment into those platforms because when you find something that works like I'm investing my time there on TikTok so continuing to create content that engages people that I think going back and doing a lot more content about the how… how we get to places the start of a card, how we design it, how it's printed, cutted, showing the behind the scenes of that is something like my followers have asked to see more of this year. They also asked to see more of the laser and so we're gonna be featuring more of that This year as well.  MARY: Yeah, that's fun to see. That's fun to watch. CALLIE: I realized like as much as I see it working and it may like lose its sparkle a little bit when you're running it consistently. My followers don't get to see the chaos of watching it run and so I've got to remember that's not…most people don't have multiple lasers in their house. So I need to share that more with people. It's very common for me, but it's not common for 99% of the population. MARY: Right, right. You know, I want to circle back around to DC because we I know there were these huge hearings about TikTok and potentially regulation or, or even not allowing Tiktok to operate in the United States. And I know that if that were to happen, it would hurt small business owners and I think you would be one of those people. CALLIE: Yeah, yeah. I actually just got back from DC. I was up there talking about credit card swipe fees. Additionally talking about the impact of Tiktok on my business and kind of my stance on things is a lot of the questions right now are about internet security, data privacy, and we're having these conversations. Tik Tok gets called out a lot because the parent company has owners that are also Chinese based. And so that causes a lot of fear. But the reality is that data security and privacy is a much bigger topic that is not limited to TikTok. We have those issues with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, whatever, all of them have the same issues. And so when I'm talking with our representatives, talking about let's have the broader conversation, let's not single out one because the reality is if we can pass legislation that protects users and people. It's just eliminating one, it's not going to fix the problem. We need to do more to protect everybody. And so I'm hoping that some of those conversations we'll realize that that's the bigger issue. But yeah, it's a risk, putting kind of like a lot of my all my eggs in that one basket but right now, like it is the most accessible platform for small businesses the way that the algorithm works, the way that the platform shows stuff that you're interested in. And so it's easier for small businesses to have a fighting chance of being seen versus Instagram and Facebook that really value the amount of followers you have over the interest of what you have. So it'll be interesting to see. But I continue to use our voice to talk to our representatives because I met with our representatives office this week, and Lindsey Graham and talked to their office and showed my stats and they're like we've never heard a small business story from Tik Tok. And I'm a constituent and so going and showing the staff with like, 98% of my customers find me here like here's… our audience is actually older, like it isn't young kids and so kind of changing the narrative by giving the other side of the truth there. MARY: And thank you for doing that. And I think all small businesses should thank you for doing that. Because, you know, the good thing about social media, no matter what platform it is, is it's free advertising for you. Every time you're on there, right? You are the face of your company. You are the brand so to speak, right? And that's some advertising that you don't have to pay for. Absolutely, it's free. And if you're not using social media, then you should start using social media. CALLIE: Yeah, we don't pay. I think I ran one ad last year. And it was a very targeted ad because it was for a very targeted product for our cutting boards, like it was a targeted age group for that specific product. But yeah, we've done so much. I mean, I think we did probably close to $50,000 in sales last year without a single like dollar of advertisement. MARY: That's great for the bottom line.  CALLIE: Yeah. MARY: Let's give some advice to people because we just talked a little bit about the age, you know, and that's a misnomer that ultimately kids on Tik Tok, right, because it's not. It's only old people on Facebook because it's not, right. And so let's talk about if you can give some advice to some of our listeners about maybe some tips and tricks of the trade so to speak of getting yourself noticed. CALLIE: Um, specific per platform or just in general? MARY: In general, or if you want to go specific, specific, that's fine. CALLIE: I think often that we target certain platforms for certain ages. And that's not necessarily true. Facebook's become older generation. Snapchat is just like the high schoolers TikTok is like Gen X, millennials, whatever. But that's not true. Some of my favorite Tik Tokers are actually like quite old. We have… like I follow a Grandma, that's one of my favorite people on the app. I think there is a spot for everybody on all platforms. All say that the demographics from my Tik Tok account and actually have this beside me. So I'm not just pulling out numbers. 71% of my followers are between 25 and 54 and 87% are women. 96 or 96% of them are in the US. So I do have international followers. I've shipped a lot of international orders from that percentage that is internationally, but I think that not specifically targeting a certain age… I think making your stuff broader is the best way to appeal to people on all platforms. My dad loves TikTok. Does he create content on there? Absolutely not. But he does scroll it nightly for hours because he sends me them all the time. So it's, it's really cool for him or for me to see certain brands like really embrace the fact that like all ages are on TikTok and be able to target across all generations with their content and like it's resulted in…he has purchased us specifically because he saw it on TikTok.  MARY: Yeah. I do that all the time. CALLIE: We joke about like Facebook ads are like super targeted because of your like interests or whatever. You think and it appears but there are still younger people on Facebook. They may not be posting but they see stuff. Same with Instagram, I think a lot of people watch but don't necessarily post and so just because you may not be seeing their content on there doesn't mean they're not there.  MARY: That's a great, great point. Because there are 1000s, millions of people probably on Tik Tok that just kind of scroll and watch and whatever, the videos and they're seeing those ads, right? I don't I mean, you know, as I said, I'm a gadget girl, which is how we met each other. And because I went up to Callie and I was like, hey, show me what you're doing here man. And I am forever ordering gadgets off TikTok shop.  CALLIE: The amount of stuff that I need to do an entire video of stuff that I've ordered because I saw it on TikTok and there is a hashtag TikTok made me buy it but I have peach mango toothpaste because I found it on TikTok. Like I hate the taste of normal mint toothpaste. And I got served an ad for flavored toothpaste and was like done… immediately purchased. And that was like such like such a good decision that like makes an impact on my daily life. But like a random thing. MARY: I will tell you I have not gotten anything that's cheap or bad or anything from any of my Tik Tok purchases.  CALLIE: Yeah, most of them are pretty solid. I will say as a TikTok shop seller, the regulations that they have…they're pretty strict. And so we're constantly fighting the product authorization stuff on like getting our stuff posted because sometimes it says like I think this is… like your price is too low, we think it's a scam and I was like it's a mini greeting card like I can't charge more than $1.50 for this like sometimes it'll flag us like we think this is a scam it's because you're offering it for $1. So…but yeah, I think the last probably eight months has been really heavy on TikTok shop as they released that and try to grow it. I think that now that Black Friday and Christmas and stuff are over I think it'll chill out a little bit. But it is interesting to watch how the different platforms are changing their algorithms and changing what they're promoting. I recently got a message from Tiktok saying that they're wanting you to post some vertical or some horizontal videos and longer videos and you've got YouTube over there promoting shorts and then you've got Instagram that wants to be everybody… do all the things. So it's important to pay attention to all of the platforms and see what they're favoring. And if you can ride the wave as soon as they announce something…I will say that's like one of the things we found the most successful is when a when a platform releases a new trend or not necessarily like a trendy type of thing, but like TikTok specifically said recently that they're favoring longer videos and they're favoring the, the horizontal so they're fighting YouTube essentially. I have friends that are posting that and going viral for those longer videos and it's counterintuitive what we think Tik Tok should be but if TikTok is saying, Hey, we're favoring this. It's pretty dumb to not ride that wave. Even if we don't agree with it because like, I don't have it like I don't TikTok to be YouTube… I want the short fun videos but like as a creator, as a marketer, you got to sometimes you got to suck it up. MARY: Right. Callie, thank you so much. This has been such an interesting conversation. CALLIE: Thank you so much for having me. It's always fun to talk about this kind of stuff. MARY: Yeah, absolutely. Before I let you go though, tell our listeners and we are on YouTube too. So tell our listeners and our viewers how they can get in touch with you and how they can order from you and that kind of thing. CALLIE: You can find my stuff at sparksofjoyco.com. Our handle is sparks of joy co on all platforms. And then we have our website. MARY: Perfect. Again, Callie thank you so much. We can sit here and learn from you so so much. So everybody, you know she gave us some really good nuggets and even some Easter eggs in there, to use a Taylor Swift term, that you can pull out when you listen to this podcast and kind of put to use in your own life and your own building of your business. So Callie, thank you so much again. CALLIE: Thank you.  MARY: Take care.        

Patrick provides a comprehensive analysis of the Catholic Church's teachings on the subject of masturbation. The conversation takes an in-depth examination of the moral and ethical implications of masturbation, natural family planning, and the importance of understanding these concepts within the framework of Catholic teachings. Listeners are offered compelling insights and valuable perspectives, as Patrick addresses misconceptions and rationalizations surrounding this complex issue. Reparations in California is a blatant way to buy votes Marilyn - What do you think of the book “Jesus Calling“, by Sarah Young? It is very popular and I was given it as a gift from two different people. Suzie - How can President Biden not be prolife? Why is the Catholic Church not holding him accountable? Rich (email) – What is reverse-racism? Tom - What is the difference between masturbation and NFP? Why does the church allow one but not the other? (28:53) Mary - Is masturbation a mortal or venal sin? (43:26) Steven - Being through the LA riots, could I say I wanted reparations because black people destroyed my stuff. Also, what prayers can I pray for my grandmother who passed away? James - If a married couple has intercourse it is blessed, but if one of the two parties doesn't get stimulated, is that considered masturbation?

Our well-being is important to maintain in our lives, and different companies can help us with that. In this episode of the Class E Podcast, we talked with Chad Price, an international business consultant and entrepreneur with several successful wellness ventures. Price shares the knowledge he's acquired throughout his entrepreneurial journey from his exercise equipment company, Kettlebell Kings, to his most recent venture, Life Grows Green, a lifestyle brand focused on natural and hemp products. Price also discusses how entrepreneurs in any industry should always be equipped for battle because they never know what hurdles they may face.   Guest: Chad Price Webistes:  https://www.kettlebellkings.com https://lifegrowsgreen.com Host: Mary Sturgill Producer: Isabella Martinez '24 TRANSCRIPT MARY: Hi there, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Class E Podcast. I am your host Mary Sturgill and this is the podcast that's brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship here at Furman University and the Communication Studies Department. Today we have a very special guest, Chad Price is with us. He is the founder of Kettlebell Kings and multiple ventures, which we're going to jump into and talk about. Chad, welcome to the show. CHAD: Hi, nice to meet you. Thank you for having me. MARY: Yeah, thank you. So I want to start by talking about… kind of going way back to your childhood, and I want to find out…where did your entrepreneurial spirit come from?   CHAD: You know, I think it's interesting. I had to really kind of dig on to that question when I was writing my book recently. And trying to figure out, you know, when was the first time that I really kind of thought about being an entrepreneur and I don't know if it was ever, you know, a one kind of light bulb moment in my head.I think it was just, I've been kind of light bulb moment in my head. I think it was just, I've been on so many teams growing up playing sports that I always knew I wanted to be or create, you know, some type of business operation that I respected like the teams I participated in. So, you know, some type of successful operation, a group of individuals that got together and you know, achieve something bigger than themselves. That's kind of always been my dream. When I graduated college, I, you know, I think it was just like anybody else. I went into the corporate America and tried to find different jobs and different experiences that I thought would maybe fulfill that need and in that process, it kinda led me to realizing that, you know, this wasn't the exact experience I was looking for and if I really wanted that type of experience I'd have to create it myself  MARY: Yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned you played football at Rice and you got a business degree while you were there. It was a few years after that though that you started Kettlebell Kings with I believe a couple of your teammates? CHAD: Yeah, so one of my teammates, one is a friend of a teammate. So kind of, you know, small circle. And when we started Kettlebell Kings, it was more for us. We knew we wanted to start a business in general. MARY: Yeah. CHAD: And we knew it's gonna be something e-commerce. We had kind of been doing our research and at the time I was working a corporate job. So, you know, in my free time, I was researching and trying to figure out if I was gonna start a company, what type of company would it be? And at the time there was really no cool brand around Kettlebells. And so, we wanted to kind of build like a network or community of people who use the kettlebell as a tool for health and wellness, but more of a fitness or enthusiast type of community, an overall health and wellness community just using that kind of as a centerpiece. MARY: Yeah, I love that idea. I'm gonna remind our listeners and viewers on YouTube that was back in 2012 right? So it was before Peloton and before the mirror and all of those things. CHAD: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, and it's interesting to see those things come along. Cause like, you know, you kinda feel like, oh, we missed that on these huge ideas, right? Cause we're sitting here selling kettlebells, but you know, I think that's kind of the benefit of starting your own business. You know, there's different kinds of levels to the journey. There's different scales to everything that you do.You know, I think the fitness community, building the online community and kind of aligning different kind of small and niche type of organizations is kind of an expertise of ours and expertise of mine now that I can carry with me and kind of apply that in any organization. MARY: Yeah, absolutely. And well, I think you guys, I mean, I don't know if anybody before you guys maybe unless it was like individual people or individual gyms that were creating this idea of community around the product, right? And before or some of the big ones that we can think of now. So I think that was brilliant that you did that at that time, right? You kind of rode the digital wave a little bit in that regard, I think. CHAD: Yeah, it makes me feel very old that I'm like original like social media, you know, like I had Facebook when it first came out, right?  MARY: Right. CHAD: I thought those were the good old days and I think you're correct in the sense that there weren't any real kind of online communities back then because social media wasn't such a big presence. And we really… in the kind of creation of our business, we really wanted to focus on bringing as many people together as we could through a digital platform and we never really wanted to have like a physical location. We wanted to invest everything in the company that we could to have like the most successful aggregation of content and basically like a superstore for the enthusiasts online and anyone can experience from anywhere in the world.  MARY: Now you also… for people who might not know, you also actually sold kettle bells and worked on the design of them and the manufacturing of them as well, didn't you? CHAD: Yeah, no, I mean that kind of stuff is awesome for me. You know I had many different jobs in college and after college so some of my previous experiences helped out there. Like for example, I was doing stadium seating when I was in construction and if you do stadium seating, you know, like the stanchions or the uprights that hold the seats together, they're made out of caste. And so I would get huge containers of those on the construction site. And you know, for me, it's like, oh, this is how, you know, metal is made. This is how bulk iron is shipped to America. So I kind of had a familiarity with the type of process that was needed. And once we started Kettlebell Kings, we really just found experts and organizations that, you know, we kind of took their advice and took the customer advice and tried to make the best product. So we would take samples from a manufacturer and then just really tweak and tweak those until we got those into the hands of the professionals and they told us it was perfect and then that's the one we'd go with. MARY: Yeah, nice. I love that process. You know, and it's trial and error, right? You just have to go with what's best right now until you find something better. CHAD: One hundred percent and you know, I tell people all the time we got kettlebells with literally, you know, we get them into the warehouse, we want to do quality control and so we literally throw them up in the air, bang on the ground like try to break them on purpose and during that process, some of them would crack open so you know we've got kettlebells literally like factory dust and dirt and cigarette butts inside before. So there's definitely a trial and error process that goes into making things right but you know I enjoy that process and I think that's what helps separate you from another company. So if everyone has to go through kind of those pitfalls and overcome those obstacles, you know, just puts you a little further away from the competition. MARY: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, COVID affected a lot of businesses that were… in a negative way when we all closed and all of that, but you guys actually thrived during that time. Talk a little bit about that and how that happened.  CHAD: Well, I mean, we always knew when we started the company that online fitness and digital fitness at home was gonna be the future of health and wellness. So you know in our eyes, COVID just kind of accelerated that process and took this into that, you know, that new reality forever. So even if you went back to the gym, I think you still remember those days and you still kind of have a plan or backup plan for your online fitness or your home based fitness, let's say initiatives. And so for us, we were already set up perfectly for that. And all that really did was, you know, kind of prove our point and, you know, it proved the kind of the model if you will for Kettlebell Kings as a whole because we weren't even able to fulfill all of the needs at the time, you know? We went from, you know, normal, doing well as a business, growing, doubling every year type of success as a company, but during that time period, you know, we had over 50,000, 60,000 people on our waitlist. Just they couldn't get product so you know it's kind of a crazy time. MARY: Yeah, that is a crazy time. You mentioned your model. Can you talk about that a little bit more? Kind of outline that for our listeners. Your model for Kettlebell Kings.  CHAD: Sure. I mean, I think it's multi faceted, right?  MARY: Right. CHAD: So when you talk about having a business model or, for Kettlebell Kings, specifically our business model, you're gonna have basically your products for your hardware, which is gonna be fitness equipment. The main thing for us is going to be kettlebells. So, you know, we section that up into the different types of kettlebells.There's different, you know, you have kettlebell, sport, you have hard style kettlebell lifters. You have people who want kind of a hybrid. You know, you have kilograms versus pounds, different things like that. So we decide on, you know, which lines of series of kettlebells we carry. And then more importantly, we really try to be a content company. So we try to see ourselves as a kind of like the ESPN of the kettlebell world where we're aggregating all of the content, all of the user generated content that exists out there and trying to create or produce better content from that and work with those people who are creating those pieces of content to, you know, promote them as a, you know, whether they're a trainer or it's a gym or, you know, a facility for kettlebell sport, different things like that. So it's about really kind of having a production, if you will, where we're literally having, you know, 365 days a year. This is what we're going to be producing. This is what we're going to be, you know, when we're going to be filming it, this is when it should be coming out on our social content channels and things like that. So a lot of it was really growing that production side. I think that was the harder part than the equipment. The equipment is just, you know, I think that's kind of the basics of just getting manufacturers from wherever you're getting that manufacturing. MARY: Yeah, but you bring up a good point about having multiple revenue streams. Coming in with that. And correct me if I'm wrong in this, in 2019, you guys actually acquired another company… Battle Ropes. Am I saying that right? Tell us about that.  CHAD: Correct. Yeah, so in 2019, you know, we really decided that kettlebells were really growing. As a fitness company, we had inquiries and we had, you know, the ability to sell other things besides kettlebells, But we didn't wanna have, let's say, dumbbells by Kettlebell Kings. And so we created a new brand called Living Fit. And that brand was basically going to encompass and it's still I say going to because I sold my shares in that when I sold my Kettlebell King shares, but my partner still runs that brand. That brand basically sells all types of fitness equipment and battle ropes was one of those things that we want to incorporate into that. So the purchasing of battle ropes, you know, a strategic decision for us to have those types of certifications and all of the training and workout videos that came with that company. That gave us a kind of a foundation to build other types of products from. So, you know, we'd use that as a structure to build the dumbbell, the barbell, the jump ropes, resistance bands, you know, diet programs. So at that point we really were into building digital programs and digital services that we could offer people and you know there was no actual physical product that we need to ship in that situation. MARY: Yeah, yeah. You mentioned the sale of Kettlebell Kings, a multimillion dollar sale.How did you come to the decision to say, okay, maybe it's time to do this kind of… be open to this?  CHAD: Well, we knew, you know, we…It's a heavy inventory based company. So when you're trying to grow, you know, you can only grow as much as your margins will allow you if you're not taking on a significant amount of financing and when you have 3 partners… We had 3 partners, 2 companies, a bunch of kind of different initiatives so it becomes a challenge just to allocate resources and agree on where you're gonna allocate those resources most effectively to grow the company because when you're growing so fast that, you know, it's not much room to pay yourself personally. Because the company just needs more and more finance for whatever it is, whether it's inventory, marketing, expanding into new countries, different things like that. MARY: Right. CHAD: So on that journey when we're looking for inventory financing or looking for a financial partner, a lot of people were approaching us about owning some type of piece of the company and a lot of those people wanted to own a majority share of the company. So once those conversations started about a majority share, you know, there wasn't a real option for us to stay around as a kind of a side or a minority owner in the company. And so we really just started kind of taking conversations of if you want to purchase the company as a whole and that led us to some of these larger aggregators had already been reaching out to us. You know, I think a lot of people see the brand and has a lot of potential because it has such a great online following and it demands such a big presence in that niche. So, you know, if you're searching kettlebells, you're going to find Kettlebell Kings. You know, we've becomes synonymous with the term kettlebells in a way where you know we have our competitors to have the hashtag “Kettlebell Kings”, on their social channels and things like that. So I think that's one of the benefits to just owning that brand and the expansion that it's capable of is, you know, it's outrageous. You're not even talking about… you're talking about…we've only really been in America. Kind of just dipped our toe into Europe and Australia a little bit.  MARY: Right, right. You mentioned the brand becoming synonymous with the piece of equipment, the kettlebell, and I think that you guys worked hard to make that happen because that's what comes to everybody's forefront of their mind when they think kettlebell. You're absolutely right about that. I know initially…and this is, you know, well documented… as a minority business owner, it's difficult to get funding sometimes.Did you face any of those hurdles based on the fact that well, you had 3 partners, but 2 of you are minorities, right? So, did you face any of those hurdles that people normally face?  CHAD: Yeah, definitely. And, you know, I, you know, I tell people all the time we would never get financing. So we tried to get financing from every, you know, bank that we ever worked with. We ended up leaving every big bank because they kind of, you know, what we felt were not taken as serious as entrepreneurs or as businessmen. We ended up working with smaller credit unions who you know told us that they would take us a little more serious but they never really had any type of financing that was substantial enough to really make a difference for us. So you know. $5,000 is not really gonna change your company when you need, you know, $30,000 worth of kettlebells.  MARY: Right.  CHAD: But in those situations, they also wanted, you know, personal guarantees and things like that. And when you're an entrepreneur, you don't have, you know, a salary, let's say, for example, to guarantee some of the things that they're gonna want to get these types of financing options. So for us, you know, we literally boot strapped it all the way into the point where we were using, you know, these kind of e-commerce type loans, whether that's, you know, PayPal capital or, you know, the different ones that you could just, you know, you basically can sign up online. They take a percentage of your revenue from your ecommerce store. So that's probably the biggest financing that we used. But up until the point in which we were looking for serious financing and eventually ended up selling, that's kind of what led us to that conversation.  MARY: Is this your second or third year staying on and then you're moving on? Kind of talk about that process a little bit.  CHAD: Yeah, so unfortunately I probably should have mentioned this to you earlier, but unfortunately with the company that acquired us, we were then acquired by another company and so we attempted to stay on and unfortunately that ended up leading us to no longer work with them and in the end actually ended up leading to litigation.  MARY: Okay.  CHAD: So we're in pending litigation with that second acquiring company right now because of the current contract.  MARY: Right, because that was part of that original agreement. I'm assuming that you guys stayed on for a period of time to help in the transition and, you know, bringing the company forward in the way that you guys had intended.  CHAD: Correct. Yeah, and it was the 3 year acquisition that had, you know, payouts associated with the 3 years and everything like that.  MARY: Right.  CHAD: And so, it'll get worked out through the course of some, you know, luckily we live in, in a world where there is a way to handle these situations and our lawyers have been involved the entire time. So from this, from the time we sold to the time they were reacquired, the lawyers were kind of never really finished with the first sale so it's something that the lawyers will work out and it's really just a matter of time before everything gets settled.  MARY: Right, right. I think that's important too for our listeners to understand that sometimes these sales don't always go as planned, right?  CHAD: For sure.  MARY: But there are avenues that you can take to protect yourself. And I think that's important for them to know. What did you learn in that process that you wish you had known before you started that process?  CHAD: Yeah, I mean, I was just gonna say that I think even in these situations you learn so much about what you can do, how you can help someone in the future, what, you know, what kind of safeguards you could have put in place. I think in these situations you really have to understand that you're working with a corporation, you know, when you come from being a small business owner, you take a lot of personal pride and, you know, you put a lot of personal integrity into your work, into the brand. And when you're working with corporations, especially international corporations, they don't necessarily look at business the same way or maybe have the same, let's say, personal attachments or personal integrity to what you're trying to do, as an individual brand. So, you know, if a company owns a 150 brands and you come in as one brand, you're just not going to get the same level of care that you know, white glove type of care that you would have given it possibly and I think taking that kind of stuff into consideration and contractually making sure that the things that were most important are contractual and not just kind of word of mouth or handshake agreement, is probably the best way to go in any of those types of situations.  MARY: Yeah, some good advice. I'm sure you have some of that advice in your book too, which we'll talk about a little bit later. Let's go on to your new venture. Life Grows Green. That's your new company that you started in… I believe 2019. Explain to us what Life Grows Green is.  CHAD: So one of the things, you know, through the journey of kind of owning a health and wellness company or fitness company, that I really noticed how you know we could help people, you know, it really inspired me to see how many people would pick up a kettlebell, and, you know, 6 months later they feel like, you know, they've found something great in their life and they really have built kind of a new personality even around. you know, around this new tool and it just really inspires them to just live a healthier life. I think helping people do stuff like that is, you know, part of a good business and part of building community. I didn't realize I had a passion for it when I started Kettlebell Kings, but now I know that, you know, that is the kind of stuff that I wanna work on. You know, I don't think I could ever really work for a company that takes advantage of people, for example. So, you know, my idea with Life Grows Green was to build a company of natural lifestyle products, you know, whether that's hemp based products, you know, plant derived type of supplements and things like that. Or just your, your natural lifestyle products that you use every day, you know, your glassware, your sheets, your bedding, you know, different things like that. Really just trying to build a community of people who see and want to replace any type of product they can in their life with some natural option or natural version.I think there's, you know, there's a lot of kind of missed out opportunities to have natural products in our lives and just because we don't know any better, we end up with, you know, a cheaper plastic or pharmaceutical version of something that could be natural. MARY: Right, I completely agree and I'm one of those people who loves to go natural. I'm in the process of getting rid of all the plastics in my house, at least trying to. Let's talk about… you mentioned some of the products. How can people find the products? How's business going so far? Because you've been what it's… four years now?  CHAD: When we first started, this was right before COVID. And so, you know, the idea of what we're gonna do shifted quite a bit over COVID. You know, at the time when I started Life Grows Green, I had the nail salon still…I was running a nail salon, Kettlebell Kings, and Living Fit. And then I had Life Grows Green as well. So the idea and the popularity around hemp and CBD was a lot higher. Once COVID happened, everything kinda went into, you know, let's say kind of a suspension, if you will, until we figured out how long we're gonna be in quarantine. We have a lot of in person projects and events that we were trying to participate in that obviously got canceled and didn't really get to happen.But not to mention just the space of advertising for hemp is one of the most difficult things that I've probably done in my career because of all the regulations around it. So, you know, Google, Facebook, Instagram, you're not really able to do that. You know, if you see advertisements there, it's usually some type of a gray hat/ black hat method that companies have to use to not get their account suspended or banned or different things like that. We've tried, you know, even to do things the correct way. Hire organizations to do things the correct way and still have gotten our accounts suspended and banned just for trying to do normal advertising like I would with any other company so through that lens…  MARY: That's really interesting. Yeah.  CHAD: Yeah, go ahead. I was gonna say through that lens, it's very difficult to advertise and to grow a brand like this.  MARY: Yeah.  CHAD: With that being said, you know, lately we've been shifting into more natural lifestyle products. So we have all of your hemp products, but you know, you'll see our Amazon store coming online here shortly. We'll be carrying more of your, like I said the universal lifestyle products versus the hemp based products. And I think advertising and trying to use those as kind of a starting point to get more people in online, it's gonna be a lot easier than trying to climb that uphill battle or fighting the quote on quote CBD and the hemp space.  MARY: That's interesting because I know Google Analytics and that online marketing really helped with Kettlebell Kings and you kind of.. search engine optimization and all of that and so it's throwing up roadblocks now though for this particular company, which I find interesting especially since…I mean how many states now have legalized medical marijuana or marijuana for use and correct me if I'm wrong but hemp is not marijuana.  CHAD: Exactly. And weed I don't sell. Everything that we sell is 100% federally legal to ship nationally and internationally. MARY: I wonder why that is. Why do you think that is? Because it's not, I mean the products don't contain THC.  CHAD: Yeah, I think it's the stigma, you know, I think it's the stigma of people thinking that is like kind of a gateway to THC, which is the gateway to, you know, cocaine and just you know it just scares people just you know you take one step in that direction and you know I think that it's coming down. I think the green wave is real and it's continuing to kind of wash across America and like you say legalization is still growing every single… every time we have an election, we, you know, we get more and more states that are going in what I would consider the right direction.  MARY: How are you overcoming that hurdle though?  CHAD: You know, I think everyone who is in kind of that industry has had to overcome hurdles like this. So, you know, I kind of complain about the social platforms, but it's not just them. It's the credit card processors. It's insurance. It's every single part of the business. You know, you can sell 99% of your products, be everything besides let's say hemp or CBD and if you add hemp or CBD, now you're a high risk company for some reason. And these are things that have been in legislation and you know kind of ingrained into corporate America that they need to just be outlawed. Like there's no reason for, you know, hemp has already been basically given the same kind of space as a rice or any other plant or grain that you would grow. So it should be treated as such by every organization. It shouldn't be treated as some kind of high risk event or high risk operation, but currently that's just how it is and there's not really anything you can do. So you just have to…you're paying a higher cost for every single thing that you do and you're getting restricted on advertising pretty much on every platform currently.  MARY: Right. So, you have some strategies, I'm sure, to overcome that. How are you.. what are some of the strategies that you're implementing?  CHAD: What you can do is literally try to create an online community using the products that you sell that don't have anything to do with hemp because you can technically have, let's say two separate stores, an Amazon store and an e-commerce store, and then by building that community of people who appreciate the 100% non-hemp, non-CBD products, you can kind of hopefully get those people through your social channels and things like that.  MARY: I think you're right. I think there's a path forward for these brands because so many of us are turning back to natural, you know, even down to, you know, doing our own gardens every year, right?  CHAD: Exactly.  MARY: So many of us are making that turn back to natural products. So I'm hoping that you are one of the companies that makes it through. I think you will be. You bring up a topic though that a lot of entrepreneurs face and that's just when you're facing so many roadblocks sometimes it kind of deflates your goals a little bit and deflates your passion a little bit. How do you overcome that?  CHAD: Well, I tell people all the time when I first, you know, sports helped me quite a bit when I first got to Rice. Well growing up where I grew up, you know, we were good in sports and I was really good in sports. So I won most games that I played. And, you know, won the state championship in high school. So it was very kind of fortunate to have kind of a winning career up until my college career and in college, I had to kind of do a little more setback. You know, we had a season where we were 3 and 8. And we only won 3 games, which to me… that was outrageous. Only lost two games in high school in 4 years so having those types of experiences just kind of had me on a different mindset, you know, I look at it as like you can have a losing season and you can still come back next season and be better. And even two losing seasons, three losing seasons, you know, I don't look at the losses as a hundred percent something that I need to dwell on, something that I need to make sure I'm learning from and getting stronger from. So it more just calibrates me for the next bat on. You know, I feel more confident going into the next battle because I've lost already and because I already know what that feels like. I know, you know, how I didn't make it last time or why I didn't succeed when I did this in the past. And so those types of experiences, they really give me more confidence if I spend them correctly.   MARY: Yeah, you mentioned battle. Your book is called Preparing for Battle. It was released this fall. Talk about what people are gonna find when they pick up that book from Amazon.   CHAD: Yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of what I talk about in the book as well. You know, I do see business as kind of a battlefield, a competitive playing field. I think everyone who wants to have a successful brand, who becomes an entrepreneur and there can only be so many. You know, one of the things I tell people is that, yeah, I think we all individually only can remember so many brands in our head. So I don't know how many brands, you know, you maybe have 10, I maybe have 10 or 8 or whatever that number is but there can only be so many brands that we actually associate with ourselves and we, you know, we're proud to kind of be a member of or a part of that community. So I want to be that for as many different brands that I work with and I talk about kind of building the mindset to create that in the book. So more than what type of specific industry you're in. I think it's about having the correct mindset to deal with the obstacles that are going to come up in business. You know, the information that in 2012 when we started Kettlebell Kings and how you do social media advertisements, you know the most lucrative ways to kind of build that community are not the 100% same as they are you know in 2023 and I think understanding that you need to go into it with the mindset of this is going to be a battle. I need to learn on the fly. I need to be a lifelong learner you know the person that kind of leads my team as an expert in my industry and expert in whatever field that I'm trying to get in. I think that's more important than, you know, trying to gorge yourself on information before you get there.  MARY: Yeah, yeah. I'm suggesting to our listeners that they go and get your book and read it, but what books along your path did you read that kind of influenced you?  CHAD: So I mean, there would be so many like…I was one of those kids where I literally used to read adult books, you know, like I read every religious book by the time I was like 10 years old. I used to read the encyclopedia. So yeah, I was one of those like, extremely, kind of, nerdy kids that just used to read all the time. At a certain point, you know, reading books to me is just part of the experience of learning. You know, I like to take, I like to take concepts more than kind of the individual words or things, you know, I don't like to idolize individuals, I don't like to idolize books. I really like to learn the concepts and cross reference those concepts. So, you know, if you really were talking about like what are some of my favorite books, it would be like, you know, The Laws of Power, or, The Art of War or something like that. It'd be something more conceptual to where I really just like, how do we apply these concepts universally to whatever we're trying to achieve, whatever goals we have? My experience through sports and seeing so many different personalities and individuals and ways to lead, you know, and lead men and teams and things like that. They really kind of build my philosophy on how I look at business. I don't think when I go into a business that I know everything I need to know. I think that I've been given this responsibility and it's time for me to grow into that person and it's time for me to lead to that person and it's time for me to lead everyone and kind of walk this journey with everyone. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs could learn from kind of that approach versus, you know, kind of thinking that you're already the expert at whatever you're trying to do before you get there.   MARY: Yeah, right. You also consult with businesses and now having this conversation with you, I can totally see why. And the benefits that other business owners would get in kind of hiring you to kind of lead them through some processes that they may have going on. Do you, and you kind of alluded to in that answer, do you have a philosophy of business? And of entrepreneurship?  CHAD: I mean, I think it shifts, you know, I think having the self awareness to assess where you are, you know, I think I tell people all the time, like a good example is I had to learn this for myself when I was having a nail salon and having a fitness company at the same time. The conversations and the motivational conversations that you'd have in the nail salon are not the same that you have in a kettlebell warehouse. Those are completely two different…So I have the same goal, but you do not have the same conversation. You can't have the same tone, the same attitude. You have to take these things into consideration. So I think having that self-awareness not only about who you are as an individual, but who your team is, these types of things. For me, it comes easy because I've been on so many teams. I didn't, you know, I don't, I didn't like everybody I played with. I was the kid that I knew the coach would get on some people and baby other people because that's what it took to motivate them. There was a, you know, there was a method to the madness sometimes and I'm one of those people that can see and I like that kind of psychological strategy to things and so I really try to come in and say, you know, where are you? Where do you think you are? Let's see, you know, how close to my objective, a perception of things is your perception of things and then if we can agree on common points then I think you can kinda coach any team to the direction you want them to go. And that's just a matter of kind of putting the plan in place and executing on it.   MARY: Yeah. Excellent. I love this. I know we can keep talking forever, but I probably need to wrap us up a little bit. I do want you before I let you go to give some advice to some of our entrepreneurs who are maybe starting out their journey. They think they have a product or they think they have an idea, but they're just not sure how to get it started.   CHAD: I mean, I think when you're, when you're just starting out, that's, you know, it's an opportunity and it's kind of one of the most difficult times you're a hundred percent right. You don't know which direction you're always going when you're first starting and there are unlimited directions. So you know that's one of the things that you know, even with Kettlebell Kings, it changed over time. When we started the company, we were going to carry every single brand of kettlebells that existed and because of the first year of trying to do that, it ended up being, hey, you know, now we're just gonna carry our brand and we're gonna manufacture a different series and so I think having the correct mindset going in that you're gonna do whatever it takes to work is more important than, you know, trying to make sure that you've gotten the exact product line up right or you've gotten the exact advertising, the exact logo even. You know, I think there's situations in which action trumps, you know, kind of just sitting there being stale. So, if you have a way to create cash flow, to create revenue, to reach customers, I would say that's where you should start. You know, you should start with whatever can kind of create that initial cash flow. Even if it's not high profit margins, you can, you know, you can work on the margins, especially if you're not doing high volume and you're still able to create cash flow and bring in new customers and generate leads, bring in some type of let's say proof of concept that will allow you to do a lot of different things because as you're doing that you can work with individuals you can, you know, you can mentor or you find yourself. I'm sorry, not mentor. You could find yourself a mentor to help you in these situations. But if you don't really have any real world item to analyze.It's kind of hard for anyone to help. You kind of talk about a figment of everyone's imagination.  MARY: Right, right. I love the way that you said that because so many people I think get almost paralyzed by trying to get everything right before they launch. Right? The right logo, the right, you know, branding materials, the right product. Rather than let's launch, let's bring in some money and let's be ready to educate ourselves on how things are going. And be open to change, which is all the things that you just said. CHAD: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and that's why I say for me, it's almost natural because of sports and, you know, and sports the games on Friday. So it's like you can do whatever you want to do, but you have to go play on Friday.   MARY: Right.   CHAD: And I think in business you have to, you have to create that for yourself. So that doesn't exist. There's no real game. And if you're, you know, when you're first starting, you get to kind of stall and say, well, we'll just play next week. We'll just play next week. And it's like, no, you have to be the one to say the game is on Friday. So we're starting on Friday and that type of mindset I think is what is most important in entrepreneurs so that you're the person that pushes things forward if no one is there to build your dream for you. Like no one is there to build a brand. It's a multimillion-dollar or a billion-dollar global brand for you. It's like you're going to be the driving force or at least the starting point where the energy comes from.  MARY: Yeah. Oh my god, that's so good. I'm gonna tell everybody right now to go back and re-listen to what he just said because it's so good. The other thing I want to ask you is, okay, so you sold the Kettlebell Kings, you're starting this new company, and you've written the book, what's next for you?  CHAD: So I mean right now I'm working on, you know, quite a few different things. Obviously, Life Grows Green is one of my main focuses right now for sure. The book is just being released, that's what I'm really mainly kind of doing my promotional tour, if you will for the book. So I'll be doing podcasts like this, but I'm also doing in-person events. I'm working on some workshops. So I have workshops and presentations, kind of doing some career development even with some of the young entrepreneurs and things like that. So I'm really just trying to transition to the next chapter of my business life. I am looking for consulting opportunities or joint venture opportunities right now. So, you know, have a couple of potential opportunities that I may do. But I'm, you know, I'm also looking to kind of bring in larger ones. I think that there are some larger fitness brands possibly out there that could use my advice and that maybe you're not doing so well when I look at the landscape, but you know I think those are just kind of… that's just one angle that I'd like to kind of give my feedback on but there's so many different things that I want to do right now. I'm just kind of open to anything.  MARY: So, Chad, how do people get in touch with you if they would like to hire you as a consultant or ask you some questions?  CHAD: The best way to get in touch with me is probably through my website. My website chadprice.com. You know, you can also reach me on all social channels. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, so Chad Price on LinkedIn, and real Chad Price on the other social channels. And then you can check my book out on Amazon. So, you know, that's probably the number one way to support me and really understand a lot of my philosophies, and it talks about my story and then my story with Kettlebell Kings. So I think that's always a good starting point if you're interested in starting your own business for a business entrepreneur.  MARY: Yeah, absolutely. Because in that book, you have some great advice and you even have a section of the book that's kind of a workbook for entrepreneurs too.  CHAD: Yeah, I mean, like I said, you know, previously I think kind of getting your mindset correct is the best way to start or to look at entrepreneurship. Really self assessing where you are, what skills you may need, kind of building out a roadmap. And I think that's what the workbook section really tries to help you do. It helps you really give a good self-assessment of where you are and where you'd like to go. What tools and resources you're gonna need to put in place in order to get there. And that's why I try to help people.  MARY: All right, Chad Price, thank you so much for joining us today.  CHAD: Thank you for having me.  MARY: Yeah, great conversation. So everyone go follow Chad on his social media and buy that book. But for now that does it for this episode of the Class E Podcast. Remember this is the podcast that's brought to you through partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University. Remember you can catch the podcast multiple ways now. We're on wherever you get your podcast, but we're also on YouTube. So go check out our YouTube channel and make sure that you hit that subscribe button so that you get notified every time we drop a new episode like this one right here. This podcast is produced by Communication Studies major, Isabella Martinez. We want to thank you for tuning in for us today. I'm your host, Mary Sturgill. Until next time everybody, dream big.    

Patrick answers listener's questions about such things as, if the water from the River Jordon blessed, how did the disciples on the Road to Emmaus recognize Jesus, how do Saints hear our prayers, can girls asks boys to marry, and should I force my mom in hospice to eat? -  Emily - Can souls in Purgatory hear our prayers? Mary - Do you need to get an annulment if you get married and divorced outside of the Church? Emily - Which is better, for my kids to be protestant or for them to be not practicing their faith? Carol - Is water from the river Jordan considered to be blessed or would someone need to get it blessed for a baptism? Patricia - How did the disciples on the Road to Emmaus recognize Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread since they were not at the last Supper? Edgardo - How do Saints in heaven hear our prayers? Lisa – My son married a non-denominational woman, and is considering not raising their kids Catholic. What can I do? Mary Ann - Can a grandparent baptize her grandchild? Richard - Is there a good biblical verse to tell my daughter that girls can't ask boys to marry them, boys have to ask girls? Elvia - Mom is in Hospice and hasn't had food or water for 2 days. Should I force her to eat? Mary - Is the mindset of 'if god allows it then there must be a reason' a sinful mindset to have?

Patrick answers listener questions and tackles such topics as: Kanye West, can someone be “un-baptized,” is it a sin for the penitent to disclose what was said in confession, is it okay to wear a caecilian horn, are Bollywood movies okay to watch, what is the difference between NFT and taking birth control, what is the difference between the church and the Kingdom of God, and is Marijuana okay to use? Tattoos of Kanye West removed at London studio after anti-Semitic remarks Belgians increasingly ask to be “un-baptized” Patrick shares how he has been called to live a Holy life and the importance of being committed to Jesus Brian - Is it a sin for the penitent to disclose what was said in confession? Jan - Two young women bring in food and eat during Mass. I what should I do? Major advertisers back on Twitter that journos said wouldn't “last the weekend” Diana - My husband wears a crucifix and a caecilian horn. Is that okay? Mary - Is it wrong to watch Bollywood movies since they are Hindu? How China's Police Used Phones and Faces to Track Protesters Mary - What is there a difference between Natural Family Planning (NFP) and the Birth Control Pill? David – What is the difference between the Church and the Kingdom of God? Pat - Freemasons and Marijuana: I know someone who is Catholic and a Freemason. Also a priest told my girlfriend that Marijuana was okay in the same way as alcohol?

Patrick answers listener questions about why we don't focus or talk about being in the “End Times,” what does “Honor” mean, and what is the Church's teaching on abortion regarding the election Diana - What are your thoughts on the end of times prophecies? Jennifer - Why are you calling people stupid? Alex – Is Bernadette Soubirous a saint and why? Jessie – Regarding the Irish Priest homily from the last hour: I wish we had priests like that at our parish. Keith - What does 'Honor' mean in regard to the 4th Commandment? Mary - Is the day of the dead okay for Catholics to believe in? Mary - What is the book you wrote about the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormon Theory. Which one should I get? Patrick recommends Jim Burnham's book, “Beginning Apologetics Vol. 2” Christopher - What is the protestant argument for there being no purgatory? Loretta - I feel like I taste hand sanitizer when receiving the Eucharist because they put so much on their hands at Church. Is that okay? Pat - What is the Church's teaching on abortion regarding the election?

Today's guest, Mary Smit, is not only a Women World Leader, she is a professional film industry Make-Up Artist, Set Designer, and an Actress in many well-known films. Her work is displayed in films such as "Mom's Night Out," "War Room," "Fireproof," and "Courageous" to name a few. She has worked with the Erwin Brothers and Kendrick brothers for many years in the Christian faith-based film industry. Join us as Mary shares encouragement for YOU! Please don't miss this interview. (Originally aired in January 2021)   ******   Kimberly Hobbs    Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women world leaders. And we are so glad you decided to join us today, I would love to welcome our guest speaker today, which is Mary Smith. Mary is from Daphne, Alabama. Hi, Mary. Mary Smit   Hi, ladies. I'm so happy and just blessed to be here with you guys.  Kimberly Hobbs   Yay! And we're blessed to have you. So today, ladies on this podcast interview, it's our desire to share with you encouragement, stories, and empowerment that will help you to walk into your God given purpose, and dream and think about the things that God has planned for you. He says in Ephesians 210, that we are God's masterpiece. We are created in new and Christ Jesus to do the things that he planned for us long ago. And Philippians 213 says God is working in you. And he's giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. We are just so excited about that, because it's something to be excited about that the God of the universe wants to use us to do the work that he has called us to do. And that's a privilege and honor, and it's a privilege and honor to be here with you. Ladies, I also want to share that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Women world leaders brings podcast interviews, not interviews, but we have walking in the word on Wednesday with Julie Jenkins. And we also have journey into joy every Friday with Carrie Christopher. So please join us on those days as well and be blessed. So today a little bit about Mary. Mary is a professional makeup artist. She's a hair stylist wardrobe and set designer as well. And she has worked in over 30 feature films, including mom's night out the War Room, like arrows, and even over calmer. She has been in faith based industry for 15 years. And she believes in helping raise up the next generation to further the gospel. I think that's awesome. And we get to see the end result of movies. But Mary gets to live through the making of these movies, and being on location and working with actors and actresses and these faith based films. Mary, I know you've seen a lot of things. So you've seen spiritual battles. You've seen miracles take place, and many astounding things that are happening on the set of these movies. So let's start here with possibly maybe sharing a story about some of the astounding things that have taken place, maybe one that sticks out in your mind. And you are sharing with me about beauty and brokenness and how that just draws you to to talk about some of these things. Maybe can you share that mixed in this god story that you're going to share with us today? Mary Smit   Yes, I think it's very appropriate, especially today. I mean, 2020 has just been so hard on so many people. And I think there's a lot of brokenness out in the world. And I was sharing with you earlier that it's something that's kind of been on my mind more than just this year, but this year has been exceptionally hard for me. There's been a lot of brokenness in my life, which I'm sure a lot of ladies can relate to that. There is a beauty and brokenness. I've always kind of been gravitated toward the broken things in this world, whether it's photography and pictures of things that are not perfect, that are broken. Just stories from people that I gravitate toward that are doing, you know great things for God that have these ministries and different things that I you know, I'm interested in, when you get to talk to those people. There is usually some brokenness that has occurred in their life that has brought them to that place of ministry. It's it's all scripture, how God uses broken people. You don't read Scripture and see these perfect lives, you see broken people. And even Jesus was broken on the cross for us, God's most precious, perfect son was broken. And he was broken so that we could have lived. So I think God has a value that he places in brokenness. And just as something that I read recently, and maybe even popped up on some of you guys, Facebook feeds and things, but there's a Japanese art form, and I don't dare try to pronounce it and just blow that. But it takes broken pottery, it's been around for centuries. And the way that they do, they don't throw away this brokenness, God doesn't throw us away in our brokenness. But they take the pieces, and they take gold. And they put these pieces back together. And it forms this beautiful, beautiful piece of art, where it's more beautiful than it was before it was broken. And just like the Scripture, you read, where we are God's masterpiece, that's what he's doing in our lives. He's taking our broken pieces, and he's putting them back together. And he's delicately lovingly doing that, because he's the potter and we're the clay. And we are getting those, those pieces put back together so that we're usable in his kingdom. And we come out on the other side more beautiful than we started. And I think that attracts people to his people are not attracted to somebody who's perfect. People are not attracted to those, hey, I'm great and wonderful and all things is that, you know, what are people attracted to? They're attracted to authenticity, they're attracted to you. They're attracted to transparency. You know, we live in a hurting in a broken world, and they are looking saying, Hey, I'm hurting, I'm broken. How do you do this? Well, we do this through Jesus, Jesus, He is our resource he is our mentor. A repair of the breach is what one scripture says that I read this morning, he is the one that we look to. He is the one that lifts us up. So that is, that's what has been on my mind lately. And I think a lot of people too, but just 2020 and moving forward into 2021. With our brokenness, I think we need to look to Jesus, and we need to move forward. Take that with us and use that for the Kingdom. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen. Amen. Mary, and God says, Behold, I will make all things new. And that when you have a broken life, you know, praise God, that he's there for you. And he will take you from that brokenness and make all things new. Mary Smit   Yes, so never leaves us he never forsake. And you'd ask me for just an example of some cool things I've seen on set there. There are numerous, numerous, but I know we're short on time, I've tried to just like make little blurbs. But I can't really say the country that I was working in, because the gospel is not allowed in that country. Okay. And we were there. And basically teaching believers under the radar how to do film how to do the craft, so that they in turn, could turn around and share the gospel within their own countries, whether it be with their iPhones, they make film or whatever they do, but they could do what we cannot, they can share the gospel there where we cannot go. And so I was in country doing this. And we were threatened with rain on multiple days. We didn't know it when we got there. But it was the rainy season. And every day, you could see walls of rain around us. And we would pray and ask God to hold back the rain. And it was like we had these pockets of sunshine little like, like if you took a circle and just kind of cut it out. And when we film, and literally the moment, we would get all the gear on the buses and we'd load everything in, then the rain would start. And it was like this daily thing. And then we had one day where we were praying to hold the rain. And God didn't hold the rain. And we're like, what is up with this? God, you felt the rain the whole time. And all of a sudden, we cannot film this day. We have to make an entire day of filming up which, you know, we can't stay later in country. There's no way to do these things. It presented a problem because it made the only day we could film on Sunday. So that's an issue because in that country, you know, you can't really explain sometimes with language barriers and things of why the necessity would be there. And this is the day for church. This is the day that you have all of that. So we came up with a plan that we would have church on site. We invited several churches, it was a day that we had to have extras, and we would do church right there. And we would film and they would be our extras but we would hold services right there on set. So that's what we did. And in the process of doing that because we did that we had had some extras that came that weren't parts of those local churches. One of those ladies had we not done what we did have we filmed the original day would not have been there. This lady got saved. Oh, wow, that's it never been in a church. So for her to then it was like this perfect orchestration to get her there to hear the gospel, that and I was like, Lord, now we know now we know why you didn't hold the rain. Because one person is so important. It's just so important to Jesus. You know, we have the stories of, you know, the lost lamb, you know, and like, leaving the nine for the one. And obviously, it just really illustrated to me how God loves each and every one of us, He sees us, we're not forgotten. He, He loves us, and he searches for each person. And he did that for that one beautiful lady. Kimberly Hobbs   That is so precious. And thank you for sharing that story. And that is our God. That is how much he loves. Each of you, ladies, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what you have done. God loves you, and He will seek you out and find you. And he that same story. I mean, that can happen to any one of us. Yeah, that, that God of our galaxies loves us. Mary Smit   Yeah, so one names is the God who sees that is one of his names he sees you never think you're forgotten. Never think that you're alone. He sees you. He knows right where you are. And he loves you, just as you are. Kimberly Hobbs   Yes, that is so important, too. Amen. Thank you, Mary, for sharing that. And, and as you're sharing this, you know what God saw you right where you were in your life. And he singled you out and chose you to do what you are doing now working in faith based films, working on the sets with all of these amazing people around the world? How did he lead you into this industry? Can you share that with us? Mary Smit   Well, it's kind of an interesting, interesting story there. To start with that preface it with this, I felt a calling in my young married life to be a missionary that my husband did not. So I'm like, Okay, God, how does this work? Because normally you call both. So it was it did not make sense to me. And I really just kind of, you know, had that hovering within me for quite a while I would do short term missions, things like that. But I couldn't quite grasp, you know how how this calling would work itself out? Well, then I was living in Albany, Georgia, a lot of people are familiar with the Kendrick Brothers that Did you know, overcome or war room fireproof courageous Facing the Giants, all of those. Alright, maybe I was going to go into that church when they started. And I didn't even know about the first one. It kind of went under the radar flywheel. Nobody really knew about that one. But once Facing the Giants kind of hit, I volunteered just to help out. So I was helping out in the makeup area, I apprenticed under a professional makeup artist, curry Bushnell, who was there. And by the time fireproof rolled around, he thought I was pretty good and said, Hey, you're gonna be killing this. And I was like, what does that mean? I didn't even know what the term meant, which meant I was him until he could get on set. I was in charge, basically, you know, had no clue even what I was even doing. But God trained me through all of this. And every it just doors kept opening doors kept opening, I kept stepping through doors, and I kind of ended up here. So it's kind of funny in a way, but I was going to a church after we moved to Alabama, and the pastor that was there. I told him, Hey, I'm fixing to be gone for you know, about six weeks didn't want you to think I'd quit the church. But you know, I'm going to a movie set and he goes, Godspeed missionary. And I said, Wait, what? I said, You're a missionary. And I was like, that is very interesting that you tell me why you're saying that. And he said, Well, you're going out and you're telling the gospel through film, aren't you? And I said, Yes, I am. And all of a sudden my brain was click, click, click, you know, because I felt that call to missions, didn't understand how that panned out. And I thought, wow, okay, I am a missionary, you know, and that's what I'm doing. So he literally said this, what you're doing, you're sharing the gospel through what you do. You're a missionary. Kimberly Hobbs   One of the questions I was going to ask you is how did you hear God's voice and kind of you just revealed That is, you know, because ladies, we can go through our life every day wondering, oh, how is going to God gonna use me? And you know, what is it going to say? Is it going to drop something just right on top of my head so I can notice that he's calling me. And so I wanted you to expound on that a little bit about how did you hear God's voice so that you knew he specifically called you to this role? I mean, because it's a calling what you are doing? Mary Smit   Yeah, it is a calling. And I think too, that we make callings out to be something almost elusive at times, like we I just want to know what my calling is. I just want to know, what the will of God is for my life. I think sometimes we overcomplicate it. I think if we simply do the next thing, you know, where's God opening doors? Where is God working? How can we join him in what he is already doing? Or maybe something is in your world that you're seeing God's moving in this? Well? How can you join him in that? How can you you know, assist him in that, you know, just it's the little steps. And I think if you're seeking God, and you're praying, and you're asking, God, Hey, show me, and you're doing those things, doors open, and all of a sudden, you realize, hey, this is this is it? You know, look what God is doing? Look where he is placed me, There's a scripture, everybody wants to ask a lot, because I get asked a lot. You know, what is your life first? What is your life? And I don't really know so much that I have a life verse. But there's one that I've always kind of gone back to when I'm asked that, because it just makes sense for me. And it is Second Samuel 718. It's who who am I, oh, Sovereign Lord. And what is my family that you have brought me this far? And I think that pretty much sums it up. Because if I had to say, How did I get here, I really don't know. Other thing is literally little doors, little doors, little doors, little doors, and I just keep going through the little doors. However that may be, and I ended up here. So I just think we make it harder than what it truly is. And that if we're just obedient in the little things, if we just take those little baby steps, that, you know, God takes you where he wants to take you. And I don't think you have to even get stuck in like, this is my specific itty bitty calling here. Because God can branch that out and move that he controls it. We don't. So don't even get stuck in this little bitty whatever. Because I started out makeup, I got thrown into doing a little hair, I went into wardrobe. It's like this moving of things, you know, and I do some acting too. So it's, it's like this ever evolving thing at every part of it is still furthering the gospel, every part of it even. I recently worked on a set that was not faith based. And I really pray over everything I do. So God told me to do this particular one, and I could not for the life of me understand why I was feeling go do this. Because I'm like, I don't know about this. But then I got on that set. And I ran across other believers and some young ones that just they needed some support. They needed some guidance, they needed some help as to how to even get into doing what we do and faith based world. And I expressed to them I didn't know how I ended up in this thing, you know, and stuff and he and they said, You're here for us. I know why you're here. You're here for us. And God can use you wherever he places you need to pray and you need to be obedient and those other things kind of shake out on their own. Kimberly Hobbs   You said two key words there right there which is praying, ladies pray pray every day you know God, how are you going to use me in whatever situation you are in your life right now ladies you and like Mary just said you're walking in obedience. If you're walking in obedience with a prayerful heart, God is going to lead you right into what he will have you to do in that moment of promise. He will and you will, you will start to see it because you're going to have that prayerful heart and you're going to be focused on it. You're going to be walking in obedience to what His Word says and you're going to know it. It's so amazing. So I want to lead in into a verse that I felt very strongly to share that this world is fading away along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. That's first on to 17 and ladies, we need to dream with God in another verses Ecclesiastes six nine. Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things. beans is meaningless, like chasing the wind. That's what the Bible says. So do what you're doing right now, just like Mary said, and dream with God go after the dream that God put in your heart. And if you don't feel like you know what that dream is, ask God about it. And I've asked Mary, if she could just share some words of encouragement, empowerment, about listening to that voice of God to find what your purpose is. And because we know that God has one just for you, so Mary, let's encourage these women that are listening, how they can just right where they are, start doing what God has called them to do. Mary Smit   Well, I just said, it popped into my head while you were talking. And I was thinking, you know, it's the little things we as women, sometimes we try to think, you know, oh, I need to do these big world changer kind of deals. When, you know, sometimes the world changing things are little, they're tiny. Maybe you're a mom right now, and you've got littles? Well, you're not going to go out and do what I do every day, because you've got those littles. But think about it this way. What about Billy Graham's mom? What was she doing? You know? Yeah, she was pouring into him, she was pouring into the other kids never take the little what we consider as women sometimes as being little, never take it that way. Because you don't know the impact for the kingdom that you're having. While you're washing those dishes, while you're assisting your husband, while you're, you know, taking care of those babies and changing those diapers. Whether you're single, and you're serving in a ministry at the church, whether you're in a secular type job and the people around you, you know, that you're interacting with. You don't know what those God moments are in the impact that those little tiny events happen to have those ripple effects. So that is my encouragement to you is to live every moment, seek God's face by praying, ask him to feel you ask him to give you opportunities to share with others every day, he will honor that prayer because that is his will. So ask for those opportunities. And when they come, you know, you don't have to know all the answers just speak from your heart. And sometimes just telling somebody and listening to them. So you know, what, can I pray for you? Or I'm going to pray for it? What if they won't let you pray for them? Then pray for them on your own. Either way, you know, but I'm just saying, it's those little things and you see God and you do and a little and you'd be surprised what those little things turn into. Kimberly Hobbs   Right. Amen. Wow, that is such a great word. Oh my goodness. Ask and you will find and seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you. It God is there for us ladies, he is all around us. He is He never leaves or forsakes us. So whenever you have that thought, you know just go to him and say Lord, what am I supposed to be doing in this moment? Like Mary said, when you're feeling like you're you're worthless, you know that my life can't be like her life can be God doesn't want want it to be. He has your life planned out for you, precious woman of God, exactly. For you. And so just ask him what is that Lord? And what can you do in that moment, praying with God to find joy in that moment in serving Him, be obedient to what He has called you to do now, and before you know it, if you are obedient, step by step you're gonna walk right into your beautiful purpose. God will lead you right there. Oh, Mary, I am so thrilled just to share this time with you and just develop this new friendship that we have Mary is part of women world leaders, and we are so excited that she is going to be in and out and helping and working in different areas upcoming so Mary Is there any way that women can follow you? Do you have a Mary Smit   I'm on Facebook Instagram, but my name is spelled Mary like Merry Christmas on Instagram because apparently someone had my name. So you know, I'm out there and you can track me down and find me I'm not that difficult to find. But yeah, they can follow me on those and I guess eventually I probably need to set up something official. It's one of those things that I'm just like, you know, it hasn't been on my radar. I'm just just me. But yeah, they can track me and follow me there. Kimberly Hobbs   Awesome. Thank you. I didn't mean to put you on the spot there but again, are just You're such a delight and so interesting, and we're just so grateful to have you and women were a leaders as well. out and grateful that God brought our paths together to connect. And thank you so much for sharing with the women, your heart. And ladies, I hope this encouraged you and inspired you and just gave you that, those little nuggets, whatever it is that God was speaking right to your heart during Mary talking. So thank you, Mary. So in closing, Lindsay, yes, thank you so much. In closing, I would just like to remind you that you can tune in each Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the podcast. Also, starting in January of 2021. Women world leaders has a new magazine that's coming out, and it is free. And we are so excited because this is for women. And we believe in our hearts that this magazine is just going to pour even more into your lives, about stories that could impact your life. It's going to contain the gospel of Jesus, it is going to be for women of all ages, from the teen, the young mom all the way into the career woman, the married woman, all the way to the end of Age woman who can pour wisdom into us, This magazine is going to have it all. And we would love for you to receive this magazine. And the way you can do that is go to our website at women world leaders.com. And go to contact us. And you can leave your name, your address and your email address. And if you are out of the country of the United States, which a lot of our women listen from around the world, then you can leave us your email address and you'll receive the magazine digitally. We are so excited about this. And again, it's free. And we just ask that you share it with everybody that you can think and let's just spread the gospel of Jesus into the whole world. And we also would love to invite you to get our new book which is has become a number one bestseller. It's available on Amazon and through our women world leaders website. And that is courageous steps of faith with God all things are possible. And you talk about inspiration, ladies, these stories in this book will inspire you to again walk into that purpose that God has just for you. So I am so grateful that you've been here today listening and sharing with us. We invite you to come into our private Facebook group. You're all invited, where we share daily devotions in the morning and you can interact with us there or visit our website and leave a prayer request. We want to be here for you ladies. So however we can help you please reach out to us all love to hear from you, from his heart to yours. We are women world leaders. All content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written consent. God bless you and have a beautiful day.

Mary Is joined by Haili Hughes who is a Senior Lecturer in Professional development and Teacher Development Mentor Lead at Sunderland University and Head of Education at Iris Connect. Join the ladies as they discuss all things mentorship.

Matt Walsh on Dr Phil demonstrates that the “gender experts” cannot even define the word woman or explain what they mean when they use it UK PM Boris Johnson: "The government will no longer mandate the wearing of face masks anywhere." Caitlyn Jenner Says NCAA Needs To ‘Stop' Allowing Trans Athletes To Compete Against Women Did Lia Thomas Colluded With Female Swimmer To Lose Race? Hochul wants transgender inmates to choose where they're housed in prisons Jordan Peterson Blasts Academia, Resigns As Tenured Professor At University of Toronto Stella - Trying to find Greek and Hebrew definitions for Catholic approved bibles. Working on a biblical project at a non-Catholic School. Rocio - When I was terrified to say no to my spouse, I asked Jesus to help and I endured it. I was able to get through it and am now divorced but thank God for helping me in my time of need. Mary - Is it ok to use checkerboard print in shoes or clothing. Is this some type of masonic messaging? Rich - What do you think about tele-evangelists? Bob - In grade school we learned about the story of Danny Thomas. He kept his promise to build the hospital. To me, that is a miracle. Why don't they make Danny Thomas a saint? Thomas 8-years-old - Does God answer Muslim prayers?

Greetings and salutations, my friends! In this week's Q+A Friday, we covered a broad range of topics including PROPER CALORIE INTAKE for weight loss, the concept of OVER EXERCISING, and how your MINDSET

In today’s sermon I share on the aspect of asking God for ANYTHING and believing him to grant us what we ask. However, there are certain conditions that we must fulfil such as refraining from the yoke of sin, obeying his commands and doing what pleases Him. We are challenged to ask anything “according to His will” and know that he heard us. The same God spoken these words to Abraham and Sarah as well as Mary “ Is anything too hard for the Lord”. May our faith be enriched today to believe God for ANYTHING! ❤️

This week we are joined by Mary Palac from San Jose, California. Originally born in the Philippines, Mary along with her family, immigrated to the Bay Area of California in the 1980's. Mary got her start in the Industry as the age of 15 when she started working in restaurants. She has been bartending for the last 12 years. Mary is a founding member and President of the Silicon Valley Chapter of The United States Bartender's Guild. She is also an alumna of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation Cocktail Apprentice Program ; Beverage Alcohol Resource 5 Day Program as well as Camp Runamok - a bartender Education Summer Camp in the heart of Bourbon Country as well as many other industry programs. Mary was the Season 7 Ms. Speed Rack California and 2 time BARMANIA Champion. Mary's recipes and views have been featured in several national publication, including Liquor.com, PUNCH, Saveur and USA Today. In 2020, Mary was named as a National Top 4 Honoree for American Bartender of the Year thought eh Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. In 2019, she was honored with a commendation from the City of San Jose for her contributions to the city's food and beverage community. She has travelled all over the world to visit bars and distilleries in order to expand her knowledge in the world of spirits and liqueurs. Mary Is currently bartending at Paper Plane in San Jose, California. Instagram @mixtressmary Silicon Valley Chapter of The United States Bartender's Guild @usbgsv Camp Runamok @camp_runamok If you would like to get involved to help keep independent restaurants and hospitality businesses stay alive, check out - thirstgroup.org Podcast Artwork @zak.hannah

Do you ever feel that God isn't on your side, but He is on the side of others? Jesus and his disciples are staying with Mary and Martha when conflict occurs. Does Jesus prefer Martha over Mary? Is he against Martha's work? Jason and Connor consider this as they share what amazes and perplexes them about Luke 10:38-42 as it relates to these sisters and our own walk with Jesus.Website: http://amazedandperplexed.comContact: amazedandperplexed@gmail.comMusic by: Heavensensehttps://soundcloud.com/hvnsense

Mary Is a Speaker. Author. Certified Coach. Leader. Community Builder.She has over 25 years of experience in Communications, Administration, and Marketing for both large international companies and locally owned businesses.Her company, Success Magnified, provides tools and coaching to help stuck or stressed out entrepreneurs rekindle the joy and energy in their business so they can get done what is important and still have a life.She is the author of two books – that are available on Amazon: Vitamin C3 for Business: 52 Ideas to Connect, Contribute and Celebrate your way to success! The Guests Are Here! Helpful Hints for Easy Enjoyable EntertainingMary has also won BOTH Business Woman of the Year and Member of the Year awards at CBW for her contribution to women business owners.WEBSITE: https://successmagnified.com/ORDER VITAMIN C FOR BUSINESSIn this episode we will cover:Identify & Prioritize what is most important.Building confidence.Overwhelm.Don't break the chain.Keeping your promises.5 T's of accountability.Swimming toward something.Get it done.Thanks so much for tuning in again this week. I appreciate you :)Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the Feedback section. Special thanks to Mary Gaul for being on the show. So long for now and remember to keep moving forward!Also, don’t forget to Subscribe for FREE: Apple Podcasts | Android | SpotifySupport the show (https://liveblissedout.com/affiliates)

What does "Raiders of the Lost Ark" have to do with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Well, when you realize that Mary IS the Ark of the Covenant, the parallels will start to come clear! Listen, and let God release his power through our Blessed Mother Mary. —Padre Jay

THE REID BROTHERS GO ACOUSTIC! Jonathan Snyder from The Lollygags joins us to discuss the TJAMC’s fifth album. Does every acoustic guitar in the nineties mean you’re auditioning for MTV’s “Unplugged”? Is it more complicated to be in a band with your sibling or your ex? Should you write your songs when you’re feeling sad and then wait till you’re feeling better to record them? Is 17 too many tracks no matter how short they are? Which one is Jesus and which one is Mary? Is there a difference between Irish drunk and Scottish drunk? Join us as we attempt to glean every possible songwriting lesson from this album on Detours and Outliers.

This is the first part of a two part What Catholics Believe, where Tom and Fr. Jenkins answer emails: Will the Antichrist be like A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)? • How does one incorporate injuries and illnesses in our daily lives into penance as asked in the Gospels? • Were Fr. Malachi Martin, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, and Fr. McKenna true priests and were their exorcisms valid? • What is the Little Rosary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that St. Alphonsus Liguori mentions in the Glories of Mary? • Is the Novus Ordo Missae not licit but still the valid sacrifice of Calvary? • and lastly, Fr. Jenkins comments on the newest interview (http://tiny.cc/Salzburger) with Fr. Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X. Please visit wcbohio.com for more content.

Hey, friends! It's time for a new episode of Mousterpiece Cinema, and this week, Josh and Scott are going old school. Well, Josh is, at least, because he busts out at least one rap during this week's discussion of the 1990 sequel Three Men and a Little Lady. Despite Scott's horror at this turn of events, there's sadly good reason to invoke old-school rapping in this discussion of the sequel to Three Men and a Baby. Though they're guest-free this week, Josh and Scott are both able to dig into this sequel and its many, many problems. Yes, even though Scott was higher on the original than Josh was, both of your hosts found lots of faults with this follow-up. Should the film have focused more on the 5-year old Mary? Is the Nancy Travis character too stupid to function? And how does Scott's Michael Caine impression measure up to anyone else's? Find out on the new show!

What is it about Mary? Is there something about her? Yes. Yes there is. This week we discuss THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, the 1998 romantic comedy by the Farrelly brothers featuring Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Chris Elliot and a bunch of other guys who all have the hots for this Mary character. There must be something about her. Mary that is. Comedian Kevin Matviw joins us to help us figure out once and for all just what the something is about Mary and about There's Something About Mary, and whether there's still something about There's Something About Mary that holds up today. Listen below to find out. Also, Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Also, follow us on Twitter and please consider supporting our Patreon campaign. WARNING: this podcast contains strong language and immature subject matter, please be advised.

Which do you relate to more out of the two sisters, Martha or Mary? Is this about personality types, or something more significant? From Jesus’ response it’s clear that Martha prioritised her culture, whereas Mary prioritised her hunger. We have a similar choice to make in our priorities. If we hunger after God, whatever the cost, and make him our ‘portion’, it will not be taken away from us!

ur month of Christmas-themed episodes continues with a discussion of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. It's a perennial holiday favorite, but is it rewatchable? Is George Bailey kind of just a big jerk? Who would win in a fight between Mary and alternate-universe Mary? Is it just us, or does Pottersville look way more fun than Bedford Falls? And what the hell kind of name is Zuzu? To hear us answer these, and more, important questions, download the link below, or better yet, subscribe on iTunes! And be sure to follow us on Twitter! Joining us this week is guest Anne T. Donahue, who you can follow on Twitter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mary LoVerde believes life is a balancing act. Her passion is finding creative ways to live a joyful and successful life. She has delighted audiences from Bangkok to Biloxi with her step-by–step strategies for a more balanced life. Embraced by both men and women alike, her diverse client list spans from the Mayo Clinic to the American Trucking Association. Mary presents a wealth of uplifting insights and innovative ideas for taking small steps in the right direction for a less stressful, more satisfying life. Mary: * Is an internationally recognized expert in life balance strategies. * Is the author of three best selling books: Stop Screaming at the Microwave, Touching Tomorrow, and I Used to Have a Handle on Life but It Broke. * Has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show four times. * Has been a featured life balance expert on ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and on an ABC 20/20 special on stress. * Served as a graduate school professor for Chapman University for 16 years. * Served on the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine as the Director of the Hypertension Research Center for 15 years. * Has published her original research in the New England Journal of Medicine (twice) the American Journal of Medicine (four times), the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, Clinical Research, Hypertension, the Journal of Internal Medicine, the American Journal of Hypertension and many other peer reviewed journals. * Won a Nellie Westerman ethics prize for her work on informed consent. * Served as the national spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council. * Proudly serves as the national spokesperson for Camp to Belong, which reunites brothers and sisters placed in different foster homes. * Is a contributor to the best selling books Chocolate for a Woman's Soul, Chocolate for a Women's Heart and Health magazine's book, Young For Life: The Best Antiaging Secrets for Women.