Author Of The Candy Monster Book: Naomi Brown AKA The Nurturing Boss – S2E42 (#70)

S2E41 Naomi.m4a – powered by Happy Scribe

Audience, make sure it’s recorded and that’s recording. All right, three, two, one, welcome. Welcome back to Boston Cage podcasts on today’s show. Well, I want to kind of refresh the memories of some of our viewers that probably listen to my show that I went to high school with. On today’s show. We have Naomi. So me and me went back. I think it was like ninety seven, ninety eight roughly around that time frame.

So in from 97 to now, she’s taking multiple different parts on her journey to get to where she currently is. So right now she’s an author of a book titled. Spaghetti A.M. Naomi, why don’t you go ahead, introduce yourself to our audience so we can talk about you and what you’ve been up to.

Hello, everyone. My name is Naomi Nexen Brown. I’m going to say that some of you know me as Nexen. My married name is Brehm. Been married for going on 14 years. This coming May and I now live in Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, to be exact, and. Yeah, I’m here. I’ve been here for about seven years, I have two children, two boys. I’m a mother to four, but I have two of my own.

And yeah, I’m just thankful that Schnall reached out to me and asked me to do this today. Thank you. You’re welcome.

A dove into to your journey a little bit, right. Because, I mean, the nickname that we’ve always called you was on me, which ironically enough, today you find out being grandmother because you’ve always been like the general nurturer of the group. Right. Even throughout life, this following your Facebook, just like in your you are a nurturer by by nature. So it only makes sense that you created a book that kind of nurtures kids. So let’s step back a little bit like how did you get on the path to becoming an author?

Well, honestly, I’ve always kind of written my thoughts down and I’ve always kind of written songs because I am a performer and a vocalist for years I have. Allowed my creativity to flow in one way or another, so writing I’m not afraid of I don’t always like what I write like most artists, but I’ve always written I was inspired to write this story because of my husband. He is the biggest candy monster I have ever known. It’s funny because I will go in the room and sometimes catch him with bags of candy, open up on the bed next to him and he’s just picking out whatever pieces he wants out of these multiple bags.

It was really hilarious to watch catching on camera sometimes. I haven’t posted anything yet, but I will. He is truly the candy monster that inspired me to read it. I wrote the story in actually twenty fifteen. I was sleep one evening and I jumped out of bed. It was about 3:00 in the morning. I jumped out of bed. It was on my mind. I actually wrote the book with actual Candy Mayne’s originally, but of course you can’t use the names.

So I changed it up when I decided to go ahead and release it. And of course, that was a process which we’ll talk about more. But my inspiration actually came from my husband. He he he he eats more candy than any woman I’ve ever known. And of course, I’ve I’ve always felt connected to, like you said, nurturing in children and having my own. And because of, you know, being on this life journey in life, taking you away from that prepare for I was forced to be home with my children and kind of be the house mom kind of thing.

And I won’t I shouldn’t say force. It was a choice as well, because I always kind of wanted to do that. You know, you have to have the right partners to do that. So I think thank God that I was given that opportunity to live out that dream and in my journey, because that was something that I did dream for myself. From being in high school, of having that type of lifestyle, so. So in doing that, they were also my inspiration as well, you know, and I love connecting with children, you you get so much guidance from them if you really watch them and listen to them and they also keep you full.

So I’m not being around to love bit of it.

Well, I think you made a really solid point. I mean, obviously, 20, 20 was a year of covid, and a lot of people are trying to figure out not only how to make ends meet, but what’s their next steps. So in that process, in addition to what you just said, you essentially started an entire business structure of kind of writing books and obviously selling these books and marketing these books. So just talk about a little bit.

I mean, you go from being more of a behind the scenes, you’re more of a supporter. I mean, your husband is ran for different seats and he’s a political campaign person. So just like understanding like that’s in your household and then you decide to create a book like what is that like?

Well, I a tell you and I’m going to speak from the stay at home mothers point of view. And I’m sorry if you want to hear more about I did try to put them away, but there’s still anything interesting from a mother’s point of view. I’m going to say this, and I know it’s been said over and over again, you have to make sure that you don’t lose yourself. And despite of what he was doing along the road, I always found a way to keep myself a niche of myself.

And no matter what was going on, whether we had the money, whether he didn’t have the money, I was find a way to do me. So in that process, writing it once the opportunity came for me and I said, OK, I’m going to put this little nugget of money away from myself, you know, then I could use it to flourish and say, I’m going to put this out for me, you know? But it was a choice of saying, put yourself first at that moment, because as a nurturer, you do choose to put everyone else in front, you know, help this person with the help that person with this, and you can easily lose yourself.

So my thing was to always find my niche in no matter what was going on, whether I could do it the way I wanted to do it or not, you know, because sometimes in your moments, you can’t do it the way you want to. You can’t have your vision come to fear for total variation all the way out. So I wanted to make sure that even though I was stuck in points where I could not actually do things the way I wanted, I still managed to always be mindful of not losing yourself completely and allowing whatever your creativity is, whether it’s writing, whether it’s saying whether it’s your, you know, your work life, whatever it is, that is your passion.

Don’t lose that in whatever you’re going through. So that was my thing, not losing my means, making sure that I put the money away to go ahead and make it happen when I was ready. And then just believing in it and putting your plan together, put our plan together and going after. And I’m still putting my plan to God. I’m still figuring things out as I go. I don’t have all the answers. And and I’m comfortable with that as well, because sometimes that could be a fear for people not to move forward because they don’t know everything.

I was up there sometimes like, oh, my goodness, what am I doing? Should I should I do this or that? But it was just a choice to say, I’m going for it, I’m going to do it. The time is now. Let’s go. So that’s how I went on with it.

Yeah, I think you would have a solid point is very insightful as well. It’s kind of like, you know, in a married, married household, there’s always two parties. Right. It’s a complete partnership. So understanding that, yes, you can support your partner, but you need to figure out what you want to do for yourself if what your partner is doing is not directly for you. So I definitely commend you for stepping out and saying, OK, I’m going to support my partner, but I’m going to do something for myself on the side as well, too, because, I mean, that takes a lot of guts.

It takes a lot of gusto to even step into that mind state to be able to go out there and try to achieve something on your own.

Exactly. Yes. And and it does it is a different mindset, again, because you’re always in that. Well, OK, I got to help in this way. I got to help in that way. I got to position myself to fit in this or fit in that. So it is a different mindset to say this right here is for me, I’m doing OK. What’s going on around me is just sitting at focus and saying this is the time, you know.

So I’ve read a couple of books that know help with that. There was a point in my life and and I’m usually pretty private. So I’m going to I’m going to share a little bit more of my story on this. But I was working at a restaurant. My husband and I both worked at a steak and shed here in Hoover, Alabama, and he I started working there. Money got so tight. Goodness. We came here and we came here because my husband wanted to go to law school.

OK, we moved here and you went to law school. You pay as you go. There’s no government funding. You know, it’s an adult program. So it was Birmingham School I went to before coming here. He commuted for a year and traveled back and forth from me in government three times a week for working two jobs. OK, and I’ll just give you guys a little bit more understanding. When we first got married, he was doing very well.

He had a company, mortgage company there in Atlanta. Of course, you know, the recession happened and he had to close his business. These slowly lost everything. He had to decide, OK, as a man, the leader of this household, what am I going to do to get back to that money like I was making before legally, you know? And so I decided to go to law school and we’re just getting married. So this is, you know.

A new thing for me to you know, we’re like, you know, as a woman, you say, I’m going to say I’m going to go women like security, you know what I mean? But it’s more than that. When you choose to do life with someone, you do life long period, you know, whether it’s good or bad. That’s what I’ve asked a lot of people stick to. But I did know. So I’m trying to make a long story short.

He decided to go to law school and we were down to nothing and we said, OK, let’s make this move. So we moved after a year of him doing that back and forth as I got pregnant with Jackson. Of course, pregnancy never comes. What is supposed to those OK? You’re like, oh, really? God, now? Not now. So we moved after that year. I had a three year old and a one and a half year old and we moved to a small apartment.

We were paying for the school, you know, paying for where we live. And if things were so tight and they got so tight, I remember he came in the house one day and, well, he went out, he said, I’m going to work, OK? And at that point, he was working at at a law firm here and they were playing and they weren’t paying him what it’s worth. OK, so things were, like I said, supertight and he was outside going to work.

And he comes back in and he’s like, you got a new way to go. I said, that’s enough. He said, OK, well, they took the car. Can I can I get your keys? I said, All right, here, go. They had just came right out of the car and we just kept moving. I said, hey, I’m taking all right, don’t do what you got to do because I know, you know, as a wife.

Who wants to come in, you know, I have a husband who wants come to the work that I normally wouldn’t even going on, which eBay you’ve got to do and even I didn’t even address here, but go to charity. And that’s what. Has let me here is allowed what being supportive of him has led me here as well. It’s been a journey we’ve all taken together. So I know a lot of people want to hear about the good parts, but sometimes it’s often the ugly parts that get you to the good parts.

So that’s part of mission, that story. But we both ended up working at that restaurant for a little bit of time. And the reason I brought that up is because there was a moment where I felt. Of course, like. I know I’ve had some women, it’s like I’m just here in this, I know we’re on this journey with that man. I’m tired of this part of the journey, you know, so there was a book there that someone had left, I don’t know.

It was there for a few weeks and it was called. How does that feeling like shit and excuse me for casting for all my Christian people now, because I don’t I don’t know. But that’s the title of the book by Andrea Allwyn and I. And I read that and. And let me know that even though I was OK, even though I was there in that moment, that I was OK, it was going to be OK, that this was just part, again, of the journey.

It’s part of the journey, you know, and we don’t account sometimes for those things in our journey, of course, that we don’t think we’re going to face or are we don’t want to face. But it was part of the journey and I was going to be OK, you know, so I’m glad I got a chance to read that. And of course, here I am now with my book, you know, something that I envisioned. But did I truly say when I wrote it, I’m going to put this out, make this book?

No, I did it, you know, in 2015. It was an idea, you know, but. Again, it was finding the focus and changing my own mindset that allowed me to move forward with releasing it, you know, so just so so I mean, with everything that you just said and it is kind of like, I don’t know if you realize, but I knew when you came on this show would give you an opportunity to shine and to let people into your inner who you are and again goes back to your name of being omae.

Right. So I don’t know realize it yet. But I mean, your woman apartment is on ten thousand, right? I mean, the message delivered could give so much insight into current people’s positions in their current household to understand that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is more steps ahead of them. You’re not at the end of your road. Right. In addition to that, I don’t know if you realize it, but I mean, obviously, you’re a motivational speaker itself, right?

I don’t know. Thank you. So definitely. I mean, you could go up on stage and say exactly what you just said, and I guarantee you’ll get like a test of everybody in the audience is going to raise up their hands and be like, yes, reach on success.

So thank you. Thank you.

So a dove into your business a little bit. So, I mean, like you’re new into the business space, but I assume your husband has been in the business space. So, of course, being surrounded in that environment. Is your book set up kind of like an LLC? Is it more so like you just kind of playing around like, where’s your business?

I am I am going to set up as an LLC. I am playing around and and finding out which way I kind of want to go with that because I feel like this is a product. Now, you know, as I’ve done my story times, I’ve had a lot of the children to ask about where they could purchase a candy monster. And this is Candy Monster. My mother is a seamstress. She actually put him together for me. I cut out the pattern and I said, Mom, this is my vision.

I really want this. I think it’ll make things great because I believe more in him becoming a product that people can connect to. So I’m I’m putting that together. Personal business is I’ve got my website, my media is going and and that’s good. But I think it could be so much bigger. So I am in the process of building that and putting it all together and really just finding my niche and where I want to go as far as direction right now and more focus on reaching out to the schools and reaching children that way and parents that way.

But there’s a whole another avenue with just the dental industry, you know, the pediatric dental industry. So that’s a whole nother monster that I can go after. So I’m really in the in the planning stages of all of that right now. But, of course, you know, dream and vision wise, I think about like having my own app with the game candy monster game and stuff like that. So those things I know can can be in the future.

But it’s making sure, like you said, business is set up. Right. So I am in the process of working those things out right now. And of course, some with my husband’s guidance because he does have that business mind. And of course, I find a way to fit myself in with that, with everything that he has going on. But I want to make sure that I’m making the right moves with my business and then I’m not, you know, because I don’t.

Have everything structured yet that I’m not moving in the wrong direction and of course it’s OK to make mistakes because that’s what you do when you learn. But I’m still setting some of that stuff up. And I just decided not to wait because I didn’t have things figured out. I just decided not to wait. So I’m I’m I’m I’m doing it as I’m going, if that makes any sense. Don’t don’t I’m going it I mean, I think everything you said is kind of like I mean, you’re at the heart of a business, right.

It has to start and it has to start with a concept. And it’s funny because right now I’m writing a speech for an upcoming podcast, and the topic is how to use your book and scale into business. So I’m just hearing you talk. And one of the things that I’m gonna be talking about in that speech is about like triangulations and overlapping like market sectors. And what you just said was teaching, right? Education is one of them. The dental is you like your product.

It’s a book. So how do you triangulate between the three? Where is the overlap between the two? I mean, it becomes very easy to understand that now your niche market is essentially for dental to give education through the book, and that’s how the story is being told. So now you have a niche market. You could really target those people. And it makes it a lot easier to know who you’re talking to versus talking to everybody.

Exactly. Exactly. And I have focused more on those markets as of right now. So I’m just going to keep writing at time, you know, until I get more momentum in that and until more people know about it, because people are already asking me, well, what is your next book going to be about and what is the Candy Monster doing next? So my mind is on that as well, creatively, like, OK, where am I going to take this next?

And I do have some some great ideas already, but of course, we’ve got to make sure that that he gets off the ground successfully, because I would love to go ahead and create a little candy masters right now, but I want to make sure that I’m at least making more money off of the book that I invested in doing the book first before I start feeding into, you know, spending more money on K.M. So have you looked at probably targeting like dental associations and giving my keynote speeches?

Have you went down, Aspasia?

I have my going down the spaceship, but that is definitely something that is in the future thought out in the future of planning and putting into place. Yes, definitely.

So what I see with that is now it gives you opportunity to do multiple different things. Right now you can say, hey, I’m going to give a speech. You can buy these books in advance. I’m going to give a speech to a hundred people. Maybe they want to buy 200 books. And that boosted your sales. But you’re also delivering that product to those dentists in that association that they can then take to their dental office and then have that for kids to read as well, or maybe have them buy in bulk to give back to their kids as presents.

So it is a different, different strategy, but I think you’re definitely heading in the right direction.

Well, that’s also what I’ve been doing with the school so far. I’ve been rescheduling the readings so that the parents can be, you know, know, you know, let them know about the book ahead of time and where they can go ahead and purchase it for the story of time when my storytime is scheduled. So that has actually been working well with sales for the book, you know, so I will go ahead and let the school know we need the principal or administrators will go ahead and set it up and then they’re buying the books.

The day I come, the kids are excited. You know, they want to read through the book with me. They can follow along, you know, and then I go into a little deeper information about cavities and, you know, just sharing stuff, methods for them to brush well. And I have little plaques and stuff like that. So I’ve actually done very well with doing the virtual story times and exams. So I’m going to start monetizing those as well, because that’s a form of income that you can use.

There’s tons of storytellers out here that make five hundred dollars an hour, so I’m going to work on that as well. That’s a part of it, yeah. So, you know, the key is to monetize as much as you can. You know what I mean? This time is your time is money, your creativity is money. So, yeah, all of those things are like I said there, and I’m working some of them. But some of the things that I’m not working yet are in the works.

So obviously on any business journey, you’re confronted with hurdles left and right. Did you kind of tell us maybe a story about like one of the hurdles that you’ve been faced in and how you overcame it?

I would say the biggest hurdle. Like I said, is was myself the biggest hurdle was myself and and just trusting myself to do something different. This was something different for me. Like I said, I’ve I’m faced with hurdles every day. You know, just recently we had I had a performance at Disjoined actual new band here, the original point of view. And they were a wedding band. And we had a rehearsal and it was just myself and the other two vocalists.

I got a call the very next day, go get tested for it because one of the burglars had coffee and I said, OK, I’m going to get tested. But I didn’t have it. But the other vocalist and so both the other vocalists had coffee. I’m new to the meet. You don’t know all their songs. I don’t know all the songs. I know. It’s like, OK, this is going to be interesting. How long do we have to sing up there?

We’re doing almost an hour and a half to our wedding. You got to keep it going with I said I know a lot of songs, but I don’t know that made itself look to carry this wedding. So stress is the truth. I’m like, I’m just meeting this people. Not nothing. I’m a professional, you know, I’m a perfectionist to a degree. So I said, this has got to be right. They brought another singer in.

We killed. We killed it. We killed it. We killed it. But the stress level was on a thousand. Plus, I had to learn new songs. I’m being mom. Mommy still are being like still is is a short window. But when you determine when you focus and you put that cap and you hit it, that’s it, you can do it. So a lot of times for me I’m like, oh, oh, my God, can I do it?

Can I make this happen? And then at the end, I surprised myself and my my. You did that. You killed that girl. You you better try to up on the back, you know, because you didn’t know if you’re going to be and you killed you juggle all those balls and you made it work, you know. So that’s one way I will say that I killed it recently because I really was like that pressure was on. I had story turns going on, you know, I have home schooling going on.

Let me tell you, that in itself has got my I’m done. I’m a teacher, but I’m a part time teacher. Don’t do this full time teaching stuff is is a rough and then you don’t you don’t get a day off. You do not get a day optional. You do not being being a housewife or whatever you want to call homemaker, whatever people want to call it, you don’t get a day off, OK, it never stops.

So I give my myself a pat on the back for just doing something outside of my regular, you know, doing something that challenged me in a different way. And I wrote this book and I said. Here, you know, I went to the publishing company, this is my story, so we’re going to go ahead and get you illustrator to work with. And I said, OK, great. And I was thinking, you know, the illustrator is just going to draw the pictures and I’m going to approve whatever they draw.

Yes. No, no. And she said, well, well, well, what we need you to go ahead and let us know what you want on each page. My mind was like, what do you mean? I have to. Creatively come up with what I want visually on each page. I wasn’t prepared for that because I’m thinking, hey, I wrote the story, you know. My part is done, but in children’s book writing, you actually have to create visually what you want on each page.

So that is something that I had to come up with. And honestly, I’m satisfied with the way it turned out. Honestly, the cover itself actually was funny because I did not know what I kind of held off. I’ve put together a very specific PowerPoint of each page and I sent it over to the STRADER. You got started on the book? We went through a couple of processes of approving, disapproving, approving of change. This fix, this change, I call it as too big or too small, know that kind of stuff.

So we get to the end of the process and they’re like, well, what do you want the to look like? I’m doing it? I don’t know. I said, I don’t know. I gave them a deadline. I said, well, I’ll have something by this date. Schnoor, the date came and I was like, if I don’t have anything, I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know right now. And there was another man that I was singing in at that time, and I had a rehearsal that night, had to take the kids with me, which I normally didn’t have to take the kids with me.

So I had the kids with me and I brought coloring pencils and paper for my son to play with. Of course he wasn’t. He only wanted my phone. He wasn’t worried about coloring and stuff like that. So we get there and in the midst of me waiting for my time to sing, I started doodling. And immediately, this is exactly what I came up with. And I sent it over a fax it over to the guy the next day to the illustrator Damien.

And I said, this is what I want. These are the colors I want. This is what I want. But I swear, I was a week behind. I was completely behind and my timeline and I felt bad. But you have to give your your your mind. Space and time to work when it comes to your creativity and what I’m finding is having the quiet time and that space is so important and it’s so hard for me to get it.

With everything going on around me, but. You know, I’m finding that I am doing this process, even the business side, you have to give your your mind time and space to figure it out. So that has been my biggest challenge through this process is is getting that. So I’ve been challenging myself more to push myself to wake up 5:00 in the morning, get up, you know, get my workout in then. And I know people do that and I like this method, but for me, it’s something big when I’m up to 11, 12 o’clock finishing my day, you know, of dealing with kids, catching up on things that I need to catch up on, cooking and cleaning.

You know, spoke to my husband. I’m going to run here to do this thing and obey and learn the lyrics. A lot going on, you know, so and everybody expects you to hold it together when. No days off.

So I think you in what you just said, it was one key thing that I want to kind of go back to and just because I’m in publishing. Right. So on your journey of selecting a publisher. Right. Because a lot of people, they’re scared. They’re intimidated about getting the rejection letters. And you have to understand that, you know, a lot of times you have to send out one hundred to possibly get one suggestion. How many did you send out before somebody raised their hand or what’s the first time off?

I did reach out to a couple of publishers, but that wasn’t really feeling. You know, the companies this particular publisher came through, someone from from me mentioning that I wanted to do books, you know, children’s books. And they gave me their information. And, of course, I inquired and then I decided to move forward with them. So they there are a smaller company, but I felt like that was what I needed because I needed more of the one on one focus.

And I don’t want to be railroaded. So I was able to be a lot more involved than some of the other companies would have allowed me to be involved. So that’s why I chose them.

So this is like understanding like the contracts and the deals and the agreements and the royalty shares like like how was that set up? And like, what kind of deal were you able to steal with your books? With a lot of times when people write a book, they think that they have full ownership when they go to a publishing company. But the reality is that the publishing company, usually nine out of 10 times, would buy that book by the right third book and they’ll pay you royalties for it.

So how was your book staged?

I am. I do get royalties off my book. It is a small percentage. People think it’s bigger than what it is, is really it’s really a small percentage. But I was OK with that because I do own all the rights to my books. I can take my book. I can go with another company if I want. I can imagine my licensing was paid for everything. I don’t I can put his face on anything. He’s mine. I own everything.

So I was OK with taking a smaller percentage of my book because I knew it opened the door for me to do so many other things with my product.

So yeah. So I think just to kind of touch base on that, like the business savvy that you have that you didn’t realize that you have right to say, OK, I’m going to give up some percentages on my book sales, but I’m going to keep ownership of the trademark or the ownership of the title, the ownership of the image of the product. So then you can use that product to create a million other things.

Exactly.

You use the publication company essentially to jump start to get you in the industry so you can kind of get a behind the scenes holding of the hands and step up as you go. So I definitely commend you for having the foresight to understanding that and utilizing the system. As you should know, that’s exactly what I did. And it cost me a little bit more up front. But I felt like that was me paying for my schooling. To a degree.

We all pay for something to get involved in something. So I, I again, I felt like that was the best way for me to move so that I can get moving. You know, of course this was the beginning start, but he’s a product now. He’s I can put them on t shirts. I could put them up, put them on sacks. I know. And all those things are in place for me to do right now.

We’re working on all of those things right now, so. Yeah, that was that was my thought in going forward with them is OK, yeah, this is going to cost me a little bit more in the beginning, but on the back end, I can recoup so much more. So that’s how how I structured my thing, you know, to give me more flexibility and freedom on the back end. So that’s how I definitely appreciate you giving us some insight that I got.

I mean, again, I just want people to understand it like a million other ways of doing deals. And you got to structure a deal that works best for you and for you. I mean, you’re set up for the long term, not for the short term. So you just have to keep the short term gains don’t always outweigh the long term results. So that is the next question. So we always hear, like somebody may see you today and be like, oh my God, she’s overnight success.

This book came out of nowhere. It’s a top seller, you know, but the reality, it took a long time to get there. How long have you been on the journey to get to where you are currently?

My whole life, your whole life is a journey and a lesson is what it’s like to be what you would you take out of being, would you decide to use, you know, where we’re all on our journey? I mean, it’s. My whole life, my whole life, and I feel like honestly, because I was thinking about our conversation before having our conversation to be. Nothing is by mistake, OK, nothing is by mistake. But is what you do with it, and I have like I said, I envision that I would be where I am.

Where I am right now, I envision the. Of course, not knowing how I would get there, what I envision it. So right now I’m in a process of saying, OK, mate, you made it here. But where do you want to go next now? So that’s that’s the process I’m in now of putting my mind in that place, of creating my next vision, because what I’ve learned is that I was given exactly what I envisioned.

Right. So we all have that power within us to get exactly what we envision, whether we know how we’re going to get there or not. We all have the power to put that deeply rooted in ourselves and say, I’m going to get there. So that’s what I’m working on now in my own mind, creating that space within myself to say, OK, where do you want to go next? Because wherever it is, you’re going to get there.

You don’t know how you’re going to get there. And that’s OK for you not to have it all figured out. But just get that vision, put it in and set it in segment and just keep and just keep walking one foot in front of the other. Just keep moving because you’re going to get near, you know, don’t don’t worry about all the particulars because I’m Italian and, you know, I’m a spiritual person. But there there will be miracles to happen and you’ll be like they had one man.

I can’t even believe that. And it will happen. So you just have to. Have the vision of where you want to go, you can’t move my way if you don’t if you don’t have a vision of where you want to go. You got a dream that you got to feel and you’ve got a deep setting yourself. And then just keep moving and you’ll get there. You’ll get there. So I’m working on that next vision for myself right now because I’ve reached a point where I said, hey, this is where I want to be.

I’m on my first day. OK, what’s the next? What’s the next? So.

So, I mean, listen to what you said and you were saying, like, you know, essentially this forks in the road, right? Kind of like Rock Road, less traveled. If you can go back to any fork and do something differently, what would you do and why?

I would have gone to college earlier. I would have gone to college earlier. Why? Because I feel like that would have. Potentially put me in different circles and around different people, which have would have opened different doors maybe sooner. That’s the only thing I could say I might have done differently that you went. But you thinking maybe going to court. But didn’t you not have an opportunity to network and meet people outside of college that got you to where you are right now?

I did, but I feel like. I feel like some of those things might have been developed in me sooner if I had put myself around different people, your circle is very important. Your top five who you. I mean, I can say that just from us moving here, we moved here not knowing anyone, you know. So the the circles we’ve been able to get in and the people we’ve been able to surround ourselves with have been part of what has propelled us to where we are right now.

So I truly believe that. And again, it didn’t have to be school, like you said, that it came from. But for me, I feel like that that might have helped me a little bit differently, even on where I am right now. Some things I go I just don’t have this figured out. And I guess that’s true for everyone as you go to law school. My husband been in law school may ask him. So I think he still has the research.

He still has to go figure it out. We are still got to go figure it out no matter what it is. So but that’s my mom. I think that’s the one thing. Sometimes I look back and say, yeah, maybe I should have do that sooner, but yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely I definitely I see you see where you’re coming from for myself, I would think for me would be going back and doing this podcast earlier because it’s opened up like multiple circles. Right. So it’s kind of like ripple effects and multiple ripples in a lake. And it just compounded compounded because I have opportunity to meet so many different people around the world and also bring people back from my past like yourself and overlap the circles and make it make the magnification multiply even more.

So I definitely I definitely see your insight with that. So just diving into like you’re like your history a little bit more. Right. Like you come from an entrepreneurial background. Like I remember your dad, I remember him being like a hustler and could have sense that he was about music. He was doing like productions. So I think from that aspect, you got some of the entrepreneurial. And this from anybody else, your family has that edge.

Yes, both my parents both held down jobs, but they also, like you said, did things on the side. My mother has been a seamstress for years, so I would see her grind go to work and then come home and stay up all day long, all through the night, sewing, you know, doing when dresses. You know, I remember one year we were in school. My sister was graduating. I know it was prom. That’s what it was like.

Almost 30 dresses for prom fixing. And I mean, it was crazy. We flew up to New York, we picked out fabric, and that was our hustle. You know, that was our hustle. So sometimes it was her job, sometimes as what Carried does know. So, yes, I did see entrepreneurship in my family. My grandmother was had our own business for a while and wellness business. My grandfather actually had his own construction company, used to lay concrete up in Philadelphia.

There’s bridges that can go on and be like this. This is his company, you know. So, yes, I did see a lot of entrepreneurship in my family.

And yes, I think by default, you were destined to be currently where you are, whether you wanted to or not, or whether I even realized it, honestly. Yes, definitely.

So. I mean, obviously, you’re a big family person. How do you juggle your hustle with your family life?

Well, it can be a bit much sometimes. I have taken in our home that way, our household is set up, is a pretty traditional. My husband is the breadwinner and I take care of the home, I take care of the kids. And of course, I’m supportive of him or whatever he’s got going on. But again, I find I make my money when I’m doing my shows and I’m with my bands and. I haven’t had a part time job for a while, so I just mainly am home with them, but our home is set up.

I have the kids twenty four, seven all the time. They’re with me on my hip. So whatever I’m doing, it’s always where I can still maintain them. Honestly, that is my biggest and most important job out of them all because they’re two men. They’re going to be two men. So I try to instill everything I have into them and and I love it that that’s my passion, that they are my passion more than anything. And I’m OK with that.

I know sometimes people realize that that’s not enough. For me, that has been enough. Of course, we all want more. And this is my mom right now. Right now. Because it’ll be something else another day, you know what I mean? But they have been my passion. And because I do want them to be successful men, you know, they’re going to have families and children that they’re responsible for. So that’s where my passion and I juggle them the best way I can.

That’s all I can tell you is the best way I can. Scheduling, scheduling is very important, but also being able to have flexibility, you know, because you don’t want to get so stuck in a schedule to where you’re stressing yourself out because that happens. Like me, I’ve been so also learned how to have that flexibility and whatever you’ve got going on, do and and then sometimes letting things fall apart. Let’s keep it real. You can’t hold it all together.

Sometimes you’ve got to let things fall apart sometimes and know that that’s OK, you know, so. Juggling, it is juggling, it is just like a juggling a sometimes you’ve got somebody who’s involved going and they have going it got it, they got it and then Bam! Falls apart. What do you do when it falls apart? You pick it back up and you start again. And that’s all it is, picking it back up and starting again when you have to.

That’s how I do it. That’s how I keep it all together.

So I know you’re saying that, you know, obviously you have a routine. You may or may not have a particular set schedule, but what is your morning habits that you do on a routine basis?

Morning habits? I get up, of course. I go do myself a little self care on the morning that I don’t go to the gym because the last time I’m going about three times a week, I get up early five those mornings, go have my own space and time for myself. With the warnings that I’m home, I get up. The first thing I do, of course, take care of myself. But then I go and I wake my children up and I kiss them and I love on them for about a good five, ten minutes.

I know ten minutes is a long time, but some time to think about going back to bed. But in that time I give them my full attention. That is my first conscious thing that I do in the morning. I want them to know let’s start this day off in a positive mindset. Sometimes I go and put on Nina Simone and I blast it in their room. It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day and I’m feeling good. I will bless em.

I love it, you know. So I’m very conscious of doing that every morning. Let’s get our day started. We got work to do, you know, go brush your teeth, get your breakfast, let’s get to work. So that’s normally our morning routine because we got, you know, home schooling going on. And I get settled with that, you know, so that’s that’s every morning is a good choice for sure.

Yeah. That’s that’s our song.

That’s what’s on my playlist.

Yes. I’m telling you, it will keep a smile on your face when we wake up.

So I think earlier on in this particular episode, you alluded to books that you’re reading. And it’s funny because, like, I staged my questions in a particular fashion on this podcast, we’re not out of time. Somebody is going to bring up a book. And because of that, I decided to create a book club. And in this book club, it’s essentially for people much like you and myself, people that are on business journeys. So what are the books besides the book you originally spoke about that you’ve read that helped you get to where you are for one?

Right, for two that maybe you’re currently reading and for three would that you would want to recommend to our audience?

Um, well, another one is the secret to success. I really enjoy that book. The Alchemist. Of course, I know many people have read that book. But the secret to success I really enjoy. Of course, how to start feeling like shit. I mean, I could go on. I’ve read some business books around here, good to great. That’s one of the ones I kind of think of some other ones off the top of my head.

I like reading about health and wellness, actually, because, of course, you can have your mom right, but your body is just as important. So I read some of those, but the one that I feel like that is was most influential for me is the secret to success. And it has, you know, just little tidbits about, you know, how you deal with people being on a roll of kindness, how you approach life in your mines, that you know everything.

You need to instill strength within yourself, you know, to keep you in a positive frame and keep going. So that is one of the ones I would suggest to anyone to read that one, right?

Yeah, definitely. I’ll definitely add that to my book wish list. Check that once.

And it’s not too long ago. Shortly you read it in a day or so, something that you could keep with you and refresh refreshing, you know, so I do enjoy it.

So on this journey that you’re currently on, where do you see yourself in 20 years from now?

Well, 20 years is a big it’s a big shock. I told you, I’m working on that right now. So. No, no, seriously, I’m working on. Hmm. I don’t. I envision things, but I don’t have to put limitations. So I could easily say where I think I might be in 20 years, but what part? There’s there’s a thing in me right now that feels like it’s beyond what I can imagine, if that makes any sense.

So, yeah, I envision things I envision. Business, me being in a business, setting out with me being in a business like my vision, business success. But what is that capacity? I’m not sure yet if that makes any sense, but I but I envision that already. It may sound crazy, but from from the work that we’ve put in behind the scenes. Is beyond what I could imagine where we’re going to be as a couple as beyond where what I could imagine is a collective envisioning between myself and my husband because we are as one.

So it is not just my vision, it is, but it’s just my vision, you know, so it’s part of history. And part of that is. Business mogul, seriously, me and me doing my thing and him doing his thing. We’re always going to be there in the future. Because that’s what we’ve worked towards on this journey, so in 20 years, big things, bigger than what I envisioned and bigger than what he envisioned and that may and I know that doesn’t sound very clear, and that’s because.

I’m not limiting what it could be, if that makes any sense.

I missed you on your journey. You’re you’re you’re like on a essentially a new part of your journey or you’re starting out. So it definitely you don’t want to say that, hey, I’m going to be ten books. You may end up with one hundred books. You may end up on a TV show. So to your point, I don’t think it’s it’s it’s self-defined in the sense that you’re on that journey in 20 years from now is going to come to fruition when that 20 years comes.

Yes, definitely.

So, like, what software do you use currently in your business as you’re starting up that you would not be able to do what you’re doing without.

Honestly, just this, the regular computer Gukurahundi email can’t do. I cannot do what I can, but, you know, I’m serious. I can’t do without email. I can’t do without this phone in my hand. I mean, let’s keep it real. We have the ability to do a hell of a lot more than you ever could. Just having this phone in your hand. It keeps me on point. I cannot make it without my phone.

I’m talking about from scheduling. I’m talking about doing my zoom. Sometimes I’ve had problems with my laptops and whatever the case may be. And I’m like, oh, I got this phone. I can’t make it without my phone. You know, I’m serious. It keeps me organized. As far as staying up on my social media, I’m in between doing things and I’m like, OK, let me check this. Let me answer this back. OK, let me scroll it this.

Oh, let me I can’t make it without my phone. I mean, that’s just that. And I don’t know anybody who came out with it.

So are you an Apple or Samsung user or Apple?

Oh, I’m I’m an Android user for sure. Yeah, don’t don’t look don’t look like that. Don’t give me that look. Look, I don’t even do that.

There’s a place for both platforms, right? I got I got no beef. My house is doing I got a bowl platform, so I got you have a tech guy.

So I know. I know. I know. Take that. I know. I always admire that about you too. I mean, I remember when when you first got your own place, you had I never saw a setup like that in such a I mean you were you were young and you were like, may I get this screen for this look at this screen for this great. I mean, you you had a full set on your screen as you look at this guy.

I love it.

Yes. So let’s just think about. I’m a stay at home mom and let’s say I want to start a journey, I’ve been supporting my family, supporting like my kids, my husband, what words of wisdom would you give me to start my own business and to move forward?

Words of wisdom is continuously write down your thoughts, take time to write down. Even if it’s five, 10 minutes a day. Write down what you’re thinking right now, what you’re feeling. Always check in with yourself. Because you are constantly giving yourself all day long to other people, so always check in with yourself. Scheduling is important. Scheduling is very important to stay at home mother, even if you like I said, you have the flexibility in it because it allows you to find those pockets of time for yourself.

So scheduling and structure, you clean your space. OK, I’ll say that again. Clean your space. When your space is clean, your mind is free. You’re OK, because when you’re in a dirty place, as far as you could think of, is what you’ve got to straighten up, what you got to clean up, what your mind can’t be free to be anywhere else because you feel locked into that space. So clean your space. I know.

That is the scene at the sound, so my new but it is such a big thing, you know, you you will feel smothered by your environment if you do not have cleanliness, clean your space. And I know those seem so easy, but they’re not they’re not they’re not when they’re not when you’re juggling everything, they’re not. And you get overwhelmed sometimes because you feel like, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to pick up another toy.

I don’t want to watch another load of laundry. I don’t want to wash another dish. I don’t want to tell the kids to be quiet anymore. I you know, I just want to escape. Go sit in your car, take you ten minutes, take your five minutes. You know, put on some music. Light a candle. Take a bath, take care of yourself. That’s the most important thing I could tell you, is to be conscious enough to take time for yourself and keep your space clean and keep a certain level of structure and schedule.

And that will keep you on track to finding yourself and keeping yourself through the chaos.

Going back to you being a motivational speaker. I mean, I just want to hear my testimony. Everybody is the testimony.

I can imagine that you are hilarious, but I’m telling you, it’s true. I moved here not knowing anybody, not knowing anybody. I shared a car with my husband. Hey, come on now. You’re stuck in a house. In an apartment. Come on out, you know, and. In that time, I was like, what are we doing? You know what I mean? But but but putting that work in, making the sacrifices that we made.

When I tried it, no. No one, I’ve tried those heart wrenching times and feelings, no. Because the the rainbow and the glory on the other side is so beautiful, you know what I mean? So all I can say is just don’t give up when you want to give up. Dig in deeper. Fight harder. Challenge yourself more. You know, don’t be afraid to. To do something different. One thing that I do at night as well is I listen to affirmations on YouTube as I sleep.

I may not have time during the day to sit down and meditate or have my own space, but who said I can have it when I sleep? So I’m constantly conscious of trying to filter good to the spirit so that it flows out good everywhere else, and that I can continuously draw what I want to myself, whether I know how it’s going to come or not. But that I’m constantly, unconsciously in that mindspace space 24/7, you know what I mean?

So that is following the waves, first of all.

So I think by the end of this this particular episode, everybody is going to want to essentially get in contact with you. So how do they find you on online Internet websites, social media platforms? Where can they buy your book?

You can buy the book on Barnes Noble’s Books-A-Million Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target. It is available everywhere for anyone to buy again. It is The Candy Monster by Naomi Brown, illustrated by Dame Alomari. I can be reached on Instagram by and Brown one. One is my sign on the Candy Monster book. Arsenal also has its own page so you can go to the Candy Monster book. He is on Facebook and on Instagram as well. Those are only two platforms that I’m using now, just for time reasons.

This I’m juggling, I’m juggling. That’s about all I can keep up with right now. I will be able to do more, of course, when they get back in school. I’m looking forward to that next year. You can also go to the website, the Candy Master Book, PACOM. Is also up and running. So those are the platforms that you can find myself in Candy Monster on, I will be doing Life Story Time starting next month.

We will also be doing some things through Instagram where kids can stay connected. Where will we just simply be brushing teeth? Because that’s what the story is about. We want to encourage good hygiene for the kids and make it fun. My children will be involved in that as well because I want them to see Mommy doing her thing. So as they get older and they want to do little even now, if they want to start something now, you know, let them know that they can do that.

So I’m going to involve them and incorporate them into that as well. So Facebook, Instagram, again, all media platforms. If you just type in my name and Google right now, the candy master will come up. So, um, so that’s, you know, a way you can find it as well.

So going into the bonus round. Right. And so this particular question. Well, I mean, this is a question I’ve asked all my guests because I always say this is that everyone’s answer is going to be uniquely different for different reasons. So, OK, spend twenty four hours with anyone dead or alive, uninterrupted for twenty four hours.

And why. Oh, my goodness. Wow. I would like to bring my grandmother back home and speak to her and spend twenty four hours with her because she had a way of connecting with spirit. More than anyone I know. As a child, she was able to tap into that and for me, as I’m moving forward in my life and my career in motherhood and in being a wife, which is are the things that she experienced as well. I would like to know more how to connect with spirit like she did.

Because we’re beyond this earth, you know. So being that she’s already in spirit out, grandma, what are we doing to make sure I’m ready for the next level, you know, so and so what do I need to be doing here? You know, I want to be living my purpose. I want to be fulfilling that. We all came here to fulfill a purpose. So I want to make sure, grandma, I’m on the right track, you know?

Yeah, definitely, I’d love to spend 24 hours with her and go deeper.

Interesting answer, definitely interesting, and it’s some kind of it shows a little bit of who you are, right? I mean, out of anybody you could pick, you pick your grandmother, someone that you really spend time with. But to be able to spend more time with, somebody that you love and care, it definitely shows to why we call Yomi, right? So, yes, definitely. So next bonus question. And I’ll tell you the answer you can’t use, because every time I ask a parent this question, the answer is always going to be the children.

So like from now on moving forward, I always say your children can’t be part of this answer. So outside of your OK, your most significant achievement to date. So I think a little bit of it does make me think, because I think is more than one thing. I think it’s more than one thing. I think it’s. Being a wife, I think it’s being an artist. I think it’s finding myself. I think it’s living my life, I think.

I think it’s I think it’s more than one thing. I don’t think it’s just one thing. My biggest achievement. Yeah, I can’t say it’s one particular thing, but what if if you if you want me to choose, if you want me to choose, my biggest achievement is achieving exactly what I thought I would I would have and and I have it. So my biggest achievement is living out my dream. That’s my biggest achievement as living out my dream and actually getting my dream.

You know, my biggest achievement is, is, is when I get up on stage and I sing and I’m sharing that joy for the gift that I have and I’m giving it to everyone else. That’s my biggest achievement. My biggest achievement is when I wake up to next to my husband every morning and we talk and we and we share and and we grow and we fly and we make up and we keep going. I mean, that is my biggest achievement.

I don’t I don’t feel like it’s just one particular thing. We can all mark things off of our boxes and say, I did this and I did that. But I think it’s a collective thing for me. You know, my biggest achievement is my life and me living that living that dream. That’s who is this? This is someone I told you one of my kids was going to make it into this fact that that’s, you know, from the beginning, the mommy’s on a call.

So I told you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So go in the room. I’ll be done soon. Come on. I told you I knew that was going to happen.

So going into closing, anytime I have an interview, always give whoever I’m interviewing an opportunity to ask me any questions that may have come up during the podcast. So the microphone is yours. The floor is yours.

Oh, my goodness. The questions I should ask themselves, what encouraged you to write your book? Now, I’ll say the title because I know the first book. Yeah, yeah, that refers to one person. And I actually love what you did when you had the woman. The cover right. For you. You know how she narrated it. And I thought that was great. That was great. Oh, also, before I say that I am putting the book on Kindle.

I already have my everything recorded and this is what I’m working on that this week. So that will be on Kindle. But what what inspired you to write your first book?

My first book, which is kind of before I knew anything about publications, before I knew anything about the space that I’m currently in, I just wanted to kind of essentially leave behind a legacy and to give back. And that was my first inspiration to kind of what can I give back and what kind of content can I deliver? So the first book was essentially me on that journey, not meddling. And everything else was part of my personality, part of me pushing buttons, part of me messing with people.

So people you, isn’t it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is me. So I mean people that don’t realize. I think I took that book down. The audio books are available, but that title fuck failure to do success.

Yes. Yes it was. And I was like, if that is national great. I don’t know what is that is that was totally you.

It was me. But at the same time, like thinking about marketing and understanding algorithms, everything else that I know now was kind of like I would say it was destined to fail. But what I wanted to put into it, to get to the level that I wanted to, I was like, OK, it was a good start. I got I essentially broke my egg, scrambled it up, and it gave me a understanding of publication that gave me understanding of processes.

So now the other five books since then or six books since then are completely different in nature. But I could market the living hell out of those books so much.

Good, good. And what would you say about your family life right now? I have watched you with your son and you are have such a beautiful relationship. And I’m I’m so proud of you for being a dad that you’ve been I mean, I wouldn’t expect anything less, but I just see your heart. I see your heart when you post things about him. And it’s beautiful to watch. So how would you how would you say that? That has changed to or grown through the years.

I think anything that you essentially have to fight for is you have a more respect and caring nature for. So the journey of me becoming a father was not necessarily on Rocky one, right. It was kind of a journey. And that was marriage and divorce and custody battles. And the song goes on and on and on. But I had to fight and literally fight to be able to have my son to the capacity to have them right now. So when you see me post something is me not necessarily always admiring him as an individual, but it’s also part of me documenting.

So when he has kids, he has a legacy to kind of look back to, to kind of see the things that we’ve done. And he’s a teenager now. So, like taking pictures of him is 10 times harder than when he was three years old, when I was taking pictures every five minutes. So now every time I get an opportunity to get a picture, you know, I still definitely post it. But it’s essentially documenting his journey and also the legacy that I’m leaving and the legacy that he’s going to be to leave behind.

And what is the most important thing that you have wanted to instill in him, in you and you in your fatherhood? Would you say that is?

I think it’s three parts like his in his younger days, he was kind of like, you know, for obvious reasons, he was kinda like a really bad ass. And this is kind of genetic tests or some more is that he’s your child.

And it just kind of. And it’s funny because now he brings those things up like he recently brought up a conversation in the car when I was talking about something that I had had with somebody and that was like, I curse all. And I went in and he was like, what? You always told me to, like, ignore people and move forward. You do it. So I was and I was like, well, when you were three years old, if I had told you to do exactly what I would do in that instance, you would go in there like a and be like my dad said, kiss his mother.

Right. So so I had to kind of ease you into that. I have to kind of you going to have to find the control first. Once you have the control, then you can make the the educational or the objection to something that you don’t like and then you know how to handle it. But the three, four years old, I don’t think you know the emotion and that’s only thing you’re going to show. So even now, to this day, I’m still trying to explain to him, like, obviously, you don’t want to be a pushover.

You don’t want anybody to run over you. You want to be in a situation where you have control of the situation, or at least you’re working with somebody that has control and you guys are partnering together. But what you don’t want to do is lose your cool, which obviously I grew up losing my cool and it’s never learned how to control it. So I’m trying to get him understand self-control first and then move from there.

And how did you learn self-control, Mr. Shannon, very interested to know, because you know what I’m saying, say this. I think that because I have somewhat of a wild child right now, my oldest is considered. Sometimes he could be wild, but I think there’s beauty in that. And I think it’s how you direct that energy because you to be who you were if you didn’t have a society like. You sound like you needed that. You know what I mean?

Like there’s a genius in the wildness. It’s just being able to take me in and direct it in the right in the right way. So how would you say you’ve learned how to control that wild man?

And you I guess I can attest it to one hundred percent being focused, because when I was younger, there was no I didn’t really have focus. It was just an abundance of energy, abundance of creativity. And I didn’t have a funnel or an outlet. You know, I drew pictures. I had a marker in my hand. Yes. You know, like sexuality was a big thing for me back then as well, too. So we just kind of all these different things that I put my energy into.

But it didn’t fulfill me or say so now finding lying like creating a podcast, creating content, delivering books, helping other people, helping other business owners on a journey, inspiring my kids by them seeing what I’m doing. So when I’m dead and gone, they have the inspiration of what I’ve created. That’s where all that craziness and time and effort are all funneled into this one thing. So I don’t have to worry about, even though I still think about them like the kid on Ritalin, I’m still thinking about jumping off things and doing while riding on the roof of a car half naked, screaming Kumbaya going to my mind on a regular basis.

Like I’m like, OK, I’m taking like my mental Ritalin and I’m going to focus I’m going to read a book club. Now, that’s where my energy is going to go to. OK, I’m going to create this app club now. That’s what they’re going to do. And I’m still looking at a set of my like I’m about to jump off of this mother and I’m doing it every day.

But, you know, when I heard harpists, I heard that you stop focusing so much on self. Yeah. And like you went, OK, there you go. There you go. I don’t know if you heard what I said, but what I must say that again, I’m gonna say it again. I heard instead of focusing on self, I heard purpose. I heard that now you’re giving it out, know you’re doing your part. You’re helping the next man.

You’re leaving something behind. I heard purpose in that. So that’s a good thing. And that’s that’s part of what this is for me to its purpose. Because at the end of the day, when you when you because I had a lot of fathers actually send me pictures reading to their children and that it was like, wow, now you are a part of something that is beautiful, that mothers and fathers take their time to read your book to their children at the end of the night.

They could be doing anything else. They could be watching. T need to be wasting time. They took time to take your story. Well. Well, I think we’re losing each other, but it’s purpose, you know, and I and I agree, man, I used to swing from the chandelier, you know what I mean? And so now like to have a certain level of focus. It’s a beautiful thing because you’re able to put that energy into purpose, you know, direct it somewhere else.

So. Our purpose. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I heard coming from you.

I definitely appreciate that and I totally agree. And I think that that’s a positive note to probably close out this podcast on finding your general purpose. And I definitely appreciate you pointing that out. And also that you’re taking the time, such a busy schedule, I know you guys about an hour behind, so you had an opportunity to kind of get on here. And again, the beginning of this package, you kind of nervous, had the butterflies, and obviously now you’re done and you’re glowing.

I don’t know who’s not nervous when I do this thing. Spotlight is on you. Like, wait a minute. Now, I don’t know if I’m ready for it, but I. I really appreciate you reaching out to me and and and just saying, hey, man, you know, I see you. I appreciate that, you know, because it definitely gives me more confidence to go out there and tackle more. So thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And the candidates, of course, want us to say thank you. It’s been fun to go ahead and be creative with him and try to put things on the zone the other day. The kids have so many questions that I was not prepared for, but it just allowed the creativity to go even more. So I’m loving the journey. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for reaching out. I so appreciate it.

Any time. I appreciate you accepted as a grant over in EL.