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Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14

October 30, 2024 / 49:15

This episode features Jacob Gooden and guest Michaela Harold discussing their experiences with homeschooling, family dynamics, and the transition to adulthood. Topics include the differences between various homeschooling groups, the impact of their upbringing on their careers, and the importance of mental health.

Michaela shares her journey of being homeschooled all the way through, detailing her family's decision to homeschool due to their father's job as a pastor. She reflects on her experiences with different homeschooling groups, such as Casa, and how they shaped her education.

The conversation shifts to the transition from homeschooling to the real world, where Michaela discusses her choice to pursue event management instead of traditional college. She highlights the skills she gained from homeschooling that helped her succeed in her career.

They also touch on the challenges of growing up in a conservative church environment, including the stigma surrounding mental health. Michaela explains how her family's experiences led to open discussions about mental health and personal growth.

The episode concludes with a light-hearted memory of a surprise party gone wrong, showcasing the fun and camaraderie shared among their homeschooling peers.

TL;DR

Jacob and Michaela discuss homeschooling, family dynamics, mental health, and career transitions after homeschooling.

Episode

49:15
00:00:04
well welcome back to the ex
00:00:05
homeschoolers Club I am your host Jacob
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Gooden and uh today is going to be a lot
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of fun I'm chatting with my friend
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Michaela uh most of you know her as
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Michaela Mahoney but she's no longer
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Michaela Mahoney you are now Michaela am
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I GNA say this right minshaw no nope I
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didn't say that right at all Michaela
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Harold yeah that's
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it my guest later today I'm interviewing
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a second person later today their last
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name is minshaw um yeah you're booked up
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it's all good I'm booked up yeah I'm
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very popular as we've as we figured out
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but Michaela thank you for coming on the
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show Welcome to the ex homeschoolers
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Club thank you so much for having me I'm
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really excited to be here awesome we're
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gonna have some fun so we I I know you
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were you and your sister were better
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friends with my sister so I do know you
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um but I feel like I know you more from
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like later years for me it's true
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yes and I think it is funny I think I
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don't remember who you were interviewing
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that mentioned it but like there
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definitely were different clicks so I
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feel like I also know you from like the
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cool homeschooler side where like the
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swing dancers like all of those and I
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just wasn't part of that crew so it's
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funny to see the other side well you
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also lived you guys were in Oxnard is
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that right we were yeah so there's also
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like the Oxnard ohigh Ventura like there
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was also yeah there was a lot of
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different different things going on I
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think everyone also looked at each other
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as like well that's the cool group over
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there like I would like to be a part of
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that group but the reality was like we
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all were just we all were just weirdos
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you know oh right yeah exactly it was
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just like the cool kids were a little
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less weird than the other kids and true
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we were all just weird together and it
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was great true okay so I know tell tell
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the folks a little bit about like your
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homeschool Journey like were you
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homeschooled all the way through also
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like how many siblings like that kind of
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thing like set the stage a little bit of
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like family life and then homeschool
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life yeah yeah so um our family life we
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were a small little family it was just
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be and my sister Madison um and then we
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actually adopted my brother who's older
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than me by a year way later he came when
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he was 13 so like junior high high
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school age um but my sister and I were
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homeschooled all the way through um our
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dad was a pastor at the time and so his
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vacation days were really sporadic and
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so they thought hey we should decide and
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our kids can go on vacation and we don't
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have to deal with asking permission from
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a school to let them go on a vacation in
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the middle of the school year so um
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that's kind of what they did and my mom
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just jumped right in she had a lot of
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mom friends in the community that had
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already been homeschooling their kids so
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she had a good support system so it was
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just me and my sister and then when my
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brother was adopted him and I ended up
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in all the same classes cuz he was held
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back a year he's from Guatemala so he
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didn't speak any English uh which was
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kind of a funny d damic it definitely
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created a sibling rivalry because I felt
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like I needed to do better grade wise
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because he didn't even speak English
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right so I should be able to do better
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um but it was fun because then I had a
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buddy to do all my school workk with so
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that was kind of what we did and
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obviously we did group Solutions um
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which I think is what most people that
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have been on the podcast did and then we
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did that and Casa were you familiar with
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Casa yeah that was like was that more
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that was more like the Oxnard crew right
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like Kasa Kasa was not achieve but it
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was similar to achieve in that it was
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like a coalition of of homeschool
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families and then they did different
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things together right like graduation
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things like that right yeah yeah and it
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was mostly like oxer cam Rio folks so a
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little bit more in London and they did
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it interesting they actually hired
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teachers so the moms brought money
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together and it wasn't just mom's
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teaching classes but we could sign up
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for like I did economics I did higher
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Sciences higher maths and it was like
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actual teachers um which was helpful and
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I think less pressure for the moms um
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and they also did a lot of sports that's
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why we did it because my brother wanted
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to do basketball and and that kind of
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stuff yeah no that is interesting
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because yeah achieve didn't really have
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much like that I know there were people
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like Mrs yep has been brought up on this
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podcast a couple of times who taught a
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writing class and then obviously some of
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the moms were Educators and had gone to
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school to be Educators but yeah there
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wasn't a lot of like actual like oh we
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hired somebody to to teach a class so
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that's that's interesting and what were
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those classes
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like like more of a traditional
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classroom setting or like what was like
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size-wise and like things like that what
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did that look like yeah it really
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differed on how popular that class was I
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think if you remember from group
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Solutions I always remember this so
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vividly the day where you had to sign up
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for classes you wanted to be the first
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one in there so you could get your first
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picks for everything um because there
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was like periods there was like three
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different sections of classes you could
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go get so Kasa was a little different in
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the fact that it wasn't like periods
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back to back it really was you just go
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to the class that you would like so I
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think it would range from like 8 to like
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15 or 20 students in a classroom and we
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met at a church so similar to group
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Solutions it wasn't like we went to a
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school or anything but right it was
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small classes yeah so so you're saying
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also the classes were happy like let's
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say on like a Tuesday or something like
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that right so You' go to one class on a
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Tuesday and then maybe a different class
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on a Friday or something like that yep
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yep that's exactly what it was yeah you
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just signed up to the different thoughts
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yeah okay that makes a lot more sense
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yeah because like group Solutions was
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very much like all
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day like said three periods with the
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lunch break in there and um yeah and
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then like a worship session beforehand
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and yeah and then Hangouts afterwards
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and stuff like that but it's true yeah
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so kind of a different very much a
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different Dynamic um yeah that's super
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super interesting and did
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you I'm trying to remember did you say
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you were homeschooled all the way
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through or at what point did your family
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switch to home school so we were all the
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way through yeah um when I got to high
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school my parents did give me the option
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they said hey like if you want to go to
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regular school now like you absolutely
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can we were in a different stage of life
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so it wasn't as important I mean more
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for us to be homeschooled but um we
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lived right across the street from oxer
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high and I saw all of the kids walking
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home from school every day and I was
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like that's so scary I don't know what I
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would do I like have my group of friends
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it's okay just the thought of being the
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new kid in a real school felt so
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intimidating so I chose to stay home
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schooled because I also liked that if I
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planed my day right I could finish my
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school day whenever I wanted
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really uh and I felt like I was very
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much in charge of my own schedule in
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that way so yeah I opted for
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homeschooling all the way through yeah I
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feel like this isn't true for everybody
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but like
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I I went to public school for uh first
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kindergarten in first grade
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and I feel like I I would have wanted to
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stay in like a public school setting
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maybe in those earlier years but by high
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school yeah like the ability to like
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dictate your own schedule and be done by
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a certain time and then go do something
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fun or have a job or like anything like
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that it's like so interesting and
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different and unique and I think It
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prepares I think it prepared me a lot
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more for like regular life right because
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it sounds like your parents also kind of
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gave you the freedom to be like well you
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are you're in charge of your day kind of
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a thing yeah no that's so true and I
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think even thinking now like if I were
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to do something like homeschool for my
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own kids I think I would do it like you
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said like have them in school for the
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first couple formative years have them
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make friends socialize all that and then
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in high school let them choose really um
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not I don't think my parents did the
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wrong way I don't think there is a wrong
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way every family is different and every
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parent is different but um I do think
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you're right like the school cuz even
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I'm really involved with some younger
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girls in my community like I just Mentor
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them and the things that they deal with
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in school now is crazy and I think it's
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just getting worse like you know
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bullying and mental health stuff and
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it's just wild out there so it's
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different times for sure yeah yeah no
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but it's also it it's also easier now
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than ever to like learn stuff you know
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there's so much access to information
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and so it it's funny because I was
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chatting with someone who they're
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worried about like their grandson is
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potentially going to be homeschooled and
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they're like I don't know like I'm just
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you know they're they they sent their
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kids to regular school and then you know
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and now their their son is like thinking
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about homeschooling these kids and and
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the Grandma's just like she's worried
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and I'm like I'm like there's so much
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information out there and also like if
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it doesn't work then like they can
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always go to regular school or they can
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go to private school or they can do
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whatever like it can always be pivoted
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to change
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um but you know I was like look at me I
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turned out
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semi-normal yes I know so it's funny
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that you say that someone didn't know I
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was homeschooled and was talking to like
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this group of people who was like my
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wife wants to homeschool our kids and
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I'm just scared that they're going to
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start making skirts out of our curtains
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and I was like laughing to myself I was
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like I promise that's not everyone so
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then I was like I was home school and he
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was like you were and first of all
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that's always a compliment when
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someone's like I had no idea but that's
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the same thing I told him I was like
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it's so different like it all depends on
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you know what your goal is with
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homeschooling are you trying to Shield
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them from the world then maybe maybe
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they'll make scps out of there but as
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long as they're socialized and you guys
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are doing a great job it's fine yeah so
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that no that's hilarious because we I I
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know you weren't necessarily someone who
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made a skirt out of a curtain but we
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definitely knew people who did that yes
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yeah there was a little bit of
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everything yeah you have to see
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different personalities family
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personalities Dynamics yeah absolutely
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so so being homeschooled all the way
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through um was there
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like is there something you feel like
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your parents did really really well or
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like or they could have done a little
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bit better it sounds like your mom kind
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of asked for like joining something like
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Casa right is is and sending your kids
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off to a class is like kind of helpful
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like my mom did that with areas where
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she was like I'm not super strong in
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this area right so we need to help find
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something somebody to help so you know
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you talked a little bit about that but
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like is there anything that as you've
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gotten older and you kind of look back
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you go mom you kind of missed this like
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this would have been really helpful and
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not to be like you know not to shame
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them it's just mostly to point out the
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fact that it's like you know hey like we
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can you know for fut Generations we can
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do better yeah yeah no for sure um I
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think funny enough later is when she
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realized when she signed us up for Kasa
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like oh I can't teach everything like I
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really do need to to send them off
00:11:13
somewhere that will teach them more than
00:11:15
I can um I think it was Lizzy flag boom
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that talked about the apologia books and
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I feel like the one thing we did was
00:11:23
switch around with curriculums a lot
00:11:25
which is fair because if you start one
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and you don't really know like what
00:11:30
you're getting into and then it's like
00:11:32
harder or easier than you think then
00:11:34
you're like okay like we'll keep going
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but I do think we swapped around a lot
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which was a little bit hard I kind of
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wish there was I think that's something
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that would be easier for families now
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it's so much easier to research the
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curriculums and really pick one that is
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probably trustworthy and a well-rounded
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um view uh but CA helped a lot and I
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think something she did really well was
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set us up with like uh I don't know what
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you would call it I guess like when they
00:12:01
set up your grades to go apply for
00:12:03
colleges or set up a resume and so she
00:12:05
really did help us set up our like life
00:12:08
goals and she was the one that
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encouraged me to just really kind of
00:12:14
what whatever you want to do is great so
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she was very like you're in charge like
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we're just here to support you which is
00:12:19
really really helpful so it was a good
00:12:20
balance she was trying her best yeah no
00:12:23
that's cool too that like yeah cuz my my
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my mom also was very particular about
00:12:28
like okay we gotta like the goal was if
00:12:31
he wants to go to college he needs to be
00:12:32
able to get into college right so one
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he's got to be smart enough to do that
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but two we got to have all the paperwork
00:12:36
figured out so that when it gets to that
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point it's easy to figure out share a
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little bit about like transitioning out
00:12:43
of homeschooling and then into the real
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world because um we're chatting a little
00:12:47
bit before you didn't go to college but
00:12:49
you did some other type of schooling so
00:12:52
share a little bit about that transition
00:12:53
and like you know why you decided that
00:12:56
it was actually one of my class of
00:12:57
teachers it was um my economics teacher
00:13:01
Mr Wu he was great he always wore
00:13:03
oversized t-shirts like button-up dress
00:13:05
shirts that were 10 times too big for
00:13:07
him it was just a character trait I
00:13:09
loved it uh he really instilled in me
00:13:11
that college wasn't super necessary if
00:13:14
you wanted to do something obviously if
00:13:16
you're going to be a doctor or a
00:13:18
scientist please go to college but if
00:13:20
you're you're not he was like there's so
00:13:22
many other avenues you can take and he
00:13:24
started giving me all those
00:13:25
possibilities that I had never thought
00:13:26
of before because I think it really is
00:13:28
such a social standard to go from school
00:13:31
to college and if you don't have a
00:13:32
degree you're really looked down upon in
00:13:34
the Working World so um he started yeah
00:13:38
giving me those ideas so when I finished
00:13:40
high school I really didn't know what I
00:13:42
wanted to do and I didn't want to go get
00:13:45
into a bunch of student loan debt just
00:13:47
to figure that out um so my mom was the
00:13:51
one that suggested she said hey you know
00:13:53
this is something you enjoy which is
00:13:55
like Hospitality we were the house that
00:13:57
always had birthday parties and I love
00:13:59
loved planning them for my friends and
00:14:01
so she found a certification program for
00:14:03
event management um which is what I
00:14:06
ended up doing so it was perfect because
00:14:08
right after high school I got a job as a
00:14:10
braa and I was able to do that full-time
00:14:13
while I did online like schooling for
00:14:16
event management and it was really
00:14:17
Hands-On it taught you everything from
00:14:19
like how to read a contract how to
00:14:21
negotiate a deal and how to lead your
00:14:23
clients through this whole process so I
00:14:25
loved it and so right when I finished
00:14:28
that it was about a year and a half
00:14:29
um they said two years but again I think
00:14:32
homeschooling gave me the edge up
00:14:34
because I was used to working
00:14:35
independently and figuring out I SCH so
00:14:37
I finished it in a year and a half and
00:14:40
right after that um I became a wedding
00:14:43
planer uh one of my friends was a
00:14:45
wedding planner at AV venue and a job
00:14:47
opened up and I had just finished my
00:14:49
certification and they said that's
00:14:50
perfect so I did that for a couple years
00:14:53
and I I loved
00:14:54
it so from then on I've just yeah the
00:14:57
different event stuff I've been
00:14:59
an event director for a nonprofit I'm in
00:15:01
marketing now but I still think it it
00:15:03
helps my event management knowledge and
00:15:06
I think it really has helped me build on
00:15:08
each step and I think not having a
00:15:11
college degree hasn't hurt me a ton
00:15:13
because I've been able to get experience
00:15:15
from such a young age and build on that
00:15:16
resume so it turned out okay yeah no
00:15:19
that's awesome because like so I went to
00:15:21
college for entertainment and
00:15:23
specifically music but um but I wanted
00:15:27
to manage bands but part of program was
00:15:29
we had a venue on campus and we would
00:15:31
throw these events and we helped with uh
00:15:33
you know if the if the board for the
00:15:35
school came to town you know who who's
00:15:38
picking up who at the airport like we
00:15:39
would do that kind of stuff and run
00:15:41
Logistics these lunches and the
00:15:43
logistics and you know all the behind
00:15:44
the scenes stuff that goes into all
00:15:46
these types of things and so it was
00:15:48
really cool that that whole Arena of
00:15:50
event planning is very interesting and
00:15:52
yeah you don't need a college degree to
00:15:54
be good at it um right but it is really
00:15:57
cool what Pro do you remember what the
00:15:59
program was that you got your
00:16:01
certificate through yes um it was called
00:16:04
the New York Institute of Art and Design
00:16:07
okay so they they have a ton of
00:16:09
different things from event stuff but
00:16:11
they have like interior design or um art
00:16:15
specifically so it's really more of a
00:16:17
creative Outlet kind of a website
00:16:20
schooling thing it was really cool no
00:16:22
it's funny that you bring that up
00:16:23
because I also looked at that when I was
00:16:25
thinking about going to school because I
00:16:27
was also on the fence of like College
00:16:30
some kind of a certificate I looked into
00:16:32
a couple those different programs and
00:16:34
that kind of a thing so that's funny I'm
00:16:36
I'm very familiar with what you're
00:16:37
talking about now that's very cool yeah
00:16:39
I usually people have no idea what I'm
00:16:40
talking about so it's very cool that you
00:16:42
know yeah no and it helps too that like
00:16:45
like you said you knew somebody who was
00:16:47
an event planner for weddings right and
00:16:49
so so then you kind of also have that
00:16:51
leg up and this is
00:16:52
why I think it's so important to going
00:16:56
back to like homeschool days right it's
00:16:58
like right we grew up in environments
00:17:00
that we were not just isolated to just
00:17:03
our families we had friends we knew
00:17:05
people we like we also a lot of times
00:17:09
also were encouraged to like know how to
00:17:10
carry conversation with adults right and
00:17:13
so you learn how to kind of like be
00:17:15
friendly and build this network very
00:17:18
young and I don't know about you but for
00:17:20
me that's what's carried my career for
00:17:23
oh what it is today 100% And I think
00:17:26
what's funny is when I was younger I was
00:17:29
in groups and Cass and all that I was
00:17:31
such a shy kid but even looking back
00:17:34
like it still did teach me all of those
00:17:37
skills I feel like I'm so extroverted
00:17:39
now and I'm so comfortable talking to
00:17:40
people and even some of my co-workers
00:17:42
that are scared to like call someone on
00:17:44
the phone I'm like oh it's okay I'll do
00:17:45
it yeah but I think it's because of that
00:17:47
I didn't realize how normal it was at
00:17:49
such an early age for us even though I
00:17:51
was shy it really did set me up for
00:17:53
Success yeah so you're no longer in the
00:17:55
event space You Now work in marketing so
00:17:57
talk about that pivot too because that's
00:17:59
that's kind of a drastic pivot and
00:18:01
sometimes that can be hard to get into
00:18:02
if you don't have a degree right it's
00:18:05
true I really do feel like I faked it
00:18:06
till I made it here I don't know how
00:18:09
yeah but so I was working as an event
00:18:11
director at a nonprofit which was great
00:18:13
I loved it um but just some things are
00:18:16
changing and I was kind of getting burnt
00:18:18
out I was doing events most weekends and
00:18:20
there's just a lot of travel involved so
00:18:22
I was like I just need something
00:18:23
different so again there was a
00:18:26
connection that she used to work at the
00:18:27
nonprofit I work for
00:18:29
she had connections with the CEO of the
00:18:31
marketing company that I had heard of um
00:18:33
so I just reached out to her and I said
00:18:34
hey I'm looking for a career change like
00:18:36
if there's anything opening or if you
00:18:38
know of anything I would love it yeah so
00:18:40
she was like oh yeah you'd be great you
00:18:42
just need to be organized that's the key
00:18:44
thing everyone's like oh you're
00:18:46
organized you can keep a tdo list and
00:18:48
get things done great but you're hired
00:18:50
yeah so um she gave me a recomendation
00:18:53
which was so kind of her and I initially
00:18:56
interviewed for a project management
00:18:58
role
00:18:59
uh which didn't end up working out and
00:19:01
then they were like but actually there's
00:19:02
another role it's an account executive
00:19:05
so they're the people who work directly
00:19:06
with the clients um but they needed
00:19:09
someone to support those account
00:19:11
Executives so basically I run the
00:19:13
logistics for these account Executives
00:19:15
they have so much on their plate and
00:19:17
they have they have to keep track of
00:19:19
different projects and deadlines and
00:19:20
sending things to clients and
00:19:22
essentially it's what it was doing for
00:19:24
events just for venues and different
00:19:27
clients and so I just transferred my
00:19:30
skills over and now I have learned so
00:19:33
much about marketing and I didn't
00:19:34
realize how much like you know
00:19:37
networking and knowing your client
00:19:39
that's a huge thing like for marketing
00:19:41
you need to know what does your client
00:19:43
want the audience to know and what do
00:19:45
you want them to be like oh I do need
00:19:47
that service I'm going to go to that
00:19:48
company so it's been really fun to just
00:19:51
get to know this different aspect and uh
00:19:54
I feel like it's just something else I
00:19:55
get to add to my resume I can't stay in
00:19:57
one place for very long I think that's
00:19:58
the other thing I just love learning new
00:20:00
things and going to the next thing so
00:20:02
it's been fun marketing and and the the
00:20:05
internet and like social media
00:20:07
management and like all these types of
00:20:08
things client management it's such a I I
00:20:12
say black hole in a good way right
00:20:13
because there are so many different
00:20:15
paths that you can go down as you go
00:20:17
further and further into it right and um
00:20:21
oh man it's like so wonderful because
00:20:23
like I've shared this story before on
00:20:25
this on the show but like I worked at a
00:20:28
restaurant I hated my life it was just
00:20:30
awful I managed a restaurant and like it
00:20:32
was a fine job it was good but I was
00:20:34
like I need out of this I want to do
00:20:37
marketing I want to work I want to be
00:20:38
creative right and so I started doing an
00:20:41
internship that was like or I started
00:20:43
taking these online classes that were
00:20:45
these marketing classes and like
00:20:47
learning how to use you know a website
00:20:49
builder and learning how to post on
00:20:51
Instagram effectively and like all these
00:20:52
different things and part of their
00:20:54
program was you could do a three-month
00:20:56
internship and I was like okay I mean
00:20:59
I'm not GNA get paid but it's 10 hours a
00:21:01
week let me just do it and it hooked me
00:21:02
up with a podcast and I was like okay so
00:21:04
I'm the marketing guy for this podcast
00:21:06
now cool interesting and then because I
00:21:09
had a a some experience with audio stuff
00:21:13
and then I ended up editing a show for
00:21:15
them and then it didn't spiral down
00:21:16
until like then I was producing for them
00:21:18
and then I was doing video for them and
00:21:20
all of these things like you said if you
00:21:22
have kind of the Baseline understanding
00:21:24
of like know how to be organized know
00:21:26
how to like learn that's another key
00:21:28
thing is like we both had experiences
00:21:32
where we we knew how to like structure
00:21:35
our day and we knew how to like teach
00:21:36
ourselves right and find the information
00:21:38
and so if you can do that well you can
00:21:41
do anything you want in the world
00:21:43
because there's like there's no lack of
00:21:45
information at this point on the
00:21:46
internet right um everything I know
00:21:49
about video editing about starting this
00:21:51
podcast all that kind of stuff is like
00:21:53
just I've picked up along the way
00:21:56
fig it out right I didn't get a degree
00:21:57
in this
00:21:59
you know which is so cool and I feel
00:22:01
like that's the other thing do you feel
00:22:03
like group Solutions specifically I feel
00:22:05
like that was more of my creative outlet
00:22:07
they had so many electives you could
00:22:08
take that really helped us explore like
00:22:11
those different creative things that we
00:22:13
could be good at so like there was a
00:22:15
guitar class there was a cake decorating
00:22:17
class and I'm like oh this is fun and I
00:22:19
feel like do you feel like it set you up
00:22:21
to be like oh yeah I can try different
00:22:22
things like I I think to some degree yes
00:22:27
I think what did did more of that for me
00:22:30
was I I took guitar lessons from Tim
00:22:34
France um two of his daughters have been
00:22:36
on the show so far Carrie and ellia um
00:22:39
you know them very well um we do yes and
00:22:43
and katrin's coming on very soon so you
00:22:45
know you'll complete the trifecta the
00:22:48
exactly I'm like I'm collecting my
00:22:49
Infinity Stones um yes but but yeah
00:22:53
their dad was my guitar teacher and so
00:22:56
like and then I worked for him for a
00:22:58
couple years and like learned so much
00:23:00
that way and then also like being in
00:23:03
bands and being around people who just
00:23:05
were creative right so yeah I don't know
00:23:07
that group Solutions itself was like
00:23:09
that outlet as much for me I took a lot
00:23:12
more I feel like regular classes in
00:23:14
group Solutions like English class and
00:23:17
science class and things like that
00:23:18
that's not to say I I also took fun
00:23:20
classes I remember taking games class
00:23:22
and I remember um I have an interview
00:23:24
with John slag Boon coming up and we're
00:23:25
going to talk about I took his like was
00:23:27
basically Scouts class um yes I remember
00:23:30
that I took the girl version with Mrs
00:23:32
floom yeah so yeah so I think I'm glad
00:23:38
that it was that creative outlet for you
00:23:40
but yeah I don't know that I I don't
00:23:43
know that it was for me but no that's
00:23:45
interesting and I feel like even that
00:23:46
like it's such a different experience
00:23:48
for each person and maybe it's because I
00:23:50
got that more structured set of classes
00:23:52
at Casa that I felt like I could just do
00:23:54
more fun things at group Solutions but
00:23:57
yeah I do think it's cool I think a lot
00:23:59
of homes school kids are very
00:24:00
entrepreneurial uh because they care you
00:24:03
know yeah no did you at any point in I
00:24:05
don't know Junior High High School like
00:24:07
have kind of like your own
00:24:09
business a little bit I I mean I would
00:24:12
teach piano classes I've taken piano for
00:24:14
like my whole life so I did piano
00:24:16
lessons and that was kind of my own
00:24:17
company and uh my sister and I were
00:24:20
always coming up with different ideas to
00:24:21
like sell or make on Etsy so yes I guess
00:24:24
you're right we did yeah no I I I was in
00:24:28
that same place where when I looked back
00:24:31
and I was like oh I did this like I
00:24:33
baked cookies for this and like and sold
00:24:35
them and then or like guitar lessons or
00:24:37
whatever I was like oh my gosh like no
00:24:38
I've been like an entrepreneur for a
00:24:40
very long time and uh and I didn't
00:24:43
realize that until semi recently I was
00:24:44
like having a conversation with my dad
00:24:46
and he's like he's like no like you've
00:24:49
you've been this thing for
00:24:51
forever right yes and it's because we
00:24:53
had the time too like we could do it in
00:24:56
between our our school work or whatever
00:24:58
so yeah it it came easy but it was fun
00:25:01
yeah do you think that
00:25:05
like I'm trying to figure out how to
00:25:07
Pivot this a little bit into you know
00:25:09
like homeschooling obviously there's
00:25:13
there's a lot of I feel like we had we
00:25:16
had some shared experience of just the
00:25:17
fact that like we had parents who cared
00:25:19
very much about like getting us to the
00:25:22
end goal not just the end goal being
00:25:24
high school but the end goal being
00:25:25
you're going to build some kind of
00:25:26
career build some kind of life after
00:25:28
that right and you know so they put us
00:25:31
in environments where we we were able to
00:25:33
be social we were able to learn about
00:25:34
the things we're interested in um but
00:25:37
there's still also like a lot of like
00:25:40
mental things that go on in The
00:25:42
Homeschool world that is not like yeah I
00:25:45
don't want to say it's not Traditional
00:25:46
School it it's different um yeah you
00:25:48
know everyone has their own mental
00:25:50
health battles um and things like that
00:25:53
but do you feel like because I know for
00:25:56
me I always I I grew up with this
00:25:59
understanding that I felt like the odd
00:26:00
man out always even within the homes
00:26:02
School Community I had friends I had new
00:26:04
people but I just knew that as a
00:26:06
homeschooler we were the odd men out we
00:26:08
were just different you know and so like
00:26:10
it's taken a long time to get to that
00:26:11
point now where it's like I can be I am
00:26:14
who I am and people can either accept or
00:26:16
deny that that's that's just what it is
00:26:19
yes and I I totally yes I agree I had
00:26:22
the same experience at thought I think
00:26:24
that's part of why I was so painfully
00:26:26
shy as a child cuz you do feel like that
00:26:28
Outsider and it's a little bit harder
00:26:30
because you go to places like group
00:26:31
Solutions but even then there's clicks
00:26:34
so on top of being homeschooled and
00:26:35
feeling like an outsider there's still
00:26:37
like friend groups that you feel like
00:26:38
you're on the outside of and you don't
00:26:40
see them as often so it's harder to get
00:26:43
past those boundaries whereas I think
00:26:45
kids in normal school learn so much
00:26:47
quicker they're like oh I seen these
00:26:49
kids every day doesn't matter what they
00:26:50
think or I mean I'm sure there's still
00:26:52
hard Parts but in my mind I feel like
00:26:55
that would be such a different
00:26:55
experience but now in my adult life
00:26:58
looking back I do think like I am so
00:27:00
much more outgoing because I've gotten
00:27:02
past that and because I think my parents
00:27:04
have gotten past some of that too I
00:27:06
think they have some past like from
00:27:09
their parents trauma like generational
00:27:11
stuff where they tried to keep with like
00:27:13
so many things religion it could be like
00:27:16
how they went about like making rules in
00:27:18
their house like transitioning from
00:27:21
being like an a kid who needs to live by
00:27:23
their rules to like an adult to like I
00:27:26
can now disagree with you and having
00:27:27
those convers ations which is always
00:27:29
such a hard transition I feel like there
00:27:31
is a point where you start almost
00:27:33
parenting your parents through things
00:27:34
where you're like no let me tell you
00:27:36
what I learned like it's okay to not
00:27:38
know something or it's okay to like be
00:27:40
scared of this thing but let me tell you
00:27:41
why you might be scared of this thing I
00:27:43
feel like I've dived so much into like
00:27:47
inogram stuff are you familiar with
00:27:49
inrs yeah refresh my memory just a
00:27:51
little bit but yes I do know what it is
00:27:54
so it's kind of some people love them
00:27:56
some people hate them but it's basically
00:27:57
just
00:27:58
nine numbers that break down personality
00:28:01
types and it's basically like the core
00:28:03
of who these people are so what they're
00:28:05
motivated by so for example I'm an
00:28:07
indogram n and it's Peacemaker so all I
00:28:10
want is for everyone to get along all
00:28:11
the time and I will do anything to make
00:28:13
that happen yeah I Rel that okay yeah uh
00:28:17
but my sister for example is an eight so
00:28:19
she's the opposite they are all about
00:28:21
like confrontation and they're not
00:28:23
afraid of it and they have opinions on
00:28:26
everything so it's been cool to like
00:28:29
dive into something like that where I
00:28:30
think when I was younger and under my
00:28:32
parents where we were in a church that
00:28:34
was pretty uh conservative that wouldn't
00:28:37
have agreed with any of that like um
00:28:40
they were very much like if there's
00:28:42
something wrong in your life or you're
00:28:43
depressed or have any kind of mental
00:28:45
issue it's definitely sin and it's like
00:28:48
okay no there's so many other reasons
00:28:49
that yeah someone could be struggling
00:28:51
with something like there's imbalances
00:28:53
and brain chemicals and like all of
00:28:55
these things so um it's been fun to be
00:28:58
on the other side now to explore all of
00:29:01
that and teach my parents that and see
00:29:03
them come out of things that they have
00:29:05
been trapped in they're like oh I don't
00:29:06
have to think that way or this is why I
00:29:08
think that way so I don't know that's
00:29:10
just been really cool and I think
00:29:12
because we have such a good relationship
00:29:14
they've been open to it so I'm very
00:29:15
thankful for that yeah um but yeah it's
00:29:18
been cool no that's that's interesting
00:29:20
you brought up the the sin thing which I
00:29:23
think is interesting because yeah there
00:29:26
are certain things like and you know
00:29:29
we're all on our own Journeys but I I've
00:29:31
done these unpacking in the last couple
00:29:33
years of the fact that
00:29:35
like yeah there was within Christianity
00:29:38
for anyone who's listening who's not
00:29:40
familiar with Christianity there's a
00:29:41
whole spectrum of beliefs of like the
00:29:44
the severity of the Bible right like the
00:29:47
how literal you take it and all these
00:29:49
different things right and then there's
00:29:51
also kind of this politicized version of
00:29:54
the of church as well where there's like
00:29:57
the rule creator that are like where did
00:29:59
this rule come from we don't even know
00:30:01
at this point because like it's not even
00:30:03
biblical it's just built into the fabric
00:30:05
of that church right or that particular
00:30:08
you know Calvary Chapel are different
00:30:10
than Southern Baptists and Southern
00:30:11
Baptists are different than
00:30:12
non-denominational and you know Etc
00:30:14
right um yes so when you said that that
00:30:18
stuff about you know okay so you have
00:30:20
this mental health block right of like
00:30:22
maybe it's depression or something like
00:30:24
that right and that being it's caused by
00:30:26
sin yes
00:30:28
what like what do you do with that
00:30:31
because you know like the I mean the
00:30:33
whole premise of of Christianity right
00:30:36
is like you accept Jesus into your heart
00:30:38
he pays the ultimate Price He washes
00:30:39
your sins away right and then you
00:30:41
continue to do repentance throughout the
00:30:43
years because as humans we just
00:30:44
naturally mess up and make mistakes and
00:30:47
sin um but yeah why doesn't that go away
00:30:51
if I'm praying about it and I'm asking
00:30:53
for forgiveness why doesn't that
00:30:55
depression go away or why doesn't
00:30:56
whatever that that thing is so that's
00:30:58
that's really interesting and I would
00:31:00
love to hear kind of more about
00:31:02
unpacking that with your parents because
00:31:04
I think learning to have tough
00:31:06
conversations with your parents is like
00:31:09
very free um my family's doing the same
00:31:12
thing so yeah if you're comfortable
00:31:14
share a little bit more about that
00:31:15
because it's fascinating so it was kind
00:31:18
of a wild journey and I think the
00:31:20
Turning Point didn't even happen until
00:31:22
about four years ago because we were at
00:31:23
a church in Los Angeles it was a pretty
00:31:25
big church and my dad was up in pastor
00:31:28
at this big church and so it was very
00:31:30
much like you have to be viewed as
00:31:33
perfect you and your family so we always
00:31:35
lived with that pressure not only being
00:31:36
pastor's kids but pastor's kids at a
00:31:38
mega church where everyone watched our
00:31:41
every
00:31:42
move and in that whole thing I mean so
00:31:46
much drama and political stuff happen
00:31:48
within churches and Leadership it's wild
00:31:50
so um something major happened and like
00:31:53
a bunch of rumors came out about my dad
00:31:55
and everything just kind of like hit the
00:31:59
wall everything spiraled out of control
00:32:01
and that was the point where we were
00:32:03
like wow this is crazy because these are
00:32:05
people who are holding us to like a
00:32:07
ridiculous standard who are not happy
00:32:09
that things are not going their way and
00:32:11
they're willing to do crazy things for
00:32:13
this so yeah uh we decided to leave that
00:32:16
church and that was the first time that
00:32:18
like I had seen my dad like really
00:32:20
stressed about something and like really
00:32:21
struggling through this um and so I
00:32:24
think leading that church was just a
00:32:26
huge Plus that opened up a lot of doors
00:32:29
and then also seeing him be just like
00:32:30
human not viewed as perfect and like
00:32:33
he's like I'm not perfect like this is
00:32:35
just not what is what it is and like we
00:32:37
decided to move to Florida to be closer
00:32:39
to family and we just went to church we
00:32:41
weren't involved in anything he wasn't
00:32:43
the pastor of anything and I think that
00:32:46
transition really helped us open up as a
00:32:48
family to be like okay that was wild
00:32:50
right we never want to go back okay cool
00:32:53
so what what do each of us think what
00:32:55
was our thought so I mean each of us had
00:32:57
a different perspective uh like I think
00:33:00
I was more mad at the church for a
00:33:02
really long time because I was like this
00:33:03
is ridiculous like everyone is um put on
00:33:09
that pedestal everyone expects you to to
00:33:11
live that way and I just really hated
00:33:12
that so other my sister was like No just
00:33:15
these specific people were the bad guy
00:33:17
not the church and all that so coming to
00:33:19
the other side and going to not so much
00:33:22
of a conservative Church um here in
00:33:25
Florida helped a lot because I there
00:33:28
needs to be a balance and that's kind of
00:33:29
what we ended up saying like um you need
00:33:34
mental health you need therapy you need
00:33:36
psychiatrists and everything to support
00:33:38
you through this journey that is life
00:33:40
and we do live in a sinful world so we
00:33:42
can't get away from that but like if you
00:33:45
have a balanced View and you're not just
00:33:46
like legalistic about everything then
00:33:49
you're good so that whole journey sorry
00:33:51
that was a long way to say that was
00:33:54
great okay it's um that's really what
00:33:57
changed dynamic between us and our
00:33:59
parents I think because then uh we were
00:34:02
always scared to open up and bring
00:34:03
things up with them because not that we
00:34:06
were afraid that they would judge us our
00:34:07
parents were very loving and I think we
00:34:09
always had a good relationship with them
00:34:11
but it was that outward pressure of I
00:34:14
don't want you to have the worry of like
00:34:17
oh these people might see my kids is
00:34:19
perfect or like you know just the
00:34:22
stereotypical like church family like so
00:34:27
I don't know if that makes sense but I
00:34:28
feel like that it does
00:34:31
so for a little bit of my dad was not a
00:34:33
pastor but my dad grew up in a house
00:34:35
with with somebody who
00:34:37
was a teacher um I don't know he was
00:34:41
necessarily a pastor but he taught
00:34:42
theology you know that kind of stuff
00:34:44
yeah and my dad always talks about and
00:34:46
this was lived out in my life too was
00:34:48
like on the way to church everyone's
00:34:50
screaming at each other in the car
00:34:51
they're all pissed off everybody's angry
00:34:53
you get out of the car Church the happy
00:34:55
smiles go on you walk in the doors and
00:34:58
everything's okay right you just push it
00:35:00
all down you set it aside and then
00:35:02
you're thinking maybe later we're going
00:35:04
to deal with this right we're going to
00:35:05
talk about it we're gonna whatever and
00:35:07
then you just never do right you just go
00:35:08
about the rest of your life and it's
00:35:10
like and that was kind of what I grew up
00:35:12
with too was kind of that similar
00:35:13
mentality because that was what my dad
00:35:15
had grown up doing and my mom to some
00:35:17
degree and so that's what that's what
00:35:19
they just did to us because it was like
00:35:21
well that's what we know right that's
00:35:23
that's the solution and then it starts
00:35:25
to manifest itself in these really nasty
00:35:27
way right and then when it comes out
00:35:29
you're like oh my God this is disgusting
00:35:32
right you know it comes out like cancer
00:35:35
comes out in sickness it comes out in
00:35:36
like you know crazy like weight loss
00:35:38
stuff it's you know like really
00:35:40
unhealthy you know mental health
00:35:42
struggles and physical health struggles
00:35:44
as well yeah to be a pastor's kid too
00:35:47
there's just that added level of like
00:35:50
all eyes are on me you know it's true
00:35:52
yeah I could even like sit next to a boy
00:35:55
at church because then everyone was like
00:35:56
oh my gosh is that your boyfriend like
00:35:57
what are you do so it was funny I laugh
00:36:00
at it now I think at the time it was
00:36:02
probably tramatic but it's just so funny
00:36:05
but yeah and I think you're right like I
00:36:07
well I think that's such a big thing
00:36:09
because you look up to your parents for
00:36:10
so long right and then once you realize
00:36:12
that they also struggle with things
00:36:14
you're like oh we can relate to each
00:36:15
other like this is cool like we get to
00:36:18
talk about this now so yeah that's
00:36:19
helpful yeah so do you feel like you
00:36:24
kind of maybe like I don't want to say
00:36:28
healed from it faster than your like
00:36:29
family did but obviously you were
00:36:31
talking about like then learning to like
00:36:33
kind of parent your parent um in a way
00:36:36
so is it one of those things where you
00:36:38
feel like oh I kind of got to this
00:36:40
understanding of like whether it was the
00:36:41
therapy or just reading and and gaining
00:36:43
knowledge right where you're like okay
00:36:45
I'm at this place where I'm happier and
00:36:46
I'm starting to understand like taking
00:36:48
certain things with you know I need a
00:36:51
therapist or I need you know some kind
00:36:54
of drug or whatever you know to help
00:36:55
with depression whatever it is but like
00:36:58
that that then you were able to like
00:37:01
flip around and be like okay Mom Dad
00:37:03
like you might also benefit from this
00:37:06
kind of a thing yeah yeah yeah I do feel
00:37:09
like even when we were at that church in
00:37:11
La um I was super interested in
00:37:14
Psychology I thought it was so
00:37:16
fascinating just a study of how the
00:37:17
brain works and people's psychology uh
00:37:20
so that's what I originally wanted to go
00:37:23
to school for um but my parents are like
00:37:26
no our church doesn't believe in that I
00:37:29
don't think you should like all that
00:37:31
kind of thing so I was already exploring
00:37:33
all of that set of things on my own
00:37:35
reading books uh that kind of stuff so I
00:37:38
think that did help prepare me for the
00:37:40
aftermath of like okay I kind of know
00:37:44
how people's brains work and I just need
00:37:46
to know what trauma you guys are
00:37:48
reacting this way because of if that
00:37:52
makes sense um so I think my sister and
00:37:54
I both my sister went to therapy pretty
00:37:56
quickly after that uh for the first time
00:37:58
because if it wasn't biblical counseling
00:38:00
then you couldn't go but obviously
00:38:03
that's not always the answer so she did
00:38:04
therapy I was already familiar with a
00:38:06
lot of that kind of stuff so I do think
00:38:08
that helped in the transition but I
00:38:10
think it was definitely our whole family
00:38:11
at the same time being like okay we just
00:38:14
need to try something new break out of
00:38:16
this super conservative legalistic
00:38:18
lifestyle so uh yes and no I think it
00:38:20
was all of us at the same time but I
00:38:22
think my sister and I had a little leg
00:38:23
up yeah okay okay from personal
00:38:26
experience and then also from doing a
00:38:28
lot of research anytime somebody is
00:38:30
trying
00:38:31
to deny you access to information right
00:38:34
whether it's like like you said your
00:38:36
church was saying psychology not really
00:38:38
real not really relevant whatever I grew
00:38:40
up in an area where there was a lot of
00:38:42
witches you know kind of interested in
00:38:44
the oul whatever when someone's telling
00:38:46
you no don't go down that path it's
00:38:48
usually not coming from a place of like
00:38:51
it it's coming from a place of control
00:38:54
because typically um be and and wanting
00:38:58
to deny and fear because they're wanting
00:39:01
to deny you access to that information
00:39:02
because they fear that once you have
00:39:04
access to that
00:39:05
information you will continue to make
00:39:07
more choices for yourself and choices
00:39:09
that will lead you away from what they
00:39:11
believe right and so Christianity is
00:39:15
very very used to doing this over and
00:39:17
over and over again um like you said
00:39:20
also like receiving counseling at a
00:39:22
church typically those people are not
00:39:23
trained therapists no no they're not
00:39:28
with the Bible and that is about it and
00:39:31
you know not everything in the Bible is
00:39:32
bad but it's just you
00:39:34
know sometimes you just got to learn how
00:39:36
to do other things right it's like your
00:39:39
brain works other ways um it's true and
00:39:42
I think that's the other thing like I
00:39:43
mean I still go to a church and I I
00:39:45
would still consider myself a Christian
00:39:47
but it's very much different from what I
00:39:49
grew up with because I think there is
00:39:51
that balance you know like uh we believe
00:39:54
what the Bible says but also like we
00:39:56
believe that the gave us all of these
00:39:58
resources for a reason like why are we
00:40:00
trying to like limit people and control
00:40:02
people and like that's not the way he
00:40:03
would want anyone to live so yeah yeah I
00:40:07
think it's it's very fascinating and
00:40:08
everyone's Journey down all of that is
00:40:11
so fascinating to me yeah man that is
00:40:16
that's a lot to unpack but is a lot I'm
00:40:19
glad I'm glad you've kind of come out
00:40:21
the other side of it and obviously I'm
00:40:23
sure there are things that you know
00:40:25
there's just things that we will always
00:40:26
continue to deal with as as we go
00:40:27
through life but I'm glad to hear that
00:40:31
you're kind of out of it out of the
00:40:32
worst of it it sounds like yes yes we
00:40:34
made it to the other side we're good and
00:40:36
now I feel like it's fun to be able to
00:40:38
help other people who might be going
00:40:39
through that I think Church HT is just
00:40:40
such a real thing and so yeah being able
00:40:43
to be a resource for for people who've
00:40:45
gone through that is yeah super
00:40:47
important to me because it's it's a lot
00:40:49
yeah no it is it is well and it's cool
00:40:52
too that you're like your dad somebody
00:40:55
who was a prominent figure inside of a
00:40:57
big church is able to also like
00:41:01
hopefully help people and share his
00:41:02
story and share you know and and heal
00:41:05
from his own past stuff is also very
00:41:08
very important um and you know I tell
00:41:11
people this all the time I'm like it's
00:41:12
never too late to go get some help it's
00:41:14
never too late you know and you know you
00:41:17
alluded this to this as well but like
00:41:19
you know families that can then like
00:41:21
talk about the stuff that happened
00:41:24
behind closed doors
00:41:27
like I feel still so close to my parents
00:41:30
yeah and we have gone through stuff
00:41:33
right there has needed to be apologies
00:41:35
there's needed to be relearning and we
00:41:36
don't agree on everything but we're
00:41:39
we're still like they're still my folks
00:41:41
I still love them I still want to go see
00:41:43
them they still come visit me like
00:41:44
there's no cutting off yeah but it's
00:41:46
because they were also open to the fact
00:41:48
that to have conversation and to heal
00:41:50
and learn and be good people basically
00:41:54
yeah yeah that's the key and also I feel
00:41:57
like
00:41:57
I'm so excited about like our generation
00:42:00
and you mentioned this on your last
00:42:02
podcast that you are not sure if you and
00:42:04
your wife want kids and my me and my
00:42:05
husband are also not sure we all kids
00:42:07
but thinking about this generation I
00:42:10
feel like we've come such a long way
00:42:11
with all of our mental health and
00:42:14
conversations and like all that kind of
00:42:17
stuff and just creating our opinions
00:42:18
that I think are so much healthier than
00:42:20
the past couple Generations that I'm
00:42:22
just excited to see what happens I think
00:42:24
it'll be really cool yeah no I
00:42:27
I agree with you and I think whether you
00:42:30
want kids whether you don't want kids
00:42:31
you know it's up in the air whatever it
00:42:34
like yeah you can still be involved in
00:42:36
people's lives in a meaningful and
00:42:39
helpful way right
00:42:41
and I've had so many people throughout
00:42:44
the years now who have come to me and
00:42:46
been you know or like or come to my
00:42:49
parents and then they've pointed me them
00:42:50
to me of just like hey like this kid is
00:42:53
struggling with X or they want to go
00:42:54
into what and you know and and we can
00:42:56
just have conversation I met a home
00:42:57
school family I live in Tennessee now I
00:42:59
met a homeschool family here and we were
00:43:01
just like you know I was yucking it up
00:43:03
with them about the fact that I was like
00:43:05
it gets better right like you can make
00:43:07
friends and like you know all these
00:43:09
things and like we were just joking
00:43:10
about it but you know but also
00:43:12
encouraging them that it's like you know
00:43:13
if you want to go to college like yeah
00:43:15
we can make that happen you know it's
00:43:17
easy you know yeah that kind I know yeah
00:43:19
it's so true and so yeah so I say that
00:43:22
to say even if you don't have kids you
00:43:24
can still impact the next generation of
00:43:25
people 100% going to be bosses you're
00:43:27
going to work in work places and you get
00:43:29
to you get to yeah make a
00:43:32
difference yeah that's very cool okay
00:43:37
very cool no this has been a great
00:43:38
conversation Michaela because I I wasn't
00:43:41
I I wasn't sure where we were going to
00:43:44
go with this you know we kind of flying
00:43:46
by the seat of our pants but um but I
00:43:49
love it I love what this conversation
00:43:50
has gone and um no and I just want to
00:43:54
say thank you for coming on because like
00:43:56
and reaching out and you know saying
00:43:57
what's up oh yeah absolutely I think
00:44:00
that's what I when he says email like
00:44:03
you can email him you can message him
00:44:04
like do it that's what I did I just
00:44:06
reached out dm' you and I was like yeah
00:44:08
it's so great like it's so fun to hear
00:44:10
everybody and it's just fun to catch up
00:44:12
with people so do it yes yeah no and and
00:44:15
reach out to each other too if you see
00:44:17
somebody on here and you're like you're
00:44:20
like oh my gosh I haven't seen them in
00:44:21
forever like shoot them a DM shoot film
00:44:24
a quick video and send it over on
00:44:26
Instagram or text
00:44:29
get reconnected these
00:44:30
fol a lot of we're very different people
00:44:32
now you and I think reconnecting with
00:44:37
our friends from the past and you know
00:44:40
I'm I'm making better friends with
00:44:41
people that I never thought I would ever
00:44:43
be friends with again um people I never
00:44:46
even like gave a second thought to after
00:44:48
I was out you know I was like oh okay I
00:44:50
never you know I never have to see them
00:44:51
again okay whatever um you know they're
00:44:54
coming back into my lives and I'm
00:44:55
realizing that there's so many people
00:44:56
out there that are just like amazing
00:44:58
people and so again like you said Mak
00:45:01
yeah no go ahead I was going to say
00:45:03
making friends as adults is hard but
00:45:05
like we have this entire group of people
00:45:07
who shared our experiences so it's
00:45:09
definitely worth like making friends
00:45:11
with them again yeah absolutely and uh
00:45:14
yeah and like Michaela said uh if you
00:45:16
want to re out me absolutely please do
00:45:18
that I'm on Instagram Tik Tok
00:45:21
threads at exhs club or you can email me
00:45:26
at exh just [email protected]
00:45:29
um yeah just shoot me a message say
00:45:31
what's up you know and we can chat even
00:45:33
if it's not on recording we we'll chat
00:45:35
we we'll hang out um M this has been
00:45:38
great in is there anything we missed or
00:45:42
that has come to your mind of a cringey
00:45:44
homeschool moment that you're like you
00:45:46
got to leave the people with that's so
00:45:48
funny uh I don't know about a cringey
00:45:50
homeschool moment but I do have this
00:45:51
vivid memory that I want to know if you
00:45:53
remember also um so we had a friend his
00:45:57
name is Ryan Reynolds not the actor but
00:45:59
just Ryan Reynolds well he was an actor
00:46:01
but he was not Ryan Reynold yes not the
00:46:04
Ryan Reynolds um but I just remember
00:46:07
that one year for his birthday he wanted
00:46:10
to no we were throwing him a surprise
00:46:12
party his mom put this whole thing
00:46:13
together and so there was probably like
00:46:15
what 25 of us at his house waiting for
00:46:18
him do you remember this I think I think
00:46:20
so I think I think I know where you're
00:46:21
going and I'm trying not to kill the
00:46:22
punch line on this one but yeah I think
00:46:24
I know where you're going waiting at his
00:46:26
house we got there early it's like 6:30
00:46:29
and everyone is so excited because Ryan
00:46:32
was a jokester so like the fact that we
00:46:33
could pull a fast one on him was like
00:46:36
yes we we're doing something great here
00:46:38
yes so his brother who's supposed to
00:46:39
pick him up walks in the front door and
00:46:41
is like hey and then his mom's like
00:46:43
where's Ryan and Stephen's like I
00:46:46
thought you were gonna get him and she
00:46:48
was like no that was your job and so
00:46:49
everyone's like oh no the part is ruined
00:46:51
and then out pops Ryan from a closet the
00:46:55
front room we're all hiding these like
00:46:57
surprise he's like I put this all
00:46:59
together it's a surprise on you guys and
00:47:01
you had the best reaction you were like
00:47:03
are you kidding me and you like walked
00:47:05
out and you pretended to just lead the
00:47:06
party and I always thought that was so
00:47:09
funny I do remember that oh my gosh yeah
00:47:12
no I always refer that was the party
00:47:13
that Ryan came out of the closet um yes
00:47:16
yes that was joke and yeah I would I
00:47:19
tell people that you know what's even
00:47:20
funnier about that party was that when I
00:47:22
got there I was wearing a coat cuz it
00:47:24
was like which like I mean you live in
00:47:26
SoCal like you don't need to wear a coat
00:47:28
but like what six days out of the year
00:47:30
um anyway I was wearing a coat I walked
00:47:32
in I took my jacket off and I was like
00:47:34
oh I'm just going to like put it in this
00:47:36
closet right here and then and then I
00:47:38
don't know why I don't know if someone
00:47:39
distracted me or what but I like ended
00:47:41
up not putting in the closet and I'm so
00:47:43
glad I didn't because that's where he
00:47:44
was and I told him he's like I would
00:47:46
have just grabbed you and pulled you in
00:47:48
the closet and you would just had to be
00:47:49
in here with me I was like that would
00:47:51
have made it even one more step funny of
00:47:53
like Jacob and Ryan came out of the
00:47:55
closet together um would have been
00:47:58
hilarious wow that just added to the
00:48:00
whole the whole night I didn't even know
00:48:02
that that's so funny yeah no but love
00:48:04
Ryan Ryan if you're listening to this
00:48:07
reach out dude like come on the show
00:48:08
let's let's chat because I know you're
00:48:09
doing big things now so um yeah Michaela
00:48:14
this has been awesome thank you again
00:48:15
for reaching out and coming on and
00:48:17
sharing your story and the door is
00:48:20
always open if you ever want to come
00:48:21
back you're more than welcome to and um
00:48:24
people reach out to Michaela say hi tell
00:48:26
her what's up yeah you know and um
00:48:28
absolutely yeah all right this has been
00:48:30
the ex homeschoolers Club I said it
00:48:32
before I'll say it again reach out to me
00:48:35
leave a like leave a subscribe do all of
00:48:36
the things you need to do on whatever
00:48:38
platform you're listening on and uh you
00:48:41
know what I'm going to do one more call
00:48:42
to action also if you enjoyed this
00:48:44
episode or if you enjoyed any of the
00:48:45
episodes send it to a friend please do
00:48:47
it share it around you know if not for
00:48:50
me for yourself okay peace we'll see you
00:48:52
next week all right
00:49:00
[Music]
00:49:06
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Funniest
  • 60
    Most inspiring
  • 60
    Most unserious (in a good way)

Episode Highlights

  • Michaela's Homeschool Journey
    Michaela shares her experience of being homeschooled all the way through, including family dynamics and the support system her mom created.
    “It was fun because then I had a buddy to do all my school work with.”
    @ 03m 10s
    October 30, 2024
  • Transitioning to Event Management
    Michaela talks about her transition from homeschooling to a career in event management, highlighting the importance of hands-on experience.
    “I got a job as a braa and was able to do that full-time while I did online schooling.”
    @ 14m 10s
    October 30, 2024
  • The Importance of Networking
    Michaela emphasizes the skills learned from homeschooling that helped her build a professional network and succeed in her career.
    “I didn’t realize how normal it was at such an early age for us.”
    @ 17m 51s
    October 30, 2024
  • Faking It Till Making It
    A candid reflection on self-doubt and career transitions.
    “I really do feel like I faked it till I made it.”
    @ 18m 05s
    October 30, 2024
  • A Journey to Creativity
    Desiring a shift from a mundane job to a creative career in marketing.
    “I need out of this. I want to do marketing; I want to be creative.”
    @ 20m 37s
    October 30, 2024
  • The Power of Self-Organization
    Learning to structure your day can unlock endless possibilities.
    “If you can structure your day and teach yourself, you can do anything.”
    @ 21m 36s
    October 30, 2024
  • Lifelong Entrepreneurial Spirit
    Recognizing a history of entrepreneurship from a young age.
    “I’ve been an entrepreneur for a very long time.”
    @ 24m 40s
    October 30, 2024
  • Open Conversations with Parents
    The importance of discussing fears and uncertainties with family.
    “It’s okay to not know something or be scared of this thing.”
    @ 27m 40s
    October 30, 2024
  • The Power of Psychology
    Exploring the impact of psychology and therapy on personal growth and family dynamics.
    “I was super interested in Psychology; I thought it was so fascinating.”
    @ 37m 11s
    October 30, 2024
  • Healing Together
    Discussing the importance of family healing and open conversations about mental health.
    “I'm glad to hear that you're kind of out of it, out of the worst of it.”
    @ 40m 32s
    October 30, 2024
  • Reconnecting with Friends
    The importance of reconnecting with friends and building new relationships as adults.
    “Making friends as adults is hard, but it's definitely worth it.”
    @ 45m 01s
    October 30, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • We were all just weird together and it was great.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14
  • Homeschooling gave me the edge up because I was used to working independently.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14
  • I need out of this. I want to do marketing; I want to be creative.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14
  • It’s okay to not know something or be scared of this thing.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14
  • We just need to try something new and break out of this super conservative lifestyle.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14
  • It's never too late to go get some help.
    Did Homeschooling Prepare Us To Be Adults? | EXHS #14

Key Moments

  • Welcome Back00:04
  • Career Transition12:52
  • Burnout18:16
  • Networking Importance19:37
  • Family Dynamics33:57
  • Mental Health Journey35:44
  • Unique Journeys40:07
  • Reconnecting45:01

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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