Episode 46
Finding Your Voice: Laura Osnes on Identity Beyond the Spotlight
Broadway, Hallmark, Singing, Acting—Laura Osnes Does It All!
Laura Osnes is a ray of sunshine and a positive light in this world, and I was honored to have her join me on this episode of One Big Thing.
In our conversation, Laura shares her journey from Broadway star to rediscovering her identity beyond her career. We discuss the courage to try new things, the importance of community and connection, and the challenges of embracing authenticity. She opens up about her most impactful roles, the difficulties of being true to herself, and the personal growth that comes from facing life’s challenges.
Together, we explore themes of faith, personal growth, and the power of genuine relationships. We also dive into the significance of making courageous choices for family, finding a supportive community, and creating meaningful content in today’s counter-cultural landscape. This episode is all about intentional living, prioritizing what truly matters, and nurturing the relationships that make life richer.
Tune in for an inspiring and heartfelt conversation with Laura Osnes!
Takeaways
- Embracing new challenges can be scary, but it opens doors to personal growth and self-discovery.
- Every experience, even tough ones, can shape our identity and help us find our true passion.
- It's essential to surround ourselves with a community that supports our values and encourages our journey.
- Finding your voice and being true to yourself is a powerful journey that everyone should embrace.
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LAURA OSNES is a two-time Tony Award nominee for her indelible performances on Broadway in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Bonnie & Clyde. Other Broadway credits include Bandstand (streaming via Broadway On Demand), Anything Goes, South Pacific, and Grease, having won the role of Sandy on NBC’s reality talent competition, “You’re The One That I Want” at the age of 21. Osnes has charmed millions in eight Hallmark Channel and Great American Family movies and has also been seen on television in Fosse/Verdon (FX), Six by Sondheim (HBO), Dynasty (CW), and Elementary (CBS). Her crystal clear and powerful soprano regularly graces symphony halls and cabaret venues around the globe, including filmed performances with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Live from Lincoln Center (PBS), A Capitol Fourth (PBS), and The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS). Her voice can be heard on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime), Team UmiZoomi (Nickelodeon), and Chip Chilla (Bentkey), as well as several original Broadway cast recordings and her two solo albums. Laura has written and released 11 original songs, including her debut EP “On The Other Side” since moving to Tennessee in 2021 and co-founded Rebel Rocket Entertainment, a Nashville-based production company, with her husband, Nathan Johnson. @lauraosnes
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Transcript
Welcome to the One Big Thing podcast, where inspiration meets transformation.
Speaker A:I'm your host, Steve Campbell, and I'm excited to have you join me today.
Speaker A:I welcome guests from all walks of life to the show.
Speaker A:We're going to spend about 30 minutes getting into their story and sharing the One big thing that they want to share with all of you that can help you move the forward in your life.
Speaker A:So thank you for being my guest in the One Big Thing and enjoy this episode.
Speaker B:I think in this season, what I am learning is having the courage to try new things.
Speaker B:I think sometimes we reach this age, I kind of got to do the thing that I felt like I was put on the planet to do for the first 37 years of my life.
Speaker B:And I did it at the elite top level.
Speaker B:And then when suddenly that was taken from me, I didn't know who I was without it.
Speaker B:So I've had to learn a big lesson in identity and also feeling like I'm an old dog trying to learn a new trick and figure out what else I can do and I should do and how to use my gifts to the greatest their ability if they're not within the realm, the one realm that I've known my entire life.
Speaker B:So it's been a vulnerable season, but also really a season of growth.
Speaker C:Welcome back to the One Big Thing podcast.
Speaker C:I am your host and have the incredible opportunities connect with real human beings on this platform.
Speaker C:Very excited to have Laura Osnes on the show with me today.
Speaker C:She is a fun connection and you guys are in for a super treat.
Speaker C:When I think about sourcing guests, one of the best times I've ever had on the show is with Bradley Rose of Peloton.
Speaker C:He was my first international guest.
Speaker C:We talk about his life after a stroke, and we got to humanize that he's not just this coach on a Peloton bike, but that he is a human being that's married and went through a really difficult season of life.
Speaker C:And as many of you know, Bradley starred in a Hallmark movie, One Royal Holiday.
Speaker C:And so this past Christmas season, my wife and I were looking for something to watch.
Speaker C:And I thought, you know what?
Speaker C:Let's get the Hallmark Channel and let's get One Royal Holiday.
Speaker C:And on screen was Bradley, but then also on screen was this character who just both my wife and I were like, I bet you that woman is a lot of fun.
Speaker C:She's a ray of sunshine.
Speaker C:She's got a light and a spirit to her.
Speaker C:And her name is Laura Osnes.
Speaker C:And so I reached out to Laura and said, Laura, I don't know if you do podcasts.
Speaker C:I had Bradley on the show.
Speaker C:It was a riot, as he would say.
Speaker C:It was a bop.
Speaker C:We had a great time.
Speaker C:Would you love to come on?
Speaker C:And so you guys are going to get a chance to hear from Laura today.
Speaker C:But if you are brand new to the One Big Thing, this is an interview style show where I am a dad of four kids, my wife and I trying to navigate a very challenging season of life, raising young ones, thinking about our legacy, trying to navigate being married, being a couple, how do you discipline your kids?
Speaker C:And so there's a lot of moving parts in our life.
Speaker C:And when I think about my life, I know I'm not alone.
Speaker C:And so I started this show to encourage people that are in similar seasons that are looking for maybe not the whole plan to life, but one big idea that can maybe help them write today and give them some applicable, applicable ideas.
Speaker C:So Laura was gracious enough to come on and it is a challenge because I, I ask each guest if we had one opportunity to encourage somebody today, what is it that you would share?
Speaker C:So Laura, for those that don't know you right, you're going to have some fans that follow you and want to come on.
Speaker C:Who is Laura Osnes for those that may not know.
Speaker B:Hi everyone and Steve, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker B:I'm like so excited and delighted to be here.
Speaker B:Okay, so I am an actress and singer.
Speaker B:I was born in Minnesota and I had a big break when I was 21 to pursue my dream of being on Broadway.
Speaker B:I moved to New York and starred in six Broadway shows and a few Hallmark movies as well.
Speaker B:The pandemic caused my husband and I to move to Tennessee where I now live in Nashville and write music and have a production company.
Speaker C:And if I your big break, was it Greece?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker C:Yeah, man, I've been dying to yell Sandy because that was what, that was your role in Greece.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So very cool.
Speaker C:I have very cool opportunities to connect with people from, from music, from film, from NFL athletes, but also just everyday people and we're all human beings and that's been the one thing I've discovered in the show is no matter how famous or influential or if you have no platform at all, you are human and you gone through things and you have every opportunity to share that.
Speaker C:Life is hard, but it's always worth it.
Speaker C:And so Laura, one thing that I asked guest right at the beginning of the show, the show is called the One Big Thing.
Speaker C:If you had one big thing to share with anyone listening to the show, what would Laura Osnes one big thing be?
Speaker B:I think in this season, what I am learning is having the courage to try new things.
Speaker B:I think sometimes we reach this age, I kind of got to do the thing that I felt like I was put on the planet to do for the first 37 years of my life.
Speaker B:And I did it at the elite top level.
Speaker B:And then when suddenly that was taken from me, I didn't know who I was without it.
Speaker B:So I've had to learn a big lesson in identity and also feeling like I'm an old dog trying to learn a new trick and figure out what else I can do and I should do and how to use my gifts to the greatest their ability if they're not within the realm, the one realm that I've known, you know, my entire life.
Speaker B:So it's been a vulnerable season, but also a really season of growth, pushing myself beyond my comfort zone to try new things and take that leap of faith and have let courage overcome fear.
Speaker C:Well, and you say you try new things.
Speaker C:I mean, if you just watch your life from afar on Instagram, between Hallmarks and singing shows and, you know, Broadway, it just looks like you're doing what many people who don't have those opportunities or feel maybe life is boring just raising kids or navigating marriage.
Speaker C:You see somebody who, like, you know, you, is promoting an upcoming movie with other stars and everything is so well put together and marketed and curated, and it's very easy from the outside to watch things like that and be like, wow, she must have everything figured out.
Speaker C:So to hear you say, even right at the beginning, I'm learning in this season how to be vulnerable and try new things.
Speaker C:What does that mean in your world, considering all the opportunities God has graced you with to be on film, to do Broadway, to sing.
Speaker C:What does learning new things, like, really boil down to kind of in this season of life for you?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's so good.
Speaker B:I am really competitive, and I think my whole life I've only liked to do things that I know I'm going to succeed at and that I'm going to be great at.
Speaker B:And I found that thing when I was like 4 years old.
Speaker B:I was like, this is what I want to do.
Speaker B:Like, I, I knew I wanted to be on Broadway.
Speaker B:Like, that was my dream.
Speaker B:And I got, I had a big door that opened that made that dream come true for me when I was 21 on Broadway.
Speaker B:But I grew up doing musical theater.
Speaker B:It's all I ever did.
Speaker B:I was so affirmed for it.
Speaker B:Everybody believed in me for it.
Speaker B:You get applause, you get affirmation, compliments.
Speaker B:And I had opportunities where that way was kind of paved for me in a really beautiful way.
Speaker B:Not to say I didn't work hard, but it came easily, it came naturally.
Speaker B:And I had a lot of favor in my career.
Speaker B:Now, like to be in a season of going, like, I don't know, I don't know who I am without that because it's all I've ever done.
Speaker B:And what is my worth and value outside of that?
Speaker B:And how can I continue to inspire people to feel fulfilled, to feel purposeful if I'm not doing that one thing that I've always known and that I've.
Speaker B:And that I've been good at, that I've been great at?
Speaker B:I again, like, it's.
Speaker C:You're very, you're very good at it.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, thank you.
Speaker B:And I say that in a humble way, but it was like I knew what I wanted to do from when I was, you know, so young.
Speaker B:And that's a gift in so many ways.
Speaker B:But then I have had to learn at this old age now, my late 30s old age, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:Like in the grand scheme of life, of going suddenly like, oh, pivot.
Speaker B:Like I've been called into a season of going, oh, I need, I need have a redirection now and a new chapter and a new call and what does that look like?
Speaker B:And I think I went through a season, we'll get into it more where I didn't know what I wanted to do and it was just kind of throwing things at the wall, which is what I was learning where I'm like, just try anything.
Speaker B:You can't be afraid of failure.
Speaker B:You can't be afraid of what people think.
Speaker B:See, see what sticks?
Speaker B:See what works?
Speaker B:Where are there other ways I can use my creativity to make an impact or make art or you know, find.
Speaker B:Find joy and potentially, yeah, inspire people through it.
Speaker C:Well, in, in singing is a God given gift that you can tell right away whether someone has been giving a gift of singing, which obviously you have.
Speaker C:And I've heard people open their mouth to even sing a song and it's like, oh, okay, there's that.
Speaker C:I mean, you tried.
Speaker C:And so singing is.
Speaker C:Singing is a very individual, individualistic journey because the moment you open your mouth, someone can identify, wow, you have that gift.
Speaker C:Whereas sometimes people have gifts that aren' so predominant or physical.
Speaker C:It's the way their brain thinks, it's their creativity.
Speaker C:And so it's not on display.
Speaker C:But when you do auditions, when you do Broadway, the moment you hit the first note or you hit that big mark, everyone can appreciate your gift because it's so centralized in singing.
Speaker C:And so I guess even one of the cool questions that I have is, you've done so many Broadway shows.
Speaker C:What has been the coolest role that you've ever had the opportunity to play?
Speaker B:Coolest.
Speaker B:Ooh, let's see.
Speaker C:Most fun.
Speaker C:Whatever you want to call it.
Speaker C:I mean, I've never been on Broadway, so whatever speaks to you in that moment with that question?
Speaker B:Interesting, because people always ask, like, what's your favorite role?
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:It's like choosing your favorite child.
Speaker B:Really.
Speaker B:All of them have a very special place in my heart.
Speaker B:I got to do six Broadway shows, and each of those roles came to me at a time in my life when I needed them most.
Speaker B:So that's what's been, I think, really special.
Speaker B:I think my legacy, the thing I will be remembered for, is getting to play Cinderella.
Speaker B:In Cinderella, I think that was the one that maybe had the most impact.
Speaker B:But for me, like, meaning meaningful, wise, I think I would have to say Bandstand.
Speaker B:It's a musical about a World War II, a vet that returns from the war and starts a swing band to compete in a radio broadcast competition.
Speaker B:And I played a gold star wife, a woman who had lost her husband in battle.
Speaker B:And I get roped into being the singer of the band.
Speaker B: or five months on Broadway in: Speaker B:So it was not a huge, like, critical success, but it was the most impactful.
Speaker B:I felt like we weren't just here to entertain people.
Speaker B:We were part of a cause that was bigger than our own.
Speaker B:We had veterans coming to the show and telling us how much the piece impacted them, healed them.
Speaker B:It dealt with issues like PTSD and mental, you know, mental stuff and plugging plug, like soldiers plugging themselves back into society.
Speaker B:And same thing we're talking about here, finding value and worth in something outside of serving.
Speaker B:And after going through hell and back, how to assimilate back into society.
Speaker B:And then also, you know, I interviewed a lot of actual gold star wives, women who had lost their husbands in Afghanistan specifically, and the responsibility of wanting to tell their story truthfully and honor them.
Speaker B:And we had a veterans wall backstage and, you know, had pictures of.
Speaker B:Of family members and friends, and fans started sending in photos of veter that they knew, and it just was very, very meaningful.
Speaker B:We partnered with veteran organizations, you know, in the merch that we were Selling and things like that to help really amplify the cause.
Speaker B:And it was, it was very meaningful.
Speaker C:Well, and I'm thinking about some of the things you've even said so far, which is like finding your worth and your identity because of your life being so out in the public, in movies and in Broadway and singing, you have an imbd.
Speaker C:I mean, people can see all the things you've been in and it would seem like, holy cow, you've accomplished so much.
Speaker C:What do you mean?
Speaker C:You're having these questions and I wonder if this has been your scenario too, because this has come up with other people in music or in professional sports.
Speaker C:Your career in singing and in music and in film allows you to escape who Laura actually is, right?
Speaker C:Because you get to put on a character.
Speaker C:And I wonder if is there ever a conflict like within that?
Speaker C:Because obviously when you're Cinderella, you're Cinderella, like you get full into character, right?
Speaker C:You're not thinking about Laura and what Laura's self identity is.
Speaker C:You get to play and project yourself onto these characters.
Speaker C:Has there been like, through your career any like, feelings that you never thought you'd be feeling?
Speaker C:Because you chase a dream, you've wanted to do something from a young age and you get these opportunities.
Speaker C:But then, like for example, Stephen Day, who I had the opportunity to interview in Nashville, talked about how when he got done playing a sold out show, he went back to his bus and he sat down and he was like, what am I doing?
Speaker C:And you're like, wait, what?
Speaker C:What do you mean?
Speaker C:Like, you just did the thing.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And I wonder if that has ever been your experience is these unintended feelings that sometimes come up when it seems like from a world standpoint, you have it all.
Speaker C:You have every opportunity, you have great favor, you've sang songs.
Speaker C:Has there been though any feelings along this career that you're like, I just never would have anticipated I would have ever felt this in the midst of doing all of these things.
Speaker B:You know, I'll be honest with you and say that when I was playing a character and when I'm in that musical theater realm, I purely loved it.
Speaker B:I never took it for granted.
Speaker B:It was always fulfilling and satisfying to me.
Speaker B:It was my happy place.
Speaker B:There was an escapism element to it.
Speaker B:But I feel like I always trusted that I was cast for a reason.
Speaker B:And my job was to bring truth to the words that were on the page and breathe life into this character, but bring the best parts of Laura to that character.
Speaker B:I think what has been hard or what's what's unique in this career is being yourself and being able to.
Speaker B:I started doing, like, cabaret concerts where I'm like, sharing songs and just being Laura for 60 Minutes and stories from my career and trusting that Laura also is enough.
Speaker B:And me just being me is actually the scariest, most vulnerable thing, because I love stepping foot into a character.
Speaker B:I love figuring out what they're going to be thinking and learning their backstory and coming up with all of that, like, that's.
Speaker B:That's the fun of the job is becoming someone else.
Speaker B:And then when you have to be yourself, that's actually the most.
Speaker B:The most terrifying and vulnerable thing.
Speaker B:Especially this.
Speaker B:This last year, few years, I started writing music and I released an ep and I was like, I've never done that before.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I went through this whole thing and I'm still going through it.
Speaker B:Of going like, what is Laura's voice?
Speaker B:What does Laura have to say?
Speaker B:Because my whole life I've been given words to say, and I've become an expert at breathing life into someone else's words.
Speaker B:And I've had to be like, what?
Speaker B:I also have a voice that matters.
Speaker B:And how in the world can I find that and have the courage to be able to put it out there and hope that someone is impacted by it and, you know, not.
Speaker B:It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.
Speaker B:Not everyone's going to like it.
Speaker B:And I also have to be okay with that.
Speaker B:Letting go of needing the affirmation.
Speaker B:I've learned to.
Speaker B:I need to create for myself and not for other people.
Speaker C:So has that been kind of what you were alluding to about rediscovering or not being afraid to do new things is more.
Speaker C:So Laura figuring out Laura's voice.
Speaker C:Not as Cinderella.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Not as Sandy, but just Laura.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And trusting that there's still worth and there's still value in that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I think.
Speaker C:And maybe that's the struggle for so many people is Broadway film gives you something to look forward to, something to escape to, something to work towards.
Speaker C:But when you are in the everyday life of raising kids or to a 9 to 5, maybe sales meeting or maybe an opportunity to do a presentation where you get to, like, step out and step in and like, you can do something on adrenaline is maybe the closest thing that some people have to getting outside of just the doldrums of trying to figure every.
Speaker C:Every day out.
Speaker C:And so any.
Speaker C:I think this is super helpful for.
Speaker C:For just people that, again, look at people of influence and say they have it all figured out.
Speaker C:I wish.
Speaker C:I wish I had a little bit of what Laura has, because it just seems so glamorous.
Speaker C:It seems so put together.
Speaker C:And what I always try to capture is that you're a human just like I am, just like every single listener.
Speaker C:And you have your own insecurities.
Speaker C:You have your own things you're figuring out.
Speaker C:But where does.
Speaker C:Where does somebody like you that has such a public profile in your life has lived in front of so many people?
Speaker C:What.
Speaker C:Like, do you have people in your life that don't view you as Laura the star, but just Laura in.
Speaker C:Is it hard to find that because so many people may want things from you, whether you realize it?
Speaker C:Like, is it hard to find community for somebody like you that has such a public profile?
Speaker B:Thanks for saying that.
Speaker B:And I, you know, I think we should get into this, too.
Speaker B:But it's like there was a moment I met.
Speaker B:You know, I'm at the.
Speaker B:The height and the peak of my career, and I had a.
Speaker B:I had a batt with cancel culture, where all of it went away and I had.
Speaker B:And we moved to Tennessee.
Speaker B:And so it might look like I have it all together, but I have been through a year of, like, complete.
Speaker B:I was on the ground.
Speaker B:There was so much hatred being flung at me.
Speaker B:And it's like coming out the other side of something like that and going, what really matters?
Speaker B:And it's not about what was done to you, and it's about who you become in the process on the other side of.
Speaker B:Of those challenges.
Speaker B:And I think that setback was something that set me up for what this next chapter of my life is going to be.
Speaker B:And it got me to where I am.
Speaker B:And I feel like in New York, it was easy to find community because I was surrounded by people that were in my industry.
Speaker B:But I will say that was the thing that we had in common.
Speaker B:And when that was taken away and I was no longer in that industry, not all of friendships were lost, but a lot of friendships were lost.
Speaker B:And I saw true colors of people and going like, the thing that brought us together was circumstantial.
Speaker B:And when we moved to Tennessee, we found an immediate community of people who were aligned on heart issues.
Speaker B:Our grander view of life was so much more aligned, even though none of them really knew what Broadway was and they didn't care that I was on Broadway.
Speaker B:So, yes, I have a lot of community here, but it's so much different.
Speaker B:And we bond over the things that truly matter in life instead of just what I do.
Speaker B:Or the circumstance that I'm in in my job.
Speaker B:It's, it's life relationships.
Speaker B:And we're talking about challenging each other, making each other better people, how to love people, encouraging each other in our faith or.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In parenting or in things that we're going through in life.
Speaker B:And that, I will say that type of community I didn't really have in New York.
Speaker B:So it's been actually amazing.
Speaker B:I'm like, I have girlfriends now in Tennessee that I've only had for what, two, three years, who I know so much deeper and I feel like I can go so much deeper with them.
Speaker B:Those relationships are richer than the 15 year friendships I had in New York from the Broadway world.
Speaker B:And not both are valuable.
Speaker B:And I don't mean to discount all of our friends that we had in New York.
Speaker B:We had a, we had a very rich community there.
Speaker B:But the, the heart level of the relationships that we have now in Tennessee are, are different than anything I've had in my whole life.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think that's a struggle for, for many of us.
Speaker C:You know, I'm 38.
Speaker C:My wife and I, we got four kids.
Speaker C:And so our social circle can get smaller and smaller because there's more.
Speaker C:We show up with a minivan and four kids pop out.
Speaker C:I mean, that's different for another 38 year old who has a tidy home and no children.
Speaker C:And it's like, sorry, our kids are a lot and, and it's very easy to.
Speaker C:Your spouse becomes your best friend, which is great.
Speaker C:But it can easily become.
Speaker C:They're the only person that I actually speak to right.
Speaker C:About deep.
Speaker C:You can be a part of a small group in a church or find some cool community through the gym like somewhere.
Speaker C:But as you get older, I think there is this realization that there is a depth of community that I think we are all hungry for.
Speaker C:We don't always know what it looks like or where to find it, but we're also not tired of.
Speaker C:But the superficial friendships don't carry as much weight anymore.
Speaker C:Where it's like, what are we even talking about?
Speaker C:Like, I got real things that are important to me that I'm trying to figure out that I don't have all the answers to.
Speaker C:And I just want other people that I can openly share my own insecurities, the things I'm championing.
Speaker C:And when I like share those things, I'm really proud of.
Speaker C:You're not taking it as like, well, Steve, you're being very arrogant.
Speaker C:It's like, no, I just don't have.
Speaker C:I'm not going to go share this with every single person.
Speaker C:Person.
Speaker C:And so I think for a lot of us that are, you know, maturing into our 30s and having kids is not maybe repeating what maybe older generations did, where it was just them and their spouse and they don't do life with anybody.
Speaker C:And you look around and you're like, hey, mom and dad, like, who are your friends?
Speaker C:And it's like, what do you mean?
Speaker C:It's your dad?
Speaker C:And it's like, oh, okay, that, like, that's it.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Like, and when you're in high school, when you're in college, you have friends, but you have acquaintances and people.
Speaker C:And so there's just this, like, season of life where who can we come alongside to both learn from, encourage?
Speaker C:And I just always wonder, for people that are in the spotlight, like, for you, as you've met some of these new girlfriends, do they all know what you do when they first meet you, or do they just meet you as Laura and then slowly through your friendship, like, figure out, oh, wait, Laura's kind of a big deal.
Speaker C:And how do they awkwardly bring that up to you?
Speaker C:Like, why didn't you tell me?
Speaker C:You know, because, like, if I meet somebody at the gym and I'm like, oh, are you on Instagram, on Facebook, like, let's be friends.
Speaker C:Oh, you're a plumber.
Speaker C:You're a plumber.
Speaker C:You wash houses.
Speaker C:Like, that's cool.
Speaker C:If I didn't know you and I met you in a small group and I went to your social medias, I'd be like, wait a minute.
Speaker C:Like, is this the same.
Speaker C:Same.
Speaker C:Same lady?
Speaker C:So have you ever had experiences like that in friendships where people didn't know you as Laura the Broadway star, Hallmark star, but just Laura, they met at church or around town, and they're kind of shocked as to maybe the experiences you bring along with yourself?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And that's been the very humbling but beautiful thing about moving to Tennessee is that they.
Speaker B:They are meeting Laura.
Speaker B:And I think my.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:When I moved here, I was in such a kind of vulnerable place that the people that God brought into our lives really did see me through the hardest thing I've ever been through.
Speaker B:And that's what bonded us.
Speaker B:And so, you know, when you go through battle, when you face a battle or a deep valley with somebody and someone chooses to come alongside you and help you carry that burden or hold your hand or encourage you or cheer you on through that, I mean, that's.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker B:That's a bond that's unbreakable as opposed to just, oh, wanting to be friends with the person who's at the top of her game.
Speaker B:Which is great too.
Speaker B:Like, that's lovely.
Speaker B:But it took walking through a valley.
Speaker B:And my husband, I just have to shout him out too and say he was the reason I got up off the floor every day and was so there for me and encouraging me and letting me live through that process of like, mourning and bitterness and anger and then like, forgiveness having to come around and go, okay, wait, moving on is actually up to me.
Speaker B:Me and I.
Speaker B:There's more to life.
Speaker B:There is so much more.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, those, those friends knew me for me.
Speaker B:And then I think with a little bit of my story in moving to Tennessee, it kind of came along with the move because everyone's like, well, why'd you move?
Speaker B:Welcome.
Speaker B:Why'd you move?
Speaker B:And it kind of came out early on as we were meeting people going like, well, Laura was doing this and, you know, Covid kind of shut the city down.
Speaker B:And then she had.
Speaker B:She faced this and we had to move.
Speaker B:So it, you know, it's part of our story, but it.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:It's not part of my identity anymore, which I is so freeing to know who I am outside of that and beyond that.
Speaker B:And that was a chapter in a season that I'm so grateful for that I love that maybe God will bring me back to someday.
Speaker B:But in the meantime, it's just nice to meet people as Laura and develop a community of.
Speaker B:We have.
Speaker B:I have, like, my mom friends, Nate and my husband.
Speaker B:I don't have kids.
Speaker B:We've been married 18 years, and we are only now just starting to kind of try and talk about, you know, wanting to have a legacy in kids.
Speaker B:And so all of our.
Speaker B:We have a lot of friends that already have 12 year olds and we're like, okay.
Speaker B:And we're the yes couple.
Speaker B:We're like, well, we'll come to your house.
Speaker B:You don't have to, you know, we'll.
Speaker B:We'll make it easy.
Speaker B:And we've been able to have the freedom to.
Speaker B:To be able to do that and invest in families.
Speaker B:And just because we don't.
Speaker B:We're the ones that don't have kids and don't have to get a babysitter, which has been really great, actually.
Speaker B:I think that's how.
Speaker B:Part of the reason how we've been able to get so connected and have a community here is because we have that freedom in this season.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:I've also found artist friends in Tennessee, you know, it's music city.
Speaker B:So there's a lot of artists and musicians here as well.
Speaker B:And a lot of people are moving here kind of from the coast, from California and from New York or from other places are there finding themselves in Tennessee.
Speaker B:And it's really, really cool what God is doing in the entertainment sphere here.
Speaker B:And I feel like we're at the ground floor of what Nashville is going to become in the next five to 10 years in other forms of entertainment besides just country music.
Speaker C:Well, and I can kind of speak to very similarly.
Speaker C:My wife and I relocated from Upstate New York 3 1/2 years ago, kind of coming out of COVID too.
Speaker C:And upstate New York was, you know, shut down for 10 months because of quarantine.
Speaker C:And after so many times of driving by every playground in town and they're covered in murder caution tape.
Speaker C:And your kids are like, dad, why can't we go play on that playground?
Speaker C:There's no one here.
Speaker C:And it was, well, we'll get arrested.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You start to have these moments of like, what are we doing?
Speaker C:And we didn't know anybody, really when we made the leap.
Speaker C:We just one day prayed.
Speaker C:We had actually listened to you.
Speaker C:And I had discovered before this call that Ed Svoso is near and dear to both of us.
Speaker C:We had just.
Speaker C:My wife and I got done listening to.
Speaker C:To Joy, who's a part of Ed's team, do a teaching on YouTube.
Speaker C:It was a Friday night, and we get done, and her prayer is, you know, what has God put into your hands that he wants to use?
Speaker C:And I've shared this before, but the next, you know, we prayed, God, it's our kids.
Speaker C:It's got to be our kids.
Speaker C:And the next morning, I just had this very strong sense in my heart that we were supposed to sell our house out of the blue.
Speaker C:And bringing that up to your spouse with four dependent children is like, is that really what we should do?
Speaker C:In the moment I said it, she said, I completely agree.
Speaker C:And we realized that we didn't want to be.
Speaker C:We saw what Ed and, you know, his group was doing across the world and impacting and changing lives.
Speaker C:And there.
Speaker C:There is a real value to seeing somebody's life change that if you've never experienced, like, making content is incredible.
Speaker C:It's very cool to see yourself make something and be like, I'm proud of that.
Speaker C:It's another experience to have somebody who's been addicted to drugs find peace and freedom in that and join in them as a human and cry with them and be like, your Life has forever changed.
Speaker C:There is something to that interaction that when my wife and I got to go to Africa years ago on a missions trip, I just saw stuff I can't unsee.
Speaker C:And so we wanted that same experience stateside of, like, God, we want you to use us.
Speaker C:What's holding us back?
Speaker C:And we felt it's time to relocate.
Speaker C:And so we left family, friends, moved to outside Knoxville, Tennessee.
Speaker C:And then over the last three and a half years, I've.
Speaker C:Because of my kids, I've coached Little League.
Speaker C:I've coached basketball.
Speaker C:I've helped with flag football.
Speaker C:You know, when you meet families at the beginning of the season, it's like, hey, is everybody from East Tennessee?
Speaker C:And there's an overwhelming majority of people are like, no.
Speaker C:And it's like, okay, where's everybody from?
Speaker C:And it's like, Chicago, San Diego.
Speaker C:And there's a lot of people moving and transplanting to Tennessee.
Speaker C:And so my brain is also always trying to figure out, like, all right, Lord, what are you doing?
Speaker C:Like, why is there such a mass migration of good families, good people, good values, coming to the same spot that all bring experiences and stories?
Speaker C:So I think it is very cool for you that you have found community, because that was my experience growing up with two older brothers and parents.
Speaker C:We were all very involved in our community up there.
Speaker C:And I was never on Broadway, never in music, but it was the kind of family where you could walk into most places and someone would know you by association.
Speaker C:My middle brother's a musician.
Speaker C:My older.
Speaker C:This brother's a pastor.
Speaker C:And it was like, oh, you're their little brother.
Speaker C:You're this person's son.
Speaker C:And, like, there was a coolness to that.
Speaker C:But I also found that I spent so many years trying to outlive.
Speaker C:Yeah, but I'm me in trying to, when I would be in conversation, slip in the good things that I was doing.
Speaker C:So somebody would be like, wow, Steve.
Speaker C:Like, that is incredible.
Speaker C:And one day, the Holy Spirit stopped me dead in my tracks and said, what are you doing?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:I've given.
Speaker C:Like, I've given you these opportunities not so that you could boast about them, but so that you could reach more people in.
Speaker C:Like, who do I talk to about this?
Speaker C:Because if I talk to people, they're like, dude, you're being too hard on yourself.
Speaker C:Like, don't worry about it.
Speaker C:But it was this inner conviction of, like, no, I want all that God has for me.
Speaker C:He's given me favor.
Speaker C:I'm not stewarding it correctly.
Speaker C:How do I do this?
Speaker C:And now being In East Tennessee, no one knows me.
Speaker C:I mean, you know, I'm hanging out at most parties, and people like, no, what do you do for a living?
Speaker C:And I'm like, fun.
Speaker C:All right, here we go.
Speaker C:And, you know, you get to.
Speaker C:We get a redo in a way.
Speaker C:And what I have found is that the stuff that I used to rest on as, like, this is who I am now I get to share from.
Speaker C:Like, I get an opportunity to do this stuff, and I get out of the way, and people, like, want to know more.
Speaker C:So whereas in a previous season I was trying to prove myself so that people wanted to follow me, no one want to follow me.
Speaker C:Now I'm just like, yeah, this is the opportunity, like, I get to have.
Speaker C:It's what I do.
Speaker C:And then people are like, how do I be a part of this with you?
Speaker C:And I'm like, oh, you want to.
Speaker C:So it's crazy, this little mind shift where I've had of like, okay, Lord, this isn't as complicated as I made it seem.
Speaker C:Trust you.
Speaker C:Don't count on my own laurels.
Speaker C:Go wherever you tell me to go.
Speaker C:Be obedient.
Speaker C:Sometimes that means there's going to be really hard decisions I got to make that everybody's not going to understand.
Speaker C: or your values, especially in: Speaker C:On one end, we have a world that tells us.
Speaker C:Us.
Speaker C:Stand up for what you believe in, unless it doesn't align with what I believe in.
Speaker C:And then I'm going to put you over here.
Speaker C:And so I think we're all trying to navigate.
Speaker C:No, I mean, I have things that I believe in that are going to alienate me from other people.
Speaker C:But there is also a community of people that feel the way that I feel.
Speaker C:How.
Speaker C:How have you been able to work through, especially being in the limelight?
Speaker C:You know, I'm thinking about the individual who is in their late 30s, maybe making decisions as a couple or as parents about how they want to raise their kids, which is maybe causing tension at work or drama with friend groups.
Speaker C:And now they feel like the outsider.
Speaker C:They're trying to figure out, like, man, what happened to my group of friends?
Speaker C:You know, I said one thing or I stood up in one way, and now my friends want nothing to do with me.
Speaker C:How does somebody like you and your husband, how do you guys cope?
Speaker C:Or Work through emotional things.
Speaker C:Being kind of in the spotlight and being probably more famous than most people.
Speaker C:Like, are there things that you and your husband do on a daily basis or just as a.
Speaker C:As a way of life that have helped you work through?
Speaker C:I mean, obviously you got to move, so you got to kind of relocate, but anything that has helped you guys work through things that don't always make sense.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So good.
Speaker B:I'm, like, trying to remember all the things I want to say.
Speaker B:First of all, the thing that happened to me, the good thing about it being public, so public, was that the quiet community of people who were aligned and agreed reached out.
Speaker B:So I publicly.
Speaker B:It felt like everything was lost, but I started to find this community of people who were like, me too.
Speaker B:Thank you for taking a stand.
Speaker B:Like, you're.
Speaker B:You realize that God is using you in ways you don't even know just by living your life and trying to be an example and acting in courage, as we said.
Speaker B:And kudos to you for acting in courage and.
Speaker B:And moving.
Speaker B:Like, just being obedient.
Speaker B:Going like, this is a huge life shift for us.
Speaker B:It's was the same thing for us.
Speaker B:It was like, we're feeling this call, like, we got to get out of here.
Speaker B:And although I felt a little bit pushed out, God made it really clear I thought I was going to be in New York for life, you know, and it was like, God made it really clear that it was like, nope, I'm saying I'm calling you somewhere else.
Speaker B:And having the courage to answer that call is huge.
Speaker B:And in the midst of that, I was able to, yes, people.
Speaker B:People presented themselves because it was in a time where I think everybody felt alone and isolated, you know, like, I'm the only one.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Like, why?
Speaker B:And we.
Speaker B:I feel like everyone in their life has felt that way at some point.
Speaker B:And finding even one other comrade, that's like, oh, me too.
Speaker B:Like, knowing that you're not alone, trusting that you are not alone.
Speaker B:I've written songs about it now that I'm like, just whatever you are going through, wherever you are feeling you are not alone.
Speaker B:There is nothing new under the sun.
Speaker B:And going through those hard things gives you a chance to refine your character and grow and learn resilience and learn fortitude standing in the face of adversity.
Speaker B:So as far as my husband and I, I feel like, you know, our faith is.
Speaker B:Is an important part of our life.
Speaker B:Obviously, prayer and redirection, discernment the last few years, and again, just trying to kind of throw some things at the wall and see if it sticks.
Speaker B:But we are called to be different.
Speaker B:I loved, you know, Bradley's episode was called Be a Rebel.
Speaker B:And my husband and I actually started a production company when we moved to Tennessee.
Speaker B:And it's called Rebel Rocket Entertainment.
Speaker B:And it's all about, like, I feel like I am going against the grain.
Speaker B:Like I am swimming upstream in culture right now.
Speaker B:But, like, hey, it's, it's great.
Speaker B:Like, at least I have my husband.
Speaker B:If all else fails, I have my husband, I have my family.
Speaker B:And like, you know, and we have found people on the way.
Speaker B:My husband's mom.
Speaker B:I'll just share this quickly.
Speaker B:My husband's mom had a dream, actually, which is how we came up with the name for the production company of Nate.
Speaker B:Nate and I were in a rocket.
Speaker B:Like, she saw us in this, like, cartoon, like, fun, playful, like, rocket.
Speaker B:And all of these people were getting on board and in the window below, like all of our friends, this community.
Speaker B:And this rocket was shooting straight up.
Speaker B:But then instead of like smoke and like exhaust, diamonds, it was like diamonds were being shot out of this rocket as it was going up.
Speaker B:And I was like, well, if that isn't a vision for what we want our future to be, fantastic.
Speaker B:But we're getting all our rebels together and we're going up against the grain.
Speaker B:And it's like just to know you're not alone, that there's a whole.
Speaker B:And that's what I find the energy is in Tennessee.
Speaker B:It's all these people who felt ostracized from where they came from.
Speaker B:They moved here.
Speaker B:We're all finding each other and we're getting ready to launch.
Speaker B:Launch something that is exciting and different and countercultural, but in a way that brings truth and hope and beauty and goodness into the world, which I think is who we're called to be.
Speaker B:But that's.
Speaker B:That's countercultural these days.
Speaker C:I, I love the idea of, of Rebel and it, it sounds kind of familiar because this is not my first podcast.
Speaker C:Four years ago, Travis, who owns.
Speaker C:Owns our company, is our CEO.
Speaker C:He and I started a financial planning podcast because that's what I do on a day to day business, is I help as the senior marketing director, kind of tell the story right, that life is more than money.
Speaker C:It's about the life component.
Speaker C:And so through Covid, he and I had developed this podcast called Ditch the Suits, which if you are a fan of financial independence, comes out every Tuesday.
Speaker C:And we kind of push back on the way that we were trans in our industry, that there had to be More.
Speaker C:There had to be more ways of really helping people drive value.
Speaker C:And so we launched this podcast and a few years ago we both had a desire to do other things, and this is my passion.
Speaker C:And we thought, all right, then we have to start kind of like a quasi media company to basically house all of these podcasts.
Speaker C:What are we going to name it in one day?
Speaker C:Clear as day.
Speaker C:I kid you not.
Speaker C:I'm in my room and I hear not quite right media.
Speaker C:And I'm like, this gotta be taken, right?
Speaker C:And I Google it and nope, it's not taken.
Speaker C:And I was, I told Travis, I said, where do we call not quite right?
Speaker C:Because on the surface it sounds like you're out of your mind, but it's because we're willing to push back on what we believe is actually authentic truth, to really help people.
Speaker C:And I think maybe that's the struggle for so many people is when you're making, making podcasts, when you're making content, when you're marketing, when you're advertising a movie or whatever, there's so many books, there's so many sensational things on.
Speaker C:You got to have a hook, you got to have a strong music score, you got to get people to do stuff.
Speaker C:It's got to go viral.
Speaker C:And you try to do stuff to, to, to fill in what you're hearing from other people needs to be done.
Speaker C:And so even with this podcast, I've been trying to follow along what things say I should be doing and how you cut and edit videos.
Speaker C:And I'm like, man, I just want to help people.
Speaker C:And it's not about like curating the perfect 59 second video that's going to go viral and have.
Speaker C:It's so sensational that there's no value.
Speaker C:And I think there's so many people that are being entertained today, but there's people that want to be educated and are struggling to like, we're fighting for eight seconds of each people's like, what's coming across their screen because it's, it's dulling the, the realness that like, I'm lost as a human being and I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker C:Therefore, let me just scroll for an hour watching videos of people falling or funny things.
Speaker C:And then my spouse is like, what are you doing?
Speaker C:You're like, wait, what?
Speaker C:I don't know what I've been doing.
Speaker C:Whereas, like, it sounds like maybe what you are interested in through your experiences through Hollywood and Broadway and stuff is I want to make content that I believe in that's a little bit rebellious.
Speaker C:That that can still be a great story that doesn't have to.
Speaker C:To be over the top or have things built into the movie to make people groups feel certain ways or identify.
Speaker C:It's just like, man, it's a story.
Speaker C:And this is what I'm passionate about and this is what I want to make.
Speaker C:So kudos to you.
Speaker C:I think the challenge is, though, it is a very lonely road and it takes a long time because if God is in it, it's very rare that God does something.
Speaker C:He can multiply efforts.
Speaker C:But many times I know in my life I have struggled with God.
Speaker C:You've called me to do this.
Speaker C:I believe your blessing is on it.
Speaker C:Leave your favors on my life.
Speaker C:Like, why isn't this happening faster?
Speaker C:Like, I'm doing the things you're calling me to do.
Speaker C:And what I've learned in this season for myself is if it's one person at a time, are you okay with that?
Speaker C:And so you make an episode with somebody and you're like, this is the one that's going to push it over the top.
Speaker C:I don't even know what that means.
Speaker C:Like, push it over the top, going to be Joe Rogan.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:And then it doesn't do anything.
Speaker C:And you're like, I'm kind of disappointed.
Speaker C:Like, I thought it was going to do more.
Speaker C:And then again for me, it's like a random high school guy reaches out and is like, I've been broken for a really long time.
Speaker C:And that episode really spoke to me.
Speaker C:And I just have these, like, Steve, like, you've missed it again, like, so for you, in this new chapter, you started off this episode with don't be afraid.
Speaker C:You know, to do new things, to try new things, to understand your identity and worth.
Speaker C:Like, what.
Speaker C:What is this leading to in your mind?
Speaker C:We got the vision for mother in law of the rocket ship and the diamonds.
Speaker C:I love that.
Speaker C:Like, what is this all leading to in your mind, you think at this.
Speaker B:Point, I think, you know, God's timeline is not our timeline.
Speaker B:And I think I suspected with the platform and the place that I came from that things would happen a little sooner or have been a little easier.
Speaker B:But what's cool is that the infrastructure isn't here in Nashville yet to do what we feel we're called to do.
Speaker B:Or it's just beginning.
Speaker B:So we're building, we're not rebuilding what I felt like I lost in New York.
Speaker B:We're.
Speaker B:We're launching something new.
Speaker B:And Rome was not built in a day.
Speaker B:So I think living one day at a time.
Speaker B:Nate and I have had to get very intentional about our.
Speaker B:Our kind of New Year's resolution is about, like, choosing the things that are essential.
Speaker B:I feel like the last couple years, we've been splattering things at the wall.
Speaker B:We've been spreading ourselves kind of thin just to see what sticks.
Speaker B:But because of that, we have this project 20 done and that project 40 done in this project 10 done in that project, and nothing has been complete in our mind.
Speaker B:You know, generally saying, nothing's been completed.
Speaker B:We just have all these things.
Speaker B:And this year, we feel like we've been planting seeds.
Speaker B:And I want to see something bloom.
Speaker B:I want to see something come to fruition this year.
Speaker B:So it's honing our attention for 20, 25 and going, how can we daily move, move something forward?
Speaker B:And what do we need to focus on that actually matters?
Speaker B:What is God breathing on?
Speaker B:Where is the momentum so that we can get something across the finish line this year instead of now that we know, now that we've tried a bunch of things and we can kind of see what kind of has legs and what we get most excited about and what people get most excited about and really focus our time and our energy on what's essential to push something forward to completion.
Speaker B:But we've needed.
Speaker B:This whole time.
Speaker B:We've needed this.
Speaker B:The last three years of processing, of healing, of.
Speaker B:Of trying new things and seeing.
Speaker B:I've written.
Speaker B:I wrote a script.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:We're now producing things.
Speaker B:I started writing and making music, like, all things I had never done before, because I was always just the musical theater actor or even, you know, with tv, film stuff.
Speaker B:I was like, I just.
Speaker B:We're exploring new ways to use our gifts and surrounding ourselves with cheerleaders and champions.
Speaker B:That would be my other advice of going like, my whole algorithm has shifted.
Speaker B:I started following like.
Speaker B:Like motivational speakers and like, you know, women mindset, you know, positive thinkers.
Speaker B:I was like, I had to start feeding myself more.
Speaker B:I had to start feeding myself meat instead of just, oh, like, frivolous.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:No offense, but like.
Speaker B:Like things that mattered.
Speaker B:I had to start putting telling things positively to my heart, to my mind, to my thing, saying things out loud, journaling, praying, believing for a hope and a future and just shifting my mentality because, you know, when you go through something hard, it's easy to get stuck there, and it's easy to spiral.
Speaker B:It's easy to get stuck.
Speaker B:But when you begin to kind of cast a vision for what's to Come and surround yourself with your helpers and with your champions and your cheerleaders.
Speaker B:And Nate is a huge part of that.
Speaker B:But we've also found an awesome community of people here who are, you know, feel kind of the same way and are kind of feeling called to do the same thing.
Speaker B:And that's actually super exciting.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:And I know that I've always tried to keep these to 30 minutes, but sometimes the conversation's so good that if you want to stick with us, keep following.
Speaker C:Following.
Speaker C:But I think something that you just mentioned is when you don't have a blueprint for something, it's very challenging.
Speaker C:Like, God can put an idea and a vision on your heart for your family, for your spouse, for a business, for a nonprofit.
Speaker C:And when you haven't really seen it modeled before, it's hard to know in the process whether you're doing it right.
Speaker C:And so even just realigning for myself, it felt like 20, 24.
Speaker C:Like, you just said, I was spinning all these plates, and all these plates were spinning simultaneously, and I felt this weight of.
Speaker C:I don't feel like I'm good at any, like, one of these things.
Speaker C:I'm like, I'm doing it.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And I'm competent.
Speaker C:Like, if you looked at my life on the outside, you'd be like, wow, Steve, you.
Speaker C:You're just a dad, and you're doing it.
Speaker C:And it's like, inwardly, I just feel like I'm not a good dad.
Speaker C:Like, I could be better with my kids.
Speaker C:I could be better with my wife.
Speaker C:And I really.
Speaker C:What you just said spoke to me because that's what I've been trying to do with the turn of the calendar into the new year, which is just.
Speaker C:Even if it's just one small thing every day that I can do in each area of these lives, don't be so focused on trying to figure out every plate all at the same time.
Speaker C:But what is one small thing I have to do as a dad today or as a spouse today or in my business today or with the podcast today, that can move me a little bit closer and find a way to track it so that you actually know what you're working towards.
Speaker C:But also, for those people listening today, I think, Laura, what you've done a really nice job of is we also got to show ourselves grace.
Speaker C:And I think it's so easy for us to give grace to other people going through really hard things.
Speaker C:And when we find out friends are going through things, it's, oh, my gosh, like, I can't imagine.
Speaker C:And we just show them a level of grace that I think many of us, when you're driven and you're competitive and you want the best and you want all that God has for you, there's a.
Speaker C:There's a.
Speaker C:There's a balancing act between, like, I want to be accountable, but then I'm also being critical of myself.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And I think that's a very.
Speaker C:Like, again, this is one of those things that when you share it with people, if it's not the right group, they're like, but I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker C:And it's like, okay, maybe it's not the right time, but there is this inner feeling that if I'm not careful, I'm two signs of a coin at all times, that God has given me 100% passion, passion to do everything in life.
Speaker C:But when I don't do it a hundred percent, I feel like a failure.
Speaker C:And that's kind of where the enemy hangs out.
Speaker C:And so what I've had to do is, like, recalibrate.
Speaker C:Okay, God, I know exactly what I'm passionate about.
Speaker C:Like, there's no middle ground with me.
Speaker C:If you ask me, Steve, how do you feel about X, Y, and Z?
Speaker C:I'm going to tell you, but it's learning the grace on the other side that when I'm not doing it with my eating, with my physical body, with loving my wife, with loving my kids, it doesn't mean I'm a failure.
Speaker C:It just means maybe there's something little that I can interject into, try new things.
Speaker C:And so this is the year for.
Speaker C:For me of like, okay, what.
Speaker C:What do I need to do to be different, to move the ball forward, to help you guys.
Speaker C:And so let.
Speaker C:Let's come back and be super practical as we bring this thing to a close.
Speaker C:You're.
Speaker C:You're.
Speaker C:You're trying to do a little bit every day.
Speaker C:Is there anything that you do?
Speaker C:Journaling?
Speaker C:Is there an app?
Speaker C:Is there a mindset?
Speaker C:Is there something that helps you actually know?
Speaker C:Whereas maybe in the past it was like 20, 30%.
Speaker C:Like, how are you actually getting across maybe one finish line at a time now?
Speaker C:Kind of in this season?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Nate and I had a whole discussion just a couple days ago about that idea of essentialism, of choosing what's essential and only doing what's essential?
Speaker B:Because when we moved here, we were yes people.
Speaker B:We said yes to everything.
Speaker B:And now we have found that community.
Speaker B:We have found those connections.
Speaker B:We feel rooted here.
Speaker B:And now it's about having Also being able to say no and not just saying yes out of obligation or because I want to be all things to all people.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:We can't be that way.
Speaker B:We can't.
Speaker B:No one can do that.
Speaker B:And so we actually whiteboarded.
Speaker B:If I'm.
Speaker B:If I'm being honest, we may.
Speaker B:We have our little whiteboard over there.
Speaker B:And we made circles of all our projects just two days ago and started.
Speaker B:So to be able to, like, see it all and to be able to check things off a list, we started a Google Doc, Nate and I, that we can both get on and be able to check things off and see what our priorities are.
Speaker B:Hopefully that structure will kind of inspire us and encourage us this year and really help us hone our focus.
Speaker B:You know, we're also, as we've talked about, people of faith.
Speaker B:I usually, every morning have.
Speaker B:I have an app.
Speaker B:Last year I did the Bible Recap, and I read the Bible through from beginning to end for the first time in my 39 years.
Speaker B:And it was so cool just to feel like it's.
Speaker B:Tara Lee Cobble has an app, it's called the Bible Recap.
Speaker B:And it's a very digestible chunk.
Speaker B:You know, a short few chapters and then like an eight minute podcast every day that goes along with it.
Speaker B:So I just turned that on in the morning.
Speaker B:This year I'm trying a different one.
Speaker B:It's with Nikki and Pippa Gumball, and they do the same thing.
Speaker B:They break down the Bible, but it's like, like a verse from the Old Testament, verse in the New Testament, in the proverb and a psalm.
Speaker B:So it's just broken up a little bit differently as far.
Speaker B:The recap is beginning to end, Genesis, revelation.
Speaker B:So that for me is just a way to set your mind in the right place and your heart in the right place.
Speaker B:Starting every day going like, this is what's most important.
Speaker B:And everything else has to spring from me being filled up and me, you know, working from a place of overflow instead of from empty.
Speaker C:Well, and maybe that would be.
Speaker C:So one of the things listeners be aware I'm working on some different subscription models for moving forward because I think there is a lot of meat left on the bone sometimes of these conversations.
Speaker C:And I hear from listeners that, how do I get more or what do I do with all of this?
Speaker C:And so that has been one of the challenges for me is like, what do I, God, why did you give me this platform?
Speaker C:It's not just to interview Laura, which is awesome, but, like, what do I do with all of, of this.
Speaker C: arted and tried at the end of: Speaker C:And one of the things that you just said that I'd love to connect with you after the show is when you're married and you have a spouse, you're both very different in the way God wired you, your.
Speaker C:Your experiences growing up in the household, households and communication styles.
Speaker C:And I think what is easy is when you're with your colleagues, when you're with your fellow actors, because there isn't as much investment in intimacy.
Speaker C:It's easy to, how do we make this the best movie possible?
Speaker C:Okay, you do this and then I'll do that.
Speaker C:And there's this, like, compatibility that sometimes doesn't exist in marriage where when you're with your spouse, when you say, like, let's whiteboard it, you know, like, it's sometimes hard to be like, what are you talking about, babe?
Speaker C:We don't.
Speaker C:We're not those people.
Speaker C:But I think, I think we all need to take greater stewardship of God, put us together not just to be married or have children or do whatever, but to change people's lives.
Speaker C:And whether that's a getaway, whether that's a whiteboard, I think there's a lot of couples that, you know, if you missed into, if you listen to Ed Silvoso's episode we had got into, God wants you to have an intimate romantic relationship with your spouse.
Speaker C:And I think many of us, the longer you get into this, it feels more like your co laborers or roommates rather than lovers in a way.
Speaker C:And what you first had.
Speaker C:And so how do we get back to that?
Speaker C:But now, how do we get back to that with purpose?
Speaker C:Whereas it usually takes 10 plus years to finally really become one in your marriage.
Speaker C:And I think that's where a lot of the challenges also arise and you try to make sense of that.
Speaker C:So maybe we'll have to have you back to share your whiteboard 101 tips with.
Speaker C:I think what many couples, if they were being honest of, rather than like, I'm jealous that you whiteboard, it's like, what if we all learned how to do it together?
Speaker C:Or you figured out whatever that thing is for you that allows you and your spouse to take inventory of all the good that is actually happening in your life in all the experiences.
Speaker C:And I was thinking about you and your world.
Speaker C:You have song lyrics now that you never had because you've gone through hard things.
Speaker C:And we may not all be songwriters, but there are hard things that you as a listener have gone through that you didn't ask for.
Speaker C:And I think you're trying to make sense of cancer, infertility, divorce, separation, loss, loss of job.
Speaker C:God where are you?
Speaker C:If there is a God, where are you?
Speaker C:There's lyrics that you're supposed to write that you have to learn how to confront pain in a way that says, I'm not a victim, but this sucks and I got to figure out how to get out of it.
Speaker C:And what you as a listener are going through is very real.
Speaker C:Don't ever discount it.
Speaker C:Be careful about going on social media and telling everybody every single day all the things you're going through because then it's like, but there are things in your life that you're going through that are very hard.
Speaker C:In this season of life, what is it that God is trying to teach you in it that is going to become the seeds for your future days that is going to make a big impact on this world?
Speaker C:So, Laura Asness, Holy smokes.
Speaker C:We went for 50 some odd minutes.
Speaker C:Hopefully you got to talk about stuff you don't always get to talk about.
Speaker C:It is very cool how interconnected our world is in through crazy ways and being so close to each other, only being two and a half hours apart.
Speaker C:If you ever showed up as cinder at my house, I know my identical twin girls would go bonanza.
Speaker C:So I appreciate you coming on the show.
Speaker C:We will make sure in the show notes that you guys have some of her contacts on social media if you want to follow her because she is a delight.
Speaker C:She is a light in this world and I think, you know, if you get a chance to check out one royal holiday with my boy Bradley or any of her other wonderful hallmarks, you will be better off knowing Laura in this life than not.
Speaker C:So, Laura, thank you for being a guest on the show.
Speaker C:Thank you for sharing your one big thing.
Speaker C:Hopefully this has been a great experience and until next time, hope you'll check out some other guests.
Speaker B:Thank you, Steve, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker B:Thank you for creating this space to inspire and encourage people.
Speaker B:I'm such a fan.
Speaker B:Appreciate it.
Speaker C:We'll leave it with Sandy.
Speaker A:Thanks for checking out my show.
Speaker A:If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love for you to write a review or drop a comment wherever you're listening or watching.
Speaker A:Watching and be sure to stay connected.
Speaker A:Did you know you can subscribe to my YouTube channel, which is Eve CampbellPR.
Speaker A:That's Steve Campbell PR, and I'm a real person who's reachable.
Speaker A:You can find me on all my socials and connect with me.
Speaker A:If you have topics or guests you'd love to hear from, let me know.
Speaker A:But thanks for being a part of this journey with me.
Speaker A:And until next time, enjoy other episodes of the One Big Thing Podcast.
Speaker C:SA.
