SPEAKER_00 0:00

Everyone has a story, a moment, a lesson, or a piece of their life most people may never hear. Hi, I'm Callie Zamzo, and this is Nobody Knows. Welcome to Nobody Knows. I'm your host, Callie Zamzo, and today I am joined by Shonda Huffman. She is a friend of mine, full disclosure, like a good friend of mine. And uh most people, just a lot of people in this valley, and many, many people know who you are. And um, I think that's because you are so many things. So you are a communication expert, you're an entrepreneur, a wonderful, by the way, if you're an entrepreneur and you want to talk to somebody who knows how to do that, this is a wonderful person to talk to. Um, she's a community leader, she's someone who has collected more awards than she probably would even care to discuss. Um, but the thing about Shonda that is fascinating me and that I want to talk about today, not the awards and not all the other fun stuff. Although we'll we'll probably touch on that a little bit. Um, but I want to talk about the fact that you have figured out how to reinvent yourself and you've done it a few times.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Well, I wouldn't say figured it out. I'm still a work in progress, but um yeah, no, I feel like I've lived a hundred lives in my 44 years for sure. Uh spending, you know, 22 years and uh hosting, you know, major market morning radio and living all over the country. And that was like my love and my passion since I was nine years old. Got my first job when I was 15 doing radio. I was I was actually doing the farmer's report in my hometown. Oh and uh and uh, you know, just talking about the soil and doing soil judging and reporting on that. So I grew up in a small farming community in Southern Ohio. So got my start really young, but I knew from the age of nine that I wanted to do radio, the theater of the mind, the connection piece. And so um being able to do that for 22 years was just, I mean, incredible because women, specifically in in the media industry, they don't get a chance. There's like less than 1% of us uh females in in media. So especially major market, right? And and getting that chance to work in market number two, which that's a dream, you know, and uh New York City is like the best, like that's where you want to be. And so to have that um opportunity and do that for so long, it was just um it was incredible. It was an incredible experience. I worked my tail off to get there. Um, but then I mean, as you know, and everybody knows, media kind of took a downturn as far as like, you know, you have streaming now, uh, you know, just media was changing and uh it was no longer, you know, like a priority media outlet. So slowly but surely, I I ended up retiring in 2019. And just because of all, it was just chaotic. It was becoming too chaotic. We were moving around so much, and so uh with that, I I had no other choice but to reinvent myself because um yeah, it just was not a play, it wasn't what it was when I started. So yeah, I didn't have a choice.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Well, is there is there a version? We'll get to talk about some of these versions, but it is let's start with is there a version of yourself that um you that you had to let go of? That you had to, like not, you know, maybe when you were moving from this point A to point B, you realized you had to let go of it, but that was difficult for you to let go of.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Okay, so this is gonna be this is gonna be a deep answer. So just get ready, okay? That's what I'm hoping for. This is a very deep uh yeah, so to even go back before I started radio and the reason. Most kids when they are at age of nine, they have, I want to be a veterinarian, I want to be a doctor. There's nothing wrong with that, but usually you end up changing your mind as you get older. I didn't. And there's a reason for that. And, you know, I have a lot of you know, childhood trauma. I mean, um, to and I won't get into to all of it, but what I will say is um my mom was a single mom. Um my dad passed away when I was three. My mom uh just had a high school diploma. She did her best, she was a prison guard for 20 years, and she had to work crazy hours, and that meant that I was spending a lot of time as the older sister kind of figuring things out. And um, my mom was so stressed, and she but she did her best. And I I think back to like all those moments where I'm like, man, mom is always so like like anxious and running around and all the my memories are not great. And um, one thing that um that I was missing when I was a kid was just connection and true belonging. I felt like I had to grow up really fast and I felt like I was, you know, just more responsible than connecting, so more just checking the boxes, you know, and helping basically helping being a grown-up uh long before I should have been. And so with that, I just had this um um yearning for connection and just really and clarity. And um, my mom never had patience for any of that. And so I would want to understand and I didn't I wouldn't get it. And so um I started listening to the radio obviously at a very young age, and uh I would just listen to like all the stories they would tell and um and just how much me not being able to see them while they're telling stories, but picturing in my mind, so at the theater of the mind, and and I was like, wow, and so I just I would just gravitate towards that, like um, and then people would call in and they would connect. So there's a bunch of connection pieces to my earth my my um yearning to be on the radio and tell stories and also be vulnerable enough to share what I don't understand and what I don't know and being okay with that. Um, and so that's kind of how that all started. So it all my my my I guess my radio career was all the foundation of it was trauma, like severe childhood trauma. And so um, fast forward to me retiring, I no longer needed that. And so I was kind of hanging on to this make-believe thing that I had. And here's the other thing me identifying my childhood as very conditional, conditional love, that that's how I was receiving it. And so when I would hear these stories and hear this laughter and hear this connection and hear all these emotions happening on the radio at such a young age, to me, that was like I couldn't identify it then at nine, but it was unconditional. It just felt like, man, that's so that's a that's belonging, that's purpose. Like they're they're like they're truly having conversations. And so, and real conversations at that, because back then radio didn't have any rules. The rules started, you know, a little after mid to uh 2000s. But um, so so yeah, when I um, you know, getting uh going through a lot of therapy, I started therapy uh at a very young age as well. I mean, I was in college and and decided to go ahead and do cognitive behavioral therapy to kind of understand and get the clarity that I was yearning for just about my family, myself, my life, people in it, and um and you know, uh meeting meeting my husband, uh, my husband and I have been together since we were teenagers, and he is the best dude ever. He is like my favorite person on the planet, and him and I put a lot of work into our marriage and into ourselves. And then before we even thought about having kids, we took parenting classes because you get you can control what you can. You can't control what you can't. And so, whatever we could control, we wanted to have healthy um, you know, if we're triggered, we wanted to have healthy, um, I guess, uh, tactical things to be able to do to have self-regulation, to not put our trauma onto our kids. So there's a lot of work that we put into our relationship. And through that, I learned that this is actually unconditional because radio is not unconditional. Are you kidding me? I had 10,000 ego deaths, you know, like 19 years old. I got my first radio gig when I was a morning full, like I was full-time morning radio at 20 years old. And I was doing nights, I got full-time nights at 19 years old while I'm in college still. And so I got into it, and there's nothing like seeing we had these like text boards, you know, so people would just be able to text into the studio, and there was no boundaries, there was no limitations on what they could say. And you don't know, you're a kid reading all these horrific things and or scary things, you know, uh, about how people are feeling and and their their um opinion on you and what you're saying. So through that, and so a lot of it was good, but we you know But every once in a while, well, but all us as humans, we only focus on the bad stuff. Right, absolutely stuff. So I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to be escorted out tonight. Like, you know, you just so I went through all of that. So radio was not con uh unconditional uh by any means. And so I realized, you know, as I was getting older and just working on myself and and uh, you know, just who I who I truly am and um my marriage and just being a parent and everything. Um, that's what unconditional love is, not my career. So when I was ready to leave radio, I was ready because I now had what I was longing for my whole life, and that was unconditional love. So interesting. And it was so easy, it was the easiest decision I ever could have made.

unknown 9:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

There's a whole, I mean, we could have a whole show on conditional versus unconditional love, right? And I think the the misconception that like like you were just talking about that we might have in inside of us in what we define as conditional versus unc unconditional, and then as we mature, as we learn, yeah, uh uh the awakening it was an awakening artist. And uh and how painful it is when you realize that there are strings attached to things with certain relationships. And whether you like it or not, some people are they attach strings and there there are conditions. And um so and and then and then you have family who tell you, you know, they kind of okay, you this is an uncondition. This is one you can trust as unconditional, and then you find out later, no, I can't.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

This is all like, oh my gosh, I've been like gaslighting. Right. Like all yes, it was it was wild, and it was um, it was oh gosh, what an awakening I had. And um, it's like the what's like the stages of grief.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

You know, you think you're healing and then you back down, you're just kind of teetering back and forth, and then you get better and you keep you keep trying, you keep showing up, you keep working through everything. And so um that phase of actually exiting radio specifically, um, I would say probably lasted about two and a half years to really get me fully there. In 2019, it was without without a doubt. Like I'm I'm done. And um, and I never looked back. And so that was um, yeah, that was just the easiest decision once I got past that grief and really felt that I was strong enough to to move forward with whatever that looked like. Because I left and had no idea what I was gonna do. Yeah, no clue. I had no clue. And then COVID hit. So it was like this has got really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yeah, for sure. All right. Before we go into that, yeah, let's go back to um, so born and raised in Ohio. Is it and I don't I probably should have prepped you for this question. Um no, don't worry about it. But uh I'm used to winging it. So I I have I've only been to Ohio once um and it was for some conference, so I really didn't even see around whatever. So then my other exposure is reading Hillbilly Elegy. Yeah. Is there any uh did did you did you read that and or watch the movie? Did you? Uh uh Okay, well that would be interesting. Do that and then let's talk.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, well, I think in Southern Ohio, we're a bunch of hillbillies. I mean, I had to I went to college in uh in Minneapolis and everything is very don't you know and like you know, like it sounds like you're watching the movie Fargo. Yeah and um and for me, I was raised to, you know, we're fixing to go to the store and you ain't gonna go do that. And did you put things in the washer and washcloth and my mom says bowl of sorrel? And like it's like you just really can't understand. And so when I go home to visit, I'm like talking to myself to get myself out of that because it I go right back into that. Do you? I was gonna ask you that.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

So 100%. So you're like right in there, you change your back to the same dialect and all of that.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Yeah, poke chops instead of port chops. Like, come on, guys, let's get it together. But it's it's so it's actually gotten worse. When I go home, it's like, wait, I felt like this would get better as time went on, as like we're getting we become more modern, and like everybody is like, you know, education is definitely like it's getting worse. It's actually worse. It's going backwards. So when I go home, it is just and and the older my par uh my mom gets and and my stepdad, it just keeps their draw gets longer. So when I went to college in Minnesota and I moved there uh from Southern Ohio, um, I um they thought I was from England. They thought I was English. And uh they were like, Where are you from? Like, why are you like internet? Like, where are you from? I mean, did you get a visa? Like, there's asked I'm like, wait, I'm from Southern Ohio, guys. Like, I'm not from, you know, England. I'm not English. And so it my accent was so strong that I they thought I was from a different country. And I had to, um, one of my mentors, one of my professors, said, you know, go around your, you know, your dorm and just read the newspaper and catch yourself and record it, record yourself doing it. So, you know, those old little recorders, you know, two finger recorders. And so I did that for, I mean, gosh, forever. And so I just really worked on my dialect so I was able to be not, I don't want to talk like a somebody from Minnesota, but I wanted to talk like just a I could be ever, I could be go anywhere, right? My my voice would be placed anywhere and that would be fine. So that's what I did. But oh my gosh, yeah, if I had to do like a uh hillbilly character for like, you know, voice acting. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Nailed it. I would nail it. Nail it. Nail it.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Or like a ther a Braddy 13-year-old girl. I could nail both of them. So anyway.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah. So, so you so you moved to Minnesota, you're in college, you do radio there as well.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Where did you go from there?

SPEAKER_01 13:39

So I um went to Brown, which is one of the best broadcasting schools in the country. A lot of Hall of Famers are from there. They actually turned me down the first time I applied. So I ended up going to Ohio State for a semester, applied again. They flew me out for my interview, and then because they only accepted like eight students in the program.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

So I actually got denied the first time. I'm like, what? What's happening? And so um, because I tried really, I mean, I just did everything right in my mind, you know. And uh, and so I got accepted the the second semester of my freshman year, um, and you know, got out there and just I decided to take 21 credit hours a quarter just to be done because I wanted to go. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want to work at KDWB in Minneapolis. I wanted Dave Ryan to be my mentor. Like I knew exactly what my life looked like, and boy, I was determined to do all of it.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Got my um within I was there for what, six months and got the job at KDWB with Dave Ryan's show. Wow. While I was in college. So I would literally go to, I would get up, I would work at UPS from three in the morning until nine, be at class from 11 to 5, and then kind of just do it all over again, right? Well, then when I got the job working for Dave Ryan, I had to quit UPS and I was working for free, by the way. This is my internship. Working for free, parking downtown. So now I had to figure out how I was gonna get income while going to school. So then I went from being on the morning show from I had to be there at 3 a.m. to help the producers. We'd go live at five. I was there the entire show, back to class at 11. Again, I mean up forever. Then I got a job at a casino as a slot specialist. I have to say slot. I don't want to get you. For the kids, for the kids. You know, I'm unfiltered. This was this is scary about you and I because I'm unfiltered. But as a slot specialist, so I'd fill the hoppers and pass out jackpot or count out jackpots, you know? Okay. So it was always interesting when somebody won like a hundred thousand dollar jackpot and I had they wanted cash. So I had to count all of it right in front of security, everything. So I had that job from 6 p.m. until um 11 p.m. And then I'd be up to be at the show at three. I did this for two years. For two years. Oh my gosh. And it was hard work, but I it didn't even feel like it. It was so incredible that I was, you know, doing exactly right what I wanted. And I didn't even think about how tired I was. I mean, some days, yeah, but I just um I was just, oh, it was everything to me. And so um, I now thinking back, I'm exhausted even telling the story. I know, me too. Like, oh my gosh, I need a nap. But um, but so then when uh I finished school, I graduated, um, I got um a call to do a night show. Um, and uh it was outside of Minneapolis, so that was in Mankato, Minnesota. So I got my first night gig at 19, and I just so happened to be the right place at the right time. The morning guy was leaving and took uh a promotion. I I think it was like Detroit or something. So and so uh he was going to Detroit, and because my ratings were so great at night, they wanted to move me in as co-host for the morning show. And so I got that at 20. Then I got a call from uh another station. Uh it's um, oh gosh, it was in Indianapolis. Um, and uh it was top 40 station. They flew me out to to interview, and so I was in Indianapolis right after Minnesota, and then I went from there to um to Houston, and then I was in Dallas.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

And uh yeah, then Boise. I mean, I've just been everywhere. So um, but yeah, all that over 22 years. It was a long time.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

And so there've been some highlights. I know you and I have talked a little bit about some of the people that you have interviewed. I I I have my personal favorite. I I love your shirt. Justin Bieber. I'm a Justin Bieber fan. I should have worn my Bieber shirt that you got me. Um love my which by the way, by dog.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

I got one so we can match. Really? Absolutely. I wish this should have been better planned. Okay, yeah. One of these favorite. But yes, I got you the Bieber t-shirt, and I got me a matching one. So whenever we would hang out and do our weekend trips, we could I we could wear them together.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Oh, perfect. Okay, I can't wait to get to the book.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Okay, that's what I thought. Yes. And beaver head confetti. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Yes, all of it.

unknown 17:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Shonda is the best gift giver. Just so you know. Be friends with her. There's a good thing. So you so you interviewed Justin Bieber.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

I did. More than once, right? Um, I interviewed him. So I interviewed him in person when he was really young. And I had to introduce him. So I'm on stage um at a pretty small venue because he was just getting started. And I don't know, maybe he was 14, possibly 15. It was when Usher was still in his life. Okay. Um the fact that I know his entire trajectory is insane. I know his birthday. Um, so we uh so yeah, I was on stage and I hadn't met, I didn't meet him backstage. I didn't see him or get to talk to him until he walked out on stage to meet me as I'm introducing him in front of a crowd of fans. So I'm like, you know, everybody, Justin Bieber. I'm like, you know, promoting the station, like everybody. And he walks out and then I turn around to like ask him a question, and he was so beautiful. Like he was flawless. I mean, his skin, his eyes were beautiful, and I'm like, ugh, this is creepy for one, because he's 14 and I must have been, I don't know, mid-20s, maybe. Yeah. Anyway, I don't even know how old I was, but um, he was so beautiful and just so just innocent. Oh. And I was like, oh, you were just adorable. And then I just I didn't even know what else to say besides you're adorable. Um, thank God. Like you like, you know, YouTube and things like that weren't huge back then. Right. Um, because that video would probably still live on as super creepy. Um, and uh yeah, but he was just the most pleasant, sweet kid on the planet. And then the second time I interviewed him was over the phone. Um, he called in after he was releasing one of his albums, and then um I did see him again at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Selena Gomez. They were dating at the time. Oh, yeah. And I was in uh I was in Houston interviewing Selena, and Justin was present for that. Um he was trying to hide. Um, you know, and so I he was he was there, he was in the he was in the area, and that's when he was much older. But um, but yeah, so I've I've been in Justin's presence a couple times.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

It's pretty great. Who else? There are who are other big names.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

I mean, I was in top, so I I radio was top 40, right? So like if you name any top 40 artists from 2000 to 2019, I mean, come at me. Like, who who you want to know? Like, because we we could talk, but this could be a whole episode. Like the whole episode. You remember Jewel? Oh, of course. I love Jewel. Okay, let's start there. Because that was my very first celebrity interview. Really? I was a Jewel fan. Me too. I learned how to play her guitar on my or I learned how to play her songs on my guitar, my violin, my viola. And I had her her now stupid poetry book for my coffee table. I think it's I loved it then, but it's stupid now, and I'll tell you why. So here I am, 18 years old, freshly 18, working a KDWB uh for Dave Ryan. And Dave knew how much I loved her, and he was giving me an opportunity to interview her. And I'm like, awesome. First interview, yes. And me, I had no idea at that time that celebrities are just people. Right. You know, they're gonna have, you know, bad days. But this I'm still a little bitter, as you can see, because I hate her poetry book, and but I still keep it to remind myself of the hate I feel. Um, but anyway, she um I I had the opportunity to interview her, and I was doing some pre-interview questions, kind of like what we were going through before we started the podcast. And um, she was not having it. She wouldn't even look me in the face. She had her sunglasses on, her, like she just she was just looked like a mess, like she just didn't want to be there. And um, and here I am, like the her biggest fan, you know, and she was big. She, I mean, she got to like, I don't know what her songs were on the charts, but she wasn't like this mega celebrity, right? Right. And so, and I had met other celebrities and they were so kind, they're huge celebrities. And then here's Jewel, my first interview, and she is ignoring me. And then I'd ask a question, so she would whisper her answer in her manager's ear to respond to me. So then I'm oh, so now I'm getting even more nervous as we lead into these interviews. I'm like, this is gonna be a dud, and we're gonna be live. So there was no, like, they're gonna, okay, Shonda, we're taking it to you. And I'm like, oh God, I hate this woman, you know? So Jewel was and I and I So angry at the time that was my first one because then I obviously wasn't a fan after that. And I threw her her book into um you know a bin somewhere and never looked back. But um I was the interview was fine, whatever. She was pretty generic. We had we have a bunch of rules of things we can't talk about. I think her and Sean Penn had just broke up, blah, blah, blah. So we couldn't talk about that. I learned later that I didn't have to follow those rules. I could answer those and ask those questions anyway, but this is my first one, right? So I was like trying to be very careful. Um, and and then that set the tone for the rest of my career because I realized that day celebrities are people.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Not all of them are gonna be how we perceive them to be or see them in magazines or movies or whatever. And uh, and that was like a hard uh pill to swallow because you had this idea. And uh I never had expectations of a celebrity interview from that moment on. And then if they were great, awesome. If they were terrible, huh, uh, it's expected. You know, I had no expectations for this person, like have zero expectations. So that was my first very first one.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

That's hard. Yeah. Especially if you're in the limelight of, you know, like you've got cameras on you or you're doing something, you know. In fact, in some ways, you have no idea, not not unlike this podcast, who's going to listen. So you so the so the audience is out there somewhere. Yeah. You can't really talk to them because you don't know who they are or whatever. Yeah. But then you have, yeah, you have these difficult, yeah, that's challenging.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yeah. No, so that was uh the first one. Again, like I I had the recording somewhere um and it's it was it went fine. Like I would have I'm I obsessed over being better. So I listened to these recordings and just, oh stew.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Oh, I wish I would have been able to ask that. You know, like I just but I just I use those as a way to get better, you know. So um, but as far as like a big celebrity that I interviewed, just to kind of go off of one that was surprising, um, was Jennifer Lopez. She was my favorite. Really? A favorite ever. Um uh yeah, between her and I think Katie Perry would probably category I feel like a complete uh tool, by the way, talking about all the celebrities I've met.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Like I've like, I'm asking you to met all these people. This is fascinating. So most people don't get to meet these people. So it's name-dropping.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

I know all these people.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yeah, you're just such a normal person, which is what I love. Like it'd be different if yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

So that's scrap. Um, but yeah, uh Jennifer Lopez was um I think she was my favorite because she was the one. I didn't expect her to be like again, I had no expectations, but I've heard horror stories about how she is with like her her like team, you know, like her housekeepers and like her managers and assistants and things like that. I just heard you know, stories, but anyway, um, she was like my favorite one um as far as just surprising. And she was just so unbelievably humble and uh nice and asked all my questions, even asked me questions. It was just a great interview. Um, and so that was my favorite. And uh Katie Perry, you know, her and I held hands the whole time. She's very sweet. And then Taylor Swift, of course. Um Taylor Swift always comes up whenever we talk about this. Yes, she is the greatest human on earth. Yeah. And um, yes, I gotta spend a lot of time with her. I was actually backstage with her before her show and got to do her press conference and do all those things. But my favorite part was backstage with her and her mom, and her mom is just the sweetest woman on the planet, and this was right before Fearless came out. So this was the the um the tour for that, and we were the first stop for her tour. And uh she invited me back, and there was no other usually with radio, there's like a junket and there's a bunch of radio people just clawing to get an interview. And this was pretty special because it was just me back there. And um, I remember I just got an old Navy, like a blood-orange old Navy skirt, like a long, like flowy, you know, skirt. Because I went shopping, like I'm gonna be backstage at Taylor Swift, you know, like I'm gonna be the only one. And so I uh I went shopping at Old Navy, got that skirt, and then when uh I got backstage and her and I were just hanging out, I was in her dressing room, and her mom's like, What do you think about it like they're trying to figure out outfits and stuff? And she's like, Oh, where did Shonda, where did you get that skirt? I go, I just got it today at Old Navy. She's like, wait, Old Navy? She literally bought the skirt right there. Like she went on, like she went online and got the skirt, like right that, right then and there. And then I was like, wait, so I'll be I kept checking all the magazines, like, is she gonna wear the skirt? Because I mean, I was the inspiration for the blood orange old Navy skirt. So I mean, I didn't actually watch her like do it for you know, I wasn't like watching her phone, right? But um, but yeah, she said she bought it. So, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

So she was very sweet, and um, I enjoyed that conversation too.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

I'm really glad to hear that. Yeah, I would be oh she I would have been really disappointed if you're like, yeah, she's bad. Oh, um she's the best. It kind of doesn't surprise me because she seems that way, but then there's been a lot of things lately where I think people are trying to tear her down a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Oh, yeah, because of a relationship.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

You get up high enough and everybody's tearing you down. Like that's how that works, right? She writes a song every day.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Really? She writes a song every single day.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Just about something that happened or whatever. Just like it's a sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Yeah, whatever she's whatever she's thinking, she writes a song every day, and we nobody sees it, or like not even like her closest like team or her writers and things, nobody sees it until she's ready to put it on an album. And so she just hasn't share with like even her family, like it's just it's locked in a journal somewhere. So but every single day she writes a song. That's like her goal, her number one goal every day.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

So fearless came out. What was that? Has that been about 10 years ago?

SPEAKER_01 27:14

It was 2009.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

2009, okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Okay, so a little, I guess, longer than that. Boy, time flies.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

I know, but that was her we were her first stop. So that was yeah, it was an incredible experience. Uh that's I am glad I was like, oh gosh, thank goodness. She's she was super young then too. I mean, I I I gosh, I would say 1920, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

You are a fun storyteller. This is already a really fun podcast because you're good at it. Do you think that's going to be like three hours long?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Do you think that's okay too? There's a lot to cover here.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

But do you think that that comes from your radio time being able to tell a good story?

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, uh one I love the um, you know, because when I started in radio, I mean, we were like, it was a big deal. Um, and you got paid really well to be a really good radio personality, right? I mean, that's not the case anymore, but when I was in it, it was when radio was just like everything. And in order to get, especially for women specifically, we had to, we had to really work at it, right? And um, because we we get labeled as annoying or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so, um, and so I had to really work hard at just, like I said, obsessing over how I was the day before, listening to tapes and sitting through that cringe, like, oh, good, you know. And so I just forced myself into that cringe, cringe um moment many times a day to make sure I'm I'm getting better at getting there faster, but also being completely authentic, right? And so um when I started in radio, we only played like two to three songs an hour.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

I mean, two talking to me. And but then entertaining. So, but one of the comments that were that was made frequently is I can't believe they get paid that much to just talk on the radio. All right, dude. Come over here. I'm gonna put this microphone in front of your face. You have 52 minutes per hour for you know, per hour, right? For five hours to entertain people, 25, 54 persons. Goal is to be number one. Good luck to you. Good luck to you.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

It makes my palm sweaty every single day.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

And then going from that to an appearance and doing interviews. Like it was we would we didn't stop. We had cots underneath our our desks in our office so we could sleep in between, you know, we were just go, go, go all the time. But it was it's an obsession of of being able to um connect with people um and being able to entertain, also make them feel something wrong or right. Meaning, if we'd have people that listen to our show just because they wanted to hate it because of something we said, you know, uh, that's why how Howard Stern got his big success is because people hated him so much they wanted to hear what what he was gonna say so they could hate him more. But at least they were feeling something, right? He was so polarizing. And so uh we had to decide a mixture, but um but I always hated that when people would say, Oh, all you do is talk on the radio. You know, good good luck. Come over here. Yeah. Like my husband never understood it. And I had him come into the production studio with me one weekend because I had to, you know, cut some voice stuff. And um, and he said, I mean, really, how hard could this be? And so I just brought the voice tracker because at the time we were doing voice tracking. And I said, All right, I just want you to introduce this song. It's not gonna go out anywhere, but I just want you to introduce, you have 13 seconds to introduce this song, hit the post, right? So hitting the post before the song starts. And he went, This is Dave, this is like, oh my gosh, well, now what do I say?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Okay, uh, okay, KCLD Buy.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Like he like he had no clue, but like to be on that time, yeah. You see the timer counting down, you're like, uh, and you can't fumble because you're live, right? So he was like, Okay, I get it. I get it, I get it. This is a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

I always find it amazing how they how really good DJs will like they'll end it and then the songs start like like there might be a lead-in musical. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

Oh, yeah, there's an art. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Because you don't want to be talking over the first words.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

That would be like a well, on top of that, you have to run a spaceship of a board, right? Oh, right. So, like, I know I mess up a remote the remote at home. I can't get I can't I can't figure that out. But boy, put me in front of a radio studio and I can run the spaceship, right? It doesn't make sense. But anyway, so yes, I would be at my part-time job while I was doing um part-time weekends, and I would set up um is that a famous day of barbecue in Minneapolis. I would set up the the countertop uh with crayons, the kids, the kids' packs, and the crayons would be my pots, my pods. Oh so I'd get really quick and where the monitor was in the studio, so I can get really quick with my transitions. I'd practice this stuff, and so then I'd do the same placement. I took pictures, right? And then I just I was obsessed, like absolutely obsessed.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

That's fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Yeah, but I took it to a whole new level. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

I I always hesit hesitate to ask this particular question, but I I think it might be applicable here. Um not a lot of females.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

No.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

So can you could could is there any any part of your journey that you could share with us? Um because you are now an absolute force to be reckoned with, uh, and female or not, you are you stand with uh shoulder to shoulder with everybody. It's when it comes to just a business leader and just a human being and a community member. Um but I wonder if back then there was a part of you that was um as a female having to work harder or and or having to do things that other people weren't being weren't asked to do, or were there were there some disparities there?

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Yeah, um, that was definitely a challenge. Um, and it was uncomfortable at first. Um, and then I got to the point where, you know, I was so good. You like I was so good and obsessed at my uh at my job that you couldn't ignore me anymore. So I would demand equal pay. At that point, I had an agent, so working out contracts and being able to be a voice for me on the back end. Um and my mourning partner of you know twenty the 20 years, he was um very much on my side. He would not uh we would not sign on to do a show without equal pay. And uh we would have the same responsibilities. And you know, when you get into major market, you have producers and you have everybody kind of doing things for you. You just give them the vision, give them the topics, and they take care of everything. But like, you know, even early on, I was paid so little compared to my morning show partners at the time when I was, you know, in my earlier days. And it was disgusting. Like it was disgusting to where I had to have like I basically was like in college, like with multiple roommates, and I'm like an adult, you know, like it was it was horrible. But um as time, you know, I guess probably three years after my three years when I after I started my my career, that's when the the salary started to increase. I there's a little bit more equality there as far as with my experience. But I I watched a lot of female friends um like just leave the industry altogether because they just couldn't get past this certain threshold. But I just became I was so obsessed with it and didn't stop. And it was my everything to where I think that was what got me to be able to succeed as as far as I did and not have um the issue of like the lack of equal pay and um responsibilities and things like that. So but I did early on in my career, I did deal with that quite a bit. Have you ever seen a morning show with Reese Witherspoon and Jim?

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

That's it. That's literally what it's like working in the media. Yeah. Um I love that show. Yes, and this last week.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

I love hate it because because there are parts of you that just like I get off the treadmill and I'll just be like, yeah, yeah, you're angry. Um literally I'm on the treadmill when I'm watching it.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

That seemed a little random. Yeah, no, but like that was um that was that's a that's the exact it, like how that's how it is in the media. It's how it was. And so um whenever I was, I had been in uh radio for and hosting morning radio for maybe 16 years at the time. I was getting a little, you know, I was getting itched to do TV as well. And uh throughout that time I kept my contract with my the company I was working for for the radio show. But then I also my agent sought out some uh television opportunities for me. So for six years or the 22 years, I was hosting entertainment segments on syndicate like NBC, CBS, Fox, and uh Fox, CBS, MBC, and CBS. Oh wow. So I had four networks doing um an entertainment segment, um, just whatever was happening in that market. And I gotta actually do the production. And I had such a low budget. It's embarrassing. And I had to produce it myself and do all of the um all the visuals, I guess, that are behind me on my screen. It was like very um, it was like the team version of like e News. That's why I felt at the times. I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, everything looks like it's kind of pixelated, like my images, but they would help a lot. But I did that for six years. Um, and it was it was awesome. It challenged me in every which way, you know. Um, but yeah, that was pretty cool too.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

And you do not uh shy away from challenge at all. Like it's it just insofar in telling your story. Yeah, um, even from the very beginning, even when before when you were a little girl in Ohio, you were a force to be reckoned with. You're like, no, I'm gonna figure this out. I'm gonna get some things sorted and I'm gonna so I yeah, I this again, not surprising just from what I know about you, that that uh this story is going the way it does. So let's talk about reinvention. Let's talk about so you this was your world, this was your everything. You I mean, very, very, very good at it. You were still a rising star. It's not like you were falling out of the sky at this point. I get offers, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

Like I kept getting offers. I still today get offers. Really? Uh-huh. Yeah. And no, I do voice work though, but that's it.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

Um, yeah, no, I when I retired in 2019, it was September of 2019, and it was like, what next? Right. And um, and I was, I had the whole business plan and and sketches for to start my own company, my own like PR marketing firm. And I'm like, oh, it's it's scary, right? Like I it was it was terrifying to to figure that out. And um, and my son was in fourth grade at the time, or yeah, fifth, no, not yeah. He was he was in elementary school. And it just that felt like it was too much of a risk. But I was sitting on it still. And then I got a call from the CEO of Microbe Formulas in Cellcore Biosciences. It's a supplement company in Meridian. Uh, I I believe it's just Cellcore now, now that they've been uh purchased. But um, he called me and he said, Hey, I got a hold of your 64 page portfolio. 64 pages wild. This thing is wild. Like people would go to sleep, right? It's like a book. But it like basically is my entire career in one big book. And it's bind, I mean, I went, I think I took it to Kinkos or something together. Um, but he got a hold of the digital file uh through a mutual friend because I don't even know how, but we just had, you know, uh again, this is a Boise is like the biggest, smallest town ever, right? And so he said, I have been looking for the perfect uh person to launch our the PR arm of the business, and we and I just I think you're perfect. And I said, Well, I'm about to start my company and you know, like a big shot. I had no idea what that looked like. I just had this this like really super crappy, sketched out business plan. And uh he said, Um, you know, uh I said, Well, how who what's the team look like? He's like, No, you're you're it, like that, like just you. He's like, I need you to make this incredible product with a boring brand be something and get it attention. I'm like, okay, uh, well, and I I we went back and forth, back and forth. He literally gave me the sun, the moon, the stars, and it just seemed easier than going and bootstrapping a business together that I painted the picture that was like this great thing that I was gonna do. And so um I took it on and uh was the direct started out as the director of PR and um eventually um grew that team for myself to 22 in about seven months. I had my own media team and and everything and uh helped grow the company from five to fifty million in two years. And the thing that I had to do to get that company, oh my gosh, I like it's it's it's a whole story in itself, but um, but the job was done. They ended up selling for 200 million in April of 2022, and I was a part of that acquisition, so I had to do all the presentations to the to the buyers and potential buyers, and I was just a really big part of, and I got promoted to VP of communications about that point. Um, Kaylee, who's now one of my team members, she was my intern. She was at Boise State, and she's now my you know one of my directors at at 2D. And so um, it was like the perfect situation because it was micro where I met my team and my people to be able to recreate that for other businesses within the marketing agency that I now run today. So um, but yeah, that was a journey, boy.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Yeah. So that interim step, yeah, while at the time you may not have been totally expecting, was as you look back, was like the perfect thing for you. Because it got you, it kind of sharpened all the areas that you needed to sharpen in order for you and did it, and I'm assuming built some confidence for you. I mean, not that you don't lack in confidence. Um, but I'm sure there's certainly parts of you I didn't think that it had to have been like a little shaky when you were thinking about doing that. So then this interim thing that you did, big huge thing seems like the wrong thing to be calling it. Um, you do that, you walk away from that now, now you're you're ready. Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 40:10

Yeah. And I I mean, obviously going through in media, we're like this the media, there's bigger media conglomerates that came in and bought you out all the time. Like iHeart's a big one, right? And so I had already experienced that part of the business um long before I got to micro, but I even though I was uh on air personality, I watched the executive team and the I watched them churn. I was soon at churn and burn. Boy, they just come in. Oh, we're not gonna cut, we're not gonna get rid of you. Boom, within like a month, you're gone. So I knew the writing was on the wall when we got, whenever the decision was made to sell and we they found the buyer. I knew that it was just a matter of time. I'm I'm on the executive team. I it was a very like intimate process as far as they got a lot of FaceTime with me. Um, I ended up being the last executive to be let go. Um, and I was told later that the reason why is because I knew where all the bodies were buried. Being the head of PR. At that time I was like head of PR, legal, uh, just everything at that point. Content, education, you know, and so all the different things going wrong with the the uh products and manufacturing size and everything. And it wasn't anything crazy, but they were like, we better hang on to her a little bit longer, right? So um I knew that it was coming. Um and I actually started to get upset because I'm like, when is it happening? Like everybody else is gone. And here I am just twiddling my thumbs because they were taking everything over and just kind of doing their own thing. And so I was basically just like getting a paycheck. And so I'm like, when is this gonna happen? Because I already had the business plan now at this point. It's done. I know this is my destiny to be to get to this next step. So at that time it went from a sketch to a full-on legit Canva business plan. It's now in Canva. It's now on the sketchpad. It's in Canva. And I just working through what that actual mission and vision looked like from everything that I've learned to date. And so um it was, I was chomping at the bit, boy. So December um uh December 4th, December 6th, I got let go. Um, and I had the office space downtown Boise to start 2D December 9th.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

Met with a broker, had it all set up. My son wanted to not mess around. Did not mess around. Just signed the papers and here we go. Let's rock and wow. And uh, I had no idea what I was doing. No idea. I still really don't, but I have I've made so many, oh God, made so many mistakes.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Um, and that I would say that's business. Anyone who's out there and you're thinking, I want to start a business, but I don't really know how, it's always messy.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Or that's more of those, I want to start my own business and just have, you know, to be able to pick my own schedule and my free time. That business owns you, baby. It owns you. There is no free time. Yes. There is no free time.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

Part of it is by choice. Part of it is because you're in the, you know, whatever, you're in you're in the evening hours and you don't aren't technically on the clock, but you're still on the clock. Like, it never stops.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

Like I've already thought about 72 emails while you we're having this conversation. I'm like, disassociate. Okay, I got to remember to do that. Yeah. It's it's constant. And uh, but you have to genuinely love it and you have to do, and I get a every single day, I get to create true human stories, whether it be video, whether it be content, whether it be a creative campaign, uh, social media, I mean, all the different pieces that I had to take on in my media career, because I always tell the team, I'm like, hey, I was like an OG influencer, okay? I had like 300,000 followers and I didn't have to wear like those big brimmed hats and like have this beautiful aesthetic with all the props in the back. I would cut off half my face because I didn't have to take a selfie. Like I was I was like the humanized, you know, like it was like it was like just raw. And but I was, you know, I'd just be a personality, right? And so I get that whole piece of content and just making sure that we're showing the messy pieces to life because we get so caught up in what people are going to uh perceive as uh failure or um getting judged. And it's like, those are the beautiful parts of life because we learn from all of that. And if we don't show that piece, then what the heck are we doing? Yeah. Because we're just putting so much pressure now on ourselves to keep it up. And then two, because like if somebody sees you in public, sees me at the grocery store, like, that's not the person I saw on Instagram last night. Like, yeah, like you know what I mean? Yeah. And so, um, and so just keeping that up. But so just showing the human side and being able to tell those stories, not only for us as a as a company and all of our different personalities and all of our different expertise, but also the human side of us and then the human side of our clients as well. Because um, you know, we that they they crave that people are craving that more so now because of all the digital outlets. So it's it's definitely um a must-do. So I get to do that every day. And that's that's an obsession again, like radio.

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Yes. Yeah. Well, and I I feel the need to so so you and I know each other. We're friends. The first time that we met, we were at an experience called GLAMP, um, which is a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts. And uh and I I just plunked down next to you. I I didn't know anybody there. And I sat down. I don't know even sure if I knew that you were in our cabin yet. I might, I might have. It might have been that Connie introduced all of us and I knew that you were, but I plunked down next to you and um it was not and I kid you not, five minutes before you and I were diving deep into something that was going on in your business at that was challenging, that was and you were very forthright, and you were self-effacing and just just honest. And I was like, who is this woman? Because you were so real. I scared the hell out of people sometimes. Oh, I loved it. I I like well, you probably knew that. Oh, not for everyone. Then you and I were like, nonstop for the whole rest of the week and we're like, you, but not for everyone. I that kind of authenticity is is rare. I think you have there are people who can be authentic at various times, but there are times that we batten that down. And you are you. I have no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Every I don't like again, like even being doing a radio show for that long, the person you talk to in person is the same person you're gonna hear on the radio. I and people have like nickname, like Panama Jacks on the radio. I was Shonda. Now, according to the listeners, I was Shawanda, Shanequa, Shenanda, and they screamed my name a lot. And I had every program director in the country say, Shonda, we gotta change your name to something more simple. Nope. I'm not gonna have this identity crisis to split, like a split personality on myself. Like unapologetically, myself. I hated my mom for a long time because of my name. Like what my sister got the name Kimberly, and I hear Shonda. I'm like, what were we thinking, mom? So anyway, um I've accepted that this is who I am. I'm not changing my name. And so uh I'm the same off air on air. And uh, and that goes with like my friendships and people that um in my inner circle, the inner circle, it's very small. It's very, very small. Um, but the ones that I show up for and um that show up for me, it's it's a very real and raw, you know, relationship and friendship. Um, and you know, with you and I, our our experience, you know, first getting to know each other, um, Connie Miller brought us together, uh good friend of ours mutually. And um, and so you we already had kind of a built-in trust.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:10

Because if Connie's hanging with you, you gotta be good people, right? That's true. And the whole point of where I'm trying to really step up my game is be more curious. Um and uh I just made the decision going into that weekend that I was gonna be comp because going through it. I mean, as you know, I was going through it at that time because 2D had been around what, not even a year, now we're year four. And I I just um I I had to be able to share the experience to be able to help guide me. And I realized I couldn't do it all by myself. And so I just took that opportunity as you, as a you know, running a business as well. And uh how like how we do it? How do we how do we get through this big hurdle, you know? Even if you didn't know, maybe you just like you pat pat me on the back and say it's gonna be okay. That's what I needed at that time. So so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

And I don't remember all the puts and takes of that conversation. What I remember was how I felt.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

And I and it bonded me to you. Like I just ever we had that time and then when then we continued too. We can we had the whole weekend together, and yeah, that we had these just mini conversations about various things. Yeah, yeah, all of it. And and then and then even after that, you know, the way that you kept track of me, like that you would reach out every once in a while and you know, and I would reach out to you. Yeah. Uh-huh. Um, and then ultimately, uh the the most recent, well, not very most recent, but about a year ago, uh, you set up a whole surprise for me. Um do you wanna do you want to tell that story a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 48:40

Um yeah, so that was amazing. So um you're a tough cookie. Um so I got a call from the CEO of the Meridian Chamber, and he said, Shonda, because like you have a close, you have a close tight-knit circle too. I mean, you're I mean, you are very um rightfully so. I mean, you have the people that you talk to and trust and love, and he and Sean um knew that you and I um had had become close over the last couple of years. And so he said, uh, you're gonna have to work on Callie. Um, we need to get her here, and we don't know how we're gonna do it. And um, everyone on the board said Shonda will be able to do it. And I said, Okay. I go, I go, so wait, so she knows nothing. I just have you talked to her husband. No, we don't have his contact. Okay, okay. I was like, Well, I do. Um, and I think I had we're we're friends friends on Facebook, and I said, uh, okay. Um, I said, so you told me to lie to her a bunch to get her there. And he said, basically, you think you can do it? And I was like, dang it. I was like, well, I gotta start with her husband. And so I had to make sure he was on board first, right? So I reached out to him, I think on Facebook we exchanged numbers and him and I had a conversation. And then I was like, dang it, Rafi, where she's in New York. So like your daughter, I'm like, oh, we got she she can't miss this. Maybe we have time to fly her in so she could, you know, go through the whole experience. And so um, you know, Clint and I got on the same page and he loved you loved the idea. I don't think he'd loved the idea of lying to you, but that's what we had to do.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

And none of them did. None of them afterwards, they were like, Oh my gosh, that was the hardest thing in the world to do.

SPEAKER_01 50:09

Well, and then you and I attended like events together, yes, luncheons for charities and stuff. So it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to invite you as my guest and for the 2D table for us to have you at a seat for a luncheon or a gala or whatever. So I'm like, that makes sense to her. She wouldn't be like put off by that. And so um, yes, but Sean, you have to take care of the table. Like, I mean, if I'm Jim, if I'm lying for you, you have to take care of our lunch. And so he was awesome. And so um uh yeah, I just told you that um that hey, you want to be my guest at the Meridian Chamber luncheon? You're like, oh yeah, sure. And I was like, uh, I have an extra seat if Clint wants to come. So I was just trying to find all these pieces. And then I reached out to Rafi because I had her her phone number and uh had her help me with your speech because I'm like, she's gonna be caught off guard, she's gonna be brought on stage, she's really not like an extreme extrovert, she's more introverted. So she is going to be like, wait, what? I knew exactly how you reacted. I knew that that was gonna be your reaction. And so just putting all that together, and uh, your husband was just so I mean, he's he's very like he like like logistics and all the things, he is on it. Yes, he is that was a I could not have done it without him and uh the support of getting you there. Um, and so uh yeah, you woman of the year. And I was like, oh my gosh, nobody better. Like you did not they could have picked a better person. And so with that, I thought I'd just embarrass you a little bit with the Justin Bieber confetti on our table. And I had that on my right side of my, I was like sitting by my leg. And so I had the bag, like the gift bag with your t-shirt, your toothbrush, and I think I got you coloring pencils because you've been doing some artwork. Yes, and so I was getting you all, I had all this different stuff, but I had to hide it from you. So it's under the table, and my team is like kicking, I'm like quick kicking the bird. And then I had the confetti on the top so I could just sprinkle it while you're on stage giving your speech. And so, um, and so yeah, just coordinating all the video and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 51:53

It was wild. I so I'm here I am. So from my perspective, I'm just invited to go to join one of your luncheons. By the way, there's an extra thing. Clint, did you want to come? So he he's like, sure, I guess I'll I'll join you. I think we might have been running late a little bit then too. So that was the other thing. Like Clint was like, uh, he's trying to find parking. And he was and I could tell something like I'm like, he's taking this a little too seriously, like getting us parked. I mean, it's like it's just a luncheon. Like, why are we?

SPEAKER_01 52:18

So I was one, dude, where are you guys? And then Sean is like frantic, where is she? And I go, uh, I just I don't know. I don't know. But yes, it was we were frantic waiting for you. And I'm like, oh, I hope nothing comes up, but I don't have a message saying that she's not coming. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 52:33

The the amount of support and and Clint, a couple of days earlier, we just randomly happened to be by one of my favorite shops. And he's like, let's go in there and see if there's anything. And then he helped me pick out a dress. Not and I didn't know I was picking out a dress too. But he helped me and he was like, This looks really nice. He was like, Let's get some shoes with that too. And I'm like, Well, this is not like him. Isn't it the greatest person ever? I'm like, oh, okay, if he's going for it, I'm like, so he had no idea. No, totally outfitted me. And then then the day of, I'm like, I don't know what to worry. It's like, how about that new dress we got you? And I was like, oh yeah. Like I was so clueless to all of it. And you guys just piecemealed me together.

SPEAKER_01 53:06

Oh, I was avoiding me for a month. Like after we got it, after we got it like planned, and then Clint and I are on the back end, like working on thing. I'm like, I gotta avoid her because I would just be like, oh yeah, I gotta tell you.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

It was crazy. It was crazy. So so much so that it wasn't until because they began describing this woman of the year, and you know, pretty went pretty vague, started to get more s and then and then it was like 90 plus year old local company, Lawn and Garden, and and all of a sudden, and do you remember that moment we all have video totally looked at you like holy shit, and I saw the look on your face and you had some tears and I was like I was like holding your hand and like it's me and I just collapsed. Like I put my put my head down, I was like, and I started crying. I just started bawling. And then I was like, as I'm bawling for that moment, I'm like, I have to pull my shit together. They're gonna ask me to go up there. And I handed you your speech. I have the speech in the bag too. Yes. So like goffie right because she wrote it. I'm so glad that the video was like a solid four minutes. So I had time to pull myself back together again. Yeah, like take a deep breath and get up there. But even then, I was a woman of very few words because I was so stunned.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

And you know, and you wouldn't obviously know this because you don't know like the 2D team, like as far as like specific like roles, but the entire social team was with me for a reason because we already had it set up where Rafi was on FaceTime with I believe Brooklyn. So Brooklyn had everything set up to be able to like for her to see the experience, right? And then uh we had I think uh Ian like doing the video to get your reaction. But yes, I have all that. And I think I sent you the video, but it was such a pure reaction because I didn't want to film you, I wanted to actually be there with you and be present. And so I had the team come for specific roles to get everything together. That was really fun, but I felt terrible lying to you, and I'm sure Clint did too because it was yeah, and Robbie. It was a lot of people. Yeah, they all did. They were like, I can't so glad this is over with. Oh my God, I know because it was like, oh man, we're just acting so weird. Like it's just a weird series.

SPEAKER_00 54:59

I didn't mean to totally digress on it, but it is a great story, and it was it was really wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 55:03

Um so deserving, like nobody better, but I noticed as soon as they mentioned something referring to the business, you were like, Okay, that's that's me. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

Totally was all clicking, the dress, everything. Yes. Yeah. It was wild. And then it did take days before I kind of like came down from the high and fully realized what had happened.

SPEAKER_01 55:20

It was really a great memory.

SPEAKER_00 55:21

Yeah, it's very, very crazy. Um okay, so let's go back to um for just wrapping up 2D just a little bit. Can you tell us the name and where it came from?

SPEAKER_01 55:31

So 2D, again, being um I had my first ego death creating the name with the business. So I've had a thousand trillion leading up to launching 2D, but like specifically being an entrepreneur, I had my first ego death in the creation of the name. Um, because I had written down like five or six different names. And I'm so creative and so like outside of the box. And every time I went to go check a domain or check the availability, there's like five thousand of the same names that I had picked out before. So 2D wasn't even on the list. I had these other names that I thought I created. Okay, no, I guess 5,000 other agencies had the same name worldwide. So I'm like, man, I was like, how can we stand out, be unique, but also be completely 100% like who we are as a team and and as for the mission and vision. So um my husband's a musician and I saw his uh his guitar in the corner of the living room as I was just kind of looking and creating the name. And uh I was like, hmm, pieces of an instrument. So I Googled pieces of an instrument, and the Italian word tooty popped up, but it was uh T-U-T-I. Um and I'm like, that's cute. And it meant it meant pieces of an instrument coming together to make harmony. It's like marketing, right? Like marketing. You can't people just think they could do one thing and then do it kind of eh but it takes a whole strategy and multiple channels of marketing and multiple pieces of storytelling and and and things like that. So um I was like, wow, and then all the team members, all of us as a team, we're so different, yet to the core of our mission and vision, who what we stand for is all the same. And so when we come together, it all makes sense. And so uh I didn't like when I was sketching it out on paper, I didn't like how it was just a kind of T-U-T-I. So I added the extra U for fun. So I actually kind of made up the word as far as how it looks, but that was the the foundation of it. Pieces of an instrument coming together to make harmony.

SPEAKER_00 57:24

It's a great name.

SPEAKER_01 57:25

Yeah, it's perfect. Uh-huh. So it's a great conversation starter because everyone's like, What the heck is tootie? Yeah. Like 2D, fruity. Yeah. You know what I mean? So there's that, or people say tootie. Um, but yeah, so it's a it's a great conversation piece. It's one of the first questions I get when I do like a presentation talking about you know, for the entrepreneurs is where the name came from and what it what does it mean. And so again, it just adds to that conversation. You know, it's a it's a good starting point.

SPEAKER_00 57:50

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 57:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:51

Um, I also love how many awards you've received. So now we don't have to go into all these.

SPEAKER_01 57:56

My husband says I'm the most awardiest person. Yeah, he actually made up the awardiest. Um that's pretty great.

SPEAKER_00 58:02

Yeah. Um but they're all fitting. It's not, it's not like you're you're getting these awards that, you know, are fake awards or whatever. These are all things, you know, um like the and it's it's different than what we were talking about with the Meridian uh women of the year thing, but the the um IBR um women of is it's not women of influence, what do we call that?

SPEAKER_01 58:23

Um empowering women? Are you talking about the women of the year?

SPEAKER_00 58:26

Yeah, women of the year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And uh and what you won again this year. So I think I was gonna say, I think so. Does this put you in a different echelon, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 58:34

Make you like a I think it's like the Delta Sky Miles, like your medallion. I don't know. There's like a there's a I think it's like a special place meaning you can never win again. I think it's like I put you on a pedestal. Um, but yeah, I uh this will be my third year. Um and and yeah, like I I it was I I don't know if I could ever get it again after this, but um I'm always surprised every time because I always say I can never, it takes a lot to work with this. You know, like it, like I'm not I have a lot of support throughout my with my personal life and with my professional life. And without those people, I can't do what I do. And so I'm always surprised because I hope people know that. Yeah. And even though my name's on that award and I'm the one being brought up on stage, I just wish that I had the the time and the words to be able to say, like, these, it's it it works because of this. I'm here because of everybody on each side. It takes a village to be with me. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so um, uh, you know, I that's I think that's what is so off-putting, I think, about like talking about because I'm like, ugh, it's like everybody in my life got that award. So that's why I love the Empowering Women Award that we've also won three years in a row. Um, because that is like what we we represent that. Like we're all about mentorship and and leadership and just as a whole, but we really um focus on, you know, um women, young, you know, young entrepreneurs or business owners or those who uh are in college studying business and we're creative and we just love to be able to give that time and energy to them because it's so desperately needed.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:13

Like the real world, you know, experience is is needed. So we take the time and uh really carve out, I carve out a lot of my my schedule for that opportunity or for those opportunities. So take it to lunch and whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

And and you have uh I've met a lot of the people that you mentor and that you bring in. And um I'm I'm always amazed at the the caliber of person that that is attracted into your realm. Like that you you just you attract these very interesting people, these thoughtful people, um, people who are are ready to take on things, much like you, much like the story that you've told about yourself. Like you you kind of like attract attracts like, and so you do bring in this wonderful group of people that and you're very, very good at giving them credit.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:54

Yeah, you well, I hope I hope so. And that's why I always like, oh my gosh, I'm just like you know, I'm I'm very grateful. I I don't want to come across as not being grateful or um, you know, like putting or I guess not giving credit where credit's due, as far as I I do work hard. I work really hard. I I don't stop. Um I'm I'm obsessed with everything about what I do. And so that's a good thing and a bad thing. And so I don't I don't want to like take that away from myself, but um, I also know I'm I'm very aware of what it took for me to get to get here. And I'm still I'm still messing up every day, multiple times a day. I'm still screwing up, still learning, still growing. And all the people that help support me in that failure, in that growth. Um, that's why I I get those awards. That's a piece of it, right? Not all of it, but it's a piece of it, a big piece of it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:41

Absolutely. Yeah. And and that's not all. You also are very very philanthropic.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:48

And you're very involved with the community. And you're you aren't like you're not just focused on one area and like laser focused in that. You you've got a diverse group of things within the community that you are supporting either monetarily or actually working on committees or do yes, exactly. So tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

Um, so one thing we've implemented, I implemented this at at 2D uh when we launched, shortly after we launched, was um a Thoughtful Thursday, and where we pick a nonprofit to um help support. And um, we are very intentional about who that is. So whether it's Ronald McDonald House, uh the uh Women and Children's Alliance, um, we have Ada County Victim Services. Um there's a plethora of different nonprofits we work with and support them, not only with whatever the need is at the time, but also with marketing. Flock cancer was our um was our charity. So every year we accept um applications basically on uh from a nonprofit wanting marketing support for the entire year. So I give um over $75,000 in time of duty to supported nonprofits and uh roughly around that number of like an in-kind time donation. Um and so uh the 2026 nonprofit was flock cancer. They do the the stroll on town Harrison and uh uh Leslie's incredible, her story's incredible. And so um, yeah, so we do marketing for them, we do like full service social media, we have a whole strategy and we really build around all the events they do throughout the year, billboard creation, and we do all their creative, and so um we do that on top of just our thoughtful Thursdays once a quarter. Um, and then not to mention all the committees and boards and the galas that I so I mean, you see, I'm I'm I'm everywhere at all times. And so, like the Habitat for Humanity and um again, Ronald McDonald House and uh uh Boys and Girls Club. I mean, just anything that we can be a part of and support, we're gonna do it. And that also includes like our you know, our chamber partnerships and things like that. Um, we're very involved there and help with those with those events as well. So uh the girls, the Girl Scouts, you know, I do do that every year. And um, and then also we do our internship program in the summer. So we have we hire five interns every summer, and then we have them choose the charity that they want to do a can't a summer campaign for, and then they work all summer on the relationship and building a campaign, talking to the nonprofit. It's a very collaborative experience. And they walk away with a portfolio and get all this real life experience and and up and project management and just creation and also just the day-to-day of how a business runs, especially a startup agency. And so, um, and then they have that you know heartfelt part of it where they get a give back and have a purpose, you know, they're not running to get us coffee or anything like that, you know. And so they're actually getting real experience. And so we do that as well every summer. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:39

And the list goes on.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:40

Yes, the list does go on. And there's and there's so much we could talk about with that. I I there is an element of um of how you do it that it it's it's woven into your business. I guess if if we were talking to somebody right now who has a business, let's say they're they're in their third or fourth year of business, but they're actually not doing much in the community, what would you what would you tell them that they're missing? Everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

I thought you might say that. I it really is everything. Like, you know, and the thing is you have to show up with intention. And, you know, I am a servant leader and I I have the visionary piece, obviously, but I um I'm always eager to help and support. And I think going back to again my original the foundation of who I am, going back to like young Shonda, right? And that is I wanted help. I was seeking support and help and it wasn't getting it in return. So now I know what that feels like. And so I'm always in that mindset of showing up with intention of helping others. And if that leads to growing the business, great. But if it doesn't, that that it wasn't meant to be, and it's not that does it that's not the per that's not the reason. The reason is I actually get to help support somebody, and what you give is what you get. So if you have somebody running a business. Who is completely disengaged with their community and everything around it? What are you doing, man? Like, what are you doing? That is like the easiest, most fulfilling thing on the planet that's always going to circle back and give you so much more. Um, because it takes a village to do it all. Like I said, me as a person takes a lot. A lot of support and people. The business, oh boy. I mean, it's a whole, you know, whole community. So we have to be there for each other and it's not one-sided. So I I I I would not just I would disagree with that on all levels of not being a part of the community. Yeah. Yeah. It's everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:33

Okay. Now, this is the question that you're probably going to murder me for asking. Gosh. We are officially empty nesters. Oh no. No. No, I'm going to start crying before I even start asking the question. Just because I don't talk about the phone call.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:48

Are you going to talk about the phone call?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:49

I don't have to talk about any of that. I just want to talk to you and anybody who's listening who either has a kid who is a junior or senior, because you're going to be in our shoes soon, so you know. Um, and and then also anybody else who is exactly in our shoes. I'm gonna look at you right now. I know I can see it. I can see it like this.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:08

I have not talked about this to date and not cried about it. So where was my hand?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:14

Yeah. Yeah. So you you recently, so so and this is interesting just for our audience to know this. So so my daughter was born um on April 7th of 20.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:28

2007.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:29

Yeah, 2007. And yours was born the exact same date in 2008. Yeah. So we have kids that are exactly one year apart. Friendship was meant to be exactly. It totally was. It totally was. Um, and and so so yeah, so Raphael, I had to have the big goodbye last year. I and then of course this year and the next year, and then we're gonna have to do it everything single year, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:49

Right. So my I have we have your only child, Rafi's your only, and so there's that whole element to things.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:55

Exactly, exactly. So this is a reinvention. Like it, so we we talk about you reinventing yourself and you've done it in in many different ways. Yeah in some ways, this may be the most challenging reinvention you've done.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:08

There's no question. Um so, and thank you, but I will just talk about the conversation. I don't care. Um when you had called me just for something random about community work or whatever, and I called you back because I was in such a like just a sad head space, and I knew you'd understand because you just went through it. Um so for me to I there's probably maybe a handful of people who have seen me cry before or even heard me cry, like that's just not something that I'm ever comfortable doing. And then when I heard your voice. I mean, I couldn't even breathe. I was crying so hard with you on the phone. I'm like, I know you called me about this, but I'm going through it. You know, I was I was such a mess because we had just found out that day that you had called that because my my son got a um a scholarship. Uh, he's an athlete, an academic scholarship. We're very proud of him. And uh he accepted his um his scholarship to Colorado Mesa University. So it's about 11 hours away. And we thought we were moving him like the third week of August. Well, they had called and said the board had just passed this new rule where freshman athletes had to come in two weeks before the actual school year started. So we thought we were moving him in one weekend, and then we got the call that we had to move him in sooner. So now I'm like, you've now cut into almost three weeks of time with my kid. And so that happened that day that you called me. And so now I'm like, it's it's it's real. Like I'm gonna like this is this is happening. And so I had just dreaded it for so long. I know he's fully capable, and I'm not saying that for any other reason other than for selfish reasons, I'm gonna miss my kid.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:40

Yes, yes. We both have incredible children, incredible children. So so it's not that, it's not that we're afraid of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:46

Your producers brought in the flock for tissues because like we're gonna cry about something. Um you know, I I I yeah, but it was it, it was a difficult day. So I'm learning to be without him.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:57

And it is, it is, it's a process of and it's it's a not, and this is such a bad example. It's the only thing I can think of right now, but it's a little bit like when you have a pet in the household and the pet dies.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:09

You still hear the feet clatter.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:10

Yes, or you hear a jingle bell and you're like, oh, the cat's playing with the white, or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:14

You're literally grieving.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:15

Yes, yes. And here's the other thing, and this is my this is my latest, and I may have already said this to you, but my realization, because sometimes if I try to rationalize the singular goodbye of her going to college, because I'm gonna see her in six weeks or whatever. It's basically a different country. It feels like that. It feels like, but we we schedule time like halfway through the semester. We're gonna see it. So we actually know it's gonna be 57 days or whatever, and it's we can make it through that. So the tears in that moment in time are not that day. They are the 18 plus years that led up to that day. Yeah, and there is a processing there as a mama and as dads that it's it is almost beyond what our I think our brains can handle and our emotions can handle.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:59

It's like you just want you're in denial a little bit. You go through these different phases again, that grief. Yeah, the the phases of grief. And I um yeah, I'm I feel like I'm just in mourning and um it's completely all-consuming. Like I know it's been what two weeks since we've dropped them off, and I I'm I've I I've some mornings I can't get out of bed. I'm just so I feel like I'm oh my gosh, like a piece of me is missing.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:21

Yeah. And then there are other moments that you kind of surprise yourself, right? Yeah. There are moments that I'm like, hey, balling on a podcast. Like this is not something I plan on doing today. But you know what? It's real. And I think there are a lot of parents who we go through this grieving and we don't allow ourselves to feel that because we knew this all along. Yeah. Like when I when I knew, when I read the little thing that said I was pregnant, I knew there was a point that this kid was gonna fly the coop. Like that's the point of all this, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:53

Your producer told me about snot hanging out of my nose and on the camera. Yeah, somebody will tell us, right, Ross? Yeah, I hope so. Please come in and tell me. Um yeah, I um I was in denial about that. And, you know, until we moved him to college, it's just been us three. Like I said, we moved around so much. And we lived in all these different cities. And of course, we've been here in Boise since he was in fourth grade. Um, and so we have we have this tight-knit community, you know, where we live and just all of us are kind of transplants, and like he has his seven best friends, like his brothers, you know. We were the hangout house, so like we're all very, very close, and just watching him grow up with the best friends on the planet. And then Dave and I having best friends from their parents, and it's just we've all just been one big happy family. And um, you know, but we've never we go on vacations as a big group together, never been away from Howie more than three days his entire life. Three days that that's it. And uh that happened his going into his senior year that summer when he went to McCall. Like it wasn't like it was, and that was him leaving and going with his friends for fourth of July. And and so it's always been us three. Always, no matter where we've been, it's been us three. We haven't had family around. And um, and so this has just been a whole it's just yeah, it's like you're mourning, you're I've never felt so proud, so sad, so selfish. Right. So you think about me, I'm you know, I just turned 44 and empty nester, an entrepreneur, pre-menopausal. I mean, are you catching what I'm saying? I'm a dis I'm a literally a disaster. I'm a ticking time bomb, like on the verge of a 72-hour hold at this point. I have been completely off the rails. My husband, God love him, because he's he's definitely been like the the strong one. He and then to see him, you know, my 6'4 big burly husband crying for no random, for just no reason, is is is heartbreaking too. But we um he's definitely stronger than I am, but I think he's trying to keep it together for me because I'm just a basket case. And um, but yeah, it's been a it's a transition. And I wish, because they I hear that, especially boys, they kind of um they're kind of like a-holes leading up to their departure, like their sequence. I've heard this, yes. I yeah, I have too. And Howie never hit that phase. Like he just wasn't that kid. I mean, he wasn't like um, you know, like you know, lovey dovey or anything like that. He just was his normal self. And um, and so when we dropped him off and then we made the drive back, and we just cried the whole way back from Colorado. It was a disaster. And uh, we get home and Howie were on life 360, right? And so Howie had seen that we had arrived home. He FaceTimed us immediately. And this is probably like 12:30, one o'clock in the morning. And he was like, hey, and we're like, Oh, you're up, and he's like, Yeah, you guys home. And I'm like, Yeah, we just we just walked in the door. We're really tired, we're gonna hit um you hit the sack, you know. Why are you? I'm like, why are you up so late? Like, what are you doing? Why are you outside? He was out playing pickleball with his teammates. Oh and so he said, Why wouldn't I wait for you guys to get home? Because I have a surprise for you upstairs in my room. And I'm like, surprise? Oh gosh, like, oh gosh, like I don't think I could take it. And so I went upstairs. He said it's under his guitar amp. So I lifted his guitar amp, and just to give you a backstory, since he's been able to walk every Christmas morning, I have done a scavenger hunt for him with a bunch of different riddles to find his like big gift, you know? And so I put them all over the house. And I've done that every year for since he was three. And um, I lifted up his guitar amp and it said clue number one.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:16

So he created it for you. For David, yeah, and he had every single clue, had a picture of us as a family from the time he was little of his favorite memories that he remembers, like fishing or just like the simple things.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:28

And so I'm like, why couldn't he have been an a-hole with all the other boys? I'm like, this is like this is the most sweetest thing, but oh my gosh, I just and we were so I mean, we're tired, it was all the fields.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:39

And so he had us on a journey around the house at like one in the morning, finding all these clues and pictures, and then it ultimately led to the most heartfelt card that was so real and raw. And our kid's not like that. I mean, he's just not that, he's very um, he's kind of introverted and he's just uh very but very self-aware, but he's definitely not, you know, lovey dovey, ooey gooey. And to read his just true heart was um the best gift ever. It was just the precious, the most precious card ever. So um, oh yeah, I bought for like 48 hours. So yeah, he was uh it was it was it's been hard for sure. Yes, yeah, and you know that.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:20

It's just it's another reinvention. And I and so to to wrap all this up and put a bow on it, yeah. This is this is one more phase of probably many more because this is what this is what you do. You reinvent yourself. You and and when the time comes, there will be other reinventions. And I love as your friend that I get to watch it. It's very fun to be a part of the journey with you. I'm exhausted.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:42

I'm literally exhausted. I don't think I could do another reinvention. I think I'm retiring after this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:47

Hold on, maybe that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:48

Reinvent myself into retirement.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:49

Let's do that. We'll move down south.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:52

Wear my little beach at and just sit in my pool for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:55

Or we can go back and forth between our kids. We can just drive them crazy. We could, you know, spend time in Mesa and part of the time.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:00

I'm just looking for campgrounds like close by during my camp or my little she shed on wheels next to Colorado Mesa for sure. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:06

Uh, very good. Well, Shonda, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having me. I thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being so real. And really, thanks for being a part of this community because you are a wonderful member and you have such great stories, and um, you're a wonderful contributor. So thank you. Yeah, thanks again. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Hey, thanks for watching. If you or someone you know has a story to share, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out, share your story, and you could be featured on an upcoming episode. And remember, once your story gets shared, it will no longer be one that nobody knows.