SHOW TRANSCRIPT

 

 

[00:00:04] Speaker 1 So here we are. Welcome to another episode of the Go with John show. If you are enjoying listening to the show, please remember to subscribe. Every subscriber makes a difference. Today, I am blessed to have Rachel Foster with us, as well as her brother, Boomer Foster younger brother.

 

[00:00:25] Speaker 2 Oh, come on now.

 

[00:00:26] Speaker 1 Yeah, here we go. I knew I did actually predict before you guys got here and Nick will raise his hand if I’m telling the truth right that it wasn’t going to be long before that came up. Yeah.

 

[00:00:37] Speaker 2 So we started fighting.

 

[00:00:39] Speaker 1 Yes, and that’s why you guys are at opposite ends of the room, right? So all right. So if I have to jump in and get into the middle of something, I guess I’ll have to do that. So, so welcome both of you. Thanks again for for coming in to chat with us some more. So, Rachel, welcome back to McLean, Virginia.

 

[00:00:58] Speaker 2 Thank you. I am so happy to be here. In fact, I’ve stopped strangers and told them that I’m happy to be back in McLean and to be back in this office. It’s an exciting time for me. Mm hmm.

 

[00:01:10] Speaker 1 So where? So tell us where you came from. So, so a little history. So you were here in the McLean office and what were you doing here when you were here last time?

 

[00:01:19] Speaker 2 So I started my real estate career in the McLean office. We were in a different building back when for sales meetings, we had to have valets parked the cars, but how many people we had coming in and the lack of space. We moved into this building not long after that, and at some point shortly after that, I became the sales manager in this office. Then I had the opportunity to move to Charlottesville, and I started working there as the managing broker of a few offices. And now I’m I’m back in McLean, and I really am truly thrilled. I feel like I’ve come home, right? And it just it feels right.

 

[00:02:01] Speaker 1 Yeah, I agree with you. I think this is exactly where you should be. So I know the folks in Charlottesville miss you, and I know that from watching your Facebook feed. So, so, so how long were you in Charlottesville?

 

[00:02:15] Speaker 2 I was there four or five and a half years now.

 

[00:02:18] Speaker 1 It’s hard to believe it was that long. It’s a long time. So, so you’re back in McLean and now you’re the broker for the McLean office.

 

[00:02:28] Speaker 2 I am and I. When this opportunity came up, I did not see a way for a reason for me to turn it down. It was a tough decision for me to make, right. In fact, probably one of the more difficult decisions because I loved my agents and still love my agents in Charlottesville, right? They are my family and they were really good to me. And so I hated to make a decision that would hurt them. But this was the right thing for me personally. It was the right thing for my family and I could not be happier.

 

[00:03:03] Speaker 1 So they were probably just as sad to lose you as we were sad when you left us the first time. So we know.

 

[00:03:10] Speaker 2 I love letting people down. It is. It’s it is a very difficult thing because I don’t, you know, I really don’t like letting people down. I want to do my very best for everybody that I serve, and I feel like I was created to serve people. I like being in a position to support people and to make sure that they have what they need. And so any time it feels. Like, I’m letting people down, like I’m doing something that’s going to hurt people, it is it is a very difficult thing for me to do.

 

[00:03:52] Speaker 1 Well, the good news is you’re only a phone call away or a Facebook page post away. So you’re you’re still there for Charlottesville, just like you were still here for McLean when you were in Charlottesville. So it all works out in the end, hopefully for everyone. Absolutely.

 

[00:04:07] Speaker 2 And you know, I think that social media can be both a blessing and a curse. Know because there are a lot of things about social media that have become more and more difficult, but it is really a blessing to be able to stay connected with people when you’re not living close to them. So I agree. When I was away from here or former students of mine or, you know, people that Boomer and I grew up with in Georgia, you know, it’s Facebook allows us the opportunity to stay connected with people that we love in a way that we could not have done without something like that.

 

[00:04:38] Speaker 1 Right, that’s that’s absolutely true. And I agree. So, Boomer, so what is the McLean office mean to you? What is the significance of the McLean long in foster office to the long and foster organization?

 

[00:04:51] Speaker 3 Well, that’s easy. I mean, McLean is one of the most special officers I’ve ever been in, and there are few officers that are like this, but very rarely do actually walk into a place where, you know, there’s such camaraderie. There’s that abundance mentality and there are just people buzzing around and being hugely successful, but so willing to help everybody else. I mean, if you walked in here and you talk to any of the top producers in this office, they give it their time freely. You know, they don’t have monstrous egos. And you know, and you know, starting here as an agent for Rachel and I’m sure anybody else who has been a new agent in this office, we have a few offices like this, but it’s very much unlike a lot of offices in our industry and that you’ve got access to people that can help you, not just from the brokerage level, but from day to day boots on the ground. How to do the business. And then they’re willing to do it and they do it with such a good attitude. So, you know, we have when you come into an office like this, it always feels good. You know, I come in here probably once or twice a year to give a speech and the people just I walk out getting more from the meeting of being around the people with the type of personalities and characters they have than certainly anything I could have ever brought to that meeting. So it’s a special office. It’s always been one of our most productive office, but it’s always been one of the most fun places for me to be an outsider, so to speak, right? To get to see, you know, I didn’t. I was never an agent in this office. You know, I did it in a different place.

 

[00:06:21] Speaker 1 Which where were you an agent?

 

[00:06:22] Speaker 3 I was actually an agent in our Aspen office when I first moved up here from South Carolina. I lived in Leesburg and and I didn’t know anybody. So I had to learn how to prospect to expires with drones and for sale by owners. And the broker there at the time was a guy named Dennis Bruce, and he did a lot of great training on experience with drawings and prospecting. So I didn’t have a sphere to work, so my uncle and my cousin thought that would be a great place for me to start. And they were right. But at the end of the day, I mean, back to McLean, it is just a special place, and I don’t think there’s any denying or arguing that, right?

 

[00:06:53] Speaker 1 So go ahead, Rachel.

 

[00:06:54] Speaker 2 Well, I was going to say it’s interesting because when boomers started talking and using the words that he was about how special McLean is. I thought, you know, it’s it’s a it’s a feeling that I want to bottle and carry with me, and I felt like I did to Charlottesville to be able to say, this is the culture that I am used to, and this is a culture that I want to build here. And so when Boomer said that when he comes and give speeches here and he leaves and he still feels that joy and passion and attitude of abundance, that’s the same idea I had. Like, I want to bottle this and take it with me because it it is special, right?

 

[00:07:28] Speaker 3 Well, also, I found my fiancee here, right? So that doesn’t stink, right? You know, it must be a pretty cool office if there’s somebody here willing to say yes to me to get married.

 

[00:07:38] Speaker 1 Absolutely.

 

[00:07:38] Speaker 2 Very, very important point that needs to be made is that I hired his fiancee as a brand new agent in this office, so

 

[00:07:45] Speaker 3 I guess I have Rachel to thank for my life. Here we go. Hey, I will say that it’s really interesting sitting here because I didn’t realize this was about Rachel and I get to be the sidekick because the nature of my job is I don’t get to be the sidekick very often. It brings back a lot of resentment for my child and growing up with Rachel and always being Rachel’s brother. Right? It was just it was a terrible way to grow up, and I finally was able to go off to college and make my own way. It’s just such a freeing thing, but you’re bringing back some very hurtful memories for me today. I’m happy to do it. Yeah, thank you very much. I just wanted you to know

 

[00:08:19] Speaker 2 this, John. May I tell a quick story? Tell the story! The night before I was named as the sales manager here, Boomer says to me, Oh, that’s right, we’re introducing you tomorrow in management right at the all company managers meeting. And I said, Oh, OK, like I didn’t know what that meant. Right? So the next day, each manager who’s being introduced, if there’s been a change or somebody new, they’re asked to stand up right when they’re being introduced and sit back down. I get mysteriously left until the end. Right. So Boomer is announcing and he says, you know who the managing broker is in this office? And then he says in our new sales manager in the McLane office is Rachel Foster, and I do what everybody else did. I stayed up and I sit back down and he goes, Oh no, no, you stand back up. He’s walking toward me from across this ballroom with two hundred and fifty people in the room. And he starts saying, our teachers liked her better than than they liked me or parents liked her better. And if he said something that was true, I would not in my head. And if he said something that was false, I would shake my head and he would say, like he just did. Yeah, you know, I was known as Rachel’s brother, which is not at all true. I figure when I die, my tombstone is going to say Boomer sister. Yeah, but it was really quite something, and he got all the way across the room and I’m going to let him finish how he ended this particular series of statements about me.

 

[00:09:41] Speaker 3 I mean, I thought it was comedic genius, frankly. I mean, it was. It took me about a minute to get across the room and I was talking about, you know, always being envious and picked on because of Rachel. And, you know, my mother saying she had a higher IQ than me and all of that kind of thing. And and I got there and I said, the one thing I can say today that gives me a whole lot of solace and makes me feel very happiest when I really my head down to sleep every night. From this point forward, I know that I can fire you when the Sun comes up the next morning

 

[00:10:08] Speaker 2 in that nice.

 

[00:10:09] Speaker 1 That is nice, but that would be a big mistake.

 

[00:10:11] Speaker 3 Now, obviously, I’m kidding. She’s a hell of a manager. A hell of a leader. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

[00:10:17] Speaker 1 So, so Rachel, so do you tell us what is your vision? So you’re back in MacLaine. So last time you were here, you were a sales manager. Now you’re the broker, so you’re the captain of the ship. I am. You are going to set the tone for this office. So no pressure. What is there? Yeah, there is. Yeah, we’re going to bring it to. But what is what is what is your vision for this office? So you talked about culture and I know it’s you know, at our sales meeting this morning, you talked about, let’s explore what our culture is now and then let’s talk about what do we want our culture to be. But so I know you’re in the fact gathering and thinking process, but as where you sit here today, what do you want the culture of this office to be?

 

[00:11:00] Speaker 2 I that’s interesting, I don’t want to say I want to return to because I know that a lot of the the richness that is in McLean’s still exists. But I want to reinvigorate. Right. Those same terms that Boomer was using those same ideas of an attitude of abundance of this mentality that. And this is never left McLean. And it’s that one of those things that I’ve always carried with me, this mentality that I will share all of my trade secrets with you, right? Because I’m not worried about you stealing my business. I believe that as I mentioned this in the sales meeting this morning, as the tide rises, all boats rise. So let’s all be great together so that this idea that we that we collaborate, that we support one another, that we lay down our own things in order to to support the other coming, you know, around and beside new people and helping them get their feet under them. There’s so much excitement that can happen in a real estate office, and this office has always been very active, very exciting. It’s the kind of place that you want to come to work. Some things have changed where the pandemic is concerned that have shifted the physical presence maybe the needs of people as far as, you know, being in the office space. But as I see it, one of the things that I think is going to be vital to the culture in our office is getting people back here so that we can be working together, learning from one another. I think the energy and the passion is is a hundred percent still present. We just need to be together right to activate it.

 

[00:12:59] Speaker 1 Yeah, I would say that that it’s been my experience. I’ve been in this office since 2004, so that’s a that’s a long time. You know, the I think the top producers in this office are very generous with their time.

 

[00:13:13] Speaker 2 Unbelievable.

 

[00:13:14] Speaker 1 So, yeah, I can actually tell a quick story. I walked in, you know, my mom, Lillian Jorgensen, is obviously here in this office, and I walked in one day and she was in the conference room meeting with somebody and she waved me in to come in. So I I walk in and I sit down and they’re talking, talking, talking, talking. And finally, I said, I said, What is this meeting about? And she says, Oh, well, this is so-and-so. And I’ve known him for a long time and he became an agent and he’s over in the Burke office and he wanted to come and get some ideas from me. And I, I thought to myself, This is where do you have time? You know, for this? But Lillian always makes time for everybody who wants to sit down and talk to her, but I can’t get her to butter my toast anymore. Those days are long gone. So. But but but in general, the the the agents here, I think all of them, I don’t know any of them that if you go to them and say, Hey, can I pick your brains about something? They won’t, they won’t take the time to help you.

 

[00:14:16] Speaker 2 That’s a hundred percent true.

 

[00:14:18] Speaker 3 Well, I mean, it’s it’s a no jerks allowed. I normally use a different word than that, right? I won’t today, but it’s almost a it is a no jerks allowed place, and I think that it’s interesting. I would imagine that leading this office, you don’t really have to worry about running off somebody who doesn’t have integrity or that’s a jerk because the agents will do it for you, right? Because they fiercely protect the culture that is this office. And I don’t disagree with Rachel, you know, COVID. And even pre-COVID, a little bit technology has gotten agents to the point where they can be so mobile. Yes, that, you know, unlike when we first started this business where you’d have to stand beside a fax machine or you needed to meet your clients to do when signatures on a contract or a listing agreement, pretty much every bit of your business right now you can do from your phone so that the idea of these vibrant offices that are buzzing with activity is going to be a challenge as we move forward, not just in our company or in our industry. It’s going to be like that in a lot of different industries. So where we’re focused is being very intentional about the preservation of one of the things that made this company great, which is the culture and the camaraderie that we all enjoy.

 

[00:15:21] Speaker 1 Fantastic. So this great place, we’re going to take a quick break and we will be back with more from Boomer and Rachel Foster. Stay tuned. All right, welcome back, we’re still here with Boomer and Rachel, so thanks for sticking around. So Boomer, so tell us what went into the decision making process to bring Rachel from Charlottesville, where she was much loved back to McLean?

 

[00:15:52] Speaker 3 Well, the McLean office adds a little bit of an added level of complexity. When you’re talking about replacing managers, I think anytime we have a manager that either makes the decision to go do something else or that we make that decision for them. You know, any time you’re faced with something that feels adverse or adversity, we try to look at it as an opportunity. How can we take what we had in this place and actually make it better? So normally what you look for in a manager in general is somebody that can attract agents to the office can retain the agents so they currently have. That does a fabulous job with training, coaching, mentoring. They can have a business sense, can manage a pencil and that understands the importance of our affiliated businesses, the all inclusive approach. So when this happened here in McLean and the prior manager took a different type of job at a different company, we looked at it as, Hey, this is an opportunity for us to to to just continue to take more. McLean currently is and just make it even better and better. And, you know, we put everything on the table. It’s you know who who is going to fit best in this role. And it didn’t take long to figure out that, you know, I’m not the brightest bulb in the pack, but in effect, take long to figure out that Rachel was going to be the best fit for the role. I mean, we had lots of good candidates for the role everybody and their brother would love to raise their hand and say, Yeah, I’ll run McLean because it’s a dream job for a managing broker. But when you think about those things you look for in in a manager, Rachel checks every box and it’s very rarely. We’ve got some that check every box, and all of our managers are normally the best in their marketplace, but it’s hard to find somebody who can do all of those things. And she did, and she’s proven that. And in addition to that, the added kind of bonus that she wasn’t walking into a place where she didn’t know anybody, right? So she had been here. She had formed relationships with people. She had garnered trust with the folks that are here. So at the end of the day, the issue wasn’t who we should put in there. It’s whether she would come because she was very happy in Charlottesville. She’s run in three of our offices down there. She was knocked out of the park with growth. Her agents did not leave her. She did. She does. In fact, you know, she’s a schoolteacher, has got her Ph.D., and it was she was a teacher at one time. So from a training, coaching, mentoring perspective, she’s fabulous at that. And so she checked every box. The challenge we face in that decision, though, is her last name is Foster, and a lot of people would think, Well, gosh, that’s, you know, that’s should be a step up for her. And what I know, having gone through this Mike, my uncle hiring me here as a manager and then, you know, I’m sorry as an agent and then a manager than a regional manager and now president is that that actually makes things harder because the expectations on you are that. Well, first of all, the assumption is you got your job because of what your last name is. So at the end of the day, you’ve got to work that much harder and be that much better and perform that much better than other people. And so it’s a big challenge, and I knew that was going to be a hard thing for me to put on her. So the decision as to who we thought would do the best job was a relatively easy one. And you know, and I know it’s the right decision, and we already know that just a week into her being here, people love her. But the nepotism piece and having to prove yourself is something I wouldn’t wish on anybody because I had to go through it and it was always very challenging. But she wears it well and she does a fabulous job and has done a fabulous job everywhere she has. She’s been, I will say as we thought, you know, as Rachel’s moved up through the through the organization, I’ve been more of a detractor of hers in the past. I mean, when she came on as an agent and she was in the McLean office, I can remember Lonnie Plaster at the time came to me, and he said I’d like to make Rachel, the assistant manager and the McLean office, and I was like, You don’t need to do that. She’s not ready yet, and she comes into McLean and she does a really good job and people love her and she prove me wrong. And then Scott Shaheen, who is the manager there, the regional manager down and in our central Virginia region at the time, said I would love to hire Rachel to be the managing broker of our Charlottesville, the old Ivy offices. You shouldn’t do that, man. She’s not ready yet. I think she needs some more seasoning. She doesn’t, you know, she’s just now getting her broker’s license. And that’s, you know, that’s a big risk to take. And it’s an honor I really want to do it again. She proved me wrong. This is the first time we’ve hired Rachel to something that I fully believe that she’s actually ready for it. And and now I assume that and I know that she’s going to prove me.

 

[00:20:12] Speaker 1 There’s no question about it. Yeah.

 

[00:20:14] Speaker 2 Well, and to be fair, we had this conversation during the earlier podcast that you and I did John, about the fact that I knew I wasn’t ready, either. I told you the story about Lonnie asking me to take over as sales manager, and I said, like, I probably didn’t say it like this, but have you lost your mind, right? I was scheming to figure out how I could get. To him, first, right, to make sure that this didn’t happen, so, you know, it’s I’m happy that I approved Boomerang. I’m always happy if I do that, but I am deeply grateful for the trust that he has put in me bringing me back here because it is a challenge, but it’s something that I am really excited to face.

 

[00:21:00] Speaker 1 So I know. So what went through your mind? I know it was difficult for you. So it was easy for Boomer this time. The other two times, not so much. But so what went through your mind? As far as I know, you said it was difficult and you didn’t want to leave Charlottesville, but what other factors did you consider before coming to take this position?

 

[00:21:19] Speaker 2 Well, it went through my mind, and when I was on the phone with him, it came out my mouth right because I’m a planner and I it, it is helpful for me. I was about to say, I need to know. But it’s helpful for me to know. Steps ahead. Yeah. And there was no chance that I was going to know steps ahead on this move only because everything happened so fast. And I cannot describe to you how thankful I am for both Boomer and Diana and the help that they gave me and the moral support, the emotional support. And also just like being present and helping me figure out how do I how do I move my home this quickly? How do I make these decisions? But just on a very basic level, what went through my head was. Excitement about returning to McLean. I do, honestly from the beginning. I feel like I knew that I was coming home to family when I made the decision to do this, but nothing at that time could overcome the struggle I had with knowing that I was going to be hurting people. In fact, Diana and I have spoken recently about this because she said over the weekend, prior to this one, you know, you seem more excited and I said. I it it was hard for me to come to a place of joy and excitement about this move while I was still going through this process of of letting people down. And that was still very hard for me. I described to my agents in Charlottesville as family and they are so making this decision was difficult. But I now that I’m here, there is a lightness to the way that I feel because I realize how surrounded by people who also love me and support me and want me here and you know, are are eager to see us grow and return to a culture that we had several years ago, right? And I think there are a lot of people who want to roll up their sleeves because we all care about this place and the work that we do and being professionals and being the best that people really have approached me and said, maybe not these words, but we want to roll up our sleeves and dig in and get this done. We want to return to the office. We want to return to that, that level of excitement and passion. And so here we are. Yeah.

 

[00:24:02] Speaker 3 I’d also say, I mean our. And she didn’t mention this, which surprised me a little bit. But you know, our faith is something that’s huge in both of our lives. So, you know, coming to a piece with decisions isn’t just a, you know, it’s not just an academic decision, it’s a it’s a spiritual decision for us with whatever we choose to do. And so when I first asked her, I said I didn’t ask her. I said, Rachel, you’re going to come back to McLean and we’re going to need you to do that in the next few weeks. You know, she she she was taken aback, you know, and you could tell that she was she was. She was going to. She was worried about hurting people that she had to. She currently she loves there and she doesn’t want to leave that. But she said that she would take some time and she would pray about it and seek the peace that comes with the right decisions. And she did. And I told her when she hadn’t gotten back to me in twenty four hours that she’s going to have to talk to God quicker than she was because he wasn’t speaking quick enough for me at this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

[00:24:57] Speaker 2 Yeah, he’s telling the truth. That was those were the exact conversations that we had over about twenty four hours. But he’s right. I mean, you know, the where we go and in our walk with God is everything to us. And so being smart enough maybe isn’t the right word, but being tuned in enough to stop because our world is so fast paced and distracted. And and so it’s sometimes maybe a lot of the times it’s hard to pause and and listen, but we both really strive to to stop and say, All right, what is what? Where am I supposed to be? Where can I be of most service? And you know, that’s that’s where I’m going to go.

 

[00:25:46] Speaker 1 Yes. So fortunately, you made the right decision. Say so you’re made it. Yeah, your prayers were answered. My prayers were answered. I mean, that’s you know, it’s funny. You talk about prayer and you know, I think folks that are listening who haven’t heard your first episode when you came on and we talked about your your kidney donation. And that’s that’s a that’s a great story and a great episode, and we won’t revisit that here. But for for folks listening that want to go back and hear you talk more about that and how you prayed on donating your kidney and how you came to terms with that, it was really a great story and it was very difficult to get you on that first time.

 

[00:26:29] Speaker 3 And I will reiterate what I said in my first episode, which if she ever needs a kidney than mine, are off limits because she made the decision to give one of hers. I’m just kidding.

 

[00:26:39] Speaker 2 Yeah, but you know, it’s interesting. The same pattern of prayer exists for me and boomer at at any given time. It’s got open the doors and it’s the same conversation I had when I was considering donating a kidney. Open the doors and I’ll walk through them, close them and I’ll start. Like, Yeah, that’s the pattern I’m going to follow.

 

[00:27:01] Speaker 1 I agree with my dad says that all the time. Yeah, absolutely. If there’s a door in front of you, you know, step through it. If it’s ugly, turn around and go back out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yep. So, Rachel, thanks for sharing all that with us, and I know it’s deeply private and deeply personal, and we really appreciate your willingness to share. So both of you guys have been on podcast with me individually in the past, and now you’re both here together. So what are there some stories you can share with us as we kind of close out about growing up together or conflicts you’ve had or success stories that you want to share? What what comes to mind, Boomer? I know you got something. Well, I mean,

 

[00:27:43] Speaker 3 conflicts are interesting because, you know, unlike a lot of brothers and sisters, we have. They got along really well growing up for the most part. I will say that my dad and Rachel was a conduit for this. I learned a lot about respect for women and and, you know, treating them the way they are supposed to be treated because of things did wrong with my sister when I was little. So, for example, you know, I don’t believe a man should ever raise his hand in anger to a woman, right? I learned that lesson. But when I was probably seven or eight years old and, you know, being a little fat kid, I like my food. Rachel took my turkey sandwich. I remember we played ping pong in the basement, right? And I struck my sister, and I’m very ashamed that it’s six or seven years old. I struck my sister. But when my dad got home, that’s the last time I would ever think to even consider doing anything physical with a woman because he made it very clear to me physically and otherwise. One. You’re going to get punished for what you did. Just did it. And two, I’m going to make it such that you’ll remember if you ever do that again, then you and I are going to have a much different conversation than this. And so, you know, it’s not that I would not have known. You know, just known that that was the wrong thing to do. Right. But you know, that was interesting to learn a bunch of lessons that I learned. You know, I learned all that I still learned from my sister. I learned about humility and selflessness. And, you know, we talked about the kidney thing, but that’s not it. I mean, you know, I watch her life and how she walks. And you know, there are certain parts of my life that that I still have. I mean, there are lots parts of my life. I still have lots of work to do and and I think trying to to, you know, emulate some of the things she does is it has been very valuable for me. Good stories. And growing up, I mean, she’s got me beaten up before. I think there was a there was a kid. There was mean

 

[00:29:35] Speaker 1 other than the time with your dad? Well, he

 

[00:29:37] Speaker 3 didn’t, actually. I mean, he may spank me. Oh, gotcha. Apparently, that’s not. That’s not that’s frowned upon nowadays, right? Not necessarily illegal. But no kids will call, you know, child protective services on their parents. That was a daily occurrence for me, spanking. And that was it just was more memorable than most because of why I was getting spanked.

 

[00:29:54] Speaker 1 But it’s even worse than that now. One of my kids came home from school yesterday, and he had not turned in his soccer uniform after the soccer season was over and the school made him pick up leaves in the schoolyard and he came home and said, We need to call Child Protective Services.

 

[00:30:13] Speaker 3 Well, it’s of my kids are so to me because I mean, growing up, I did spank my kids a few times and one of them said, Well, I can’t remember. I didn’t. I don’t really think I’ve spanked Maddie so much. But Larry said, I’m going to call Child Protective Services on you. I said, Well, this foster home will be much different from the foster home you’ll go to if you do that. I can’t promise you. And so, you know, got his attention. Yeah, that’s right.

 

[00:30:37] Speaker 1 Yeah. So, Rachel,

 

[00:30:40] Speaker 2 I was actually thinking about two different stories. One ended up in a fight, which may have been the one that you were about to tell. We were. There was this great little place in our neighborhood where you could ride your bikes into the woods, and we built like tree forts and all kinds of cool things back there and had a great time. But one day, Boomer and his friends had built like a ramp for their bikes. And I kept riding up it backwards, probably more so because I was irritating boomers best friend Jason. And the next thing I know a big rock hits me like right in the middle, the shoulder blades and knocked me off the bike and the next. And then I turn around and Boomer is pounding on Jason.

 

[00:31:22] Speaker 1 Oh my goodness.

 

[00:31:23] Speaker 2 And I was like, Oh, and I, if I remember correctly, I went home and got my mom because I was like, You know, Boomer and Jason are fighting. But you know, we we have always from the the. This is when I exposed myself as older than my brother. It’s it’s a terrible, terrible thing that I have to admit that. But finally, it finally, after all these years of trying to hide it from the day they brought him home from the hospital. I was 13 months old and I thought he was at all for me to like, play with and take care of. And so I don’t know that we had much conflict at all growing up, which is really nice. We’ve always been really proud of one another. And, you know, just happy for each other’s success. One of the things that I find most interesting about Boomer is his wisdom and his ability to to see things from many different angles at once. And a lot of times I will go to him to say, you know, I’m struggling with this thing and he can see it from a different perspective than I do because we’re built differently. But it’s, you know, he he expresses his opinion to me in a way that’s helpful in my own thinking. So we’ve I think we’ve always been, you know, in really. Kinship with one another, we’ve we’ve been, you know, helpful in loving and sort the others good. Mm hmm. Which has been helpful. The other memory that I have right now of a childhood event, it was dinner in an our house. 6:00 p.m. Our dad was expected home. We always had dinner and we always ate together. And I remember opening the door, the kitchen door that led out into the garage and yelling, and I used his his given name. So I was like, Leary dinner. And then I hear him scream and I turned over my shoulder to my mom who was cooking. And I said, I said, Boomer’s hurt and I slammed the door and went running. And I find him down at the almost at the T, where our road hit the next hit Bambi Lane and his finger was stuck in this

 

[00:33:40] Speaker 3 between chain and the sprocket.

 

[00:33:41] Speaker 1 Oh yes.

 

[00:33:42] Speaker 3 That’s never good, and I didn’t have free will, so you could roll it back out and I had to roll myself all the way around. Ouch. And there wasn’t stuck by the time she got there because I had actually rolled it all the way around and I was just coming up with it. And the finger was not only hanging on by the skin and it just went like that. Oh my god, Rachel passes out. I mean, she’s like laying on the concrete, and I can’t figure out whether I should be upset because my fingers chopped off or, you know, Rachel’s laid out on the ground. I’m like, Are you serious? It always has to be about you. This is about me this time.

 

[00:34:16] Speaker 2 Oh man. But no, I came to and I was on the neighbor’s couch and they were at the hospital. Dealing with that. We have, I mean, we could probably go on for hours about childhood stories, but we grew up in, you know, our mom was a stay at home mom or dad worked outside the home and

 

[00:34:36] Speaker 3 well, don’t suggest the stay at home moms don’t work.

 

[00:34:38] Speaker 2 I would not suggest that. Absolutely not having.

 

[00:34:43] Speaker 1 That’s a thankless job.

 

[00:34:44] Speaker 3 It is. I think it is way harder than anything I’ve ever done.

 

[00:34:47] Speaker 2 Absolutely. And I don’t have kids of my own. But when I when I have taken care of Maddie and Larry as they’ve been growing up my niece and nephew, I realized very quickly that the the kind of attention and energy and just ability to stay up and on is it may be beyond me there.

 

[00:35:12] Speaker 3 And we would I would leave my kids with Rachel and I would go on gold team trips and things like that. And I can remember every single time I would get back and it would be Rachel and my mom are just Rachel or whatever. And the moment I walked in the door, you don’t really want to be in the door because she’s going to shove you out of the way, get into her car and burn rubber out of our driveway.

 

[00:35:31] Speaker 2 It’s like they had to go one time when Larry was maybe three days old, they had to go back to the hospital. So Maddie’s, three years old, Larry’s two or three days old. And when they got back from the hospital, I’m sitting on the couch holding Larry, and Maddie is riding her tricycle around the kitchen island, and the house is a huge mess. And we were just looks at me, drops his chin and shakes his head. And I was like, They’re both alive.

 

[00:35:57] Speaker 3 Yeah. And that’s all you can really ask for as it is.

 

[00:35:59] Speaker 1 Oh, I do. It’s a poisoned. It’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable how hard it is to raise kids.

 

[00:36:05] Speaker 2 So I have a huge amount of respect for parents, especially parents who stay at home and make that happen day in and day out. That’s just an amazing thing that I feel we were blessed to have that with our mom.

 

[00:36:18] Speaker 1 Yep, yep. Good deal. Yeah. Well, listen, you guys are awesome. I’m so grateful to be part of this organization and grateful to know you both and grateful that you’re both willing to sit down and chat with me whenever I ask. It’s it’s amazing, and that’s one of the really nice things about being part of this organization. If you need somebody, you need to talk to somebody. You guys are there in more ways than than you can imagine. And Rachel, you’re going to be amazing. You were amazing before your energy. Your you’re thinking. You’re always creating, you’re always teaching. You’re an excellent teacher. I think that I remember when you were here last time and I was in and out, in and out all the time. You were always down in the café with a group of somebody teaching somebody something, right? I didn’t stick around much. I think Lillian stuck around more than I did, but we’re really grateful to have you back. Thank you for sharing the stories. Thank you for sharing your your vision with us, and we look forward to you having great success here in McLean.

 

[00:37:19] Speaker 2 Thank you. I’m thrilled to be back. Truly, John, and thank you for inviting us. This has been great.

 

[00:37:25] Speaker 3 I just would be interested to hear all the good things about myself. So that said, all these things about her, but we are lucky to have you, John. Well, thank you, guy. Thank you. And I do. That’s right. And I’ll tell you, this podcast are really good. Yeah, you know, I’ve been listening to them and they’re fabulous.

 

[00:37:40] Speaker 1 Yeah, some of them. So I think most of them are good. But thank you for that. Yeah. I think they’re very useful. I think they’re they serve a purpose and. I think the folks that listen to him find the purpose in him, so thank you for that, boomer. Yeah, yeah. Good deal. Thanks again, guys.

 

[00:37:54] Speaker 2 Thank you.

 

[00:37:55] Speaker 3 Thank you.