Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew - 202 | experiencing tragedy and addiction with your partner | doug and jamie hehner

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

We’re so excited to introduce you to Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner who have a podcast called, “Hot Marriage, Cool Parents” on our FamilyMade network! We did an interview with Jamie and Doug for the new season of their show and we share that full interview with you all in this episode. To learn more about the Hehners and their podcast, check out the links below! This episode is sponsored by AG1 ▶ Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase exclusively at https://www.drinkAG1.com/COUPLETHINGS. YouTube Channel ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvK5d4dVvVpez5s0eNpobMw Apple Podcasts ▶ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hot-marriage-cool-parents/id1445778316 Jamie’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/jamienotis/?hl=en Doug’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/doughehner/?hl=en Follow Shawn’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Shawn’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnjohnson Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Andrew’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/AndrewDEast Andrew’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewdeast?lang=en Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/AndrewDEast Love you guys! Shawn and Andrew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. What's up, everybody. Welcome back to Couple Things with Sean and Andrew. A podcast all about couples. And the things they go through. We are excited for another episode

like this. And today's show, we are going to introduce you to an amazing podcast that lives on the Family Made Network. It is Hot Marriage, Cool Parents. That's right. It's a show on our Family Made Network, hosted by Jamie Otis Heiner and Doug Heiner. Yes. Who honestly, that might been one of the first podcast interviews we ever did like back in 2017-18 before we had drew yep they do a fantastic job with their show and it's been going on for quite a while but you may know jamie from season 16 of the bachelor or you may know them both from the reality show married at first sight where they met and got married all at once in 2014 yes married at first sight literally that's how it went down it is it is as you think it is but it's so cool to

hear their story because they're thriving they love each other so much they have beautiful babies together we love that they are a part of our family made network because of their transparent raw and real conversations around marriage around parenting and around kind of everything that happens in between that's right jemmy if you follow her instagram she keeps it real they also recently launched a new season of their podcast and were invited to be guest on their show we were pumped about that and we always have had such good conversations with Jamie and Doug because they're a really fun couple but for this interview we touched on our personal experience about the horrible school shooting that happened here in Nashville and reliving that day was not fun but they asked some

good questions about it so I feel like it was a cathartic thing for us something that I love about Doug and Jamie and their podcast especially when they do interviews is they have this beautiful beautiful way of going there with every topic and conversation and asking those questions that we're all curious about but we're too afraid to say but they do it in such a genuine kind open way that you are willing to talk about anything they do it gently they do so we are so excited to be sharing this with you please go check out their podcast we'll leak everything down below we wanted to share this interview that is featured on their show with all of you with hopes that you'll check out the rest of their episodes.

This is what we call a feed drop, where we are taking one of their episodes and putting it on our feed. So it looks like a couple things episode, and we're introing it. But go check out their show. We'll link it down below. They do an awesome job. Without further ado, we bring you hot marriage, cool parents with Jamie and Doug. And I remember feeling it that day on the shooting, I could not breathe.

And I was like, I had to do everything just like hang on because. your babies is your babies and i think living in fear you just got to find out what your word is or what you're saying is in your head to like cut it off because it can it can consume you welcome to a new episode of hot marriage cool parents welcome welcome i'm your host james odis hainer and i'm Douglas, her husband. Otherwise known as Jamie, Otis Shainer. Yes. Otis Shainer.

I've been called Douglas Otis a couple times through the mail, which is fun. Oh, yeah. People call him Douglas Otis, and I'm like, that's really sweet. But then your mom mails me stuff that says Mrs. Douglas Hainer. And I'm like, that's my baby boy. Oh, my goodness, your mom. So she's the best. Yeah, she is.

And we have exciting news because. A couple exciting announcements. That's true. Yeah. So if you had listened to the first episode, I talked about my struggles with addiction and dependency to pain medicine, then my addiction to Suboxone, which is to help you get off of the painkillers, then transitioning to this new drug called Sublicate, which is an injection in the stomach, and apparently those that are dependent on anything really painkiller-related. You take one shot every 26 days, and after four months, after the fourth shot, supposedly it helped you get off everything. And I was always scared to get off the medication Suboxone because I knew the withdrawal that was going to happen. I knew that was coming, and that was always terrifying and scary, and especially as I became a husband and a father, having that I didn't want to risk anything.

but this is supposed to be some new miracle. Well, a lot of people call it like a miracle drug. Do they really call it a miracle drug? People that have been like really like hardcore, like heroin addicts and things like when you read up the reviews on it, a lot of people say, you know, three, four months and it just slowly gets out of your system with barely any withdrawals whatsoever. But anyway, I did get my first, my very first shot. Where is the, where is like the applause button?

Well, that's not it. Oh, there we go. Oh, total wrong button. Oh, Doug has this fun, like, if you see us on YouTube, we are sharing these episodes on YouTube simultaneously. So this episode releases on Wednesdays via the podcast, but then we're sharing the behind the scenes on YouTube the following day. And I have to thank our lovely friends at Family Made

because, which is started really by Andrew East and Sean Johnson, but we have this tremendous podcast community now in Family Made, and they sent us some podcast equipment. So not only are we bringing the podcast back, but we're official. Yeah, we look like we're pilots. Yeah, we have a receiver. We have, yeah, it's just amazing and can't thank them enough.

But, yeah, we have fun little buttons that do sound effects. Yeah. And so speaking of Andrew and Sean, they are our very first guest today. And we talk a lot about, obviously, Nashville and what happened. I'm sure you've heard. There's gun violence all over the country, which is really, really being highlighted. I mean, this year it's been horrendous. I don't know. Highlighted is the right word, but it's just happening a lot. Yeah. I'm glad that it's being covered, though, because there's such lag, there's such a lax in. gun laws, which is really nutty. And, you know, Florida is just a whole, it's like a whole separate world for guns. Jamie and I never really have owned a gun. I've shot a gun before, but we're not gun people. But if you could imagine sending your kid to school and getting a phone call saying

that there's an active shooter at their school, what would you do? I mean. Other than panic and race, like, if you don't have a. car you'd be running to that school yeah and so Andrew and Sean um they live they live in Nashville and I'm sure you probably heard about the Nashville shooting and so their child they like their child goes to school um where well their children I should say um right where the active shooter was the same neighborhood yeah they thought that the shooter was in their kid's school and so we just kind go and just chat with them about that. I mean, we talk about a lot of different things. They're

honestly very, very inspiring and just real humble and just kind of like salt of the earth good people. Yeah, I really hit it off with Andrew when I first talked to him. He's a really good dude. Yeah, we've had him on our podcast before. I think we've been on theirs a couple times and we've always just had, I don't know, we've just always had a bit of a connection and it's really cool now to be part of their family because their family as in family, made which is it's just really so so nice because you know we moved from sarasota or i'm sorry we moved from new jersey to sarasota so we don't have family we don't have friends we don't really know anybody around here and uh honestly i really am thankful for instagram and my community there um and i'm

also thankful my daughter's in kindergarten and i was the kindergarten mom because i've become friends with you're the class mom yeah it was the class mom and you know at the moment that we're recording this Henley Grace is all done with kindergarten. It's so crazy because I came home and I saw a box on the counter. And when I looked in the box, it was a graduation cap and gown and sash and everything. They really just put it into perspective, like how fast this is going.

Yeah. She's already going to be in first grade soon. I can't believe I have a daughter who's in first grade. Like I couldn't believe we had a kid who was in kindergarten, but like first grade just sounds so much bigger yeah first grade nuts whoa yeah we haven't had we haven't had to put her on a bus yet yeah well there's really not that um yeah but we don't she doesn't write a bus but she does she loves going like for field trips and stuff loves and then hendricks which we're so happy about yeah hendricks um he is not in

pre-k but he's in he's in a glorified daycare we call at school yeah and he's doing so good too learns a lot there though yeah oh my gosh he's like i wouldn't say bilingual that's probably pushing it but he learns a lot of spanish but i think like the biggest takeaway that um i want to say to you doug is that i'm just so proud of you for getting that injection i feel like you should show people on youtube what it looks like because he's got this little round um i'll share i'll share a video of it because it's not there but it's like um so and and just to go back to my visit with the doctor and um thankfully i was able to video the whole thing too just i wanted to really kind of mark different milestones so obviously the first shot um and what i found out was it's

actually a liquid uh or a gel type liquid so it comes in a syringe and once it gets delivered it has to be refrigerated yeah so we can't go overnight or i mean they have to overnight it but it has to immediately go in the refrigerator so i lay down it's a shot in the stuff He grabs, he grabs my stomach as I'm laying there, puts the needle in. That doesn't hurt. But then as he starts, and if you've tried to push gel, I don't know if anybody has tried to push gel through a syringe. Like that would be a weird thing to do. But it was, and he's a pretty jacked doctor.

Oh, is he? Yeah. And he was pushing. And like I could tell, you know, like when your muscles start to shake when you're trying. Did it hurt? It was, it hurt more than. any shot that I've ever gotten in my life. Well, yeah, because I saw the bump, and I guess you don't want to show right now, but

I saw the bump and... Yeah, the bump's gone down a little bit, but they said that because it's a gel, it creates this little sack in your stomach, and it slowly releases the medication that you need that stops the withdrawals. It blocks those receptors in your brain that gets that sort of satisfaction from it, and it slowly drips out. my next shot is in a couple weeks and supposedly it's not going to hurt as much but I think the dose goes down each time so what is the plan like well I mean what do we expect now

that you just got this shot so like what do you so the hardest thing uh the hardest thing now is getting out of the habit of taking the Suboxone because that was always a wake up in the morning um have either water or juice have coffee breakfast drop the kids off at school and then on my way home I would take and it's a sublingual film that you put under your tongue and that's when I would take and then as soon as 5 o'clock hits like I know mentally in my brain that's when I take my second dose which lasts for the rest of the day until the next morning and that's been a habit of mine for you know longer than we've been married yeah crazy so you know that's that sort of oral fixation or habit

is probably going to be tough but so far so good um you know i don't feel any different i don't feel anything i don't feel uh like how i would how i would normally feel not taking savagone are you scared at all of like i don't know the withdrawals or maybe some sort of side effect like what are the side effects and you just put a ton of medication in your belly and there's no taking it out unless you cut yourself yeah i mean i i think it's any like any other drugs where in nausea, diarrhea, rash, itchy place where they put the shot in, but like not really any other side effects. Are you at all scared that when you come off Suboxone that you might be interested in like pain pills again? No.

And I said this to the doctor because it's more of an addiction specialist when I said it like, You know, if you know any addict, if you know that anybody that's going through there, there is a rock bottom point. And sometimes that rock bottom point isn't enough. An addict is not going to quit unless they are mentally ready to quit. Unless they say in their head, this is not worth it. There are better things to do. This path is going to lead to death or worse.

Well, I don't know what's worse than death, but there's nothing good that comes out of it. And you can go to any number of AA meetings. You can go to detox. You can go to group settings. Nobody gets sober until they are mentally ready to or mentally decide to. What do you think made you mentally ready? It was, I knew the damage it was doing to me and then to the people around me if you know an addict they never have money they go broke and it was my day and this is kind of what also prompted to get off the box on the sublocade and take the injection because your day surrounds and is scheduled around when and where you can find your drug and until that happens the day can't start or the day can't end until

that happens and it doesn't matter what time a day or anything, it's that whole entire day is your search. Once I, once we started to go away on the RV trip, if I don't take the Suboxone, I would go into withdrawal. Once I got to the end of the month or once I was, you know, the subscription was going down, I would have to, I would get that same anxiety. Like, am I going to find it or am I going going to get that medication? from a pharmacy um and that panic is miserable yeah and would i go back to it uh or would i even think of taking pain medication no i've i've i've gone so low i'm so proud of how long i've been able to and and at some point like mentally i'm just i'm i know that path is going to lead to

death and everything else yeah what about if you because i remember one time and we were newly, like, I wouldn't say newlyweds, but I guess now that we've been married for almost 10 years, I guess it was kind of like newlyweds. We were like a year in, and you cut yourself on a box cutter. I'll never forget this, because I was three levels up.

You were in the garage, and I was on the third level of our townhouse, and I heard your scream, and I knew you were hurt. And you had a box cutter, and you were, like, slicing the boxes open, and you must have had your knee there. The doctor said it was the worst cut they've ever seen.

No. But you saw, screamed and I had Vicodin from you screamed so bad that I heard you three levels up and I was and I was and I was like oh my gosh I'm like what happened to him like I was really scared for you did know right away oh I ran down those all those flights of stairs and I was like are you okay and then it was like this measly little cut on your but it actually was just measly yeah it was it did need stitches but I was like gosh I thought like I don't know what I mean you that was quite the screen but I can imagine when I can imagine when

you're slicing through boxes and you just slice through your knee that probably hurts a little bit but i remember i was like oh i have vicaran from like um a tooth pain that i had had and you wouldn't take it and i was like i didn't you didn't tell me that you were on saboxone that is another day for another episode of how i found out right but i also told you that i had an issue with pain medication you never you honestly never shared i had no idea the depths of it like i had no idea and the truth of the matter is for when we were married at first sight I had two deal breakers I didn't want someone who was in debt because or like that was like going to just I just was I mean I grew up so poor and I worked so hard for every little you know thing that I had and I just

didn't want to deal with someone that was it you know flashy and in debt and all of that and then I did not want to have someone who was like addicted to drugs or into drugs or you know I just done addiction is it runs in my family my you know my mom and honestly even just sitting here and we'll always have to worry about our kids with that I mean yeah my dad was addicted my mom addicted you you know yeah I mean yeah that's really scary yeah but I remember you would not take that pill when you got when you got when you cut yourself you would not take that and I guess it's because you can't take it when you're on Suboxone because you could die well yeah I mean well it just wouldn't it wouldn't do anything yeah but I've read that you isn't it true that like if you

if you're taking Suboxone you it you start taking opioids or alcohol you can die no that's not I mean anything in excess is you know has that warning to it but the way that the medication worked is it would block your receptors that would normally so if you were to take pain medication that's sort of euphoria and endorphins or whatever happens they they latch on to certain receptors in your brain and then slowly they start to peel off as the drug wears off and then that's when you go back to normal and then kind of worse than you were before with suboxone it stays on those receptors and blocks anything. from attaching to it. So what happens if you had to have surgery? Well, so I've had to go through that. When I tore my Achilles tendon. While you were on Suboxone?

No, just while I had addiction issues and I had stopped. Once I had my Achilles tendon tear, I mean, that was pretty horrible, but I went through everything without painkillers. That's wild. But the issue. I birthed a baby without pain. killers so it couldn't be worse than that um but the um yeah if if you so if you were to take painkillers after you take suboxone nothing really happens if you were to take painkillers or

anything like that and then takes the box on too soon after that that's when you go into immediate withdrawals and that's when you can have seizures and it's just yeah bad news wow well you know just sitting here talking to you about like what you you've experienced. Well, first of all, what I was saying about the two things was that my two deal breakers for married at first sight was I didn't want someone in debt and I really didn't want someone who was addicted to anything, drugs for sure. And turns out the person that these matchmakers put me with was a massive debt. Not massive. But debt, a lot of debt, yeah. And had an addiction problem that I did not know about. Yeah. Which I was

forthcoming about with Dr. Salona when we did the whole interview process. I guess he just didn't remember my deal breakers, but it turns out that I think God just wanted us together, or meant to be together. Yeah, I mean, at that point, I had been clean for a while, so. Yeah, but still, I was, like, really adamant. I didn't want anybody who ever, I just didn't want to go through that because I was going through it with my mother. Yeah, I know, I hear you.

I just didn't want, like, it's like a trigger for me in so many ways. and I just didn't want to have to deal with that. And so it was just very, very shocking for me, you know. But, I mean, I'm also thankful, of course, that it happened because I love you so much. I love you. You know, it all worked out. But, yeah, so I'm, well, I'm excited for you, Doug, and I'm so proud of you. I really am.

I'm going to definitely keep, not necessarily a journal, but I do want to kind of keep what the effects are over time and you know how this how this actually works which I'm excited for yeah I mean honestly when you're talking about how your whole day revolves around your next fix it reminds me of my mom like it I like I and then you know when you try to put yourself in someone else's shoes I mean it's so easy to just get so frustrated with that person when they seem so selfish and they're blowing through money they're stealing they're lying they're cheating I mean, I had that with, and I still, in some level, like, have that with my mom. But then when you try to put yourself in their shoes and they're just, it's a disease and they're so addicted.

And, you know, they're not, I mean, I remember when my mom, when I was younger. It takes over your life. Yeah. My mom was like, I mean, I remember, even just today, oddly, I was thinking about how, you know, I guess I'm thinking because Henley's going to start summer camp. And so I'm like thinking about, I got to go to one summer camp. and my mom had to drive a long ways to take me there. And that's like a big thing. I mean, I was very poor. So, like, that was a big deal for me.

But the fact that my mom actually drove me there, I mean, that's really nice. She didn't have to do that. There are some parents that never do that. And so, I don't know. I just feel it makes me hurt for my mom. Oh, golly, I feel like I'm going to cry. But it just makes me hurt for my mom because I know that before she was addicted, you know, she was like such a great person and I'm sure she still is a great person and it's like oh man it's like

it's a disease and it's so hard though because I mean we have to have boundaries like I can't just like let my mom in when she acts like this but it's so hard because the one thing she wants is to be let in and loved and that's why she's it's just a vicious terrible cycle it really is and so needless to say I think that if you know anyone who has struggled with addiction you know I don't know like be be gentle on them because it's a disease and it's so easy to judge when you're not living in their shoes but these people are just you know like all the rest of us they're hurt and they're looking for love and an escape so ooh I got deep but I'm so I'm genuinely Doug like so proud of you and I feel like I don't know well I appreciate that

I really do. Yeah. And you've been supportive and not pushy or, you know, annoyed with it. Like, I really, really appreciate you. Oh. Well, I love you. I love you too. Well, without us getting too mushy-gushy, I think we should bring our guests on.

I'm so excited to have Sean and Andrew on the podcast, the East fam. Yeah, I can't wait. I mean, this is a perfect way to, you know, even though this is after our, kind of comeback. I feel this is a perfect first guest for us during this comeback. Yeah. I think so too. I mean, they welcomed us into their family-made family.

Yes, which we're going to be able to talk more about now, and I can't wait. Yay! And let's get Sean and Anderron. Let's do it. And before we go any further, we always like to give a shout-out to our five-star review. And we haven't been on here in a while, so this is going to be an older review. But, I mean, we love, love, love getting your five-star reviews because it shows us that you really care about these podcasts.

And so thank you so much for taking the time out of your very busy schedules to leave us a five-star review. Yes. And this week comes from Journey 717. I just wanted to thank Doug and Jamie for bringing on Lisa Bill Yu onto the podcast. Listening to her story and her advice on courage and setting boundaries for oneself was a life changer. I was recently in an unhealthy relationship. and when I heard the podcast, I knew that it was time to take control of my life and end things for good. I even re-listen to the podcast on my way to break up with him, and it helped me.

Thank you for all your help. Honestly, that is the best. Yeah, that is why we are here and we brought this podcast back and we are committed to continue to bring just really great guests on who are inspiring, encouraging, who are going to help you live your best life because we all need that type of community, that type of encouragement, that type of encouragement in our life for sure yes anyway we are so pumped and so thrilled to say that sean johnson east former former olympian she's a mom of two and just a all-around bad-as girl and her hubby andrew east who's a former NFL player dad of two and such an incredible businessman i

got to say like didn't know that about the east family but they are uh but more importantly like more than all these amazing accolades that you guys have, you're just such good down to earth, like humble, great people, like good friends and just good people to know. And I feel like Doug and, you know,

Doug and Andrew have a little like man romance type thing going on. I'm secure enough to say that. I'm so excited. One, that the podcast is back, too, to be talking with you all again. I am a little disappointed.

This isn't in person now because that would have been way more than. But that time is coming, I'm sure. Yes. It will. And just one more thing on the Olympic thing. Is it similar to the military where once an Olympian, always an Olympian? So is it weird to say former Olympian? Did I say former? I don't know. I shouldn't say, did I say former? That is a shame. Once an Olympian, always Olympian. Absolutely. I don't even know. Because I said like former Olympian or like ex-Olympian or like. Well, you're definitely not an ex or a former. I don't know why I said that. And you're so humble. That proves my point. how humble you are to say, oh, I don't even know. No, I'm like, I'm a nurse, but I haven't been in the hospital working as a nurse for many years now, and I'm still like, once a nurse, always a nurse.

I'm a nurse. So an Olympian who wins medals, I think, it's fair to say, definitely not former. Okay, my apologies on that. This is going to be episode 140, which is bonkers. And the coolest thing about this episode, and like, honestly, the biggest reason that we're pumped to have you as our very first guest, now that we're, back on the pod is that we really wanted to partner with just a good company. It's really hard to do podcasting. And people don't realize the behind the scenes of podcasts. It seems like, oh, you're just

like, you know, talking to a microphone and throw it out there. And that is a bit of it. But there's also a lot of behind the scenes and it's a very, very time consuming. And so we wanted to partner with people that or like a company that we could trust that could kind of like offload some of the the difficulty of it and you know Andrew and Doug were talking and at the time we weren't even thinking of bringing it back because we had a whole lot going on we were traveling across country and whatnot and the more and more we started like kind of following you guys and just learning more about who you are and what you do and then about this incredibly incredible company that you made called family made which we're going to dig into in a second we were like you know maybe we should like

talk to them about this. Like this actually, these guys seem awesome and this company seems to align with our values. And so speaking of that, right off the top, you know, welcome and thank you for being on our podcast. And thank you for inviting us to be a part of your amazing company called Family Made. And I just want to go right from the top, I want to be like, I just ask you to share because now we're a part of it and that's, you know, we're sharing that with our audience. And I wanted to have, like, speak from the horse's mouth, like exactly what Family Made is all about. the heart, yeah. Or the heart.

Horse's mouth or heart. I like horse's mouth, which is me. We love what we do. We love creating content. And through creating content, we found this amazing community out there of people like you guys, of families all over the world who are looking for like truly a community of people to relate to and to talk to and kind of journey through. the ups and downs of life with, and we ended up creating this network and this company because we

wanted to find, like, go out there and find all of these families that are also creating content and just help uplift their stories and share it with the world. We think families are pretty cool. We think they're very unifying and not polarizing and not controversial and just good valued and good. I think family to us is our favorite thing. And the entire world and being able to share other people's stories is really i don't know what we love to do and we're so excited to have you guys we're so excited to share your story more and help get your story out there um yeah i don't know we've been on uh youtube for we're coming up on eight years you believe that no and we really did realize um one it's like a responsibility too it's such a

privilege and three there is um like i don't know i like we're making an impact with some of the content, some of the videos we make. 100%. Absolutely. Yeah, we realize that in this niche of family life, which you guys fall under, things can get so hectic. You got kids. You got the travel and there's like a million different moving pieces. And a lot of times there can be an obstacle to like maybe putting out videos that could be

life changing. And so we were like, what if we were able to leverage? our team and help people who might have certain barriers and like first of all I want to hear about the past couple months for you guys because my gosh it sounds so exciting but it's like how can we help more of this content overtake the internet because I feel like you know social media has a lot of good to it and has a lot of bad to it but a lot of people tap into like you know the polarizing issues that get a lot of views and and definitely Like people are interested in it, but it's also divisive.

And if you look at society, I feel like the one thing that everyone can empathize with and sympathize with is like family. It's like, oh, man, my sibling is like this or my parents raised me like this. And if we're able to tap into a little bit of that aspect and unify people through that, then I feel like that would be a worthy cause. So we're aiming to share a lot of different family experiences. and Sean and I have one and Sean's background is really unique and people are interested in it but also your guys' story

I think is phenomenal. You guys have learned so much and so I personally am very excited that your show is back. We love podcasting is the favorite thing that we do. We get to connect with people like you over it and so I hope you experience that as well

but we're just pumped. I have one really dumb analogy and Andrew loves analogy so he might. I'm so excited for this. Do you know the movie Inception? Yes. If we can do that to the entire world and families,

I'd like our world would be a better place. Yeah. Explain the movie. Explain the movie. Explain the movie to those who don't know what inception is. It's like, if we can, you know how the algorithms on all platforms are kind of serving up marketed and like intended content? They're trying to get you to buy something or buy into something.

If we can like subliminally be like, families are really cool. Do it over and. over and over again. Planned this ideas in people. This is better than like building a business or becoming a millionaire or anything else. Maybe a lot of the evil in the world will go away. Yeah.

Well, I mean, any parent can relate to the craziness and, and hectic lifestyle. And you create this own little bubble for yourself. And I know when we were getting ready to have Henley, I mean, there was nobody knows what to do. And there's so many different opinions out there. and at the end of the day it just comes to, well, you know, your story's going to be unique. And what I found with our fans was people have seen us since we've known each other and they've watched us this whole way. And I can't tell you the community of people that have continued to follow us that we've

looked out to for advice, parenting advice, friendship advice, marriage advice, that was the connection to family made media for me was this is going to. organize all of the best material and whether it's new parents or teenagers or marital struggles and you know all of that is just balled into one and it's an exciting opportunity and i can't wait to to promote more of family made it's amazing yeah no truly because it's true so i come from a family speaking of families where i never told me that I have a family speaking on the topic of families I have a family but no I don't I don't have I think we all now that I'm older I'm like none of us have like traditional families and maybe I guess some do somewhere but a lot of us have something we all have something and I never knew my dad and my mom unfortunately still struggles with addiction and so you know when you're talking about family and wholesome and you know you want that there sometimes that that kind of triggers me to to be like, oh, I don't have that, you know, because I come from a different type of family

than what we consider wholesome, per se. However, I think that what I've learned through life and actually inevitably sharing my life, you know, on television through, you know, marrying my husband and whatnot, is that there are so many more people than I realize that come from a family that isn't like that. And so the cool thing about family made is that, and what I really love about you guys is that you're so welcoming to everyone to absolutely everyone based on my research and you can correct me if I'm wrong but you're very welcoming to everyone I mean there are people within this community family made so for those you guys listening you can check it out I mean literally everywhere it's like they have a website at familymaid.com and they have you know they're they have

um YouTube channel and all the things but needless to say no matter what family you come from you can find your people within this tribe. And I feel like you guys have done a really great job of welcoming just everyone, anyone, you know, who kind of shares the same values. And so not to continue talking about families and whatnot, but, yeah, we're just super pumped to be a part of it and to share our family and, you know, where we come from and be a part of your guys' community. And I'm really excited that you're going to share that you guys are now pregnant with baby number three.

Oh, do we have a lot of family? Oh, good. Give us a few more months. Give us a few more months. Okay, that was just a rumor. Okay, I was, I tried. I mean, this would be. Actively working, guys. This would be a great, great comeback episode. Seriously? Oh, no, we're trying, too. Oh, we're not pregnant. I wish we were. No, we're in the trying. Right now, we're trying to get Henley out of the bed. We're not trying for a baby. We're trying to get Henley out of our bed. Yeah. So speaking of trying, we've seen there's been a lot of, you know, just guys have shared a little bit, like whether you should try, whether you don't want to try for baby number three. Where are you guys at with that for those of those everyone, everyone who's listening who doesn't know where you guys are at? You have two beautiful children already. And they, I know we have two kids, too. They keep your hands full. So where are you guys at with number three? Oh, hi, buddy. Who's the best? You are. I wish I could spend all day with you instead. Uh, Dave, you're huff mute. Hey, happens to the best of us.

Enjoy some goldfish cheddar crackers. Goldfish have short memories. Be like goldfish. Bank more oncores when you switch to a Scotia Bank banking package. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotia Bank, you're richer than you think. We have a three and a half year old and a one and a half year old.

And I feel like we're just, just coming up for air with our second. We're like, we might have a sense of understanding and being able to figure, like, handle it. Maybe one day a week. We feel like that. So, yeah, we're down. We're like, might as well. I feel like I have one more in me. She's going to have twins, though.

You've got two more coming. I have not. I would like to not put that in the universe. I had two 10-pound babies, so I would not like to have two 10-pound babies at the same time. That'd be wild. Yeah. I don't know if that's ever happened before. That's a lot of pushing.

Yeah, we are on the number three train. Oh, that's so exciting. Well, good luck to you guys. That's super-deeper exciting. And it also can be an emotional roller coaster. And speaking of that, you know, I know that for your first pregnancy together, you ended in miscarriage. We had you guys on and we talked about it before. But, you know, just to touch on that a little bit because I feel like trying to conceive after suffering from a loss, it's like, it's just a whole different ballgame.

And so how do you stay positive, like, while you're trying to conceive knowing that that's a very real circumstance? And like, how did you stay positive with your, you know, your two babies now while you were pregnant with them? um the first one was the hardest uh like the first like the miscarriage the very first pregnancy was the hardest because we didn't have any understanding of anything i feel like what we learned in like seventh grade biology is the only thing we knew and so i didn't understand that miscarriages were common and i still believed that like creating a baby was like out of a movie it's supposed to be the most romantic thing in the entire world and just be like, oh, wow, this is perfect.

Now, two babies later, we fully understand that conceiving is very hard and it can be frustrating and not romantic and it's very strategic and it just kind of takes the fun out of it sometimes, but. I don't know if you guys have had those moments where you're like, all right, we're on the clock. The app says X, Y, and Z, and today's the day, let's do it. Oh, I mean, there were some, I just remember afterwards, I would lay on my stomach. Jamie would prop her butt on my back and put her legs all the way up to me there.

Just to try to help that, you know, help make it happen. Gravity, I guess it was, yeah, I mean, I would have loved to see a picture of that. Yeah, well, we can just avoid. No mental picture. I remember that with Drew, our first kid. I was like, am I supposed to, like, do a handstand now for the next 20? mean like what do we do this is very it's weird yeah yeah and i will say though for for those who haven't been through this so i'm sure people are like wait what is that happened what are you

talking about yeah yeah doesn't everybody do that i don't know if it's a yeah i don't know if it's an old wives tale or whatever but if if you can picture me naked and jamie naked yeah you're really going there you're wild dude you're really going there is it like an old wives tale that, you know, afterwards, if you kind of stay upside down, that it's more of a chance. Like, you know, we're helping those, helping the little guys swim. Help them travel. Yes, that's it.

And so, you know, just speaking on kids and you guys are from Nashville and obviously, you know, our hearts genuinely go out to you and your community. And, you know, I saw your posts that your children go to school near where this Nashville shooting happened. And I can't even fathom what your community is going through. And even you, knowing that, you know, your children's school is just a couple blocks away. Heartbreaking. You know, and this is such a wild world that we're living in that I even want to ask you, like, how do you navigate, A, getting your kids, like, what was that day like for you?

And how did you navigate getting your children? And, and also if someone, God forbid, goes through this, like, what kind of tips do you have for them? And, you know, in what kind of ways, I have so many questions. I'll load them all out there and then I want to just give you the floor to talk because... Whatever you guys are comfortable with, though, obviously, you know, I want to be sensitive to the people in Nashville, you know, but it is something that you guys had to go through, and it's the scariest thing ever. And quite frankly, I feel like every parent everywhere is wanting to know, okay, so this is happening. It's happening in our neighborhoods, like, what can we do for our children? And so whatever you're comfortable sharing, like what that day was like, and then kind of also after that, what your plan is in place now going forward.

And how can you kind of help us other parents who haven't been through that prepare ourselves for God forbid for the worst? Because we always think, oh, that'll never happen to us. Oh, that's never going to be in our neighborhood. And then all of a sudden it does. And so how can we best prepare ourselves? well i feel like this is an appropriate transition uh after talking about like trying to conceive and i feel like you know when you're trying to get pregnant it is it's this process of coming to terms with understanding that man i have so little control over this and it's very humbling right

and i feel like that carries over to parenting as well and and even this situation where it's like man i feel like i have so little control over this and and as parents like in relation to the kids. It's like, oh, like, what do you do? When you're not sure where to navigate or you feel lost or hopeless, it's like, what do you do? Because it is scary. And as we sit here now, I mean, we're, again, not trying to, I wish we could tell you how near we are, but it's like, it's in our neighborhood, right, where this all happened. And I got a call from Sean immediately. after the event happened and said, hey, there's a school shooter at the kid's school.

They're both kind of the same type of school in the same area. And so we heard the news, and I've never heard a crowd like this. She's in absolute tears, a wreck. I was nearby, and so I was able to jump in the car and go within like five minutes with this, yeah, the feelings of like,

I am going to hold my child in my own, arms, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the context is. It's like, I mean, you feel this as a, as a parent, it's just like innate in you where it's, I need to be with them. If there's anything new or tried, like, I have to have to see them and I have to be with them. So I was like going to school, I was ready to just run through the doors no matter what. But I also didn't know what the situation was because Sean, I could barely understand her with how much she was crying. And so I show up there and there's parents. literally on the floor crying on their knees like there's cops with their hands in the air is like crying and it was like this like post apocalyptic while i'm just people driving on the opposite sides of the road and running across the street and it's like a complete panic situation yeah but yeah well as you can imagine too within the city of nashville and within our community um things

National is such a small world. Like, we're all so close. We know the officer. We don't know those officers personally, but like my best friend, one of them was her uncle who was actually on site. So a lot of the information was unraveling a lot faster for us than it was within the news. Yeah. And it was unraveling without all the details. So the first calls we were receiving was there is an active shooter at a church school.

church school and it just so happened to be the same type of church school that our kids go to in the same neighborhood and the details of like the specifics weren't being released yet because things were coming out so fast and it wasn't until andrew got to our kids school that he he found out it was not their school specifically and it was just the wildest roller coaster of emotions because at the time when I got the call, it was our babies. And that helplessness I felt as a parent is something I can't ever unfeel. It's just like, there's no way we can drive fast enough. There's no way we can get there.

There's nothing I can do. And I remember standing in our driveway, seeing the helicopters and hearing the side, like it was right there. and it just like hit me and when Andrew confirmed that it wasn't our kid's school the rush of emotion of relief but still just sheer sadness I was standing at the edge of our driveway watching parents do anything they desperately could to get to like to get to the school flying hundreds of miles an hour down the road laying on their horns

and it just crushed me Because for a small second, I was that parent. But then when I knew I wasn't, I was guilty, but I was in straight fear and horror for those babies that were at that school. And those parents just trying to get there and getting text messages from all of our friends, just waiting to hear, is the shooter down? Like, did they get them? Are the babies okay?

in hearing one after another, like so-and-so is not accounted for and so-and-so, it just, it was the most horrifying day. Yeah, like, I mean, in retrospect, all the information, kind of like you could see the picture of what happens, but when you get a call saying,

hey, there's an active shooter, like a stone's throw away from your house that you live in, and the neighborhood of your kid's school, you're like, one, what do I do? But then you start hearing, like, okay, there's 20 people in the hospital, and you just don't know, like,

How large is a situation? What's going to happen next? Like, are there more people out there? Like, was this a group trying to act? And so it was wild. Like, everybody in the neighborhood was, like, kind of evacuated because, again, you don't know if this person is loose and you're not getting, you're not there alive, seeing the things.

And our kids' school was still on lockdown, so getting hold of our babies was difficult. And asking the question of, like, what do you do? we don't know and I think that was one of the harder things for us to digest is like like everybody in the world our immediate reaction was like we have to fix this yeah but that's also the most helpless feeling in the world because you can't you can't fix it overnight I don't know if we can fix it within our generation and yeah we could show up on our senator's door and demand change but it's not going to change and it's just like it's such a helpless feeling and I think the only retrospective thought I have

of like looking at how I dealt with the whole thing I went into sheer shock when I got the call and was incapable of making sense of anything and I think as hard as it is if you are ever faced in that situation take a breath and figure out as much as you can before I don't know I don't know if it's possible I don't know if there's a logical sequence of things

you need to do but i as as we move for i my thoughts on it are like can't let evil prevail right it's there's there's so much good and so much benefit from these kids being together with these teachers who are pouring into them and investing in them we've been blessed as parents from them being in these schools and it's like we got so many responses saying like i'm never going to send my kid to school and this is why like but it's like all right one let's have the conversations and like the dialogue of how can we have this never happen again but also um take the tangible steps to make sure that we can still tap into the good and like the the good far outweighs the bad and we need to preserve that so i don't know what that process looks like but i i feel strongly about

that so that's my i guess that's my next question because you were so close like this was so close to home for you and so have you guys if you're not comfortable answering of course you know just let us know but have you guys re have has school started again for your children are they still home we took them to school uh two days after yeah yeah and that was a really hard decision and one that i think it was a decision we kind of made numb we tried not to overthink it. But our kids' school is very small. We know every single

person that works there. We know all the kids. And it was more of a community decision within our school. They, we talked to the heads of the school multiple times.

They were so I don't know, transparent with their protocols and their safety and what they were going to do extra on top and And honestly, for us in that moment, our kids could feel the weight of the city and they could feel the weight of that day. I mean, both of us were bawling around them and just saying, I'm so happy to your home and hearing sirens and just feeling that weight, we felt like it was good for them. To have, like, the structure and normalcy of their original, you know, if they're normalized prior to this event.

And being back with their friends. And I feel like if we kept changing things for them day by day. day and feeling that weight even more within our household would have been harder for them. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's unthinkable and something I don't think that you really can prepare for, something like that. And I can't imagine having to have the conversation with a child about what had happened.

And, you know, it's, I don't even know if it's the. education part but the one of the scariest things that I had to come over when you know just having kids is that you drop them off and you're out of control you know it's you and you don't think about it's almost routine now or you drop them off at school or you drop them off at the sitter or preschool daycare and every once in a while the thought comes into me how scary that is because I'm I'm not there but one thing I wanted to. I don't know if it's anxiety or just something that's instinct, but it is a scary thought to not have control. That's a tension that, I mean, it's all throughout parenting, right?

Where it's like you have these parents who don't let their kids, you know, do any activities because they might get hurt, right? And it's like, obviously there's layers to it. And as we sent our kids back to school, it was with the understanding that the school was doubling down on security measures and they had done all the right things so it's like we're not being reckless and like going over the line but like you have to fight this tension of like hey what's safe versus what's being overprotective like they need to like you can't just keep them held in your arms under an umbrella the whole time it's so tough well and i think that goes that feeds into the story of covenant the school that was targeted you could go down that rabbit hole of oh they didn't have bulletproof glass or oh they

didn't have enough security cards or whatever it is or oh i shouldn't have sent my kid to that school or whatever it was but at the end of the day covenant did nothing wrong like they had every protocol they needed they the teachers acted like no parent did a wrongdoing there it was a horrific tragedy that happened because of someone's like one person's decision and i think for us deciding to send our kids back to school. It's like we have trust in our school. We have trust in our teachers. And as a parent,

that's what you have to fall back on. And just speak like to that point, I think that you have done a remarkable job of not living in fear, being that you're in this city where this has happened. And, oh my gosh, I don't know why I feel like I'm going to get emotional. It's just a kind of match. I mean, it's just such a, it's just a really,

inspiring way that you have handled this because you're clearly clueless. I mean, how could anybody have the answers to this? But you aren't like, you know, and I think what any parent would want to do, I don't know, I just think of my own children in this situation. It's making me a little emotional because I think what I would want to do is hug them and like how you were saying, Andrew, like wrap them up in a bubble and never let them out again. But that would be then doing a disservice for your children. And so you have to stand in strength and you have to show your children that they're safe and believe that in your heart and so the way that you have taken this tragedy that has happened and it's affected everybody in america everybody worldwide and you're not

living in fear i mean how are you like can you share with us like how are you able to garner that strength and also sean you and i were talking just briefly before about you know you've clearly been in the public eye for a very very long time being a former olympian No, just kidding. But, you know, an Olympian. And, yeah, listen, I can't say I'm a former Olympian. Whether it's former or not, listen, the title's there. But, no, but you've been in the public eye and you've had issues yourself with,

not obviously not a school shooting, but just issues with your own safety. And it comes all down to the same thing. Like, we want our children to stay safe. And you're explaining to me how, I mean, you've, obviously you went on to win medals and you stayed in the public eye and that's that's like you're living you are like living what many people aspire for and that is to not live in fear and it's very easy to live in fear with COVID with when you were talking at the top of this of our interview together that you've created family made and it's not about these like you know

it's not about triggering likes and all that jazz like you know things that are buzzworthy But it's easy to get caught up in like the COVID in living in fear because it's out there all over the place, all over, you know, you see whenever it was like, you know, when we were in the pandemic. And now the school shootings, it's out there. It's everywhere. And it's so easy to get caught up at living in fear. So to wrap up this interview with you, which I could just chat with you forever. But do you have any advice? I mean, you know, clearly no advice on what, how is anyone going to respond? You know, I guess, try not to go in shock, but that's so much easier said than done. But what advice do you have for absolutely everybody who, wants to instantly bubble their child and, you know, like, just kind of live in fear, unfortunately, because it's a scary world out there. So what's your advice for that? I could probably talk down this route for an hour. So what you're alluding to, I had a very bad scare. I had a stalker who was very dangerous who got within arm's length of me with, like, armed

weapons and like everything um this went on for years when i was 15 and 16 went all the way till i was 19 and 20 before he was finally put away i had to face him in court i had bodyguards i dealt with fbi agents all these things um he was a NASA scientist which is wild um but i kind of learned that fear at a very young age and i saw it within my parents and i i learned firsthand it can be debilitating and just you would get into I would get into these spells of where like I couldn't sleep I couldn't trust anybody around me I had such severe anxiety staying in a hotel room by myself and is that someone breaking into the route like into my room or what just so many things and I think honestly Andrew's the one who kind of taught me how to deal with that better but I am one of those people

I go down every hypothetical route like we went to a concert the other night and I was like how do I get out of here if we need to get out of here? Yeah, same. And that's just how my brain operates. And I look at people different. I'm like, what's your intention? And just whatever. But honestly, with kids, it got to a point where I could just feel the potential of it being crippling to where I wouldn't be able to breathe.

There are so many hypothetical situations that you have no control over. Dropping your kid off at school. they sleep over at a friend's house I mean letting them play outside without like being holding their hand having a swimming pool

that we have a fence around like there's so many things that I can like feel within my chest if I let myself go I'm not coming back from because it's it's terrifying and I think at the end of the day

we are faith-based people and I just repeat to myself a lot just like God is good and it's all you can do And I know that is very, can be cliche, but it's the only thing that stops my brain from going down a rabbit hole and not coming back. And I remember feeling it that day on the shooting, I could not breathe. And I was like, I had to do everything just like hang on because your babies is your babies. And I think living in fear, you just got to find out.

what your word is or what you're saying is in your head to like cut it off because it can it can consume you and i i also think too i mean you you also mentioned it um you know having andrew i you know there is there is so much power in family and community and getting together with like-minded people um getting together with you know what jami would call a tribe you know where you have, you have an outlet, you have a distraction, you have people that you can bounce ideas off of and ask for advice. And, you know, it really does take a lot for some people to get out there and put themselves out there and be vulnerable in front of, you know, people or strangers. And I know it was something that, you know, we're still looking for a community down

here and a tribe. And it's like, you know, I hadn't had to make friends since, you know, first grade. Why not to Nashville? I was like, come to Nasho. We've got the most amazing tribe for you. Oh, that's awesome. We're definitely going to have to

take a trip over there. We missed you guys on the RV journey. Yeah. I know. Next time. But I mean... I do want to make clear, though, Jamie. Sorry to hear up.

One, the last week has presented many opportunities of Sean and I going back to our bedroom, closing and locking the door. turning the lights off and really just kind of sitting there with each other and like one just silent but two tears and then kind of processing with each other so it's not like you know yeah we're not just brazenly confronting this like you have to you have to embrace the reality and like there's so many just foreign emotions that that we're also dealing with but doing it together um i

think like when there is a situation of grief, which this year has presented too many for us, I feel like, people equate it with sadness and like only sadness. But I also think there is an aspect to it that it's really beautiful and it's an opportunity to double down on your community, to like deepen relationships, to understand yourself better and how you navigate the situations and also understand your spouse or your kids or your siblings and like there's something about that that's really really precious and special and yeah just I guess when something like this happens like with when adversity hits you know as athletes we know how revealing that can be how how how strengthening and building that can be and

refining as well it's like when you're in a new situation and an uncomfortable situation a foreign area. It's like, okay, what am I going to, like, this is going to tell me something about myself. And you can cower away from that situation, or you can say, okay, this is an opportunity for me to, like, take a step forward and, like, do something. And in marriage, I think that even gets enhanced, but yeah. And I do want to add to, just like, going back over this whole interview, I don't ever want anybody to think that we're insensitive to the parents and the families who lost from last week part of us will never come back from knowing that those babies are never coming home but you can't hear that can you know I don't know what's happening

our dog is like howling like a wolf but yeah I just I just don't want us to come off and sensitive. It's easy for us to sit here and say, this is how you don't live in fear, but our babies are home with us. Yeah, because ultimately, at the end of the day, we were not. I mean, like, that affected by it, right? Yeah. It's like very close, very, like, in our backyard, but, like, we got our two kids and that, yeah. Yeah.

There's a degree of guilt that comes with that. But I think, you know, people talk about Nashville strong, and it's like what they're talking about is the strength of the community there. and I feel like the things that can undermine community are fear, our isolation, and it's like, that is kind of a natural impulse is to pull away and say, oh, we have to move or like, I'm not going to send my kid to school.

It's like, no, no, no, no, no, don't miss the point. Like, let's make sure that we are preserving that thing that is so beautiful and that's the community. And, you know, kids do pick up on that. I mean, Sean, you started saying about, you know, how your kids can sort of feel the weight. you know there's so many life lessons for young children to be able to see their parents sad or see them super happy and to know that emotions are okay um even you know some little arguments

but just being able to see the resolution i think you know bringing that forward i think is a huge lesson lesson for kids you were saying sean earlier how your mom handled the FBI situation with your stalker and how you know you could see that in your mom but and this is why i feel like you're incredibly inspiring the two of you with and i don't and i'm not saying that you know just just envisioning going through that situation and it's certainly not how if anybody else doesn't isn't able to take that route it's okay that's completely understandable if someone is locking themselves in their bedroom and crying for a few more days longer than you well that is absolutely understandable because let's be honest like this is an absolute tragedy no one expected and sometimes it takes people a little

bit longer but um what i really what i find very very inspiring about the two of you and you know sean and your family with your parents was that you were able to you know have that phrase yours is god is good and you were able to just tell yourself that and your mom must have had something as well that she was able to just break that fear break that isolation and you know kind of join into the community. Like, she didn't, she didn't isolate you. You haven't isolated yourselves in a world when it would be okay if you wanted to. Like, it would be understandable.

And so I think to just kind of clarify, that's why I find you're very inspiring. And that's why I feel like people could really take, you know, a note and it could help them, you know? So that being said, I feel like if, for me, the note that I took, I literally wrote down, like, find your phrase. And like, when you're in that, when you want to just hide and say, your bedroom and lock all the doors and you know not let anybody in what is your phrase and or your prayer or your meditation or whatever it may be your lifestyle to help you break that so that

you're not stuck in fear in your life because we could all get there like from any of the number of things that are coming sorry so thank you for I know I'm like well I'm a handsperson but thank you for sharing that because I feel like this is this turned like super meaningful you know we're having fun and that turned super meaningful and inspiring very, very quickly. And, you know, I had a whole lot of questions I was going to ask you. Like, probably question. Yeah, we've covered, we've, I feel like we've covered a lot and it became a little bit more inspiring and meaningful than just a fun, loving thing, you know, sharing. So thank you for sharing about, you know, just your experience the past couple weeks with what's been going on. It just means there has to be a part three to this.

We're down. Come on in person or it's not happening. Okay. When you guys leave to Minnesota. Yeah. Well, next time you're in Florida, we'll have a... Yeah, Sarasota is a great place, okay? Just say it if you guys want to come down for a beach trip. When we were house shopping or house hunting, whatever you call it, we actually walked through and we're looking at what room could be a podcast room.

Like, we were so excited. So excited about that. Yeah, so we're pumped to be a part of your guys' family made, and we really love what you stand for, and thank you for putting out, you know, positive, inspiring, but realistic family material. It's not all just like, you know, roses and butterflies because that's not life, you know? And so, but there's a whole lot of that too. And so we have a new thing at the end of every guest.

We're going to start asking, you could get to choose between what you want to share, okay? Oh, yes. And you each got to share something. You can't just, you know, look over at Sean Andrew and say, okay, you got this. You each got to share a little something, okay? So, and this is just like sweet. I feel like it could be really meaningful for everyone, a little nugget of advice. So for each of you, do you have advice for your younger self, or you can share something

your younger self would be proud of that you've accomplished now? Options, giving you options. This episode is brought to you by Defender. With its 626 horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine, the Defender Octa is taking on the Dakar rally, the ultimate off-road challenge. Learn more at landrover.ca. Oh, this is it, the day you finally ask for that big promotion. You're in front of your mirror with your Starbucks coffee.

Be confident, assertive, remember eye contact, but also remember to blink. Smile, but not too much, that's weird. What if you aren't any good at your job? What if they demo you instead? Okay, don't be silly, you're smart, you're driven, you're going to be late if you keep talking to the mirror. This promotion is yours. Go get them.

Starbucks, it's never just coffee. You want me to start what you think? Are you ready? I've got mine. Go ahead. Do you think. Okay. I spent way, so this is, I think it answers both.

Advice to my younger self would be to stop caring so much what people think. I spent so much of my life making every decision not for myself but for other people to make sure they approved of what I looked like, felt like, said, did, acted whatever path I went down. And it just, I spent too much of my life not being me. Yeah. And I think what my younger self would be proud of is as soon as I became a mama, that went away. Good for you. It was amazing.

My babies were the greatest blessing to me that I've ever had because they gave me a different confidence that I've never felt. And it was pretty cool. that's awesome it's been good for you mom it looks good on you it's been good for you I think

I think a piece of advice I would give my younger self would just be the phrase this two shall pass and I think that hits home because it's like sometimes when you're in the middle of

something difficult it feels like it's never going to end it's like you know playing football you had two days and it's like oh my gosh i got four weeks of like the hardest physical thing i can do but also like this two shall pass right and then on the flip side of it i think it helps me um enjoy the beautiful moments of life more with understanding that this two shall pass and like uh i've been into sunsets and sunrises recently and I think part of the beauty in those types of things is that it is such a brief moment, right? And it's like, it's beautiful because it ends, right? Yeah.

And I think like in life, too, like you just take things for granted. And so when you're able to understand like, hey, man, this phase with my three-year-old and one-year-old, it's going to end. It like increases the urgency for me to enjoy this moment more. knowing that it'll pass. I said already, and it's not done. I know. So that's my advice. I love that.

So, you know, while you're a three and one year old, they're like sticky hands and they're crying over who knows what, you know, just embrace that this two shall pass. It's a good moment. It's going to end. Enjoy it. No, thank you guys so much for. I've been trying not to get frustrated with Henley doing her homework.

Yeah. I just want to smash my eyes. eyeballs in when there's no reason that i should get that that frustrated like she you know she's five and uh yeah i um she's not doing her homework or she's just the way she well so i'll give you an example from this morning and her homework should have been done last night um but she actually she fell asleep at seven o'clock as soon as she got home from dance and slept through the night which is rare but um she's doing her numbers to 30 and um we got to 20 and then 21 and she was going and she writes a one because she has to fill in the box and it's 22 she puts in a one i go

henley that's not how 20 starts how does 20 start look before and she kept saying i don't know and then she would erase it and then put drawing a zero and look at me and i was like no henley It's going to be 22. What do you think it means? And then this is what I'm just going on. So she'll erase it. And then she'll start saying, I don't know it. I just don't know.

And we know that she does know it. I mean, she knows. Yeah. So, you know, frustrating stuff from parent life. But taking a little nugget. I had nothing to do with anything. No, it really. I enjoyed it, though.

I love you guys. Oh, yeah. So a little nugget of advice that we can leave this on. don't live your life to impress others. I am still learning that. And also, this two shall pass. So, Doug, this two shall pass with Henley and her homework. And with that, thank you guys so much for sharing all that you have shared and being here with us and for bringing us in for a family made. We're pumped to be a part of your guys' community. And hopefully, oh, sound effects. What, Doug? Sorry, I have an applause button.

What is going on right now? I had no idea that was happening. I have an applause. I like it. Crickets. We can't hear it on our end. Oh, you can't hear that. Oh, well, that makes sense.

That's funny. Amateurs over here. Listen, you guys got to teach us a thing or two. All right. Thank you guys so much for being on the podcast, inviting us on. We're pumped to get this episode out. We're going to. We are excited to start this journey with you guys.

And can't thank you enough. And I am so pumped for this relationship and this partnership. And I really am so excited for the content that's going to come out, the content that we're bringing to people and getting to know you guys more. It's just really, really holds a special place in my heart, you guys. So this has really been awesome. Yeah, no, truly. I've loved you all for a long time and we're pumped to be here.

If anybody else out there who's listening also loves you and happens to not know where to find you, where can we send them? Sean Johnson on everything All the platforms Ander is Andrew East on everything No I'm not Oh Or Andrew East

Or Andrew East But then if you want to find out more about Family Made which is a group of creators That all are earnestly Not perfectly No That's not what we mean by wholesome But earnestly

Trying to put family first And do family well then there's a whole slate of different shows that you can find at familymade.com and hopefully you'll be able to connect to one. If you don't connect with Doug or Jamie's or Sean and I's, then hopefully you find it there.

But we are so glad to know you guys and can't wait to get to know you better. Awesome. Us too. We'll talk to you guys soon. Thanks again. Thanks for Rianan. Thank you.

How much fun was that conversation, though? It was really an awesome conversation. Like, honestly, they are just so, inspiring, so humble, so down to earth. And we are so grateful that they invited us and welcomed us and wanted us into their fold, which was amazing. I feel like it's like, you know, we're where we're meant to be, like in so many ways in life, like with you and what you're going through and then what we're living. It feels like home. And then with this family made, it feels like we're part of a great community that we really enjoy these people and so i feel like we're doing good and for those of

you listening um man i hope that you're starting to feel good too i hope that this brings you joy and hope this podcast because we're doing it for you and we really truly appreciate you so thanks for listening and your patience yeah for this long oh my gosh you've been asking for this podcast to come back for like for so long i mean even while you're on the road trip i was getting so many DMs and I was like I can't do another thing though um but yeah we're so excited to be back now though now that we're settled and um we're just pumped to have you here so thank you so much and also as always thank you so much for your five star reviews we always give shout out so if you want to be getting a shout out then please do leave us a five star review we really appreciate those all right

we will talk to you next week bye bye love you love you love you You know,