THE ED MYLETT SHOW - The Untold Story of Auntie Anne

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

🔥 Transform YOUR Life with the power of perseverance and purpose with me and the pretzel queen herself, Auntie Anne Beiler! Uncover the remarkable journey of Auntie Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels and an icon of entrepreneurial spirit and resilience. Anne's story transcends the boundaries of business—it's a profound narrative on transforming deep personal loss into profound life lessons and success. From a humble, rule-bound Amish upbringing to facing personal tragedies that would break many, Anne's journey is nothing short of miraculous. Her story isn't just about building a business; it's about TRANSFORMING PAIN into PURPOSE and tragedy into TRIUMPH. In this EMPOWERING episode, we share invaluable insights on: Navigating life's toughest challenges using faith and perseverance. Strategies for turning personal adversities into opportunities for growth. Lessons on building a global brand from humble beginnings, against all odds. The importance of maintaining a positive mindset and staying true to your values. Powerful strategies for balancing business ambitions with personal well-being and family life. This episode is packed with actionable strategies and real-world wisdom you can apply directly to your own challenges. Whether you're facing personal struggles or looking for entrepreneurial inspiration, join me and Auntie Anne Beiler as we explore the keys to thriving in both life and business. Get ready to be inspired and empowered to pursue your dreams with unwavering determination, right here on today’s episode of The Ed Mylett Show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So hey guys, listen, we're all trying to get more productive and the question is, how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster. And that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down, growthday.com forward slash ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way the way he's asked me I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start he's got about five thousand ten thousand dollars worth of courses that are in there that come with the app also some of the top influencers in the world are all posting content and they're

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Let us help you plan every detail with professionalism and compassion. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. This is the Admire It show. Okay welcome back to the show everybody. Today I am so excited about you are going to hear one of the greatest stories you've ever heard in your life and you're not going to forget it. I can just promise you that on the front end of this conversation.

It's a story about faith, it's a story about entrepreneurship and business. It's certainly a story about overcoming adversity, trauma, abuse, shame, and a combination of a whole bunch of other things, all in one story with a woman that I've gotten to know the last six months to a year that I just really love. I just think she's an incredible spirit,

an incredible person, and when you hear this story, you're not gonna be the same again. I can just tell you that out front. So my guest today is Ann Byler, and Ann is the founder of Auntie Ann's Pretzels, one of the biggest franchises on the planet. If you've been in an airport any time in your life lately, like me, I've had, I don't know,

probably 600 of her pretzels over the years, I'm embarrassed to admit. It's all good. It's all good, it's all good. And I have to just tell you guys, I'm so honored she's here and the conversation is gonna be unbelievable. So Anne, thank you for being here and welcome to the show. Well, thank you, Ed, and thanks for the great intro. And you're right, it's a pleasure to see you, but it's thanks for the great intro. And you're right.

It's a pleasure to see you, but it's been an honor for me to meet you at some of our events, and I'm grateful to be here. Likewise. I'll see you in a few weeks, too. We're going to be on each other for the next year, at least I know that. So normally when I do interviews,

a lot of shows, they'll do someone's background in the beginning, how they grew up. And I've always felt like, let's cut to the chase and get to the stuff. But in your case, how they grew up. And I've always felt like, let's cut to the chase and get to the stuff. But in your case, your upbringing is so important for everybody to understand in the context of your entire life story. And you did grow up in a very unique environment.

So tell everybody how you grew up and the uniqueness of that, and how do you think it kind of shaped your worldview and the way you interacted with different people too. Well, thanks Ed. Yeah my story is starts many many years ago and I grew up in an Amish farm. If your listeners know anything about the Amish culture it's all about rules and regulations and mom and dad there were eight of us kids and I was a happy child. I love my parents. I knew they loved me, even though they never told me that they loved me verbally,

they didn't have to tell me that because they cared for me. They fed me, they clothed me, they taught me about life, right? So they taught us about faith, about family and hard work. And I wanted to please my dad and I wanted to please God. And I wanted to be a good girl. I think I was a pretty good girl because my dad never rarely had to discipline me.

I would say because I was a pleaser, I tried to do everything well. Was I perfect? No. But as a little kid, I was a good kid. Being a third from the top of eight, I was lost little kid, I was a good kid. And being a third from the top of eight, I was kind of lost, I think, and I was somewhere in the middle there. And I, at a very young age,

learned how to be responsible. When I was a kid, I carried milk in the cow stable, and I had to, before I went to school, and I was six years old at that time. So, you know, what I learned, probably more than anything, faith and discipline, perseverance. I'm gonna ask you this, did you, is it accurate? Because I'm ignorant to this.

You didn't watch television or movies or anything like that growing up, right? You were sort of, that's part of the faith is to stay away from technology and things like that. Is that correct? That's correct. No, to me. Okay.

Yeah, cause even the other day, the other day I was telling you about a movie, a Bull Durham, I was telling you about a movie. You're like, I don't, I don't really watch movies. I'm like, you don't watch Bull Durham? But I just want people to have a context because imagine growing up that way, everybody. And then I don't know,

was Auntie Anne's had now over a thousand locations? Is anything, it's over a thousand, isn't it? Over 2,000 locations. Over 2,000, thousand locations. Is anything, it's over a thousand, isn't it? Over two thousand locations. Over two thousand, excuse me. Imagine this, everybody. You're talking about one of the biggest franchises in the world, and this little girl grows up this way, and then you end up marrying, for the rest of the world,

pretty young, right? How young were you guys when you got married? 19, in the Amish community, in the Mennonite Amish Mennonite community. It's very common, you marry 18, 19, 20, by the time you're 21 or 22, you may have lost your opportunity. Really, is that right?

That's true, and in that culture, it's still very much the same today. Okay, but someone asked me to ask you, it's actually the gentleman who drives you and I when we're at our speaking engagements, because I was just ignorant to this, I don't know whether it's relevant or not, but he said to ask you about the difference

in the Mennonite culture with Amish as compared to the non-Mennonite culture. What is the difference between those two? Well, there's the old order Amish, which means my mom and dad grew up, that's what we were when I was a child, so I was three. That means you drive a horse and a wagon,

you have no electricity. Back in the day, my dad farmed with horses. The Amish community, they don't even have churches where they attend, they have church in each other's homes and they have church every other Sunday. And the Sunday you don't have church, it's pretty much expected of you to go fellowship and go visit other people in your community.

The Omnimentonite is where I grew up then from the time I was three till I got married. And that means we were able to have a black car. We were moving on out, let me tell you, a black car. And dad was able to farm with a tractor and we were able to have electricity. But we never had a radio or a TV in our home. And the first TV we had in our home

was when I was 28 years old. Wow. We got a little black and white TV and I'll never forget the very first time, and this sounds, this will let your audience know how naive I was. I'm not naive anymore, just so you know. I may not watch many movies,

but I'm not naive anymore. just so you know. I may not watch many movies, but I'm not naive anymore. I can vouch for that for sure. I remember the very first time I watched TV and I remember seeing a couple kissing, you know, and I was like 28 years old. I'd never seen that. Wow. So take about the difference culturally, right or wrong. I mean it's not a right or wrong,

it's just the way it was for me. So, what you saw by the time you were 28, compared to what probably an average 10-year-old has seen online now, or on social media alone, I mean, what a stark contrast, my gosh. I have told my grandson, who is now 20, yesterday turned 20, four grandkids, and I told him, Ryan, you know more, you have seen more violence, more abuse, more sexual, more

everything in your 20 years that I have in my entire life. Yeah, but, Anne, as we move forward here, you've experienced those things in your life since that time in ways that most people never have and I hope never will. So here we go, you guys. Now you got a little context about how this wonderful woman grew up. And then really, I'll say it my way, you say it your way,

you end up transitioning into a relatively beautiful, simple life like the one that you sort of envisioned having as a little girl, married, a family, loving relationship with your husband, and then a life-defining event takes place, correct? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So in my family at home, I have to just mention this as well.

I knew nothing about entrepreneurship. We sat around the family table every single day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, no exception. You couldn't be sick or didn't feel like it or watching TV or any of that. When it was time to eat, we all sat around the table, all 10 of us, until the day I got married. So around that table, we never, my dad got a newspaper.

And so we did talk about, you know, things in the world through the newspaper, but we never talked about entrepreneurship. I never heard the word career, never even dreamed about one day, I don't know, having owning my own business. So that's another part of my story that is, it sounds almost antiquated. Like it's, you know, it's almost impossible. But that was our life. And so you're right. I did experience life.

And I was said as a young girl, my theology was formed and it was simple. Life is good. God is harsh. Meaning I want to do it all right and I want to keep all the Ten Commandments. I want to marry a really good guy and serve God and work in the church, in the community, whatever that might be, but I wanted that simple life like my parents had.

Wow. Okay, so I knew that if I didn't keep all the Ten Commandments, I knew this. That's my theology told me. Nobody really told me this, but it's what I believe because of what I heard, that if I was bad, then God would, and if I didn't keep all of the Ten Commandments,

then God would be displeased with me, and there would come a point in time when, you know, if he's displeased with me, then I don't know what I would have done with that, right? So, that was, so I went into my marriage and into my teen years where the happiest years of my life and found a wonderful man, tall and he was dark and he was handsome

and he was just very extremely good looking. And he worked very hard. He was raised in the same culture as I was. And so we had a lot in common. And our goal was to have a family and serve our community. And so we were in a place of, we thought life couldn't get any better. We were youth pastors and we would often talk about how great God is and how good life is. And we were on our way. I mean, it was so we

were almost on a, I would say on a spiritual mission to really know Jesus, to really know him, to really, instead of the traditional, we were on a path of finding this amazing relationship with God. And it was in the middle of that, and I knew I was being a good girl. And I knew, I didn't mean like, oh, I'm a good girl, I'm bad myself, but I just knew life was good

and I knew God was pleased. He had to be pleased with me, right? Well, I was in for the biggest surprise of my life when on a Monday morning, everything changed for us. And we had two daughters by that time, four years old, and Angie was 19 months and 12 days old. We lived on a small farm with my mom and dad.

Our homes were very close together, and there was a barn between the two of us, but the girls would often go up to my mom's, they would walk up there and have their next breakfast with grandma. That particular morning as Angela walked up to see grandma, my sister was driving a front end loader, loading and unloading sand for my dad who was doing a very small business, a stone business. And she always looked around and Angela was her little favorite niece and she would always often

very often pick her up and put her on the bobcat and they would just together. And that particular morning she did not see Angie. And she when she backed up and as when she turned and looked forward, she realized that she had ran over Angela accidentally and she was killed instantly. Gosh. Yeah. And so. Trauma, tragedy, what in the world do you do with that? Well, being in a very close community and no longer Amish, I had moved on to,

we were actually in a charismatic church at that time. The people come together and support you in ways that are beautiful, which I think is normal in any church community, I suppose. And so immediately as I ran with her and my dad followed me to his car, we drove to the clinic, which was about five minutes away. And in shock and in trauma, I had no emotion.

I was just so excited because I'm in shock and disbelief. And I walked into the clinic and laid Angela on the counter at the clinic because I was still thinking that maybe, I don't know, maybe she's not gone yet. And so I just said to her very calmly, I said to her, I think she's dead. And you can do some really crazy things when trauma hits you.

And that moment of trauma is one thing, but then the trauma that you carry, Ed, can be all over the board. And from that moment on, as Jonas then met me at the clinic, and we cried together and walked away and left her there. And I walked to my mom's house and by the time we got there, which was probably, I don't know, 45 minutes later, I'm giving you some details here, I'm not sure why. But we got there and my mom came to the front of the,

she walked out of the house and meet, to meet me and she said, Anne, Fai's here, my sister, but she thinks that you're mad at her. And I'm sure that moment, I never thought about anyone. I never even thought about my sister until mom said that to me. And it was in that moment, I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was wearing and exactly

what I felt. This overwhelming feeling of I have to be strong for her. And then my list got longer. I have to be strong for Luana, our other daughter. And that's when I actually learned how to, I didn't mean to, but it's how I learned to pretend to be something on the outside, and I'm falling apart on the inside. Of course, we grieved and we did the normal things that you do during the funeral and all of that, but soon after that, Jonah's side then began to really drift apart emotionally and physically

in every way. But because of our commitment to Christ, to our community, to God, we continue going to church and I didn't want to look weak. People think that I'm not okay. I mean, that's so, I know now that's so not healthy, I want to say. And so I learned how to just internalize everything. And to the point where Jonas and I, we could talk about the weather and his job and some church things,

but we could never talk about. I would never have said to him, I'm really sad today because I miss Angie. I would never have said to him, I'm really sad today because I miss Angie. I would never have said that. That's how closed, I know it sounds almost a, I don't even know what to say about that, but that's how we lived. And so in that position that we were in,

both grieving deeply and my four-year-old became, which is also something that I did wrong, but she became, she was with me all the time. And she's the only one that saw me cry. In that, during that time, shortly after she was killed, I went to see my pastor by his invitation. And... Can I ask you about the church part before we go to the pastor? Sure. Number one, I've heard you tell this before, and it's hitting me a little different today. And you even look a little different telling it today. I can see it on you. I can see it on you. So you...

I have to... I can't even imagine the mental images that are running through your mind for these years of carrying her in there and putting her on the desk and whatever the injuries are, these mental images of our life are really some of the hardest ones and and then bottling it all up. And so what I wondered when you and I have visited before is, so you and Jonah, your husband have drifted apart now in every way because you're bottling it up, he's bottling it up, you're just carrying on with life. Did you not drift away from God at that time? I would think it would have been a normal human emotion to be angry with God or not to believe anymore. I've lived a good life, I was a good girl, you had these promises that I'd have a great life. Was there moments where you questioned your faith, lost your faith,

and drifted from God, or was it more you drifted from your husband in an emotional and physical way only? Both. Both. Okay. You know, and I think that that's a really good point. Going back to what I said at my beginning, theology was I wanted to be a good girl. Yeah. When Angela was killed,

she made her a sin into heaven that day. I knew where she went. But I had no idea where I was headed. But I can tell you, it was in that moment that I began to make my down road, going into this world I didn't know existed, which was spiritual confusion and emotional pain. And so, yes, I wanted to be a good girl.

And it was my first question. And I think this is normal around the world, even if you don't believe in God, I think. You asked the question, why did you let this happen to me? I mean, I think I was a pretty good girl. Why did you, or many people can say, life was going well, I was feeling good. I was whatever.

Why did you let this happen? And almost in anger, we accuse him, almost accuse him. We blame him. And what I know today, and I'm going to fast forward real quick here, but what I know is my theology has changed now after over seven decades of real life's experiences. My theology has changed and it is life is hard. God is good. I am not confused about that. And that gives me a foundation to whenever bad news comes my way. That's where I stand. bad news comes my way. That's where I stand. I understand it's not fair, but it's true. Life is hard.

And God is good in all of our circumcised chances. We forget that the one to blame for any hardships, any bed, any evil, any trauma, any tragedy, you know, it's really the devil himself. He's the one that has come to steal, to destroy, and to kill. God has come to give us life, and to give it to us, and to give us joy in the midst of our pain and sorrow. Well, it's hard to, it's kind of,

it is hard to believe that, or hard to embrace that in the midst of your trauma. And so I'm saying, give yourself time. It's okay to ask God why. He understands why you're saying why. He knows it's too hard for you to bear. He knows that. But he's there for you so that you can go to him. He says, it is in the Word of God, he says that he is close to the brokenhearted. And he says, and is in the Word of God, he says that he is close to the brokenhearted.

But I think that we're so busy blaming that we don't go to him, instead we blame him. So we don't feel the closeness that I began to experience over time, but not in the moment. I had moments of feeling close to God. I went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.

I would go to the altar every time I went to church because I wanted to feel God's presence. And I felt it there. And that's where the pastor, when I came down from the pulpit and put his arms around me at the altar, which was normal. We were very, I would say, in affectionate hugging was normal in our congregation at that time. And he asked me to come see him at his office at the altar as I'm praying and talking to God about my grief. And that's what I did the next morning. I went to see him. Okay. Here we go, you guys. So I wanna just say one thing, because this is heavy. I wanna stay right where we are because I just wanna interject something, everybody, because the

enormity of what God can do in your life is just incredible. And I just want you to remember this as we go to the next chapter. I want you to imagine you've now lost your child unimaginable way as well, and now this next chapter is going to happen. Now here's the good news. You're listening to one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of the last 50 years in our country, even though she would never say it this way. This is a woman still during this stage. She's not 25 years old anymore. This is someone who's raising a family. This is someone who's never thought about being an entrepreneur, never considered being an entrepreneur,

wasn't a topic of conversation. And she's about as far away from being an entrepreneur in the moment you're about to hear about as you could possibly get on planet Earth. And yet the end of the story is what we're describing to you. So here we go with the part of the story that's probably the hardest for me as your friend now,

but just the combination of the two events together is just unbelievable what took place in your life. So I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I wanted to set the context for everybody that there is good news coming because this is gonna get even heavier right now. So go ahead. The pastor says, come see me.

And of course, like any church, you do that. That's a normal thing. But you're telling my story and you're making me weep. And so, yes, I was excited to go see him because I really wanted to talk to somebody that didn't know how. So at his invitation, I was almost nervous and excited. And there was something happening in my belly.

And I call that the Holy Spirit lives within our innermost being. And he helps us to be excited and peaceful and hopeful and trying to convince us that life is good. There's good things. So feeling all of that in my body and going to see him, I was able to actually tell him how I felt. And when he was during that conversation

that he put some thoughts in my head, and that was like, you know, one of the lines that he said, I'll never forget it, was that, you know, you have, right now you have a lot of needs in your life, emotional, spiritual, spiritually and physically. And he said, you know, your husband will never be able to meet your needs.

And I'll never forget when he said that. And that's something I rarely say in public because my story is so long and it's so many details, but right now I don't know why I said that. But in the moment, it like stunned me. Like I had this something in my heart that struck me. Well, yeah, well, he might be right, because we are having a hard time connecting.

But then he said, but I could meet those needs for you. And I'm thinking in a spiritual term, you know, he's my pastor and thank you, I guess, I don't know. But anyway, so as I left that meeting that day, he took advantage of me physically. And it was more than a hug, which was normal. And it stunned me again, like, wow. But again, I'm still in my grieving,

my very early grief stage here, and I closed the door and walked out. I remember standing there for a little minute, and I thought, wow, what does that mean? What did he just do? What just happened? And I decided I made a choice because I thought it was the only option that I had.

And this is what I want your audience to understand about my story more than anything. The choices we make today is in fact the life that we will live tomorrow. I had no idea then the power of choice and the power of keeping a secret. I didn't really mean to keep it a secret, but I didn't think I had a choice. But I made a choice never to doubt.

And that day was the beginning. I didn't know then that one choice that I made would hold me hostage, literally a hostage to sexual abuse of every way for nearly seven years. hold me hostage, literally hostage to sexual abuse of every way for nearly seven years. So if there's anything that I want to tell people, is to be open and honest and authentic, no matter what is happening to you

or what someone's done to you, or even what you have done to someone, because we get, we're hurt and we also hurt people. So it's a two-way street, right? So when you find yourself in that way, you have to run to the light. You got to run to being authentic. You have to be determined that I'm not going to stay bound up by this. But I didn't know all that then.

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Take control of your wellness with Life Force and see what the healthiest version of you actually looks like and is capable of. These products and statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. So I kept a secret and I never told anyone. And of course, he, through weeks and months,

the finale of his coercing me into a relationship with him was at some point then absolute rape. And I was at that time, I was five months pregnant with our second daughter. And at that time, Ed, I was no longer a good girl. There was nothing that no one could have convinced me that I was not a bad girl. And that's when I felt like I had crossed the line.

And I know in this world, in your audience, there are many people who feel like they have crossed a line. It can be any, it can be many experiences that we feel like there's no way back. And because I felt like I crossed the line, there's no way back. And so that just means when we feel like there's no way back, you can never go back. Well, then there's only one choice, and that's as you stay where you are and you hope that one day things will get better for you. And I prayed every single day, Ed.

I wept my way through seven years. And you know, there's a story in the Bible about Jacob, and he wrestled with God one night. And, you know, I think as human beings, we all know what it's like to wrestle. And many of us wrestle for weeks and months and years. But what I can tell you during those years, again, I'm gonna speak of the Holy Spirit in my innermost being. I always thought it was, I don't know,

I have ulcers in my stomach now. I'm sick, my heart is racing, my back is hurting, my knees are buckling. From the inside out, I'm falling apart. What I know now, hindsight is 2020. And this is the good news is that Holy Spirit never leaves you. If you know God, he never leaves you. He's working inside of you,

trying to convince you. That there's a better way. You went seven years of this and seven years. I know that that's the part. That's why when I share my story in 20 minutes or whether it's 45 minutes, it's it's difficult to explain the why of that. Yeah, it's difficult to explain the darkness. But the darker it gets, the.

The deeper you go. And the more impossible it seems. And for me, the harder I prayed, more I cried. And the longer it went, it just I am stuck. There's no way out. Um, I continue to. There's no way out. I continued to go to church and I pretended that we had our second baby and I was a pretty good housewife.

I cooked up here with the kids, but I was emotionally completely gone. I abandoned my kids emotionally. And that was the hardest part of my journey, Ed, was when I woke up one day and realized I wasn't there for my children. You talk about the guilt and the shame and the blame that just envelops you in that place. That's why the miracle that I'm here today on your show, it's still, why do I feel this emotionally? Because I'm feeling, I'm seeing, I'm hearing myself tell the story again.

And what I think about is, yeah, how dark it was, but wow, how light and the world I'm living in today. Yeah. Was nothing I could have ever imagined. What changed all that was the day I decided to make my confession. Yes. And that's the next part of my story. The first off, I love you.

And thank you. I just, just a tremendous amount of courage it takes to be this vulnerable, this authentic is remarkable. And certainly something happened to you through these times where strength was forged into you that I certainly don't have that nobody else I know has. And so one of the centerpieces of Anne's work, I just, you know, everybody just wants you to imagine this, you've lost your child in this incredibly difficult way. And then you transition into this abusive relationship with the person that in all of our lives,

clergy and especially in Anne's life, that's a big deal. The abuse, the trauma, the shame that comes with it, the hiding it. This isn't for seven days or seven weeks. This is years and years of this, that she's carrying this burden. One big part of Anne's work is the concept of confession, which we'll get into maybe as we... after you tell this part of the story. So, what hap... do you know what happened that that day you went, okay, I'm gonna confess this to my husband now? Like, was there something that day

or was just like that was supposed to be the day? No, I do know. So, at the end of that period of time in my life, the church began to fall apart. Now we moved from Pennsylvania to Texas and the church began to fall apart because Now we moved from Pennsylvania to Texas, and the church began to fall apart because now there are rumors of the pastor, and some other women were coming out.

And I'm like, wow. So I had no idea at that time that he was also involved with my very dear sisters, and they have told their story in my book, so I can tell the story. But found out that the abuse was widespread in the church. And many years later, we found out our oldest daughter was also abused by him when she was just a little girl.

Oh my gosh. During the same time. I know, so the next question is people always ask me, so is this man still alive and did you charge him? Well, we tried, but we never were successful. And yes, he's still alive. But so the part about all of this, the confession part, I just have to, you know,

I want to say that if you find yourself in this place, I don't feel like my story is the worst story in the world. Cause I know, you know, our stories are not meant to be compared. Our stories are meant to be shared. We read the Bible because we love the stories in the Bible. We love the story about Adam and Eve, and wow, they've dissuaded God,

and God came looking for them, and he redeemed them. We love the story of Jacob, and we love the story of Joseph and David. The Bible is full of stories like mine and like yours. And so it shouldn't be weird or strange or unusual for us to be willing to share our stories when God has miraculously redeemed us and taken us from darkness to light. And so during the dark years, I weighed 90 pounds. I was falling apart on the inside. You know, the dying, the tragedy is not in dying,

but it's what ties inside of you while you live. And that's what, that is true. It's so hard to live when you're in darkness and you're trying to hide. It's very difficult. You get up every morning and I prayed every day and asked God to deliver me. I mean, I truly believe what the Psalmist David said, you know, that he would deliver us.

And I was looking for some kind of deliverance. But what I know today is as long as we blame, it's always somebody else's fault. You never look inside. I never understood that now I became responsible for the choice I made that day and for the many choices I made thereafter. Yes, I was stuck, but I understand that differently now.

And so praying was what kept me in tune with God, even though I'm mad at him. I don't know why I'm still here. Why do you not deliver me? That was a part of it. But the falling apart, the loneliness and the shame just kept me locked in that space because I knew if my husband ever found out, I knew that he would divorce me. There was no doubt in my mind because I'm so bad. Why would he want to live with me? Why would he not do it?

So I believed a lie. I believe many lies during that time. And so that's why I never told Jonas because I knew. So all those tears on my knees, and so the church is falling apart now. And I knew that somehow Jonas was gonna find out about the women in the church. And Holy Spirit compelled me to get up off my knees

and go tell Jonas. And Ed, I can tell you that was not in my plan. I thought God would deliver me. I don't know. He did. But that day, now I know, I took responsibility. I began to take responsibility for my my choices for my secret. And I got up off my knees and I went and told Jonas.

And Jonas has and is always he's been a good man, but I never knew how good he was. Until that day. And so when I told him, I'm ashamed, I'm full of, I'm a shell. I'm a shell, I have nothing to give except one little confession. It was very short and maybe two sentences long.

I remember exactly what I said. And but when I said it, I was looking at him. And the look in his eyes, which I had never seen, it made me turn around and walk away. I never touched him. I never hugged him. I never gave him a chance to respond because I knew what he was going to say. So I walked away. I go home and I flop on my bed and that was the first time I realized not only did I hurt myself, I know strange as this may sound, but I didn't realize the impact. But that day I realized, oh my gosh, I hurt my husband who has been more than faithful,

more than kind, more than loving to me. And I just wept like a baby on my bed. And in that moment, God spoke to me and he said, And he who is forgiven much, loves much. Like, wow, I didn't understand. I knew what that meant, but I didn't understand the implication or what that was going to play out in my life. So I'm waiting all day long for Jonas to come home. And he comes home. And we were in troop Texas at that time. And

we're in a very small house and he comes in the kitchen and he said, hon, we need to talk. And I said, about what? I mean, that's the only thing there was to say, you know what I'm saying? All I had to say, that's all I could say. But that's all Holy Spirit needed for me to say. I, that day, I broke the shackle, the shackles with one, one very short condition. It simply meant that I was going from the darkness, I'm breaking the darkness, and I'm beginning to open the door of

light because that's where God lives. He is truth, He is light. And when you walk toward light, He will meet you there. He will always be there to do what He can do. And that day, so Jonas said to me, we need to talk. And he said, well, you know about what you said today. And I said, well, I really don't wanna talk about it. I mean, are you gonna put it on this six o'clock news tonight and tell everybody what I did? I mean, this is a shame speaker, right?

Sure. He said, no, I don't want to do that. And I don't want you to leave me. I know that you're not happy, but I thought it was because of Angie's death all these years. But can you make me one promise? And I said, I don't know. By now I'm crying. I'm like, I don't know. I don't think

I can keep any promises. And he said, well, just promise me that you won't leave in the middle of the night and leave a note on the dresser. He said, promise me that you'll, if you want to go, because I want you to be happy. And if you want to go, then please tell me. And then we'll go, then please tell me. And then we'll work on this together. He said, I'll help you pack your bags. If you want to go, I'll help you find a house. And again, he said, I don't want you to go. But if you decide, please tell me and I will help you.

We'll do this together. But if you decide to go, then you have to take the girls with you because they need their mother. Well, OK. That was the moment when there was a spark inside of me, just a flicker of hope. And that was the moment when I will tell you that's when redemption for me began. What a good man. What a good man. One step further back back and that is when I decided to make a confession. The principle is found in James 5 16 is throughout the Bible but this one short verse, if you will confess your faults, your sins, your struggles one to another like I'm doing right now and pray for each other,

but then you'll be healed. And my healing began the day I made my one very faulty, broken confession to my husband. That was the beginning. And unbelievable, just un-un-un-believable. Well, so far everybody, I told you that this would be a story you would never forget. I'm pretty sure we've checked that box. And first off, just all these thoughts raced through my mind, but I'm going to let everybody

in... I don't normally do... I just want everybody in the audience to be alone with theirs. Just alone with theirs. Prayerful about it and just be alone with your own thoughts. But my thought towards the end there is what a good man he is and how God's redemption is pretty darn incredible because of where we're gonna go now, where we're going now. So, you know, the marriage has stayed together and is a loving beautiful relationship. The family is strong.

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Copyright 2024. Bacardi, it's trade dress and the bat device are trademarks of Bacardi and Company Limited. Rum 40% alcohol by volume. At some point, and I don't understand how it happens, but it blows my mind, there's like, this is unreal as we kind of shift to some business stuff because it's all correlated at all this.

There's like, as I understand it, and there's like a local pretzel place for sale. Is this right? Correct, yes. There's a local Pretzel Place. Here's what's incredible about Anne. There's 2,000 locations now of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. It's one of the most impressive, successful franchises

in the world. And it's the least compelling part of her story, yet on its own because of even the age she is when she starts. So start the context for us. How old are you when this starts? You have no business background whatsoever, no entrepreneurial background whatsoever. And you've grown up in a culture that is the good girl culture, raise your family, be a good wife, be a good mother. This is overall,

most people would not say, okay, we're looking at a global business tycoon with locations on all over the world in a business someday, right? At this point in your life, God knew something great was going to happen, but I don't even think you did. So how old are you when this starts and how's it start? Well, I was 40 years old when we started Aunt Anne's. 48 or 40? 40. 40 years old when we started.

40 years old. Okay, 40 years old. Yes, and you know, I have to go back just one little minute on this story. When I was able to make my confession to him, he got on his knees, of course, wept before the Lord, called a counselor, and the counselor told him, if you will, if you're able to love your wife as Jesus loves you, then maybe there's hope for your marriage. And Jonas began his journey and he will tell you if he was on your podcast, he would tell you that story. Just ask, you know, Holy Spirit, how, or as counselor, how do I do this? And his Holy Spirit will teach you how to love your wife as Jesus loves you.

And he will tell you today that he's still on that journey. How is it that Jesus loves me? How can you love us in this way? And he said, I began my feeble attempts at loving my wife and my daughters in that way. And you know, Ed, he never told me that story for a couple of years. But there are a few months,

maybe it was maybe a year later, my sister called me one day, said, how are you doing? And I said, I'm, we're doing pretty good. I mean, you know, even that confession, even though I told you the grandness of it, but the truth of the matter is that there's a lot of hard work from that point to till the time we open up our store. But that day when my sister called me, I said, I don't know what it is about Jonas, but there is something about his spirit

that's attracting me to him and I want to be with him. And that in itself was miraculous. Well, he began the journey then of trying to understand what happened to us. How could this happen and what happened? And he began to study psychology. And again, he's a little Amish boy, we have no formal education, but we both took the pain and we decided that we really want to help other people. And Jonas at one point said, you know, I had this vision, I see us, we don't have a business or anything,

but he said, I see a building, it's really big. And I want it to be a counseling center of some sort for the Amish, the Mennonite people to come do. And I remember telling him at that time, well, how in the world do you think that's gonna happen? We don't have anything, we had no money. He said, well, I don't know how we're gonna do that. But I know if God wants us to, then he'll make a way.

And I said, well, if he wants to do that for us, then he will have to do something very big. A few months later, we started our little store in Downing Town, Pennsylvania, our little market store, because he was doing marriage counseling as a free service to everyone that came to him full-time and making no money. And that's when I became the breadwinner. And I said, okay,

I wanted to honor him. I wanted to, I mean, he saved my life. There was nothing too big. And with joy, I said, well, the punches could work. And we found this little market stand that had salt pretzels. And that's why we started Auntie Anne's. And the three things we did not have, which you heard me say this was we didn't have a formal education, we had no capital, we had no money. When I say no money, that literally and we had no business plan. And so that's why I will declare to anyone that will listen that Anteans is a modern day business miracle. It should never have happened. That's what a miracle is.

That is a miracle. And but something happened. So you got this local pretzel stand. I think you like, did you not look at it and was like you thought it was worth 20 or 30 grand? You paid like six grand for it or something like that. Is that right? That's correct. Back in the day, farmers markets, if you're familiar with the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,

there's lots of markets and very often they they they buy a stall or rent a stall, whatever. But in this case, there was a stall that was for sale and very often they were sold anywhere from 10,000 to even $125,000, $50,000. And so it wasn't even in our, we weren't even, impossible. But somebody told us about this store and we called

and they said they wanted $6,000 for it even though we had no money while we were on the phone with this couple, they were an Amish couple. And we just, I just looked at my husband. We were, I was talking to them on the phone and he was kind of like, sure, you know, $6,000. And I knew that his dad had plenty of money. And so I told the couple, yes, we'll, we want to store. We had no money, but we knew we could go see his dad. So we wanted him to see his dad that evening

and he gave us a check of $6,000. And then we went and gave the people, the sellers, we went and gave them our $6,000. And then we went to see what we bought. Now you, now that tells you the truth. I was not even seen it. No, no, we had not. Auntie Ann started with a $6,000 alone from your father-in-law on a location you had never seen before at 40 years old with no business experience because your husband was doing free

marriage counseling because he had gone through a rough time in his own marriage and wanted to help other couples with their marriages And this is crazy. When and how long this is crazy. So you walk in there. I'm just curious. Like, did you know how to do anything in the business and like, did you, did you understand, could you, did you understand how the pretzels were made, how other products were made, like all that stuff or. So yes and no, but seven months before we bought this door, I was actually working for a man

at another farmers market as a way to make some money for Jonas to do counseling. And I was picking $200 a week. And let me tell you, I thought I had arrived. We were actually making, which paid the bills, groceries, gas, our home, whatever. So it was enough for us to have just to get by. And so I did that for seven months.

And this was a stand as well in a market that was selling self pretzels. And that's where I learned about self pretzels. I never made a pretzel in my life until that particular experience. From that, I went immediately to buying this other store and they had self pretzels there. And that's Auntie Anne's, that's why we did self pretzels. It wasn't even a choice that I made. It was just- It's unreal.

I, everybody, I just want you to step back for your own life. Obviously there's been unbelievable tragedy, shame, all the things I told you in the very beginning. All the way up to this point where there's some lessons here either as an entrepreneur or those of you that someday may dream of being one. The first one is it's okay to go to work for somebody

and just work hard and learn about something that you could then apply into a business at some point, as like a training ground. And Ann's nodding and she's a more successful entrepreneur than I am, so I don't want to, I want her to comment on that. But do you agree with that? Like sometimes, you know, God will place you somewhere

and this is, you can be working for someone thinking even, I know you weren't, but you could be thinking, what's a business I could start from what I'm learning here? Could I do this better than them? Could I could I create something that's an offshoot of it, right? I mean, that's something people could be thinking about I think we put ourselves in a very very small box, you know But my life on the farm Ed made my box actually pretty big when it comes to business principles You know, I learned perseverance. I learned how to mom and dad always said, you know, I learned perseverance. I learned how to, mom and dad always said,

you know, they gave us a task. This was ingrained in me, in all of us in our family. They gave you a task to do. You do the task and you complete the task and you do all of that without grumbling and complaining. You do the work that is set before you, right, that you were asked to do. So when I went to work at a farmer's market, I was there one day and the manager, I'm a little farm girl. I mean, really, I'm still that part. And you just, I'm a doer. You do what's in front

of you instead of waiting for, I don't know, for your moment, for your breakthrough, or for something big that you wish and you're dreaming for. No, you do the menial tasks right in front of you. And as you do that, you learn. So at this farmer's market, the manager or the boss of that market, I worked for him one day and he came to my house two days later and he said, I want you to manage, would you be interested in managing my store? And I'm like, no, because I'm not a manager. I don't know anything about business. He said, oh, he said, you're amazing. Only first man in my whole life that ever complimented me, like made me believe. He said, I've seen, I see this in you, you can manage,

you have what it takes. I know that you can manage my store. And I'm like, by the end time he was done talking to me, I'm in tears, like, how can you? I'm still dealing with some of my past. Like, I am not confident, I'm not self, my self-esteem is still pretty low. I'm like, well, no way, But he spoke into my life and he said,

no, I know you can do this. I accepted the invitation or the, the, what do you want to make the, to manage? And I accepted that. And, and wow, in a week or two or three or four, I'm like, man, this is amazing. I love managing this store. So I did have seven months of experience in his store. And so when I went and bought his store and I saw they had pretzels, I'm like, oh, well, I guess we'll do pretzels again. So, you know, what I know is there wasn't a headhunter in the world that would have come looking for me

to be the CEO of an international franchise organization because I was not qualified. But what I know, God saw me, he knew me, he called me, and he qualified me. And I feel like sometimes we miss the most important part of being in business. And the most important part, in my opinion, is having God at the forefront of everything you do, wanting to honor him and wanting to, finding his plan for your life. And guaranteed, he has a plan. But very often we go our way and we do what we want to do and that's okay too, but we're missing the greatest source, the resource that we have. We never stop and get quiet and ask about it and pray about it. That's right.

You're right. I'm doing that, Ann, I'm doing that right now. It's so amazing. You just said that for me, just so you know. I'm wondering if some of my former dreams just no longer are. And I think sometimes you gotta get with God and just have an audit and say, is this where I'm supposed to be now? You know, and what's the next thing look like? And I'm really doing a lot of that, and that was confirmation. How long did it take until you were successful with Auntie Anne's?

The first, I would say the first day we walked into that store, we cleaned it, we remodeled. My brothers and family came to my aid and they helped us clean up the store and remodeled and kind of the model that I had at the store where I worked for seven months and we sort of followed that pattern as far as how to make pretzels and all that. And so the very first week in business, we did $857. I'm like, well, I didn't know about profit and loss, but I knew that we had $857 in cash. And I was surprised because they had never done that much.

Again, it was just me and Jonas and one of my sisters working the store, but there was something about it that just like, wow. And so the pretzels were terrible and they really were. And because we took their recipe, but that's a whole long story, but in about two months, we came up with a recipe of our own. I was gonna take the recipe off of the menu

because I hated our pretzels. They were terrible, because I knew what a good pretzel was. And then Jonas, here comes to the rescue and he goes to the store and buys some ingredients. We put it into our mix and wah, Anteans was born. And that day, so I would say the first day, the first week we had great sales, but about six, eight weeks later,

we began selling pretzels, and to where within a week or two, like immediately we could not make the pretzels fast enough. And within a few weeks, we were making 90, we called them batches, mixes of pretzels, and each mix made 46 or more pretzels. So, eight times 40 is 3,600 pretzels a day. Oh my gosh.

So fast that we, I mean, now I have another challenge like how can I do this? So hire people and immediately we were making more money than we'd ever made in our lives. And there's cash pisses and I knew that in order to manage the cash, I couldn't grab money out of the till because I wanted to honor God. I wanted to be honest. I wanted to do it right. And so to do it well and to do it right as as as unto the Lord. This is my history, my background and just I don't know. I told Jonas we're gonna I counted the cash at the end of every week, which was only a two day market, two days, Friday and Saturday. Oh my gosh. Saturday nights I would get around midnight. I would count all the money by my bedside. I called it the three stacks system. This is how simple I was. I'm a little smarter today.

So I'm just saying, you know, there's still a lot I don't know. But let me tell you, Auntie, you have to grow up financially, you know, emotionally, professionally in every way. But back then, I actually, Saturday night, I had three stacks of money. The first 10 percent off the top is what I took to church the next day. And then 30%, I put into the bank for tax money.

And the rest of it was the expenses, personal and business expenses we put into an account. That's the way I managed my money until maybe a year and a half later, maybe two years, we got a VP of financing and he said, Auntie Anne, I think we're going to have to get rid of the three-stack system. And we're going to have to become a little more up-to-date. I said, go for it, do whatever it takes. Yeah. However, though, that principle applies and it's for more entrepreneurs than anything in life, which is they don't tithe and they don't save their money for taxes.

The number one business thing that gets entrepreneurs usually is tax issues. Absolutely. They forget, they're used to getting a paycheck where the taxes are taken out and they don't save their money for taxes. The chorus of fresh voices moves you, taking you to greater heights. Add your voice to the mix and let fresh answer back with perfect harmony in Pure Michigan. Keep it fresh at Michigan.org. So you said, okay, we're successful. So how long before you had a second location?

You're like, we need to scale this thing. So January, February, I'm sorry, we opened our first location in 1988. We did the second location July 4th and by the end of that year, we were the combined store that we were making about $200,000 by the end of that year. Oh my gosh. We had, what in the world do you do with $200,000? We kept pouring it back and we were very, very frugal, of course, but understanding now that we can actually, we have money in the bank, but putting it back into the company,

by 1990, we had 35 locations more, so by 1992, we had 100 locations. 1995, we went halfway around the world doing an international store. But as far as the finances, it just became, the more money we made, the more responsible, and the more almost like, wow, I knew we couldn't spend this money,

we needed to keep just pouring it into the business because we were growing so fast. What an explosive business. I mean, you don't... Very. I mean, usually what you hear is 15 years, one location, then we had our second, then it took off. That's, it's almost like God was sitting there going,

you're gonna get through this time, I'm gonna, there is a huge blessing coming your way, huge. And it's gonna happen pretty quickly too. I mean- And there's been reasons for success, you know, but I think the number one reason for us was tithing and the work ethic that we had and just our faith in God. I don't know, there's just a number,

there's lots of things beyond that. Well, I wanna ask you that, that was my next question. And we're gonna go a little longer cause this is too good. So why was it successful? So I'm talking about the non-spiritual piece of it. So clearly there's no way you can look at your story and not say, this was God's work. There's just no way. And in anybody's story, in my story, just like there's no way this goofball, me, could have had any of the remote success, whatever I've had. Same here. There's no way.

However, there are actual things I did that physically day to day separated me as an entrepreneur. So with all your humility there, why did it work? The physical, is there some business things you did that you're going, this, I'll be honest with you, this was a secret, or this is just something, a principle we applied over and over again that worked. Well, I think for anyone in business, whether it's a, whether you're faith-based or not, I think it's really important, number one,

to have a purpose. Why do you want to be in business? I mean, you have to ask yourself that question. I knew, we knew why we wanted to be in business and that was our purpose and it was simply so that we could be charitable. And that was the number one charity, of course, was to support Jonas who then very quickly was able to get into an office. He was doing marriage counseling in our home or in the basement of the church or wherever. But very quickly then he became so busy

But very quickly then, he became so busy and we were making a lot of money, so he was able to rent a building and office to where then his counseling services grew from just him to then two, three, four, five, six, eight, 10 people counseling. They were, we were paying them well. And also, there was that insurance plan. We've really wanted our employees So there was that insurance plan.

We've really wanted our employees to feel really good about their jobs. And we wanted to provide well for them because we knew Auntie Anne's was created to give, not just for us, but it was for our employees. It was for charitable organizations. And so our purpose was crystal clear. As the company grew, bringing all the voices from around the country into our corporate office

in little Gap, Pennsylvania, Amish country, all kinds of ideas, all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, all kinds of cultures. Now we're all melting together in this office space corporate, which we had a large, we eventually moved to a very big office space. And you know, the bigger you get, and the more employees you have,

the more voices you have, opinions, voices, some good, some bad, but it's just part of growing a company. And this little Amish girl, this my culture and my theology and all these things, the pisses savvy that I was not, began to like, wow, I don't know what to do with all these people. But what I know today is you have to bring people into your company that know more than you do. And you have to be willing to ask questions.

And even if you might know it, it's still really good to ask questions so that you become a part of the team instead of being the boss, which was never something so. I think number one, have a purpose. And if you're in business for 10 years and you're not sure what your purpose is, it's never too late to figure it out, find out since you love and then learn to support or in whatever way, give up your time or whatever, but give, make it a purpose, something that you can give to. And then in our case, we were able to give financially,

just crazy ways that I never even dreamed. I mean, from 1987 in June, when we moved home from 1987 in June when we moved home to February in 1988, six months later, and about nine months after, by the end of that year, we were able to give a 50,000, I mean, I don't often talk about how much we gave, but you cannot even imagine. We were able to give someone that was doing great work a $50,000 check. Like, come on, we didn't have anything one year before that.

We had nothing. Less than two years, we were able to go from a no, we had no house, we had to rent at a small place, and we were able to buy our own home. Less than two years after we started the company. And it's all because, all because God's blessing, the hard work, and my wonderful husband who just refused to let go of me. And in that way, Ed, my husband honored God in his life by keeping his family

together. What an unbelievable story. It's an unforgettable story. For us, that was huge. And we know, I know that. He would never say that. Yeah. And you would never brag about you either. That's the. And we know, I know that. He would never say that. Yeah. And you would never brag about you either. That's the other thing. No, I would not.

I really want to meet him. I hope I get the blessing of meeting him. He'll come to one of our events. And then so number two, let me go to number two. And there's a purpose. And then number two is obviously you have to have a product that is better than the best. I mean, you have to have a product that is better than what's out there.

Maybe not better, but as good or competitive to what's out there. But in my case, we had a food product. And so we knew it was better than the best. But the point is you have to believe in your product. Yes. Believe in your product, number two. And then number three, people. I learned from my mom and dad,

the importance of loving people. I mean, if you don don't have people then find you a computer and stay at home and work on your computer. Well I mean many people do that and they're still having this other writer but but seriously many of us have to we got to work out there among the living you know. And I love people and I had people tell me early on it Auntie Anne's like and I would say I just love my people and I had people tell me early on it, Auntie Anne's like, and I would say, I just love my people. And they would say, you know, experts maybe in the industry, you know,

it's really not a good idea to love your people because I'm like, oh really? I almost believe them. Like meaning don't get too chummy with your employees, too friendly. But I got to know my people and I loved my people. And when you do that, they will be loyal to your purpose. No doubt about it.

So that combination, in my opinion, is what drove us to success. I cannot agree with you more. And I got the same advice as I was coming up in business. Don't do too close to people because if you have to let them go or they'll get comfortable, they won't work really hard for you. I think usually people live up to the way

that you treat them. And that if you believe in them and if you think about How the power of belief in people what if that man after the first day that you went to work at a store didn't come To your house and just pour belief into you Probably Auntie Anne's doesn't exist right so the power of belief is evidence just with that man who on that store with you We underestimate our words Employee that comes into your company, build them up. You don't have to say things that are not true

because everybody has a gift, everybody has a personality, everybody has something that you can compliment on. You may not even, I mean, you may be having problems with that employee, but you can always find something to say to them that will build them up. It's true, and that's what we're looking for. You're tremendous at that, You're tremendous at it. You also, can I tell you what?

I think you do beautifully well, and it's just probably just who you are. Cause I always teach what you just said. Make sure you're finding someone's giftedness and the things you love about them and tell them. And I think I do a really, really good job of that. You do it at an even different level that you almost do it, you do it spoken, but I think people feel it around really tremendous

influential people, unspoken. There's just a feeling when I'm around you, and by the way, other people have said this about you as well, you feel loved, you feel cared for. Even in an unspoken way, you pay such close attention when someone's talking to the man. It's something that you take for granted, but they're the only person in the room when they're speaking to you, and that's an unspoken thing. And I think

there's all these little things that you just do beautifully. The truth is, you just truly value people because you see them as a brother and sister in Christ. And I think that that's... There's the spoken word, which I'm pretty good at. And then there's people that are another level, which is where I think you are, where they just feel this from you. And that's, that's by the way, if you're listening to this and going, I don't have any entrepreneurial skills. If you have that skill where you love and believe in people, you probably have the most important entrepreneurial skill. Yeah, I agree with that. What was the hardest part? What was the hardest part, Anne? Oh, it was all hard. All of it was hard. You know, the enjoyment of actually finding product and starting our store was, you know, it was fun. It was exciting, scary, as well in many times and many obstacles. But the challenge and what I began to feel, the challenge of that and the excitement and the understanding that I can do something that I had no clue and beginning to feel the responsibility may have been my greatest challenge.

Feeling responsibility. Now, all of this is what is happening on the outside. God gave us this gift, this pretzel to take around the world. So I began to feel the responsibility of being a really good leader. And the hardest part, well, my mind is going in a thousand different directions right now, but I feel like the hardest part for me was growing up. It was, I knew I couldn't stay the same. I knew I could not stay who I was, Although I know God loved me in that place. He didn't make demands on me, but he was guiding me. He was teaching me. He was helping me. And I began to feel the responsibility that if I'm going to do this and I want to keep Auntie Anne's purpose and vision and culture alive, then I have to, I really need to focus

on the internal part of who I am. And that became my greatest challenge. And you know why? Because there was stuff inside of me. And this takes me to the next season of my life which is authenticity. And I wrote about that in my book, Overcome and Lead. Man, if your history keeps following and you keep,

you're dragging it along like a ball and chain, you feel weighed down and you feel more frustration than you do joy and excitement, then it just means there's something weighing you down. I mean, it could mean something is weighing you down. And so I didn't realize I was carrying a lot of my inner struggles with me into the company and it was all right for a while. But at some point, again, something happened in 1995. And we were now in the business about seven years and we were in the middle of just,

I mean, we were in Indonesia now. And I'm starting to feel like the company is so big that I'm starting to feel like I'm almost, I couldn't understand why I felt controlled, but it was a part of my history that I had never dealt with. And that's when my world began to crumble. And it was in the middle of that that I had, our oldest daughter came home and said that

she was also abused by this man. And I crashed and I burned. And during that time I was going to leave. I knew in order to be happy, it was overwhelming to me that he would do this to her. I can't even explain that to you, but I crashed and burned. But it's because I hadn't dealt with my history. Now it's a culmination. That's why I talk a lot about open up and be authentic. That's when I had to start, began to work on the internal life of who I really was. That's a whole other podcast. But that was the hardest part of my journey, becoming more.

Because I really thought, you know, at some point, I mean, I knew I had to grow and I had to learn professionally. And now you can do that when you're around people that know more than you do and you grow in your work. But wow, all of that was going well. But inside, I was falling apart. The internal work that I did at that point, I went to a counselor with the advice of Jonas. He said, I went on a trip one day and he said, honey, don't come home today. Got to go see Doc.

Oh, I didn't want to, I mean, and I spent about the next six years seeing Doc Dobbins. And that's when the internal work that I did has paid off tremendously. I'm still at Auntie Anne's and we sold the company in 05, but I began to soar during that time, during my counseling and the internal work that I did, I was still, I was getting better all the time.

So, I mean, I felt the benefits of internal work that I was doing, because now I'm starting to feel freedom like I had never experienced in my entire life, from darkness to light. And now I'm taking the light into the business world. I'm more, I have freedom. I'm able to really be authentic with everybody that I meet. And you talked about me loving people

and the promise that God gave to me on my bed many years ago, he who is forgiven much loves much. Yeah. And so his words to me became true. I don't understand that kind of love and I can't tell you how I do that or even that I do that. But when you've been loved in that way by God and then by a husband who loves you in

that way, the impact is at the end of the day is humbling. And you want other people to experience that. When you say internal work, are you saying that you would recommend to somebody if they've got unresolved trauma or issues that they go to therapy? Is that what you're suggesting? Absolutely. Yeah. I'm so glad you said that.

Because a lot of people in the faith community, I don't know, I shouldn't say that, but I think I get that sense too, is that you just pray about it. And I think God delivers brilliant people into your life or carrying people into your life for a reason. And they're a blessing that he sent you and that maybe they're an answer to prayer if you'll engage with them.

Absolutely, yes, yes, absolutely. I think that you well spoken and I feel like, you know, people say why be authentic? Why care? Why, you know, in the world of pisses, yes, in the world of pisses we can learn how to world of pisses, we can learn how to be that. And, you know, it's like, at Antihans we took the word light, and I always knew that Antihans was created to be light in the world of pisses. And light is, it doesn't say a word,

but it makes things visible. And so that was very impressive to me, because God really was clear with me. I want you to be light in the world of piscis. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I began to research and try to understand what does that mean? At the end of the day, what it really meant

was to be an influence. And Jesus, when he walked about doing good, there was something about him. It wasn't always what he said, it's who he was. I mean, I know that sounds like something way up here that we can hardly attain, but I began to think about light and the power of it. And as light makes things visible, it attracts people.

Anytime you see a little light in the middle of darkness, you see that light and the light's not saying anything. It's just there. And, you know, that has really been my prayer. And I believe today in the world in which we live, people are looking for light. They're looking for someone. They're looking for a man or woman or a young man or young girl to to notice them. People want to be noticed. And I think that as people of light, that that's our job is to notice people.

Oh, my gosh. Notice them and and and go to them and be light. I don't know what that means. Maybe given someone in the airport when you're running through it like a wild woman, you stop and give them $20. They're cleaning the restrooms. Notice people. I mean, there's all kinds of ways. And every time you notice someone, it's powerful. And imagine yourself being a crazy wild business matter woman. You have people around you. And if you will stop and notice them, that to me is that to me is a part of light. You're light filled and you just want people to experience being free, being authentic.

I love you right where you are. I don't know what's going on in your life. You may want to tell me what's going on in your life. And as I began to share my life and as I began to open up my life and people began to hear my story after my therapy and during my therapy, I began to become more free. It just attracts people to you

because we want to be known. enjoying my therapy, I began to become more free, you know, it just attracts people to you because we want to be known. We just want to be known. And so many people don't feel seen, heard, appreciated. They don't even feel like they exist. And it's, by the way, I've never heard it said the way you just said it, and it's a thousand percent correct and it's what you do, Anne. I gotta tell you, people will also follow the light. And if you're a light leader, they will follow you. And it's, last night I had dinner in town and you know that I live out on an island here in the summertime.

And so we got on the boat last night and it was completely dark. And I probably should have turned around, truthfully, but I didn't. And but what I did the entire ride out to the island, as I kept saying to myself, follow the light, follow the light, follow the light. There was a light in this very dark place. And I think in life, it was such a I didn't realize it until you just said it. But it's such a metaphor and a truth about life that most people are in a pretty dark place in some way. And it may not be so dark that they've lost a child in their presence or that they're being abused for seven years.

Their darkness may just be shame from their childhood or they just don't feel good about themselves or someone's left them in a relationship where they're in a job that they just knows not they're calling in their purpose. And you could just be a light, you know, like you are anyway. I'll ask you a last question. First off, before I step back, make sure you get her book. She doesn't have a whole lot of places for you to go follow. Where would we send them to find you, Anne? Okay, website, to my website, Auntie Anne Bailarie is simple. Just go there and that will tell you what I'm doing. The books we have and also Instagram we're on there. Has some online courses that they will find

if they go to my website, which will take you to everything that we're doing. And the Overcome and Lead, I love that book. And I wrote there, just happened to have a few of them. And then there's another one I have, it's called The Secret Lies Within. I would recommend either one of those, but if you're actually both of them are, are, are my story and you know what I did.

And hopefully it encourages people to just be open and real and honest. It's so hard. Which is what you, what you are. I, I introduced the show today. I love when I introduced the show and then like, it even exceeds what I said. But this is, I don't know why everyone does not know your story. And now I'm hoping after today, most of them will,

because I don't know everybody, have you ever heard anything like this in your entire life? I mean, seriously, from a woman who can tell it in such an incredible way, with such humility, with the gifts that she has, it's just, I'm so honored that we got to do this today. And I truly am. But I wanna finish,

because you just helped so many people today. So I just wanna give you a general question, kind of like serve back to you for the last one. And that is that if someone's listening or watching and they've stayed to the end, so I wanna give them a big reward. And they're doing that today and they're like, you know, I feel like give them a big reward. And they're doing that today and they're like, you know,

I feel like I'm called for more and I'm in a dark place, or it's just at least maybe I'm not in a totally dark place, but it's not filled with light. I could tell you that. And I want to change my life. What general advice tip tactics strategy thought would you give to that person if they had a chance to ask you that in person? You're called for more because you are called for more.

Not just a feeling, but you are. If you feel it and you hear it and you sense it, you're called for more. My simple advice is just open up your life to someone. That's the power of confession. It's the power of authenticity because when you open up your life, you get unstuck, you know, and talk about your frustrations and your feelings as a as a business person or a wife or someone that's a husband or someone that you're so inundated with the even just the pressure of life and you feel like you're stuck in this

even just the pressure of life and you feel like you're stuck in this place where I can't move, call your best friend or someone that you can trust, obviously, someone that won't take your story and use it against you, but someone that can listen well. And as you're talking, pay attention to them. Are they listening? And if you can find a good listener, it will open you up to the more, which means that you're the reason we're stuck is because we're full of fear. We're drowning in our own selves. And when you begin to talk to somebody, you begin to unload all of these things that you're struggling with alone and you were not meant to carry all of it alone. And I would recommend you don't do it sitting at the bar like, okay, that's one place you can do it. But no, I'm talking about, you know, invite your friend to your house or go have coffee or, but just determine.

And I've had women tell me already, there's nobody that I can talk to. And I've done, number one, that's not true. That's a lie. And so I would say, ask God to show you, direct you to somebody that would listen to you and your struggles. That's the beginning of more. That's what it was for me. I love that.

I gotta tell you everybody, you know who it is for me now in my life? My mom. At this late stage in my life, it's my mom. So there's somebody. Yes. There's somebody. And it's changed for me who those people are over my lifetime, but it's my mom. My mom in her seventies. I never had that till she was probably, till probably two years ago. I started to open up to my mom a little bit and then a little bit more. And you know what?

It's my mom. That's who it is for me now. And sometimes it's not what they say back. It's you listening to yourself. So that's the whole point. What an honor for your mother, for you as a son to bring her into your life that way. Greatest honor for any mother.

Oh, I love this. Today was unbelievable, Ann, and I'm glad that I got through it with limited tears so that I could be present with you. And I just wanna thank you. And I can't wait to see you in a few weeks. Yeah. And I'm gonna do everything I can to share your story with as many people as I can.

So I love you and thank you and God bless you. Thanks so much. Thank you, Ed, and God bless you. Thanks so much. Thank you, Ed and bless you too. All right, everybody, Max out. Share this episode. I think you're gonna.