The Eric Metaxas Show - Lucinda from Moink

Episode Date: February 19, 2022

Lucinda, as seen on "Shark Tank," is in the studio to share the fascinating story of her family's eight-generation farm and her new company, Moink, a combination of "moo" and "oink": MoinkBox.com/Eric.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mataxis show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy pm investments.com. That's legacy pm investments.com. A Texas show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Oh, hello there. Folks, as you know on this program, I like to talk to people that I like to talk to. Have you figured that out yet? Today, I have on a new friend.

Her name is Lucinda. Lucinda with the red hair, Lucinda Cramsey. But how do you know her? You may already know her as the woman behind a company that I'm excited about. It's called Moinkmoo plus oink equals moink. Do you get it? Moinkbox.com. Lucinda, welcome to the program.

Well, thank you for having me, Aaron. Well, now, where do you come from? Well, I come from a small town called LaBelle in Missouri. In Missouri. You probably call it Missouri. I know it's Missouri. Missouri. I mean, I know that you're not close to an airport if you pronounce it Missouri. You're a real Missouran. Right? Something like that. Come on. So you, your story, because I want my audience to get to know you and the whole story, but tell us the short version, just to start, of what is Moink and Moink Box and the family farm? And just give us that. And then we're going to get into the backstory.

Yeah, sure. Well, I'm an eighth generation farmer. Eighth generation farmer. You don't look that old. How's that possible? Right. Thank you. You're an eighth generation farmer. Yes.

Can you tell us how far that goes back? What year are we talking about? Well, since they came over, actually they came through New York and Virginia, and then they end up in Kentucky. You don't even know when this is? I know in the early 1800s we moved from Kentucky to Missouri, which is why I sound the way I sound.

But I was saying, but if I were part of an eighth generation something, I would give you dates. I give you the day of the week that we came over. I mean, eighth generation is so far back by American standards. I'm wondering if you didn't come across the land bridge, the Bering Strait land bridge from Siberia, because we're talking way, way, way back. Okay, but so you are now, you're it. You're the eighth generation. Yes, so I was born, raised, and still hail from a town of 600 people. And so I grew up, on a family farm, obviously. Right.

And when I was 11, my father died, and my mother was left with six miles to feed, and a farm she couldn't afford. I know that seems crazy that she would have land everywhere, and we would go hungry. But it's kind of like that water, water, everywhere and nothing to eat.

And not a drop to drink. Yeah, nothing to drink. What is that from, Alvin? Coleridge, the ancient mariner. And by the way, who cares? Go ahead. So anyway, didn't make sense to me, so I really made it, like, when I grew up, I felt like it was my life mission to help family farmers be independent outside of Big Ag

to be able to make a living, to have an honest day's pay for an honest day's wage. Honest Days pay for an honest day's work. I'm getting a little bit nervous here. I mean, this is a nice place. Look, I'm in New York. I'll calm down in a minute and not mince my words. Believe me, you're our kind of people,

and we're your kind of people. So don't be fooled by the Versailles. litter because I didn't paint the room. Because we ain't in Kansas anymore. I know. But so you, okay, so your story is eighth generation family farm. Yes. And for folks who live, you know, in places like New York City or whatever, we don't, we don't think in terms of that. We go to some grocery store and we get our meat or whatever it is. We just don't, we've lost that connection, which to me is part of the story that I want to talk to you about. Like there's something inherently sick about losing the connection to your, to the roots, to where your food comes from, to how

your food comes. There's something unhealthy about that. And big ag, as you put it, that's the free market. That's kind of what happened. And there's a lot of downside there that we tend not to talk about. So I do want to talk to you about that. But first, I want to talk to you more about Moink and... Well, Moink was created because four companies. control over 80% of the meat industry in the United States. Now, there was the meat packers of the 1920s. They tried to get that monopoly kind of broken up. But nonetheless, here we are.

How we got here is very complicated. But where we are today is that four companies are controlling over 80% of the meat industry. Okay, now, hold on. Whenever somebody says something like this, I've got to say, stop. Four companies are controlling over 80% of the meat industry. of the meat industry, which is a $600 billion industry, 6% of GDP. Okay, $600 billion. What percent of GDP?

Six, I believe. Six percent of the entire GDP of the United States of America is meat, controlled by four companies. Now, can you tell us the names of those companies? I probably shouldn't get into it right now on those four. Why do they have snipers on the roof? Well, I mean, I don't know, but I'm not trying to have them come hunting down. But you can Google it and get those four companies right off the top. Yeah.

Well, it's all fascinating to me to learn this stuff. So 80%. And so here's some other startling statistics that you should know. 60% of the U.S. pork comes from one company. I will tell you that one, it's Smithfield Farms. They're wholly owned by the Chinese. Stop. Say that again, because, again, there are things that you think that's just not possible.

That can't be. everybody I know just about eats pork and a lot of pork all the pork say this again 60% of u.s. pork production yeah is from one company yeah smithfield farms yeah which is wholly owned by the chinese okay so 60% of all pork consumed in the United States of America is Chinese pork now that now it's produced on u.s soil It doesn't matter. But yes. It's owned by the Chinese. And if you own it, it's yours.

It's Chinese. It's Chinese pork. So the fact that China has been able to infiltrate our economy like this. And to me, the headline is not just that. It's the fact that nobody knows it. Until you say this to me, I think like, that's not even possible. Because it's not on anybody's radar, right? As long as that pork chop is still for sale at the grocery store.

Why is it on your purview? But what I don't realize when I'm buying. that pork chop, okay, when I'm buying that hamburger, when I'm buying whatever, I don't know that I am helping subsidize communism that is oppressing human beings in China. I don't want my money, whatever I'm using my money for, whether it's to buy Nike or any of these companies that don't give a damn about human beings who live inside what's called China. I don't want to subsidize those companies, but you're telling me that none of us basically knows it, but that 60% of all the pork we get, we are helping subsidize a company that strengthens

the economy of a wicked regime that crushes people of faith, Christians, Uighur Muslims, and on and on. We talked about it on this program, but I'm saying that to me is a headline. That's a big deal. So I always say that no consumer ever went to the grocery store and said, today, I'd like to buy a funky chicken and screw over a farmer. but it's a high probability that's exactly what you did.

And I know what you're going to say to me because most people do, but I buy organic. That's cute. You bought an overpriced funky chicken. Because at the end of the day, you have to look, a label is only as good as the people that stand behind it. So you have to get behind something.

So when you talk about, okay, Smithfield Farms, I'm just going to look for what Smithfield Farms, because now Lucinda Dun told me they're controlling 60%, right? Well, they have a lot of subsidiaries. So you have to look at their subsidiaries because you might be buying organic pork or this, that, and the other. And so you really sometimes have to dig behind behind to see because you're right. You went to the grocery store. There wasn't a blaring sign that says, now let me tell you what you're doing when you buy this pork chop.

You just thought you were having to supper. Harm Chinese people, buy here. Yeah. Didn't say that, did it? Well, see, this is what's so interesting. It's kind of funny because I had Susie Welch on this program. I don't know, for three, four years ago. She's now the widow of Jack Welch. And she is, you know, a vegan and on and on and on. She's telling these horror stories and whatever. And I got all kinds of blowback for farmers around the country. But I thought it's at least interesting to begin to think about how are animals treated.

What kind of farming is going on? We should care about all this kind of stuff. And that's why when I heard your story, I thought, I want to have you on this program. And in the interest of full disclosure, Moink is a new sponsor to the program. But I've got a lot of sponsors on the program, and I don't have them sit down here in New York and have a long conversation. This is something to me that people need to begin thinking about very seriously. We're at that kind of tipping point in culture where how you spend your money, you need to think about it. Okay, so when we come back, we're talking to Lucinda. Hang on, we're going to go to a break.

We'll be right back. Lucinda Moinkbox.com. It's the Ericman Taxis Show. Don't go away. I've got to tell you. 47. Didn't think before decided. Hey, folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father,

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Go there. It's the African Texas show. I'm talking to Lucinda of the red hair. It's easier than saying Lucinda cramzy of Moinkbox.com. You, and you're a natural redhead so I can say that. right? Okay. All right. I mean, you could say it if I weren't, but I don't want. I know. I know. My wife used to be an actual redhead. That sounds like a joke. It is. It is a joke. So you were just going to tell me something about family farmers. Yeah, you had said something about you got some blowback from some farmers once with somebody on the show.

First of all, I had no idea how many people milking cows at 4 a.m. are listening to this program. That thrilled me to death. I thought that's really wonderful. But they were telling me that a lot of what Susie Walsh had shared on this program was flat out untrue. And I think they were right. I think a lot of what she said was true. But she has a very strong vegan ideology. She probably doesn't realize that Jesus ate fish and he also ate lamb. And since he's God and he's perfect, there's nothing wrong with that. So whatever.

So what I was going to say to that, though, is there is so much, well, less than two percent. of Americans are farmers, right? So there's not very many of us. So I tell you, to those fellow farmers out there listening, I see you, I hear you, I am one of you. But let's also dig into why there's sometimes this animosity and angst, because you'll hear people say, well, I only, these people that don't farm organically, there seems to be this like hatred cultured, or everybody's getting fussy, but they don't know what they're fussy about, right? So let me break that down just a little bit. Because, yes, my farmers, use regenerative agriculture.

We raise our animals outdoors on pasture. They are not given antibiotics or hormones and we do use non-GMO grains. Now does that mean, for our chicken, does that mean that I am anti-farmer's

that row crop? Oh no. You wouldn't hate a sweatshop worker. You'd hate the sweatshop. JFK once said that a farmer is the only one that buys everything at retail. Sells everything at wholesale. Pays freight both ways. He wasn't wrong then. And if he were alive now, he wouldn't be wrong now. So farmers are in a struggle because of the system that is set up,

because we really do not participate in free markets, because at the end of the year, we're not allowed to set with the prices for something that we've grown. That's set on the Chicago Board of Trade. See, now, that's so weird. I don't get any of that stuff. Why is that? It's just how that turned out. but they even trade pork bellies on the Chicago Board of Trade. Now, I don't understand it, but at the end of the day, that's why I created Moink, is because if you cannot compete in a plain field because it's not level, you must get in your own plane field, which is to say, when you put the small family farm up against big ag,

and you remove kind of the cheats, if you will, right? You level that playing field. Those that come out on top are those. that work the hardest, and I can guarantee you one thing. There's not a lot of things I know for sure in this world, but I do know that those that farm because they love it and because it's our culture and our way of life, we are never outworked.

Right. You know, so this is like, I need to say that because I often feel like people will say, oh, well, for instance, if I got into the data about how chickens are raised in the United States and there's confinement buildings, Now, no, it is, I do not believe that chickens should be raised in confinement buildings. It's not humane.

It's not good for the bird, but it's also not good for the farmer. You know, what Moink does is good for the animals and the farmer, but I often get pigeonholed into this. Are we going to be fussy because confinement buildings exist? Yeah, we're fussy about it, but we're not mad at the person that has the confinement building because they weren't given an opportunity to make an honest day's wage for how hard they worked. They were put in that corner because our system is set up like that.

And so because there's less than 2% of us here in America that are farmers, I feel like it's important to kind of get into those few of us that are listening to this show, I just want you know, I hear you. Well, now I want to get your story. Yeah. But I also want to get,

it's kind of funny. The other day, I found out that, my daughter and I found out that a moink box is a coming. And we were all excited. And when it came, you know, we just, like, ripped it open. And what's in here? What's it here? And you guys do a lot of stuff.

I mean, you sell bacon, brotwurst, steaks, salmon. Yeah, from the last independent fishermen in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Now, that's interesting to me that you sell salmon. And even the salmon is, you know, sourced. I hate that verb. in a way that is, you know, when I immediately tasted it, right? Like when you're tasting wild salmon, it actually tastes pretty darn different from the other kind of salmon. So there's all kinds of stuff, and when people go to moinkbox.com, they can choose all kinds of stuff.

So we have grass-fed and grass-finished beef and lamb. What is grass-finished? It means that they never had grain. So all cattle in the United States start out on small family farms, believe it or not. Okay. And then they end up in a feed lot and they're finished on grain, right? So when you look for grass-fed and grassed finished, it means that they were never given grain. And there's some reasons behind that.

One, they're not meant to eat that much grain and it's better for the land. We're immune to corn prices. There's some economical reasons to do grass-fed and grass-finished. The quality is there. You'll hear people say, oh, I had a grass-fed steak one time. That was tough. Yeah, that's because they tried to commercialize it. But when done right, regenerative agriculture,

you're going to get a real tender, flavorful steak with grass-fed. But it means it was never given grain. It was raised outdoors. The same with the lamb. Our pork and chicken is raised outdoors on pasture, which is a big deal. Only 1% of the chicken in the United States is raised outdoors on pasture.

1%. Yeah, 99% of the chicken in the United States is raised in confinement buildings. You see, this is the kind of thing. I mean, I'm very sensitive. I've loved animals all my life. So, you know, when you hear about this stuff and you hear about animals crammed in these places,

you just think, like, is that necessary? I mean, I don't have a problem with killing an animal and eating it. But do you have to treat it this way? up until that point. So you're telling me 1% is raised outdoors on pasture. And all of your chicken.

We're the 1% you can get behind. Yeah. I mean, it's just kind of amazing to me. But anyway, all right. You know, I always say that Moink is for tender-hearted carnivores. Because I am tender-hearted. I will stop in the road and pick up a turtle, right? If you were to come to my farm, you wouldn't cringe.

If you go to where animals are. raised and you get the eb-b-g-bies, you probably shouldn't be supporting that. Now, let's be clear, because you and I talked on the phone the other day, when you said, you know, if you saw a turtle crossing the road, you'd pick it up. And I want to be very clear with my audience. Lucinda would not turn it into turtle soup. She would actually let it go and live the rest of its little turtle life, which could be very long. So I just want to be clear about that. I don't have any problem with eating turtles, but I just want to be clear. That's what you meant. Because it would be funny. You'd be like, yeah, I care for the turtle.

I picked it up and we ate it the next day. What's the problem? But you really, you care about these animals, and that's why I thought it's important to talk to you. Just the other day, I think was it yesterday in this program, we had Phil Robertson, you know, Duck Commander. And my daughter and I went duck hunting with him and Uncle Sy. How'd you do? And people would pay millions of dollars. Like, you know, wealthy people pay millions of dollars for that.

But just because he loves us and we love him, he let us do that. There weren't a lot of ducks that day, which for duck hunting is bad. If you don't have a lot of ducks in the sky, it's tough to shoot them. So I think one of the pellets for my shotgun blast nicked one of the ducks that eventually fell into the drink and was retrieved by blue their dog. But let me ask you something real serious. Like, did he take you snipe hunting? No.

Okay. You might want to ask him about that. I can't believe you missed out on snipe hunting. We were just there for, you know, a day and a half or something like that. So we just want to start with the ducks and we'll move on. Well, next time, snipe hunting for sure. Okay. Well, so we're talking about a lot of stuff here.

I want to get to your story, too, though, because first of all, you were on Shark Tank. I call it Fight Club, but yeah. Fight Club. Because we was fighting. I know. Well, because you're a feisty, red-headed gal, and they are jerks. No, some of them are. But I love Shark Tank.

I've learned so much about business just by watching it. But when you came out and you told your story, I thought, this is fun just to watch you. So what year was that? So we filmed that in the fall of 2018. Right. And then it aired in early 2019. Okay.

Now, I should let everybody know. I did come in like a chip on my shoulder, but you're not supposed to see the people before you go. And I did. and this woman was poised. She was like everything I thought I might have sort of one day could be, which I'll never be. Which one?

You guys never saw her, didn't air. But she walked in with this good idea. She'd went to Harvard. She's talking about behind the scenes. No, you're talking about not one of the panelists. You're talking about another woman. Another woman, and it never aired. But I watched her walk in with her shoulders back,

and when they were done, she walked out like this, and I thought, uh-uh. If you're going to treat me like that, I'm going to deserve it. So I did kind of walk in. And kind of with an attitude. This is why we're friends and we just met. I love it. Okay, we'll be right back with Lucinda moinkbox.com.

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Folks, welcome back. Yes, yes. I'm talking to Lucinda, who is, I don't know, Lucinda, how to describe you. You're the woman behind Moink. I am. M-O-I-N-K. I want you to say it. Moink. Where does Moin-N-C come from? Mo-Pla-O-O-O-C. Moink. But you got to go to Moinkbox.com to order the products. And so you can say, oink, oink, I'm just so happy, I got moint. You could, but I never will. Okay, now listen. Challenge accepted. Now listen, so you were talking about when you were on Shark Tank, this is behind the scenes. Yes. And they had treated some, you know, some dignified woman with her business, whatever, in such a way that she walked out of their sort of beaten up. Yeah, she, you know, look, she was very poised and confident and educated and, like I said, all the things that I

I envisioned maybe one day I, well, I'd never be, but I had a lot of respect for her for it. And so she walked in, she glided in there. I was rooting for her. You're not supposed to see the people that go before you, right? And when she walked out, her shoulders were hunched down. And I just thought to myself, oh, Lod, no. If you are going to do that to me, I'm going to earn it. Right. So you went out there with a chip on your shoulder, not literally, but Barbara Quarkran. She wasn't in the room. I'm sad because I felt like her in Wait, no, no, no, I thought she was the one that said you seem like you have a little chip on your shoulder. No, that was Damon, John, who said out of it.

Damon? Yeah. He said that. Yeah, they cut out what I really said in response because it wasn't TV appropriate, but it might have been something along the lines of, if I've been disrespectful in any way, please let me know, because I'd like to get right. But if you just think I'm a strong drink of whiskey, you're, I am. And not everybody can belly up to the bore. In other words, like, look, you do.

don't come from nothing in a small farming community. I lost my daddy when I was 11. Yeah. My mother struggled. Well, you're absolutely right. This is a personal business to me. I'm going to have a chip. I'm going to have a chip on my shoulder because the family farm is something that I'm passionate about.

Yeah, I'm with you. And I didn't know all the terms I had to learn them before I went on. I had to have a crash course of like what these words meant. Because I knew the concepts. I just didn't know the words. right but anyway so yeah I went in there like uh all right if y'all want to fight let's go bet right right but I'm saying like you go in there you've been through it in your life yeah and you're going to facing these like you know pompous well-coffed billionaires and so I would have an attitude but so you go in there with an attitude and I watched it

and now did you I don't remember you didn't get any investors from that oh I did though um so in season five in season five a man named Jamie Siminoff went on the show he has invented something called the ring doorbell. Yeah, one outside of the studio. Anyway, on season five, he went on and they did not give him a deal. So then he ended up selling his business to Amazon for a billion dollars. And in season 10, he came back as a guest shark as a kind of like, how you like me now kind of thing, right?

Right. And so he didn't say much to me while we were in there. Yeah. But in the end, he offered to invest. But that's on the show. Yeah, on the show. And all that's on the show, you can look it up. And what's so great is we speak different dialects because he's from Jersey. Uh-huh.

But we got a similar sort of fight. Yeah. And because he's not a real shark, if you will. Right, right. He was a guest investor. Right. Believe it or not, do you know that he bought a farm 16 miles from where my farm is at in this small town? Because his wife and his child love it out there in the middle of nowhere? I love it.

So he's been a real partner in terms of like, helping to grow our business, but also, like, he believes in what we're doing because he's seen it first hand. So that was a very successful Shark Tank thing for you then, as it happens. Yeah. Yeah. All right. It crashed our website within 35 seconds of airing. I think that's good.

Yeah, that was good. Okay. So, but to go back to, now, your story is interesting, because you've had a tough life. And you said to me when you walked in here today, because I didn't know, that you've had a tough experience a couple of years ago, and somehow, I mean, you shocked me because you said my book on miracle. You've somehow, you found my book on miracles, and you had some faith thing happen. I don't know if you're able to. Yeah. So, yeah, I did that. I said, oh, what I said was, hey, do you think you'll sign a book for me? You know, and he said, sure. Can't you

see I'm very busy? Please. That's what my assistants do. No, anytime anybody asks me to sign a book, I'm so honored. You have no idea. I'm thrilled. Thank you. But go ahead. Go ahead. You know, I'll start out by saying, you know, in the height of COVID, when everybody else was told to go home, we went to work. And it was like mount up right now, which is a dialect thing of saying, like, get ready. It's time to work, right? I lost my workers overnight. The food supply chain was shutting down all around us. That very same company that I told you about earlier that produces 60% of the U.S. pork, they shut down their facilities because it wasn't. making money. All that to say, at the height of COVID, all of a sudden, we were thrown into like 20-hour workdays. There was trying to rearrange the food supply to make sure y'all here in

New York had food. If you remember that time, it's a little bit crazy. And in California, there were some hot spots that weren't able to get food to the grocery store, quite frankly, right? So I remember at that time, we were using FedEx for a show. shipper and they called and said, look, we are prioritizing food and medicine. So we have this much space on the plane because we use dry ice, right? There's only so much on the plane. This is how many shipments you can send. It was like half of what had been requested, right?

Like we just overnight grew, right, leaps and bounds. And I remember sitting there going, wait a second, I barely feel like I'm qualified to be a grownup. Now you want me to decide who's getting food and who doesn't. And should I keep it? Because I'm in the middle of nowhere, and if this thing's getting crazy. Because you've got to take yourself back there, right? We were scared.

We didn't know what was happening. Should we go to work? Should we not? And so all of this was like this chaos, Carmen, who you met earlier, her and I worked 20-hour days. And on day 43, I turned to her at 2 o'clock in the morning like I always do. Like I said to her, Carmen, what's next? Okay, this sounds like a crisis point. We're going to go to a break.

We'll be right back. Hey folks, if you listen to this program, of course, you've heard me talk at infinitum about my pillow and my friend Mike Lindell. Well, Mike has just announced that you will receive one of his books and the book is next level insane. It is called What Are The Odds from Crack Addict to CEO? It's his story. You will receive it absolutely free with any purchase using the promo code Eric. Did you hear that? It would be a great time, by the way. way to buy his warm and wonderful my slippers for a limited time. He's offering 50% off my slippers. We all wear them in my extended family. My slippers. Check it out. 50% off. Go to my pillow.com. Click on the radio listener's square and use promo code Eric. You'll also get deep discounts on all my pillow products, including some overstock products such as individual towels, blankets, comforters, and much more. Or call 800, 978-3057. That's 800-978 3057. To use the promo code, Eric. Okay, so Lucinda, you got to a crisis point.

I did. I turned to Carmen and I said to her, you know, what's next? And she said, start licking doorknobs. And I looked at her and she says, the only way we get out of here is if we get the vid. Like it was so much stress every day trying to figure out this food supply. And like it no longer was about running a business.

It felt very much like our country was depending on us. As like making sure that food was moving. As a processors were shutting down, I mean, they always say you don't want to know what the Secret Service knows. You do not want to know what I know about how close we were in the height of COVID to having a full-on come apart in this country in regards to our food. A full-on come apart? Well, I just, up in New York. I don't know what we call that, but it doesn't sound good. Yeah, it's not good. So anyway, this was like the survival mode, right, that happened because

it was day after day after day of solving these challenges. And I tell you kind of that back story so that you can get there with me on where my head was at. It was survival. And so when you're in survival mode, you don't really have time to think you react, right? So in 2020, I always say that was the year that we survived, literally and figuratively, as I'm very aware, that there are people that have empty spots at their tables, right? So we should be grateful for for that in 21. I always say that's the year we dug every piece

of dirt we stand on, which is Missouri Lingo for we worked very hard. Now, I know that you're interested in the backstory and we're probably up against a hard line. So rather than ramble, I'll tell you what, I'm going to read you the quick version that I have in here and then I'm going to circle it back

to your book on miracles because somebody who's listening to this, I bet has been on my level and I'm going to tell you Eric's book is helpful. Okay, here we go, right? This was not anticipated, by the way. I had no idea that you had ever heard of me or read my books. Yeah, this was random. 2020 was the year we survived. 2021 was the year we dug every piece of dirt we stand on.

In 2022, will be the year we rise. If you remember from last year's letter, I had explained that during the height of COVID, our business grew by multiples overnight. When others stayed home, we went to work. When others stopped shipping, we didn't. When large processing facilities shut down, hours'clock. kept running around the clock. We had to do some cowboy stuff and wild west moves to keep the trains moving, but we did. Side note, this is very personal for me, so if I stutter, just if you guys will go there with me.

But we did. As a result, we ended 2020, triple the business we were in 2019. I also predicted that consumers' memories would be short, and they would soon forget who fed them when grocery stores were barren. And that was very true. Many in our industry saw a drop in pre-2019 levels. Moink, however, grew. As predicted, though, we had to earn every single sale. We focused on customer retention and experience.

We extended our beef aging and leveled up our consistency and packaging on our pork products. We published a magazine, and that was not the only thing that was earned in 21. Indulge me for a moment. pull up a chair and let me talk to you on a personal level. A few years ago, a friend and I were discussing all things life when she asked, Lucinda, where does your strength come from? I made up some sort of fluffy answer that sounded good, but truth be told, I didn't really understand that question as I didn't view myself as having any sort of strength.

That was until I lost it. Earlier this year, about March. I'm not sure how or how. what the straw it was that broke the camel's back, but one day it was okay and the next day not. I was once resilient and like Teflon. No matter the bluffs, no matter the circumstances, negativity couldn't stick to me. I could take a licking and keep on a ticking. Then what seemed like out of nowhere, it was all gone. I couldn't see my way clear. I fell apart. I realized I just could not I'm out of comeback. What was this heaviness and how do I get it to go away? How do I unclogged that

wellspring of joy and forward momentum I seem to have on my life? Somebody fixed me. And while you're at it, go ahead and break that darn rear view mirror of life I keep trying to look through. I declared to those that are close to me that I was either having a midlife crisis or a mental breakdown and I wasn't sure which. And the way I saw it, there was only one way to find out. I was going to try some things and see what happened. If I pull a Britney Spears and shave my head, start dating a backup dancer or buy a sports car, you might want to do something.

But otherwise, give me a wide berth, folks. And so they did. And so I tried some things, like leggings. I went to doctors. I went to a bike rally. I bought an RV, sight unseen. I listened to middle-aged white women podcast. I bawled, I squalled, and I prayed.

I went to Southern Baptist hymn sings, I meditated, I did yoga, and wore Jane Fonda outfits with booty bands, nonetheless. Where had my strength come from? And more importantly, how could I get it back? I couldn't seem to figure it out. So finally, I just surrendered. I said goodbye to who I once was and started to embrace this new me. When folks came in hot at me or said cruel things, I let them. Old me would have to have. body-checked people or life, verbally speaking. But I just not, did not have any fight left in me, so I didn't. I gave myself permission to not be strong. I just meandered through the day-to-day task of living. I took my knocks on the chin, so to speak. The motorcycle was a no. The leggings were a hard no. But the RV was a holy heck yes. I even upgraded to a bigger one. My children and I

we drive to the four-way stop, flip a coin and heads we go left and tails we go right. We kayak the mighty Mississippi. We hiked mountains, chased waterfalls, made fires, and visited friends all over the country. Those precious memories I will forever cherish. Then I started going south in my RV to visit my aunt and uncle on a regular basis. If I got freaked out by life and people, I'd load up and start driving. I'd use the time to think about everything. The what-ifs, the wooders, the kudos, and the shouldas, until finally, south of Memphis, in the middle of the night on Highway 55, I realized I was ready to get up. I declared my midlife crisis over.

A song came on my playlist called Rise. It seemed rather fitting to the end of my midlife crisis or mental breakdown or whatever that was. I still don't know where my strength came from before. I suspect it was something I was. born with my God-given gift, as my granny would say, and as such, the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. But I can tell you where my strength comes from now. It comes from all of you. Just as a house is built, brick by brick. So are companies. This is too hot. This is right. Albin, hit pause. We'll be right back with the rest of this. Beautiful. So Lucinda with moinkbox.com, you're reading this letter. This is,

This is raw. It's beautiful. Please continue. I can very clearly tell you where my strength comes from now. It comes from all of you. Just as a house is built brick by brick, so are companies built human by human, each one being part of the whole. And the joy of life is created not by the events of the day,

but the people we love the journey along with us. Isaac Newton once said that, If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants. I feel that way about my life and the success of Moinck. You are the giants on whom's shoulders I stand. Thank you for being a part of my human experience. My life is better because you are in it. I go boldly into the new year with a newfound strength,

one that was not given to me, but one that I have earned. that gives me the confidence to walk softly and carry a switchblade, Lucinda. Now, the thing is, what I want you to know, Eric, is in that whole balling and squalling and praying and meditating, I came across your book. And in your book of miracles, when I picked it up, I thought we were going to have, like, I don't know what I was thinking, that I was going to learn what miracles were, right? Like, now I was going to get one, because I was thinking, well, I'm yelling, Mark, God, can I get a polo?

Yes. Right? And so I thought this was going to be my polo. Yeah. And I don't know what other people took away from that, but what I took away from that and some of the stories in your book. Yeah. Life is a miracle. The fact that I get to do what I love every day with people that root for me, help me, are loyal to me, that work hard for me, that I get a voice for American family farm.

when I was just a little girl, and it's like, all you get to ask for in this world is opportunity. And if I can't see in my life that my miracle from God is that I was given opportunity, then I'm a spoiled little punk. And so if you really want to know what I took from your book, you know, and there was a couple things in there that I was like, yes, I'm supposed to be reading this. One, because I always think it's a cute little party trick when I tell people, did you know there's 104.5 degrees between the two hydrogen molecules? in your book. You mentioned that. Who says that? Who knows that? That's a weird thing to know. Everywhere you look. So I said, I needed to read this book. I was meant to read this book, and I was meant to be exactly where I am, even if I'm bawling and squalling and, you know, worried that I'm going to turn into Britney Spears. This is the miracle. Don't miss it, folks.

This is the miracle. I think you're ready to come out of your conservatorship. It's amazing because as an author, you never know where does your book go, Where do people find it where? So the fact that somehow, in your part of Missouri, you found a copy of that book and that God used it to minister to you in that way. It's just fascinating to me. We've got a lot more to talk about, but I wanted people to know your story. Because, you know, I'm a people person, right?

So when you approached us with Moinkbox and whatever, you know, it's about the product, it's about the story behind the company, and you're a big part of the thing. story behind the company. So that's important. We will, so we'll end this hour, but if you want to order for Moink, you can go to Moinkbox.com slash Eric. I guess if you don't do the slash Eric part, this show doesn't get credit for it, and I'm going to have to, you know, go back to the shelter. So, M-O-I-N-K-M-O-N-O-M-C-box.com slash Eric. It is tremendous stuff. I want to do another show with you where we actually talk about some of the details because some of this stuff is so fascinating. And I just want my audience to know, you know, what it is that they're buying,

what it is that they're eating and just stuff. I've become so fascinated. So thank you, Lucinda, for this time. Thank you for sharing so honestly. And that'll end this hour, but we'll have more. Stick around. Thank you, Eric.