Activating Greatness: A Leadership Podcast
Welcome to Activating Greatness — the show where we dig into what it really takes to lead with purpose, inspire performance, and create lasting impact. I’m your host, Alec McChesney, and every episode, we sit down with extraordinary leaders, thinkers, and changemakers who are unlocking potential in themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Here, we talk about the real stuff — leadership that drives culture, strategy that creates momentum, and the mindset that turns good intentions into game-changing results. Because greatness isn’t a title — it’s a choice. It’s something you activate every single day. Thank you for listening, for showing up, and for being part of a community of leaders who refuse to settle for “good enough.
Activating Greatness: A Leadership Podcast
Discipline, Consistency and Community: How two best friends have achieved the improbable
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In this episode of Activating Greatness, Alec McChesney sits down with Lorri and Laura from the Mile 20 Podcast for an invigorating discussion about discipline, consistency, and community. The Mile 20 Podcast covers the story of how Lorri and Laura have ran a marathon in all 50 states and run 62 marathons together. This is a story about running and friendship, but there are so many powerful lessons about leadership, about discipline, and about setting goals.
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Activating Greatness, the show where we dig into what it really takes to lead with purpose, inspire performance, and create lasting impact. As always, I'm your host, Alec McChesney. And every episode we sit down with leaders, thinkers, and change makers who are unlocking potential in themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Here we talk about the real stuff: leadership that drives culture, strategy that creates momentum, and the mindset that turns good intentions into game-changing results. Because greatness, it isn't a title, it's a choice. It's something you activate every single day. So thank you. Thank you for listening, for showing up, and for being a part of a community of leaders who refuse to settle for good enough. Now let's dive in and meet today's incredible guest. I usually say guests. This is actually our first episode, Lori and Laura, with two people on the Activating Greatness podcast. And I definitely know it's the first time that we've had two best friends and hosts of another podcast, the Mile 20 Podcast. Together, these two have completed the incredible challenge of running a marathon in all 50 states. And along the way, they've collected unforgettable stories filled with heart, humor, and a whole lot of adventure. Their journey is more about more than miles. It's about friendship, resilience, and saying yes to doing epic things. Whether you're a runner, a traveler, or just somebody who loves a good story, I know you're gonna love this conversation. And I am excited because we've had an NFL quarterback who moved into the art world on this podcast. And now we have two people who may or may not be insane on a day-to-day basis running multiple marathons in the whole globe. I heard today on the podcast that we're at 62 between the two of you together. You guys have run 62 podcasts or 62 marathons together. Is that correct? Am I right in that?
SPEAKER_02We've ran 62 together, but we are at 72 marathons total amongst with us both.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. And that's that is too many marathons, um, just right out of the gate. But it's also a testament to what greatness is. And one of the reasons why I'm so excited to have you both on the podcast is when we think about leadership and we think about greatness, especially in our world uh here at Velocity Advisory Group, you so often go to a uh a CEO or you go to a VP or a director. But what I've loved about this show is that each of those individuals has their own story. And half of them have uh half of them struggle with should I even be in this role? Do I have I done enough? And I shouldn't even be on the podcast. And greatness and leadership takes all different shapes and sizes. But I think the thing that has remained through now 30 episodes of our show is consistency, discipline, and community. And the the two of you just live that on a day-to-day basis. And so I'm really excited to ask you guys some questions. But before that, would love to give you both the chance to maybe, you know, further introduce yourself uh and and maybe give a little bit of background on mile 20.
SPEAKER_02Uh, my name is Lori Feckman. Hello, Nori. Hello. Hey. Um, I am a retired stay-at-home mom.
SPEAKER_03I love graduate every time you say that, dude. Um yeah, I was she usually does it with air quotes too. So I'm a retired stay-at-home mom.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Um, I've spent the last 20 plus years raising my kids. I mean, I back in the day, I had a Bachelor of Science of Biology with an emphasis in zoology, and I worked in that field for a bit until I got pregnant and decided I wanted to stay home and raise my kids, which is a a choice I've never regretted. Um moved into running to have something that was mine. Um, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in my 20s, and I was prone to gaining weight, and I like to eat and drink. So you still do. I do. And running became a a way to mitigate some of the damage that I could do to my body. And then it still does. It does. And then um, you know, through the years it kind of unfolded, and I had a crazy dream to do a marathon in all 50 states. And then I met my best friend in 2014.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And she joined me on the journey.
SPEAKER_03That's me, by the way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's Laura.
SPEAKER_00For those at home.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so that's kind of how the journey started. And we can get into more details a little bit, but I'll let Laura introduce herself.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Hi. Um, and Alec, first, like I just want to say thank you so incredibly much for having us on the podcast. I I think that this is a really cool crossover um because this is the first time that we have been interviewed. We've interviewed a lot of people on our podcast. So this is the first time we're in the hot seat. So this is kind of cool. So you want to talk about first, right? Oh, please do, please do. So um, so my name's Laura Lee. I am an executive, I'm a VP at Comcast. I've been there for a little over 12 years. And I started out my career as a an engineer officer in the Army, graduated from West Point, and I'm gonna say the year in 1993, because my ass is old. And we're older. And I think that that will be a common theme, you know, as we're talking through through our journey, you know, together. But um, I'm I'm married um happily for almost 33 years now uh to my husband Jim. I have a daughter who is just turned 30. She's a lawyer in Philly, and she got married about two years ago. So we're just we're waiting on some grandbabies now. No pressure. I keep saying that. I was like, no pressure. Um, but um, you know, I know yeah, there's so much pressure.
SPEAKER_00There is so much pressure.
SPEAKER_03I want to be, I I want to be a tutu. That's gonna be my grandma name, too, too. Oh, I love it. But right? Um, but I got into running in 2004. So when I was in the army, uh, I hated running. And running would just, it always felt like a punishment, you know, just like a uh like something you had to do, not something you wanted to do. And so in 2004, my youngest brother, I'm the oldest of four kids. My youngest brother Ned was diagnosed with cancer. And unfortunately, he lost his battle. I'm sorry, in 2003. And in 2004, he lost his battle with cancer. So, you know, I like I was in my early 30s trying to figure out how do I, how do I cope with this? How do I, you know, do I go into, you know, some uh counseling groups? I found the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and you know, I always loved a challenge. And part of their program was a thing called team and training, where you sign up to run a marathon and they they help you train. It's a 20-week program. They still have have you know this program in place. So um, you could go you could go out to the leukemia and lymphoma society or teamandtraining.org and check them out. But I was like, you know what, I'm gonna sign up for a marathon and raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in memory of my brother. And I figured I'm gonna be a one and done. I ran the Disney Marathon because that was one of his favorite places to go. And I finished it in 2005. And then I ran like two more Disney marathons because I wanted to raise up to $27,000 because he died at 27 years old. So I raised $27,000, and then I ran a couple more, and then that's when Lori and I met in 2014, and we've met at a running group, and you know, she had shared eventually that she was, oh, I'm I'm running. I'm like typical Lori. I have goals, I'm gonna run a marathon to each of the 50 states, and I'm like, great, good for you. And and then every time she signed up for another marathon, I was like, Oh, I'm gonna run that with you. And then finally, what in it was like 2015, we ran the Rehoboth marathon and we we normally do a no-shower happy hour. It's when like we finish a race and we just plant our asses at a bar and drink. Yeah, and because that's always healthy for you after you run a race. Absolutely, it's what you should do. And what what did you say to me when we're sitting at the bar?
SPEAKER_02Well, I was talking about a race. You're like, oh, I'll do that one. And I just looked at you and I said, You're doing this with me. You know that, right? Because you keep signing up for these races, so it sounds like you're doing this with me.
SPEAKER_03And that's how it happened.
SPEAKER_00Now, when did when did the podcast come along? I've got a couple of of high-level questions that I need to ask, but I want to start with when did the podcast come along and why the podcast? I think 60 plus episodes. I listened, I've listened to a couple. I listened to the I would call it a scathing review of uh a couple of the the marathons, and then I I learned so much about the Boston Marathon. Um, so you need to go check out these episodes. But why the podcast? Why that format and and what led to it, and and why are you still doing it so many episodes later?
SPEAKER_02Well, I'd say it was very much driven by our children. Um Laura was really great at documenting, taking lots of photos on our journey and everything while we were doing this. Our goal, uh, which started out as my goal, but became our goal, was to run a marathon in all 50 states. But to do it, like there are companies out there where you can do like five marathons, five days, and knock out five states. And that was not the experience that I wanted. I wanted it as an excuse to go and explore random places in the United States. I thought it was a really cool way to connect with our country.
SPEAKER_03And ditto. And we we were completely aligned on that.
SPEAKER_00It was a it was gonna be about the journey, not just doing it, not just checking a box to say I did it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So we were terrible at journal journaling, didn't regret it.
SPEAKER_03We regret that terribly.
SPEAKER_02Yes, journal your journeys. Everybody should be journaling out there. But um, Laura was really great with Facebook posts and pictures and things like that. Um, so finally in 2023, when we finished Hawaii, the kids were kind of like hemming and hawing, like, oh, it's too bad. And then some was it Maggie?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think Maggie.
SPEAKER_02I think it was Maggie. Your daughter Maggie may have been one of the other kids was like, You guys should do a podcast. And we're like, Well, who the hell wants to listen to us? Yeah, I think I drugged my feet on it longer than both you and Maggie did because Maggie's like, I'll produce it. And we're like, Oh, I love it. Okay, that's not my old thing.
SPEAKER_03And we knew nothing, we knew nothing about podcasting. Like, we, you know, I mean, it it it it's once you learn uh, you know, like what equipment you need and software and how to post things and you know, how to structure a podcast, and you listen to other podcasts and what what do you get attracted to or not? Uh that's really how we learned. I mean, this was something that we we all kind of jumped in together and knew nothing about, you know, before doing it.
SPEAKER_02But the the purpose of it is kind of twofold. Like we are two women in our 50s, um, you know, kind of like in that place in life that's similar to like mile 20 of a marathon. So at mile 20 of a marathon, we have notoriously started for a long time now. Not started.
SPEAKER_03We for a long time.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I always get embarrassed to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00Please, please, don't go for it.
SPEAKER_03You know, it's it's not cocktails at mile 20, man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like everyone's I've heard, I've heard you're hiding uh alcohol at mile 20. Because that's when you that's when you hit the wall and you have made the decision that there's gonna be a vodka Red Bull at mile 20, and it's gonna be second or or being a good thing. It's gonna give you that that that boost you need for the final six.
SPEAKER_03It's a mental distraction, you know, and and I and I think that the you know, it started when we did the Philadelphia Marathon in 2015, and Lori hit uh a point in the marathon in a town called Manyunk and Conchahack and Brew and Company, they always have folks out there with you know little cups of beer, and she's like, screw it, I'm just gonna take one. And she took one going out, and then you know, we doubled back on the same location. She's like, I'm gonna take another one. And next thing you know, we're running back down freaking Kelly Drive, and she's running like, Woo! I'm like a pony, I'm going, I'm going. And I'm like, what the hell? And she's like, we're gonna do this every race from now on. And I cleaned the night stuck, and I couldn't drink any any of the beer because I'm like, I have no idea what you were experiencing right now because I have a gluten allergy. And I was like, there wasn't any gluten-free beer. So so that is how that started. Yes.
SPEAKER_00And and the equivalent there is now in your 50s, right? You talk about some people have just made that choice to say, I've hit my 50s, I'm gonna hang them up, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get old because I stopped playing, and I'm just gonna let it go by the wayside. And this kind of analogy of no, I I'm I'm just hitting the I'm hitting the the wave here. I'm gonna add a little glass of Prosecco or a G and T, and that's gonna get me to the the rest of the way. That's kind of the thought process here with mild 20 and the 50s, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's kind of like a that that beautiful parallel. Like it's it's a hard time in life mentally. Like you can definitely succumb to a lot of the challenges.
SPEAKER_03Menopause.
SPEAKER_02Menopause women in menopause, and it's like getting hit with a Mac truck. Um, but yeah, like just choosing, like our podcast is about not only running and trying to motivate people, it's about the travel experience that we've had in each of the 50 states, the places we've eaten, the places we've stayed, the wonderful things that we've seen.
SPEAKER_03Um continue to see and and and continue to push each other, you know, despite, you know, like every once in a while I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna like run too much longer. And then, you know, and then I have this like epiphany moment going, dude, I'm like, I'm afraid to stop running, honestly. Like I turn 55 next week, and I'm really afraid to stop running because like I I don't want my body to stop. And and things don't hurt. I'm gonna knock on wood, things don't hurt right now. And and I'm I'm feeling good about things, and I'm like, how how do I how do I keep that in perpetuity?
SPEAKER_02As opposed to be who I don't know who all has seen Ozark here, but the little petite blonde girl whose her quote is like, if you want me to stop, you're gonna have to fucking kill me. That's Lori. That's my that's Lori. That is Lori. I'm going to fall over dead at a hundred, and somebody's gonna have to pause my Strava.
SPEAKER_00Yep. The Strava part of that is absolutely incredible. I I want to say it's it's it is uh it you guys are unbelievable role models because we had a prep call on Tuesday of last week, and then I went for a run uh after our prep call. Um, and I and it was like, okay, I you know, we you have to force this. And I think of my my wife's uh mom and and her grandma, now great grandma and and grandma, uh, for our daughter Maxine. So I I hope that you get to experience what they are experiencing because they are just first grandkid on on that side of the family, but so active, right? Like great grandma is playing pickleball on a consistent basis and getting up and down. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. How are you in your 80s playing pickleball? It's like, well, because I never stopped. I was playing golf or I was playing tennis and I picked this up, and and now it's just something that what else am I gonna do? It gets me out of bed, I feel good. It's just such a fun way to to exist. And um, I I think that what you guys are doing through the story is also through your podcast, is also storytelling for the next a hundred years, right? Like I get very emotional when I talk about Maxine and like the future, and you know, all of our all of our family members have done some version of that book, like the my story, so that way you can read those. But I'm a big proponent of the the ideology that is there are three times someone dies. The first time someone dies is when they realize that death is possible. The second time is when you actually die, and then the third time is the last time that somebody says your name or talks about you. And when you think about the impact that you guys are having with this, with this podcast and the stories that you are telling, I mean, think a hundred years from now, grandkids, great-grandkids are still able to listen to the absolute insane insane shit that you guys were doing on a on a week-to-week basis across the globe.
SPEAKER_03You know what brings me joy, Alec? When so, so Lori uh said earlier that her daughter Maggie, so it's it's her one of her oldest of the three kids, yeah. She's our our editor and producer, and she always sits on the table opposite of where we're sitting right now. And she's not here today, but uh, but when she is and we're telling a story and we're kind of cracking ourselves up, and when she starts cracking up about something, I'm like, that's why we're doing this, right? And that's exactly awesome, you know, or or um, you know, uh like Lori's friend, um, Danine, who who Lori bikes with, Danine just ran her first half marathon and she listens to every one of her our episodes, and she's like all inspired about it. And like, hopefully we're gonna get her to run a race with us. But but but these are the things that, you know, even if we're we're touching, you know, 10 people's lives, you know, 20 people's lives out there, and or like you, like, hey, you know what? I went out for a run because like these ladies who are in their 50s are freaking doing this like every day and like you know, like it's just something that like, you know, you see us somebody else doing something, and we don't do it like really, really well. We're not experts, we're not running like sub two-hour marathons like in London the other day. It's yeah, incredible, which is incredible. It is incredible. Shout out for that. Oh my goodness. But we we are the back of the pack, right? We are we are like a mullet. We are like a mullet. You know, you have business in the front, party in the back. We are the mullet in the back of the pack.
SPEAKER_00I don't I don't love that. I don't love that for you guys, uh, depending on the era that you are in. I know the mullet's coming back, but I think we can come up uh with it with a better with a better analogy.
SPEAKER_03We are the back, we are the back of the packers. We are the party in the back. We are the party in the back. And and and you know, like, and so we're not we're not out there breaking records.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03Finishing, we're finishing every marathon, and we're having a freaking, I would say 99% of the time. Yeah, having a blast.
SPEAKER_02Because there have been some this season, I would say 2026, maybe more like 6040. 640, maybe this year.
SPEAKER_03But but it's still got all of them done.
SPEAKER_00So I I I need to ask you uh I need to ask you a tough question. Um, you know, I I think back to my sports days, and I used to have these shorts uh uh from our high school basketball team that said good enough is neither. And it it is a thought process that I have always thought about and believed in, and it's a part of what we set out to create in terms of the activating greatness that greatness can look in a ton of different ways. But at the end of the day, good enough is neither. Now, I've had a couple of guests come on and call bullshit on good enough is neither because some areas you have to be willing to be good enough, and other areas you have to be excellent, and there is this balance. And at velocity, we have this question of, is this my best work? And if you can answer that confidently and say, right now, today, this is my best work because I have 63% to give, and I'm giving the 63%. I'm curious what your guys' thoughts are as the mullet. I guess we'll go with it for now. What is your thought on the concept of good enough is neither as you are showing up on a day-to-day basis, and some days you have it, and some days you don't, and you still show up. So tough question. I'm curious. Either one of you, go ahead and go.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'll take a stab at that one first. I think the the most important thing is like defining what your goal is. Right? Because if my goal was to be like a really fast runner, I would be doing things differently right now. But if my goal is that I want to actively travel, I want to spend time with my best friend, I want to finish a marathon, I want to have a freaking good ass time, like and meet people along the way. And feel good after the race. Feel good after the race, if those are my success metrics, then you know what? I feel like I'm doing everything that I should be doing right now. But if I changed, but if I changed what my goal is, right? Where it's like, hey, I want to, I want to go and get a personal record. I wanna, I wanna decrease my my race time by an hour.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like we we would do things differently. I I I I wouldn't stop every time, you know, maybe people are. Like, like, yeah, like I mean, or or you know, if I had to go to the bathroom, like maybe I would, I would not stop at a Portageon. Or, you know, or and and and I know we shared this with you last week when we did the the the pre you know meeting. Yeah. Lori and I had a marathon in uh Rehoboth, Delaware in December. And there were when when I tell you thousands and thousands of geese that were migrating in lines, like rapid lines, you know, along the shore. It was amazing. Stopped in the middle of the race and and recorded it because it's about the journey. So I think that for each person individually, your greatness is really dependent upon what goals you set for yourself. And if you feel like you are are doing everything possible to go and meet those goals, great. Or, you know, if you need to go and adjust them, great. You know, um, but that that's that's the way I'm approaching things because again, I love that we can go and do these races, you know, sometimes, you know, back-to-back weekends, or like I mean, this past fall, we did uh three weekends in a row of marathons, like bam, bam, bam. Um, we've run in the past eight months, we have run nine marathons. Um and and back in 2022, 2020.
SPEAKER_02So we're gonna go in a year.
SPEAKER_03With with one weekend where we did a marathon on a Saturday and a Sunday in two different states.
SPEAKER_02And I think that was also the same year we did three weeks in a row back then too. Yeah. We did three and three weeks.
SPEAKER_03So so for so to go back to your original question, you know, I feel like and I and I feel like Lori, your your goals and your success metrics are very, very similar to mine. And that's that's why we gel. That's why we're having that's why we're still doing this.
SPEAKER_02I mean, at I would say when I first started running, my goals were very different. I was very much my time focused. But I'm gonna be real. I was non-athletic in high school, I've never been athletic. I mean, this was something that came on in my mid-20s, and I realized that my goals shifted, especially when I met Laura. I'm like, to me, what what brings me joy? No, well, no, it's not about that.
SPEAKER_00But it's like you can say it. You can say it.
SPEAKER_02But it's like also you any goal that you're making in life should bring you joy.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02And if it's not bringing you joy, why is that your goal? And and the process should bring you joy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, and and this really tr translated, I'll I'll share a work experience. This really translated work-wise. Like, I I was recently in a role that I like I just was not happy in. And uh, you know, I had this epiphany moment of, you know, like between like running, right, focusing on joy. Lori and I went to uh uh an all-women's camp last year called Camp Chateau. Highly recommend that. You're not getting paid for for for recommending this, but this was in France, and it really was not about like making yourself better. It was about how do you find those things in your life that bring you joy? And are you doing everything within your control to focus on bringing yourself more joy? And so you find, and probably, you know, you talk to so many people in your industry that they're miserable in their jobs, but man, I'm successful. And it's like, but are you happy? You know, and and that's when I'm coaching my team members, you know, it's like, hey, are you happy doing what you're doing? What are your priorities? I can't prioritize stuff for you. So so when I came back from this camp last summer, and because you know I was just not a happy camper, like where I was, I actually had a conversation with my my former boss to go and say, hey, dude, like my job isn't bringing me joy anymore. And here is like, and I I flew back the entire way from France thinking about like how we could go and like reorganize, you know, the team so that way we can, you know, help the structure of the organization, but then also like get me engaged in it in a different way. I am so freaking happy doing my job right now because I I we changed things, but it was controlling my destiny and like how do you how do you figure out and be honest with yourself? Because sometimes the thing that that you are successful at and that is raking in money and stuff is not the thing that is bringing you joy. Yeah, and that is the hardest self-awareness thing to go and like kind of take a step back on going, whoa, right?
SPEAKER_00So yeah. Well, I need to I need to like double click on 17 things you guys said there. So I I know it's it it's amazing. I've got I told you guys I I'm an emotional human, so I've got goosebumps. I'm ready to run through a brick wall. Um, I'm not ready to run a marathon, uh, but I can maybe do two miles. But I I want to, I want to I asked the question about the good enough is neither and your thought process process on it. And we instantly went to we can't even really know if good enough is right for us if we don't know our goals and what expectations we have. And if we have the right goal, then it's a lot easier to say, hey, this actually is my best work. Whereas if you were trying to set PRs, you might look yourself in the mirror and say, Hey, this is probably not my best work to reach that goal. So comes back to expectation setting and goal setting that is is is so important in that. But I want to focus on this concept of joy for a minute. Uh, 30 episodes into this podcast, uh, a recurring theme is hey, uh, work doesn't have to suck. And it's been really delightful hearing people from every different background. And whether that is a a woman in construction, a woman in the life sciences, a uh a male CEO who has been in the construction industry for 50 years saying, I don't want my people to be unhappy. I don't want to be unhappy. Life is way too short for this thing that takes up so much of our time to suck. Because then what happens more often than not is you don't then have the hobby like running. You then don't have the hobby like fishing or reading because all your time is being drained and your energy is being drained, and you aren't finding those positive ways to to pass the time. Which brings me to my question. You guys both have very different backgrounds in terms of your day-to-day. And especially when you first met, let's say, you know, 2014, I think is when where we were. And Lori, you were sitting in one side of the world uh when you first met Laura, in the other trying to probably climb the corporate ladder. And Lori, you were probably trying to get into the the the you know, what was it, the parent-teacher conference and running running these groups and running a nonprofit? But yet you guys melded, like I've heard you say best friend five times, and it makes me emotional just hearing you guys say that. Like you're intentionally saying that. So I'm gonna ask my bad podcast question how in the hell did you guys both find running in the concept of I'm an executive and I have 50 hours a week and uh a child, and I'm still gonna dedicate time at 3 a.m. And then Lori and the other perspective, three kids, however, like you're doing all these other things, and yet your schedules were able to align. You were able to be intentional about that, and you were able to balance being a mom, being a woman, being a leader, and run. Honestly, that's not even a bad podcast question. It might be an awful one. Like, that is heavy. That is that is a big question for 518 Central Time uh on a Tuesday afternoon.
SPEAKER_02I think that it was just us making it a priority, really.
SPEAKER_03We made each other a priority. Yes. It wasn't even our running, it was it was like we made each other a priority.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it was us because we had the common goal, we had we met through a run group that met at 5 a.m. in the morning. That's the beauty of running or doing anything, working out at 5 a.m. Really, all other obligations are not there except for the one that you owe to yourself. So if you struggle with motivation and figuring out how to fit it in, nobody needs you at 5 a.m. Nope. And that's your time. Oh, take it.
SPEAKER_03We love the early mornings.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So like we would we would do our short runs during the week at 5 a.m. and we would meet. And then on the weekend, it was okay, what do we got to do?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Where are the kids going?
SPEAKER_02What we did one run in Philly that was fun. My daughter had a dance convention. I love it. Yeah, there was a big, there was a big trend on Strava where people were spelling things out or like drawing designs through their running routes. She and I actually did an epic run route through Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_03We wrote the word epic on the streets. It was the most it it that was the most fun. And and if it I mean, I think it was like maybe seven or eight miles, but like it didn't even feel like it.
SPEAKER_02No, you know, we were just running an epic in Philly because I had I had to. I'm like, listen, dude, if we're gonna get the miles in, it's gotta be in the city because I've got to be in the city all weekend at a dance convention. So I mean, we just did what we had to do to get through that time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and and you know, like I it's funny because my my mom has asked me, like, or has made comments, like, I just don't know how you you've run like all the time. Yeah. And I'm like, well, mom, it's kind of like, you know, you're sitting around a kitchen table, like with your girlfriends drinking wine. I said, so that's like mine and Lori's time to spend together, but we're not sitting at the table drinking wine, like, you know, like during the races, we'll have a cocktail. But like, you know, just laughter. But but yeah, but like, but like, but when we're, you know, because because we both live very busy lives, we still do, right? Yeah. And but that's that I feel like that's my girlfriend time. Like that's my time to connect with Lori, to be able to um to take that that time to just catch up with each other. Like there have been times where I have been injured. And again, because our lives are busy and stuff, and you know, like, you know, right now with the podcast, we get to see each other at least once a week. But like sometimes like we would go like, you know, two or three months or a month and and it was like, it was like, dude, I like really miss you. Like, you know, and and you know, so I think you know, when you find your people and you will do anything and everything to be able to spend time with them, it just so happens that we happen to have this love for running as well as traveling together. And like Lori and I, even though we're we are we are very um much like um you know, we we have like kind of gone different trajectories in terms of like stay-at-home mom, you know, in all aspects of life. You if you if you go into our hotel room, my you know, because again, I'm I'm I'm I you know I'm I'm just a very organized, like dress right dress, cover down. And then there's Lori's corner of the hotel room where it's like every looks like everything exploded, you know. It's a unicorn color. It is, but corner right? You know, but but but we we operate so well together, like just even through um our traveling. Um one one thing that um I'll share is we ran a marathon in Alabama. Was it Alabama was the the the the rainstorm? No, Jackson, Mississippi. It was Jackson, Mississippi. Which one was that? No, that was Mobile Alabama. So we were flying down and we got stuck through a a storm and they landed us in Tallahassee, Florida.
SPEAKER_02And And we had a very narrow gap. We had like a tight window for arrival and packet pickup.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we had a pickup like that night.
SPEAKER_03Because the race was the next day. And we were like, oh crap. So literally, like they're getting us off the plane, and Lori and I are already on our phones, right? And we're figuring out, okay, what's what are the options? Like we already had a car lined up, like X and X amount of hours. We're gonna be like screeching in there on like, you know, two wheels, but man, we are gonna, we're we're gonna do this. We ended up picking up like two other runners at the airport that were on our flight, and we didn't even know them. And you know, it just you know, we drove out with them and we made it. But the thing that I loved about this is that through all of our traveling, I mean, we are so savvy travelers that we are able to adjust to like like adapting. Yeah, we like pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, you know, and and that's a life lesson, right? That you know, and and you know, God, it's just like anytime something comes up, like it's like, okay, like we're just gonna go and like adapt. We're gonna just go and change. We're just gonna like you can't be mad about it, right? You just you have to go and like figure it out. So that has transcended into all aspects of our lives.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there is such a level of admiration that the two of you have for each other that is noticeable within seconds. And I'm sure you hear that often, but I felt obligated to say it. And I love it. I love her.
SPEAKER_03She's I love you, man.
SPEAKER_00I love the family too. Well, obviously, there's that intertwined of the community and Maggie helping on the podcast and Maggie texting me. I did say that I'm gonna blame her for the the snafu on our auto audio early on. And she said, I'm sorry, I myself was running. And so I I mean it's clearly it's clearly being passed out in some capacity or or the other. But can you can you talk a little bit about how in the hell do you stay consistent for this long? You know, when we talk about uh when I mentioned the the greatness and leadership, the three things that I've really seen are the consistency and discipline, and then having the community. And clearly we've covered that community. You guys have have pushed each other. I think it's going to help on the discipline and the consistency. But can you just talk through how through all of the different changes? The the children graduating and going to high school and college and getting promoted or changing jobs. How have you maintained this level of discipline and consistency? And what advice would you offer to somebody who is trying to do that as well?
SPEAKER_02I'm sure the answer is a little different for both of us. Yes. Um, for me, I would say it's having a little bit of emotional intelligence, being in tune to who you are and knowing what your own limitations are in your brain. So um we've committed to running a mile a day for this year, for the year of 2026. And, you know, now we're coming towards the end of April now and still doing it consistently. There's sucks this month.
SPEAKER_00That doesn't sound great right now. Sorry.
SPEAKER_02I am one of those people because I was a stay-at-home mom. There are times where I don't get out of my pajamas. Okay, I'm gonna be real. Like I don't have to, I'm not going anywhere, I'm not seeing anybody, I'm hanging around my house, I'm doing laundry, I'm cleaning, I'm doing other things. Yeah. There are days I don't like to get dressed. And I'm now committed to running a mile a day. And I know that emotionally, my emotional intelligence, there are days that are screaming at me, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to stop. This is exhausting. It's not something I don't want to do this. I got peer pressured into it by these people that surround me. But I know I know that that's going to happen upon time, you know, on a some days of the month or some days of the week. And it may be multiple days in a row, but I also know that I've made it to the end of April. And I know that if I just keep it, it's not, it's kind of like what we talked about before. It's not always the small things that make greatness, right? It's the combination of small things that make the greatness. And I think having the emotional intelligence to know that my continuous running of one mile a day will make up for an amazing year, even though I don't want to do it today. Like, how can I how can I stop now, even though I really don't want to? And so then you put on your shoes and you get out there and you go do it because you know you're gonna feel better afterwards.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I love that answer, Laura. That's so good. Yeah. I absolutely love that. I I think for for myself, um, discipline is is really about like how you show up when it's like inconvenient. Right. Cause because like because I tell you what, how many freaking mornings, Lori, right? Like, because in the morning when when we're gonna do our run at like 5 a.m., 5 30, we always text each other, right? Because like we gotta make sure like the other person's awake because we like I don't want to get out of bed and get dressed and she's still snoozing. And like I think that maybe has happened like once or twice, like in all of like all of our years that we have we have been running together. So we we do the text and then you know, every once in a while in the winter time when it's like you know, that's right, and it's like, and I'll do like the it's really cold outside. She's like, yeah, it is buckle up, buttercup, you know. You know, and and so that discipline is about like, wow, this is really inconvenient. This is a really like uncomfortable for me, but but it's one of those things that like you gotta dig deep. You find the grit because I have this commitment to this person that is sitting to my to my left here. And and the other thing that I I think keeps me focused is that results don't come from one big push, right? It comes from a a lot of sustained effort from those baby steps of things that you you have to you just have to do a little bit of, you know. So those even like those little runs that we do, those three or four mile runs that we do during the week, you know, sometimes you can say, Oh, that why do they matter? You just do a big run on the the weekends and you know, just get it over with. Like, sometimes we do that too. But but those those little runs, they matter.
SPEAKER_02They're the foundation.
SPEAKER_03They are the foundation. And I think that that again transcends to like just life in general for me is that like there are those little things that like I just I have to do, whether it's in work or like just managing my schedule, juggling like my time management, right? So that way then, you know, I do those little things so that way I can open up time to be able to dedicate, you know, spending it with Lori and running and traveling, you know, on the weekends and stuff, right? Um, so that's that's how I would answer that one.
SPEAKER_00Results don't come from one big push. Uh might just be the name of this episode for me and and the theme of it.
SPEAKER_03Although maybe like giving birth, maybe.
SPEAKER_00Well, uh, listen, that's a long ass process. Maxine, it took 20, it took 26 hours for Maxine to enter this world. So I think I think I'll get in trouble if I say that was one big push.
SPEAKER_03That's that's that's very, very good of you, Alec. Thank you. Yes, I'm I'm I'm learning. Smart man, every day.
SPEAKER_00Smart man, every day I get a little a little smarter somehow, um, mostly due to Megan on a consistent basis. But I did, you know, today I actually had a bunch of commentary and and had a LinkedIn post about the process, and especially in the B2B world and the industries that we work within construction and life sciences and insurance, a sales cycle is 12, 18, 24, 28 months. That's not one meeting that wins the deal. It is 74 quality. Yeah, yeah, it is it's quality and it's being consistent over being flash in a pan and somebody that can run, you know, one marathon, they're awesome, but 62 marathons, like you know, the you start to look at what is that process. And again, it comes back to the end goal of if you want to run one marathon and that's what you set out to do, amazing. If we want to run one in every state, then the expectations, the the output is going to be a lot different in order for us to be successful there.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Yeah, when we were doing multiples, you can't press for PRs at every every turn. That's just not your body can't handle that.
SPEAKER_03No, and and in fact, we we even noticed that you know, earlier on when we first met in 2014, there were a ton of people in in our running community, right? There was a I mean, I mean, there were like 20, 30 people that would run in the morning. We're like like some of the only two that are still like out there running. And you know, and and we were always, you know, the the the back of the back of the pack. And but I I think that there was there, like you even said the other day, you know, there's something to be said about you know that that we have we have not um pressed our bodies to the point where we were willing to break ourselves to get a PR. You know, it that was not what this was about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it wasn't about that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and and it's it's not to disparage anyone else who wants to go and do that, but that again, that was that's how you break a two-hour marathon, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03That was not part of that was not part of our our our goal, um our goals together, you know. I love it.
SPEAKER_00Uh, one story I want you guys to tell before we wrap up, and then we can do a couple of rapid fire questions. But I you may you might have hopped off a plane or you were at a restaurant. I'm gonna say it was in Wisconsin, but you've been to every state and to a lot of countries. But there was maybe a group of women who were in their 20s or 30s, and they kind of alluded. I don't remember if there was an alluding to that you guys were still doing this, or if you guys overheard them, but there was just kind of this perspective of like, hell yeah, we are still doing it, and we can show that it's possible 20 years later. Do you mind telling that story? Because I I was ready to read it.
SPEAKER_02You too.
SPEAKER_03You're good, you're good at telling it. We were we were on so so it's uh uh grandma grandma's grandma's grandma's marathon in uh Duluth. Okay, and they they have so if anybody uh who's listening to the the podcast, you know, wants to go and run that marathon. It's amazing, it's amazing. And take the train. There's a an old uh you know. Historic train that actually you could hop on and you you take it to the start of the race. And it's all all runners. And we just happened to be sitting across from two gals that were in their 20s, kind of you know, like us, you know, running together, you know, starting out their journey.
SPEAKER_02It's funny when you look at them though and you thought, are they our peers? And then you're like, oh no, they're like, oh no, I'm not our peers.
SPEAKER_04No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_03And you know, so we just we struck up a conversation with them. And at some point in time, and it was just it was a very innocent, you know, comment because, you know, they, you know, uh runners will talk about like, oh, like what were have you bring your favorite runs and have is your first marathon? And when people ask us, is this your first marathon? We're like, oh no, this is my marathon number 72, you know? Like, I mean, you know. Um, so so one of them very innocently went and said that like, wow, I think it's really great that you guys are still out here, like, you know, getting getting it done, you know. And so we got off the train and we were like, you know, I was like, are we that old? It's like, huh. And but then it was like, wow, you know, like it's kind of like the double-sided compliment, right? Where it was like, well, wow, yeah, you know, we're not the younger ones anymore, you know, in the field. I mean, seriously, like that's something that we look at now. We're like, can't do is do we see anybody else at the start line who's older than us? Right. I got gray hair. That one's got gray hair. Or we we, you know, I I heard, I heard a woman the other day when we were running in Delaware at the Delaware running festival, there was a woman who was 72 and she was running with a woman who was in her 60s. And she's like, girl, I am 72 years old and I am running until like the wheels come off the bus.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_03And it's like, and it was like, oh my God, I I turn 55 next week, and I'm just like, yep, I choose that. Like I choose that, you know. So, so it it is, it's one of those things that if we can keep getting out there and having um either other runners, other women, um, even our kids.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, looking at us going, yeah, like, you know, like I choose that. Or younger, just anybody younger. If they can look at me and think, well, if she can do it, I can do it. Then yes, because that's actually kind of had that a little bit. I don't know if I've ever told you this story. I was working out the wire breaking news. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02Back in Ocala, there was a woman. So I'd been flirting with doing the goofy. So the goofy at Disney is where you do the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. And I'd never ran either, but I was thinking about doing them both.
SPEAKER_03Because stories go bigger, go home. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, well, if I hate it, I never want to do it again. At least I can check the box that I did them.
SPEAKER_00Sure, sure, sure, sure. That's that's a great way to think about it.
SPEAKER_02But there was an older woman at the Y that was wearing the I Did it ran the 39.3 goofy shirt. And I was like, Oh, you did the goofy? And she's like, Yep, sure did. And she walked on, and I'm like, Well, she can do it.
SPEAKER_04I can do it.
SPEAKER_02You know, like so I if I if I can pay that forward to anybody, then that would be full circle and perfection. Have I ever told you that before? No, you have not told me that.
SPEAKER_00Uh that's why we're on, that's why we're on the Activating Greatness podcast, just for that first. Well, I I will say it as a uh um an utter compliment is I have struggled post multiple ACL surgeries, and you know, as a kid who thought their only future was to play uh semi-professional soccer or basketball in South America somewhere and just live off of food stamps, and then who has had three major reconstructive surgeries and has basically been like, well, I'm 27, I'm old. Oh, well, I'm 30, I'm old, like it's over for me. Uh, it is it has just been so eye-opening and enlightening and amazing to hear both of you not only do this, but to do it with such vigor and passion and excitement. And I think that word that I keep coming back to, Laura, is the is joy that that it's just so um tangible when you guys talk about this. So while I might not say uh if you can run 62 miles, 62 marathons, I can run 62 marathons, but I might be more inclined to, you know, run three miles. Uh maybe I'll I'll try to I haven't I don't think I've ran a four mile uh straight since I was 23 years old.
SPEAKER_03So there's always again you don't just you just don't jump into it. You take baby steps and you work your way up to it, right?
SPEAKER_02Because and if for any reason they the knees do become an issue, there are other things to challenge you. You can cycle, you can swim, all these things are lower impact too. So there's a way you can hike, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I love hiking. I I do have to tell you, I told you guys the weird story about how I was born in an elevator uh before this, but I was ran over by a bike as a kid. Um, I I was like two and a half years old, and next door neighbor, uh, she was 11, just front wheel back wheeled me, uh, said that I had a smirk on my face. I lost all of my teeth uh as a baby, didn't have teeth for like seven years, had a speech impediment. And every year I asked for my teeth to come uh for Christmas or my birthday, and they never came. Um, I say all of this to say I I don't know how to ride a bike. Uh, this is 31 years later, and I was traumatized. And my biggest nightmare is when Maxine's like, I can't wait to ride a bike and I'm gonna have to learn how to do it with her.
SPEAKER_03Um sometimes when sometimes when you're a parent, you you you just you you you find a way. You find a way.
SPEAKER_00You just you tuck it away and you forgive uh Lauren. Uh was her name. You forgive her 32 years. I still haven't. I've been I I I never will.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but here's the beauty about you about riding the bike is you're driving it. You're in control.
SPEAKER_00I can now run somebody over here. No, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Just to make sure it's not Max Bean. That's all.
SPEAKER_00No, no, absolutely. I uh I can't believe that story is now on the Activating Greatness podcast. It's now out there. It's on it's on the record. I've got four rapid fire questions for each of you, and then we'll get out of here. Uh, I'm just gonna ask it, either one of you go first, but I want both of you to answer. Question number one What is one thing that you do every day to be the best version of yourself?
SPEAKER_03Um, all right, so I have a perfume tray. That's not how you thought I would start this, right? I have this perfume tray in my closet, and you know me, I like I'm always wearing my perfume, but I have a little plaque that it's like a little wood plaque that I bought, I can't even remember how many years ago. And it says, you did not wake up today to be a weak ass bitch. And when I put my and I'm uh dead serious, every single day when I put my my perfume on, that is what I look at every single day.
SPEAKER_00Hell, hell yeah. I love it.
SPEAKER_02Her answer is way better than mine. So I would just say not a competition. I would just say I have a a very strict routine, a little OCD about a routine in the morning, just like getting up and talking about your coffee cups. I'm not gonna talk. I'm not gonna go into that many details, but um, you have a routine, you stick to it.
SPEAKER_00Does the routine travel?
SPEAKER_02Um, it does because it like involves my vitamins, and I'll pack all my vitamins up and I pack my teas to go. So yeah, pretty much it travels.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love it. Those were two, uh I that's fantastic. Um, and I need that plaque like for everybody in America. Uh question number two, I'll send it to you. Question number two. What's the most underrated skill when it comes to this concept we've been talking about within consistency and discipline? What's the most underrated aspect of that?
SPEAKER_02For fear of repeating myself, I would go back to emotional intelligence.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like I just feel like people underrate, like really creating within their mind, like analyzing who you are and your trends and how you react to things and learning to adapt. Like who you I try and tell my kids, like who you are right now is not who you are later in life. And your mental health and everything surrounding mental health is a practice, it's like yoga. You have to practice it. It's so easy to let negativity and the I don't want to's into your life. But if you are practicing positivity and looking at all the things you're grateful for, it's I just think that it changes everything. So I would definitely say it's always underrated the importance of emotional intelligence.
SPEAKER_03I I love that. And and there's this, there's this thing from the New York Times called the good list. So if you haven't looked at this, um, so I I read this article a couple of weeks ago, and it basically this author every day has a like, what's your reflection on the day of something good that happened? And I have been every day for like the past two months, I've been doing this, and it it takes me like two seconds to go and do. I actually started reading it to my team the other day, and they were like, that's freaking awesome, you know? And I'm like, dude, it could just be as simple as like, hey, I really enjoyed the fact that like I had a really good cup of coffee this morning and my dog sat on my lap.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, it's it's it's those things. But my my I will I my answer to this one is very similar to to Lori, but a a little bit different. I think the underrated skill that I would focus on is being able to give yourself grace. Right. Um, there is a saying right now, and it's still on the placard. So when Lori and I run through Downingtown, Pennsylvania, there is a sign um that says, because they always have like, you know, hey, like, you know, the the book fair, you know, is going on, or you know, the you know, this and this, the farmers market is coming up. They have a thing on the sign right now that says, evenings forgive, mornings forget. And like, and I said that to you the other day, and and I like because you know, I'm like a pop-pop and I like I read all the signs when we're running, and I'm like, oh, look at the PL20 sign. Oh, look, running for no horseplay, you know. Like, and and this sign, you know, evenings forgive, mornings forget. Yeah. Be able to like just give yourself grace. Give yourself grace. It's okay to go and not be perfect at something. Tomorrow's another day.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, those were two fantastic answers. Uh, I this this kind of bleeds into that. What's something that people need to move on from?
SPEAKER_03I'll take that one first. Uh not not being the best at something. Um I I grew up as the as the oldest child, and uh it was always important to be the best, to do the best. You know, I I was the salutatorian, you know, of my high school. Um, you know, it was like just always goal driven, goal driven. I think that running is something that I enjoy, but it is very humbling because I'm not the best at it, right? When you think about like, you know, running a sub two hour, you know, marathon.
SPEAKER_02There's I think there's memes out there right now. It's like I work really hard at my mediocrity. Right.
SPEAKER_00Really humbling to being like it's like being just super mediocre and having a clean house is really difficult. Like it's hard.
SPEAKER_03Right. Yeah. So um, so I think, you know, like it just something to move on from is that, you know, even if you keep trying, like, you know, you were talking about, you know, like, well, you know, I just trying to run four miles. It's like, dude, just, you know, like, like give yours give yourself grace and be okay with the fact that like, you know what, a a mile is better than not doing anything.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, and and just kind of starting from there. And I I love a book. Um, oh God, the author's name, Darren Hardy uh wrote a book called The Compound Effect. And it talks about you change one little thing in your life and then it can compound from there, and then you can change another thing and another thing. So if you change your routine and you like Lori and I, you know, where you you say, Hey, I can't get my runs in, or I can't get my exercise in, I don't have any time for myself later in the day. Change the routine. I mean, Lori, busy mom with three little kids, you know, when we started going and doing this, that was our time, right? And and so it's like you change that one little thing and now you feel this accomplishment. And then next thing you know, you come home, and then maybe you're making your bed before you go to work or you start your day, or you get out of your pajamas. You know, it's just you know, but the compound effect, I I I absolutely love that book. I would highly recommend that one. That's great.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna go off topic a little bit because I spent the weekend with, well, not the weekend, I spent Sunday night with my youngest daughter, who's a freshman at Penn State. I would say put the damn phone down.
SPEAKER_00Oh, amen, sister. So good.
SPEAKER_02I know that there's a lot of important information, and I'm guilty of it myself, but the human connection is the most important connection that we have out there, and you're not gonna find it in your phone. I know you feel like you are because social media has told you you are. You are not, in fact, going to find it there. You need to find it face to face. Face to face.
SPEAKER_00I I can't echo that enough. It is like we Megan and I both realized it, and then you have a daughter and you're just sitting there. And now, you know, when she's when you're two months old, it's one thing. Now, I mean, if you don't pay attention to her for 10 seconds, she's like, guys, what's up? And you all of a sudden realize like I was just looking at this box and she's trying to take her first steps. You're like, what, why would I have ever why is this thing even exist right now? So I love that one. Again, two awesome answers. We're gonna finish out. What's the best advice that you've ever received?
SPEAKER_01Best advice I've ever received. God, I don't know. You go first.
SPEAKER_03Um mine, mine had to be when I was a 20-year, 21-year-old second lieutenant in the army. Um, we were on a firing range. So I was like the officer in charge of this firing range. And Steph Sergeant Nunez comes over to me and like we're having this conversation, right? So he was one of the drill sergeants, and this was like pri uh private, so it was like basic training. I was in a unit that uh managed basic trainees. And which by the way, it was like the first time we had gender integrated training in the army. So like that's how far back I go, right? So we're we're at this firing range, and it's I don't know, God, it's like midnight because it was like a late night thing. And um, you know, we're just shooting the shit. And he says to me, like, hey, LT, like, can I give you some advice? And I'm like, sure. Like, can I say no? Like, you know, and he was a super nice guy. So I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so the one thing he said to me was, hey, always make sure that that little butter bar that's, you know, on your on your collar. So it was like my second lieutenant rank, don't don't let that um, you know, make you think that that's what earns you the respect, like your title. Like always put your soldiers before yourself and um and just and just always lead that way, and your soldiers will always take care of you. And that, I mean, I like seriously, like that 21 years old that has resonated, you know, like even like you know, when we were on the chow line, you know, in the in the army, you soldiers always eat first. If I get like freaking crumbs, that's what I got, right? And and it's the same thing like with Lori and I, right? It it's like you put the other person before yourself, you know, like in times when I have been in distress, right? In in races, right? She has I know that she has my back every single second, and vice versa. It happens more when she's got my back because like she she she's always like the jelly bean in the front, like you know, but but um and it has transcended into like you know, my my work life. But yeah, um, you know, it's just always it's always putting other people first, being that servant leader. And I don't know, that was the best advice I could have been ever given.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I love it.
SPEAKER_02I'm really struggling with this. I'm gonna be real. I'm like trying to think about good advice that I've been given because I feel like I've been guided so many different ways before, but I would say probably um before I got married, I think I was told that as a bride, which I've carried this over to me through leadership positions. Like I was a the PTO president for my kids' elementary school. I set up some, I was president of a couple of the dance parent organizations. So what I learned was that they're like, hey, the bride sets the tone. Like if you're gonna be a bitchy bride, nobody at the wedding is going to be having fun. So you need and I don't I don't think she was saying that because I was being bitchy. I think that they were just making me self-aware that if everybody's going to have a good time, I had to have a good time. And I think that that translated into organizations like when I took over for the parent-teacher organization at the elementary school, the previous board had a lot of drama involved in it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And there was a lot of cattiness. And I had decided that the incoming board that I was president of was not going to get shielded from all of that. So like people would come to me with drama and it would end and stop with me. So I felt, I feel like even now there are times where I'm being exposed to things that are negative, and I'm able to shelter my own brain and my own self and project positivity, which I think affects everybody around you. So you set the tone of what you get back at you in life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You might have been struggling to get to the the thought process, but I loved the the thought process. I had somebody on last week who, with the best leadership advice he's ever received, was that you're always on stage as a leader. And how you show up on stage is how your team will react. And if that if you show up angry, the team's going to be angry. If you show up on fire, the team's going to be on fire. And so I think it's very similar. Um, and and a lesson that it doesn't matter if you're a leader or a parent or whatever it is. Like that's the best advice that I had received about being a dad was that she would feel if I was stressed. And if she's crying and I'm calm, I can get her to calm down. If she's crying and I am like, holy shit, what am I going to do? Crying lasts another 45 minutes, maybe two hours. And so there's no blood.
SPEAKER_03There's no blood. You're fine. You're fine.
SPEAKER_00You're fine. There's no blood. Well, she's she's just now at the point where she likes whipping herself around. And so it's like the head banging into the walls and into the cabinets is uh is a whole new era that we are in here. Chill uh in April. Um, yeah, or she'll get a couple black eyes uh to know one or one of the two. Uh I I know that we set out for an hour. I think we're at the hour and seven-minute mark because this was so much fun. I still feel like I could talk to the both of you for another hour. I'm not gonna do that because I don't think podcasts should be two hours and seven minutes long. Maybe we'll come back and have another episode in 2027 after I've run like one mile and then two miles and then or maybe a marathon. Let's, you know, I'm gonna set, I'm gonna set some proper expectations.
SPEAKER_02How about a 5k?
SPEAKER_00How about a five King 5K is I I could commit to that. I can commit to that. I'll find a 5k and over the next couple of months, I will I will train towards that in some capacity, and I will document it for you guys, and then I'll do we'll do a we'll do a little cross cross episode. I love that. I have to say thank you both so much. You know, I know this was a bit of a stretch in terms of hey, let's have the mile 20 on the activating greatness, and vice versa. But to me, um, you know, as as two unbelievable women, you guys are what greatness embodies, and it's just your own way to get there. And there are so many lessons, if you're willing to listen to it, that you could give to somebody who is 28 and trying to become a CEO, or somebody that is 60 and trying to get back out there and do an activity. And I think that's really the whole purpose of why we wanted to have our show was these leadership lessons from different perspectives. I never set out to think that it would be interviewing um two wonderful, crazy people, but here we are, and I can't say thank you enough for for spending some time with us and sharing your your story with the activating greatness audience, truly.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for having me. Alec, we are so appreciative. I know Laura said it earlier. I want to just reiterate it. Like it it means the world to us that you had us on your podcast because it was fun to be sitting in the hot seat for once. And we just appreciate you. Thank you so much for everything you do, reaching out and showing people how to develop culture and all of those things in their businesses. It's so important, important. Well said, Lori. Well said. Ditto.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love it. Well, I think um, I think people are gonna really enjoy this episode. If you did enjoy it on the activating greatness side, go into the show notes and we're gonna link to Mile 20 everywhere that you can find it on the podcast, Instagram. Go check them out. Uh, I've listened to a couple episodes. Bob Weinhold from Velocity Advisory Group has an episode on there as well. I certainly go, I would recommend go and listen to that episode. Um, and then reach out to Lori and Dolora and say, I found you through the Activating Greatness podcast. I'm sure that would make their days, and it would certainly make our days for you to let them know if you are a runner, not a runner, not a runner, but going to try or something that you took from the episode as always. We'd love to hear the feedback from everybody listening.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Thanks for having us. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Thank you both, and everybody we'll see you on the next episode of Activating Greatness.