EXPERIENCE 148 | Happy New Year Northern Colorado! Season 3 Wrap Up with the LoCo Think Tank HQ Team - Curt Bear, Colin Jones & Alma Arellano

This week's episode is a recap of Season 3 with myself and my team at Loco Headquarters, Colin Jones and Alma Arellano. Um, we go through many of the podcast highlight episodes of the season. We talk about our recent acquisition of Tank, the mobile podcast studio, as well as some of our plans for Loco Think Tank in the year ahead. So, if you're curious about what we think are some of our favorite episodes from 2023, You should pop into this one for sure. And then jump back and catch some of these highlight episodes. Thanks for listening. And we love you from the Loco experience. Happy new year- Welcome back to the Loco Experience podcast. My guests today and my team are Alma Arellano and Colin Jones. Hello. Nice to have you guys here. Thanks for having us. We got the, uh, season wrap up episode coming up here as well as just big news and highlights. What's the biggest news of the week for you, Alma? The week? Yeah. Biggest loco think tank news of this week. I can't. Tank. Like, well I didn't, I thought you wanted to say that. It's a softball. Well, it's a. Well, no, it's not a surprise. Okay. Yeah. Hmm. So, do you want to introduce what tank is? Sure. What is it in your words? And in my words, um, Kurt bought a. Ambulance off of Facebook. And, I'm like, that's literally a tank. Because it's like, huge and feels like you're inside a tank. But it used to be a, like recording A mobile broadcast studio. Yeah, so it's kind of set up pretty well in there for us. to be a mobile podcast studio. Absolutely, the former dab mobile. It was the dab mobile. I had so much fun on the website for Dude Grows today, checking out some of their videos about, you know, how to grow the super dank. And the podcast is the Dude Grows podcast with The dude and Scotty real. So, I'm not sure who the dude is. It might be Kyle that sold me that kind of showed me the the bus and stuff but I'm not really sure who the dude is but Big Lebowski. I know Scotty is there. So, anyway, if anybody wants to grow the the the super good dank, that's where the Dabulets came from was was there. It is a 1989 Ford E350 ambulance. Yeah. Uh with a 7. 3 liter diesel and All the goods, all the compartment lights, like, light up when you open the door. That's rad. And the sirens work. They definitely work. The top lights work. They cut an earful. The flood lights on the side are gonna be So useful for camping. So anyway, so this rig is going to be a mobile podcast studio. It's about 21 feet long, big, heavy thing. You could pull a giant trailer with it. And, uh, but it'll also be like if Armageddon happens, I'm heading to North Dakota in the dabulance, but we'll call it. It's gonna be Tank, right? I think it's Tank. Tank. Has to be Tank. I sure hope that personalized play is available for just Tank. Better buy it before this podcast goes out. Right, somebody's gonna be like, I got it. Snagged it! So, anyway, look for, uh, updates on the Loco Experience, uh, website. Uh, I guess more actually, uh, Instagram. Coming to a mobile location near you? Yeah, and if you actually write, uh, write Alma a note, alma at the loco experience dot com. Yep. Or on the website. Or on the website, but suggest like places where we should go on location. I think we'll have it ready to go, wrapped in the modifications made by May? Yeah. Mm hmm. Just in time for camping season. And, uh, but we can, like, be an event hauler. We might even make it rentable. On Turo. On Turo or something. Or just among our business friends and members, you know. If you need a big, heavy duty rig, we got one. Absolutely. Not everybody has one. I've never had one before, just my dad. Just bring it back, uh, full. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Bring it back with a full tank of gas and, and, uh, we're good. That's hurt. We could have it be a non profit charging vehicle. Like, you don't have to pay us anything for borrowing it, but you have to pay X amount, donate X amount to the non profit of the month. Ooh, I dig that. Something like that. Because we're not a rental agency. Like, that's not how we make money. Let's give it back. Yeah. So, um, what else were we going to talk about? We're going to talk about, should we just jump right into the, the season recap stuff? Sure. It's been a year since, uh, this is, we're going on season four. Yeah. That's good. What do you think, Alma? Um, I mean, I guess it was only a few episodes, I think like 15 or 20 When you started? Yeah. It was pretty fresh yet. Yeah. So, proud to be like, yeah, we've been doing this for a while. Like, we're not just. And we just won. Really started it. Oh yeah. The best local podcast, Best of NoCo. Yep. That's a big win. So, it was. Yeah. We, there was some other. podcast on their app. It wasn't just us. We weren't like the only nominee. Nominee and winner. So, um so that was exciting and uh we're working on a little updates to the podcast. Uh. Yeah, I love the ideas we're testing out so far. Putting in some kind of uh standard questions. I was thinking about that when I was peeing just now. Okay. Like that'll be one of my goals is by the first of the year, I'm gonna have like at least a dozen like. Templated questions that people can choose three or four, and then we can use those as little segments of learning instead of having to listen to a whole two hour podcast. Cause some of you out there, I know you slog through it with us, but we could do some bite sized bits too. I, and as a former podcast guest, I appreciate that too, because it gives the guest a little bit of time to think about a proper answer with some length and some insight where off the cuff, it's a little bit sometimes hard to be quick to draw and cover all the bases. Yeah. And a fear of. Like, awkward answers and stuff, and it's just like, I'm bouncing ping ponging around. So, speaking of ping pong, that was one of our top episodes last year, too. I didn't write it down on the way by, but Antonio Barbera, uh, Table Tennis Connections, and he came in and wrecked All of our best players. Just mop the floor with you. Well, it was, uh, Mike Gugliotto's, uh, kind of going away ping pong game, because Mike ceased being a, uh, player. And Mike was, like, 80 and 5 against all of our loco think tank people. I'm sure. He's really good. He is. And then Antonio Rectum, like four games to one. Yeah. So, it's like, by going away present to Mike was like, here, here's this other uh, older fellow that's uh, whooping you. You're welcome. Give him a reason to come back. He's actually connected with Antonio, went and played in some tournaments up there and stuff at the Boys and Girls Club. That's cool. Which I'm terrified. Yeah. So, before we get too deep into the Season recap, let's set the stage for people that are not, um, didn't listen to Alma's introductory episode two seasons ago, or Colin's episode with Weldworks this season, um, and set the stage. Uh, who wants to go first? I'll go first. Okay. Thank you. Um, so we're just gonna do almost like a, like a introduce and, uh, thing around the table for a free think. Cool. Like, uh, tell, kind of set the stage for us. What's your name, your business, what's your background, and, uh, you know, what's one issue or challenge you're facing right now? Yeah. Uh. Colin Jones, uh, before I recently joined, uh, Loco, uh, which is, uh, I will be starting my fourth week next week. Very fresh. Uh, so, yeah, three weeks in the, in the bank. Um, but before that, uh, just kind of floating around a little bit, just looking for opportunities, seeing what, uh, what could come my way after, uh, selling out of Weldworks. Uh, if people want a recap of that, check out the episode. Um So your background was the Weldworks Brewery? Yeah. Built a brewery. Yep. Yep. Built a brewery. Uh, little, little brewery out in Greeley. Uh, turned into something really special. So, uh, that was fun covering that one. Uh, did that for, uh, eight years, uh, to great success. And, um, sold out this last July. Put me in a position to see what was next and yeah, my intuition, uh, my green lights weren't going off on anything in particular, um, meeting great people, having great conversations, um, willing to look at just about any opportunity, but, um, no, nothing, nothing really felt, uh, uh, glaringly obvious to pursue or anything like that. So just chillin and meeting great people, including, uh, uh, both of you. And, uh, yeah, just, uh, keeping in touch with people, trying to get out of the house. I've very much enjoyed, uh, my downtime and just getting back to real life and not working my butt off and ignoring the rest of the, the world around me. So, uh, just kind of re centered, uh, What a fun time. Like tell me about, like I'm imagining, cause John Hintzman is who introduced us and he said, Hey, Colin would be a great podcast guest. And, you know, at that time you weren't quite Finished with the transaction, so we're like, yeah, let's let until it gets settled first. Um, but tell me about that season of being like, I'm just kind of out bebopping around kind of sniffing the air almost like to put a wildlife analogy to it. But was that fun? It, it wasn't as at first, you know, it was, um, it was definitely a journey. I knew it was going to be a journey, um, just dealing with, uh, all of the, the, the, the loss and the feeling from, uh, you know, exiting a business that I, that I founded and grew, um, with close relationships to everybody, uh, there, and to just. Simply have to leave that behind almost. Um, you know, like being married and having a child and No. So there was a trauma time there where you were just like wounded and hanging. Absolutely. You know, and I think any, any, uh, business, uh, owner that has sold, uh, even on their own, uh, time for their own reasons, experiences, some sort of loss of identity For sure. Ego and pride in all of that. And so you kind of just, you know, and I knew I was gonna be facing that, that was a, a, a, a framework that I was working towards. Anyway, uh, while still at the brewery, uh, just knowing I was putting too much, um, of, of my emotion and myself into the business and needed to, uh, kind of start to separate that and to, um, uh, just work on myself and to, uh, build myself up, uh, as an individual. And so that, that definitely forced the issue and made me go that direction. Um, but yeah, sitting, I think you have to sit with nothing in order to make that, that next step. I don't think it would have been wise for me to immediately jump into another gig or, uh, work for anybody else. Um, I think there was a lot of processing to do. And, uh, and you just have to sit in an uncomfortable vacancy of nothing. thing. Um, luckily though, I'm not, uh, the kind of person too that, uh, is like, Oh my gosh, I got to be doing something all the time. Every day. I'm not like that. I, I really like my down time. I like relaxing. I'm totally fine chilling. Uh, you know, I have a house that is constantly being worked on and everything like that. So there's plenty of projects. I'm always doing something, um, but I didn't, I didn't feel compelled that I had to, that wasn't there, anything like that. So it was just nice to have that time and space, uh, in that focus on myself. I was thinking about, uh, cause your prior career was really all computers and IT. Yeah. Right, before Weldworks. Yeah. Um. Like, that could have been like a fairly brainless activity, just go get a job and do that kind of thing and not have to think about it. But I think I'm, well, obviously I'm glad that you didn't choose that path, but that could have been an option for you, right? Yeah. Um, you know, and I, I think consulting is always, um, uh, an enticing option. If this doesn't work out, you'll be an IT consultant. Yeah. And, and, and I did do that on the front edge of, uh, Weldworks cause I didn't take a paycheck for two and a half years. Oh, wow. for that first, uh, like six, eight months. Actually, no, it was a pretty much full 12 months after starting Loadworx. Uh, I just had three accounts. I just did a side hustles for them and was able to work. I worked about 40 hours a month and basically made my old salary from corporate and so it was cool. Oh, we didn't pull that out during our conversation earlier. That's cool. Yeah. So that, and it's such a, it's so much fun being a consultant because when you, When you work for the same company for so long, you give an idea out. Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up. Um, you go, you're, you're a consultant. Somebody is bringing you in. You can say anything and everybody's like clapping as you leave. Like, Oh my gosh, we're going to do that. Yes. It's just a, such a different dynamic and one that's absolutely fun from the consulting side, but well, I want to draw out. That lesson, frankly, for those thinking about starting a business someday, whether it's capital intensive or not, like Weldworks is. But you're like, I've got a period of time where I'm not going to make any money through this business. Oh, what can I do? And that included like working a lot of extra hours, adding a lot of extra value and just kind of, you're pouring on the coals when you must. Right, yeah, I mean it's just, uh, it's, you just take anything and everything that you can and just try to make that, uh, bank however, however you can but it's definitely in addition to all the time and focus that you have to put into the business that you're growing as well. So it's always an on top of, and not a complimentary framework at all. I busted Alma working on her, uh, side hustle over lunch today. Not really busted, just, uh, My lunch, so I do whatever I want. So, Alma Sue, why don't you, uh, do just a brief introduction for, like, people if they haven't met you. Uh, my name is not Sue, but could I just say that? Alma Christina. Yeah. Um. I'm gonna be here at Loco Think Tank, uh, three years in March. Started as an intern, and to me it's like, okay, first real big girl job, and like, internship is where to start, like, okay, I'm just gonna Google that, and then I found Loco Think Tank, and in general, um, like, love business, and come from. Business owners in my family and stuff. So I was like, oh my God. Like the local businesses and the owners, you know, like, this is such a cool, like company and stuff. Like, I wanna work here and hopefully I get the job and then got the job Well that was, that was such a fun thing because you were like competing, you were like a Yeah. You were finishing high school while going to front range. Yeah. Uhhuh, and competing against a bunch of second, third, fourth year. College students. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. And, uh, like Alma. I love college. Well, Alma passed the first round, uh, with me. I met with like, maybe seven people. And then brought three back for Rory to meet with two. And after that, like, Roy was like, I think it's Alma, you know, it didn't seem like it would be, but after seeing her, she was just the right person. Yeah, and I thought I, like, I was like, oh, after, I was like, oh my god, I, like, bombed that, not in a good way. Like, I was so nervous, and I was like, ah, like. That's okay. And I was like, it's okay. Like, we'll see what happens. Didn't we call you back, like, right away? Yeah, you were like, so what happened? I got an email, like, or you guys let me know. Like, oh, by like, in a week. Like, end of the week. And I was like, okay. And since I felt like I did a bad job, I was like, okay, I guess I'm gonna like, suffer for a week. To, like, I don't know what's gonna happen. And, I was like, Like, put it in God's hand and prayed about it, and it's like, I really want this job, but if it's not gonna happen, then it's not for me, and I don't want it. Anyways, then. So, if it's mine, it'll be mine, basically. And then the next morning, I was like, hey, like, join the team! So I was like, yay! Um, yeah. And, um Yeah, you're in your fourth title now. Yeah, yeah, fourth title now. Started intern, then right, no, everything associate technically. Oh yeah, no pressure. Was that your first real job interview? Um, I mean, I worked at, I had two other jobs before then, but it was like, Okay, great. You can move a machine or like customer service, you're hired. Yeah. So, I'd say I am very well prepared and stuff, but yeah. So, I'm uh, operations manager here and producer of the podcast. Um, sadly to say that I don't. I'm not a podcast person, so I've only listened to a few episodes, the top ones, and We were busting your, busting your chops earlier, and Colin's like, Oh, that's a great episode, and I was like, I don't know. I don't know, yeah. I'm just the editor here. Yeah, oh. Oh, I try to, it makes my job, um, easier if I listen to them, so. That's also why I'm gonna, this new year, try to start listening. Oh, is that one of your, uh, one of your things? Yeah. Yeah. And, um. Yeah. So, super happy to be here and, and I love, I love working here and what I do. Yay. Yay. Oh, that's sweet. Oh, I'm Kurt Baer. Oh, hi Kurt. Host of the Loco Experience podcast. It feels like everybody knows me, but like potentially like a whole bunch of people could be listening to this that have never heard of Loco Experience podcast or Kurt or Loco Think Tank. Um, so. This podcast is sponsored by Primarily Loco Think Tank, which I'm the founder of, which is a small business owners and leaders peer advisory network. And, uh, this is my team, Alma and Colin. Colin just joined the team in a business development role. Um, Alicia, who was here, uh, for last year's recap, uh, uh, departed the team this fall and we're actively searching for a new marketing associate. So if you hear this and you want a part time, half time job with Loco Think Tank, let me know. It's a great job. It's a lot of, uh, great work. It's a good company. We've got a lot of opportunities. Yep. Not very many benefits, uh, I mean, except for, like, working with a cool team. We're a huge benefit. And we're going to have a 401k and a direct practitioner care. We're getting there. We're getting there. Yeah. It'll be a great company to work for, like, soon. Oh, and we're up for a torch award for business ethics. That's right. So, that's cool. That's why we're drinking tequila at two o'clock on a Friday afternoon. It's almost Christmas. You can do anything on Friday. It's almost Christmas. Um, let's jump into the recap, shall we? So the very first episode last year was Kent Oberman, oh, who coincidentally, um, Me and him had way too much tequila. Uh oh. Yeah, I was slightly slurry, uh, and walked home from that podcast. And, uh, afterwards he was like, I shouldn't have probably talked about that certain topic on there. Uh, but we've begun a friendship. I went to his party last fall. We did a fundraiser with, uh, the Blues Dogs. Probably not one that you've listened to, that was way before your time, Colin. Yeah, I'm working backwards. Yeah, for sure. Oh, maybe, should we, we're not doing a top ten, we're just kind of looking back to the beginning of the year. Yeah. Highlighting some of our favorites. So, so for listeners right now, this is a good chance, if you have come on to the Loco Experience podcast listenership lately. Um, and haven't been back to the old stuff, like this is a good list of things that you can jump to and not feel like you're gonna get a lemon cuz I, I know we put out a few lemons, you know, we're, we're a power to the people podcast. Everybody gets published pretty much unless they ask me not to. Right. Yeah. Which happened just last week. Um, Heidi Golding, episode number 99. Uh, the, uh, mushroom episode. So, Colin, uh, for your, uh, so Heidi gifted me like an 8 pack of mushroom chocolate squares for my birthday last year. Those are powerful. And, uh, I have eaten most of them, but I still had two left when it came time for her podcast. So I was like, hey, let's, let's eat these. And then we talked about mushrooms and we talked about all kinds of fun stuff. Really good episode full of like smart, healthy Chinese medicine stuff. Did you have an arc to it? Like, uh. She was super silly, like, she couldn't drink any of her wine or anything. Uh, it got a little silly at times. I was more even keeled, um, but, uh, and probably drank too much wine. I don't know. One of the things for me, have you had mushrooms all the time? Mm mm. All the time. Really? Okay. Like right now? No, God no. Okay. I would be at home in my little cozy place. Okay. Yeah. Would you try mushrooms at home? Maybe. I'm a very over thinker person, so my immediate is like, I'd rather not. Cause then if I do it, I'm gonna be like, what if I have a bad trip? And then that would just make me have a bad time. Yeah. It's a risk. I'd rather not do it. I can appreciate that, it's possible, it's definitely the right environment, like Jill would totally have a bad, like if you, my wife, uh, ask her to have some mushrooms in a bad environment, she'd be like, no way, Jose, she's like camping only, almost. Yeah, it's a good place for it, in the wide open, as long as there's no wolves. What do you think about the wolf situation in Colorado, Alma? I know nothing about the wolf situation. Basically, all the people in the front range voted to reintroduce wolves to Colorado. And everybody in the mountains and rural areas voted, No, don't do that. But, of course, that's where all the wolves are being relocated to. Right. It's a weird thing to vote on as a, as a populist. Um, Seems like more of a county by county thing. That's why, you know, local decision making to me, like if I'm a, but even a county isn't big enough, if the county next door to you says, I want wolves, it's like, well, we have wolves too then. Anyway, I digress. Um, so Heidi Golding, number 99, Becky Alsop, number 103, one of our top 10, uh, episodes now, uh, member of Kim O'Neill's Next Level 3 chapter. And Becky is, like, the most, like, serious and direct, uh, business lady that I know almost. But she's also, like, like my mom. I love her that much. Like, I want to hug her too. You know the type. Like the stern. Uh huh. Yeah. Have you met Becky? I don't know. When she was here. I, I don't. Or maybe not. I think so. You might not have been here that time. Yeah. But I did hear. So anyway. Very good episode. Traynor Brothers. Also a top ten episode. Heard you had some issues, uh, denoting who was talking. Well, me plus three. Oh, and two, well, two are former division one athletes. Yeah, we had to bring an extra chair. Yeah, we had to bring an extra chair. Oh good lord. Yeah, Brian is like, what do you think? Brian must be like 260 or something. Shit. And Adam's like 240 or something. They're both giant men. And then Joe's like only 200 or something, you know. And uh, And they all had similar voices. Um, and me and Oma listened to it and we were like, oh my god, I can't even tell who's talking. Yeah. Uh, but it, you know, it must have got shared. They're popular guys, obviously. Yeah. So, God bless you, Traynor Brothers. We had a pretty top performing episode for us. Um, who else? John Cofalas, episode number 108, uh, county commissioner. It's always interesting work. John comes up to me. Every time he sees me now. Like, I can't be at a meeting and not have John come up and say hi for a while. And I, I liked him before, but, like, we just really enjoyed that. He had one of the craziest local experiences with a grizzly bear. He, like, hitchhiked to Alaska or some baloney, or maybe Baloney? Yeah, I forget it. He might have got, I forget. But, he shows up, like He goes for a hike, it goes back or something, and there's a bear, like, eating his backpack. Like a grizzly bear. And, and don't run. Right, well, he got out of there or whatever, but, like, his, all his stuff was wrecked. He's like, I guess my hiking trip is over. Oh, shit. Yeah. So that was a fun one. Uh, Drew Yancy, 107. Yes, I did. And it was very good. It was part of your investigation. Yeah. Yeah. I knew. I knew that Drew Yancy's food service was huge and was a big account from the corporate firm Blood Peterson that I worked at previously. Yeah. So, yeah, I think we toured that facility over by the Loveland Airport shortly after they opened and went into that sub, sub, sub. Zero freezer that huge one where you die in like 20 seconds if you're not close. Oh, we're right here. It's pretty great Oh, I never saw that. I was down there before You can just look at that operation go like, okay, this is this is an enterprise, right? What's the value of having like a super cold freezer? I you know, I can't remember Seems like if it's frozen, it's frozen, kind of. I know, right? It's just frozen, frozen, frozen. Right, like kill you frozen. What's the coldest you've ever experienced, Alma? Colorado, I mean, I'm from California. Like 10 below or something? I think, I think the lowest I've ever seen was like I think I was like, fifteen or something, but all I remember is that like I stepped outside and like, immediately, I felt like my boogers, my nose, like freezing, you know what I mean? I'm like, what is happening? Your nose hairs freeze. Yeah. And I was like, like, like, what is that? Like, am I going to die or something? Like, what is happening? Colin? Eighty four below zero. What? Oh my god. Oh, you got me beat. Lived in Minot. Like, Windchill? Lived in Minot, North Dakota for a year. That had to have been Windchill, too. That was with Windchill. It was negative 32, I think, or something like that, without Windchill. Yeah, so we're, yeah. Jamestown was, you know, just close to there, too. So it's pretty much the same. Minot's probably a little colder. Might have been the same year. Yeah, might have been. There's been a few years that were pretty wicked. How old were you? Uh, that would have been 12. So that would have been 88. Okay. How did you like Minot? What's that? How did you like Minehut? Um, I did not. Period. Yes, I just did not. Yeah, it's uh, how is it, like, the summers are beautiful. Holy cow, the summers are beautiful. Weather wise. Yeah. There still isn't much to do. Just lush greenery. Just, yeah, really, it's beautiful. That is true, actually, when you think about, like, I think about eastern Colorado, like, Sterling and stuff being kind of like North Dakota. But it's never as green in Sterling as it is, like, in the spring up there in the Upper Midwest. Yep. That's fair. Um, ooh, here's a highlight episode. Aaron Everett, number 106, actually, before Drew, uh, in motion, is his business. Aaron's now a member as well, but he was our first sponsor and is our existing sponsor. I don't think we've sent him a sponsorship bill, we didn't do that, so, for this quarter. The bill is coming in. Yeah, you can pay it next year, it's fine. But uh, the cool thing I like about that is that he got like two nice clients within two months. of sponsoring. Nice. So, just from the podcast. Just from the podcast. That's cool. Yeah, like, three, three, actually. Cuz, uh, Jennifer from the Light Center, uh, texted me after hearing it on the podcast and said, what's Aaron's number again? Like, she'd known him for years. Right. Right, but she was like, oh, I should do that. Right. Yeah. So, it spurred. Nice. Um, Shelly from the BBB. Episode 111. Yeah, she's great. Celebrating the 40th anniversary. And you worked with, uh, Jamie from the BBB at Flood and Pete. Yeah, for many years, uh, over a decade. Wow. So tell me, tell us about Flood and Peterson. Uh, it's, um, you know, it's, uh, one of those things, it's this big giant living in your backyard that most people haven't heard about or know, but it's a super large commercial insurance, uh, company. They do a lot of other things too, but mostly, uh, PNC, um, but, uh, headquartered in Greeley, uh, with, uh, four, I don't, maybe even more locations by now, I'm not quite sure, but, uh, four locations back when I was there. Yeah. Um, and, uh. So brokerage, right? Yeah, brokerage. Yeah. How many agents? Independent agency, um, I would say probably, you know, when I was there around, like, 25. Okay. Uh, uh, commercial, like, high commercial PNC. But then another 20 people doing other things. 20 other agents doing personal benefits. So it's a 50 person insurance business. Small stuff, surety bonds. Yeah, they're one of the, you know, their, their big, um, uh, uh, win is, uh, Hensel Phelps, uh, so they're Hensel Phelps primary, uh, insurance brokerage. Um, and so, and have been for decades. I mean, this goes back to that relationship goes back to, I think the sixties, um, way, way, way back. And so when Hensel Phelps was just building homes around Greeley, so that was a relationship that developed together and was very complimentary and, uh, really made, uh, flood and Peterson in a, in a, uh, very high level position when it comes to the surety bond market, which is a huge component for general contractors. So you. Tell me more about Hensel Phelps, because that's a huge commercial contractor now, right? I think they are the largest private contractor in America. Really? I, I think that fact is still true. So, who is the founder of it? And are they still around? Mr. Hensel, Mr. Phelps. He should be, they should be on the podcast. No, they are long gone. Are they? So, Hensel dropped out, uh, first, I can't remember. I think, uh, Adaf, and then, um, uh, That's cool, though. Phelps, and then, uh, that spun off Phelps Toynton, and then Bob Toynton. Yeah. Uh, so there was, uh, Is he still around? Uh, Bob, uh, uh, He's gotta be pretty old by now, because he was pretty old when I knew him 20 years ago. Yeah, I'm not quite sure. Yeah. Uh, but I know he was, um, uh, trying to slow things down. Yeah. In Greeley. I mean, this guy, uh, built Greeley Downtown. He only worked until he was 85 or something. Oh my gosh, he was, he was just a, a busy bee, but, um, yeah. Well, and the Greeley Downtown would not be what it is without his investment, and, and not just investment of money, but just being a flag holder for that cause. Oh, that is absolutely right. I moved to Greeley 2000, uh, and, uh, moved to Fort Collins in 22, 21, 21. Uh, so I was there for over 20 years in, uh, I can attest to that firsthand. I mean, when you, we first moved to, to Greeley, there was nothing. There was just tumbleweeds downtown. Right. Um, and it really grew into a pretty, pretty thriving place. And it was a lot of people, right? There were. Twenty key people probably that helped make that happen, but he was one of the top fivers, something. Man, I think there were just a few, and he was number one by a long shot. Fair enough. Okay, yeah. Kudos to you, Bob, if you're still out there kicking and doing good, or up there with the Lord. Yeah, him and Travis Gilmore. Nice. Um, Valeria. She corrected me today, uh, yesterday when we visited the chapter meeting. I'm going to try to, I'm going to try to say it right, actually, it's, uh, Valeria. Valeria. Valeria. Yeah, the roll tone. Say it better. Valeria. Yeah, just like that, yep. So Valeria Ortiz with Forte's Insurance, she had just won a 30 under 30. I believe in for the biz West and she's like, almost like probably tripled her business since then. Yeah. That's cool. Or maybe, maybe just doubled, but whatever she's crushing, she's got a bunch of agents she just signed on like basically a small agency out of Florida wants to be like under her umbrella instead of like doing it all on their own. So she's like merging them in and making them agents of hers. Smart. She's such a, she's such a dynamic business leader. Alma, you like the uh, young Hispanic business ladies. Well, yeah. But also that, I think, I think that was a first. I was like, oh, someone, colored, not of color, but. Yeah, another brown person. Yeah. But, yeah. Oh, and probably in, in Loco Think Tank. Well, your friend was a member for a little while. But that was, Well, women. Well, Mark Torres. But, like a female. A fair. Yeah. But anyway, for me. But yeah, it was great to see. I don't think I had seen, uh, Valeria since I can't do the thingy, but it's not rolling. I try, I'm better at the Germany things, the, uh, vice and Mayo, I can say that. But anyway, Valeria has, uh, really grown her business and, and been a member of local think tank since a couple months after. that podcast. So that was cool. My talent spotter is working. Oh, Tim and Amy Lindgren. Very fun podcast. Did you listen to that one? I have not listened to that one yet. Landscaping though, right? Yeah. Yeah. They've got about a 80 ish person. Landscaping company is like backyards and commercial maintenance. And, uh, Amy had the most ridiculous, uh, local experience. Like She was like hiking and fell off the trail and like tumbled 60 feet and then fell 30 feet into a stream bed And broke herself terribly, but was found and, and part of her faith journey even was this lady from Texas like laid with her at the side of the road with this big swinging gold cross. Uh, and, uh, yeah, it was when I think about that podcast that, but it's, so it's a really like the whole episode is really amazing. They started Lindgren Landscape as not quite yet married in college. That's a testament to the relationships. Yeah, they've worked together that whole 35 years or something like that. So, uh, if you're a husband and wife entrepreneur out there, the Tim and Amy Lindgren episode is a good one for you. I bet they have some good boundaries. I bet they do. I bet they do. Everybody was like, you got Tim to be on your podcast? Cause he's such a quiet, reserved guy. But, he listened up, he was pretty good. He even drank a bourbon with me, if I remember right. Might have something to do with it. Well, I, actually I remember Amy said yes to the, to the red wine. And so I had a red wine with her. And then when Tim realized that he was being left out, he was like, Oh, I'll take a bourbon. I was like, Oh, I'll take a bourbon too. So, so I did. So if I, I actually got kind of tipsy in that one. So I was drinking red wine and bourbon. That's why, um, the unstoppable women's conference with hope. Lisa and Kat. So that was a big, uh, fun episode with the local Small Business Development Center directors. Kat has moved on. Yeah, did you know that? I think. Kat's with the City of Fort Collins now. And, uh, they're looking for somebody. So, if somebody's out there thinks that they should be the executive director or the director of the Loveland Business Development Center, I think they're still looking. It'd be a cool gig. It would be a cool gig. I was actually, so, here's a little bit of, uh, deep loco trivia for you, Alma. Uh, Mary Ann Huffins, Huffins, was the previous director to Kat. Okay. And, uh, she and I got acquainted probably back in like, 2018, 2019, uh, 2017 maybe. Anyway, uh, one day she pulls me into her office and she's like, you know, I'm gonna retire someday. And And maybe you could be the next director of the Loveland Business Development Center. I was like, no way, man. I would be bad at your job. I didn't say bad, I'm sure. And I was so flattered and so honored. And, but I was just like, trying to get to the surface of local think tank at that time. Like I was. Maybe making 1, 000 a month on it, but working full time virtually and just like trying to get there and whatever. But, anyway, God bless you, Mary Ann, if you're listening. She must be proud, Jim. Right. Yeah, I was like, oh man. It's like a non profit slash governmental. That's right up your alley. They grind people like me up. Red tape process. Working with government. That's right. Um, oh, and then, oh, I didn't write down the episode. Oh, no. 132. Do you know what episode that is, Colin? I sure don't. You know it's yours. Did you listen to that one, Oma? I think I listened to like half. Oh my god. Come on. We were like, think about hiring this person. That was like your best place to like snoop him. Yeah, so like I listened to it and I think then it was like, oh okay, well we're gonna hire Connors. Okay great, I'll just meet him. I'll just meet him. Yeah, I was like, I'll just meet him then. Well like, I guess that's fair, but like, it was your chance to do more due diligence. That's funny. That's one of the things I like best about Alma, is she trusts me, undoubtedly. Yeah. So far. Don't give me a reason not to, she says, I'll turn that right around. Every interaction is a fresh start. I think Colin said it, where, uh, trust is given, not earned. I don't know if he said it I think I heard you say that regardless, like in the office or something. Well, it's funny, Kurt also pulled that out at our chapter meeting just a couple days ago too. Yeah, I agree with that sentiment. Yeah. Did Richard talk about that? Like in your sessions with him way back when? Yeah, it's one of the things that just stuck out so hardcore for me. It really was because, um, just for the way I grew up and everything else. Uh, I just, I just, you, I had, you had to show me something for me to trust you. I've been burned too many times and grew up a little bit rough like that, but, um, that, that really changed my thinking a lot and it absolutely makes sense because there's no demarcation line if it's, if it's something that you have to earn, nobody's earn is like anybody else's. Like what's the level? What's the price of that earn for me? Yeah, you're just never going to be able to. Achieve that. Nobody can ever say, you need to earn my trust and then let you know exactly what needs to be done to earn said trust and, and then to get to the next level of trust. That's, that's many more credits or whatever. Yes. What is it? A triology? Yeah. Yeah. Triology. Triology. The book. All my, I think that, I suspect you were thinking the same thing I was, which was. Wow, it's been kind of great to be part of my family where I could trust that it was stable and whatever, right? Like you guys moved around and stuff, but you had a pretty positive relationship with your mom and dad all throughout, and have had. And not that I'm saying anything about your situation, Collin, but No, yeah, I mean, um My, you know, role models and look up to them and my mom got married when she was 19 and so it's that like Like teenager, they're kind of obviously younger I guess you could say, young parents, whatever, but um yeah, my mom's a businesswoman too and my dad has always been such a hard worker. I mean for me growing up I didn't see him that often because he would, like, travel out for work and stay there for a week and, um, and for us, it's church every single Sunday, so then Sunday is, like, we go to church and, like, that's all day, basically. So it was less of a, as a family, just us, we do stuff. I'm super used to it. It has to be. With the whole church, or like, other really close friends. Because that, a lot of times, was when your dad was there, it sounds like. Yeah, so it's like, okay. I didn't realize the extent of that, uh, in your, I guess, upbringing, where your mom was really responsible for big parts of the week, or whatever. Yeah, yeah, she, I mean, my dad was super stable job, and actually, like, We were very, like we were pretty comfortable, but my mom's like, I still want to have a daycare, and like, bring something, and you know, contribute to the household. Yeah, yeah, but. Oh, I don't think we talked about that in your introductory. So you had seasons where your mom was bringing other kids in too? Yeah, that to me is like highlight of my childhood. Um, she would. But more like daycare, because it was like, you know, during like the time a regular thing. Yeah. Um, so it was, um, at one point it would be a total of like four kids and a baby or two babies. Okay. And we all went to the same school, so it was kind of like all picking us up at the same time. And My mom did this thing where Fridays they wouldn't give homework, and so I was like, what the heck do I do with all these kids, like, cause she would make us homework, finish our homework, then, uh, like lunch, finish your homework, and then you guys are free to go, always. So Friday, it's like, okay, like, what do I do with a bunch of kids? So Friday was always the, like, pizza, Little Caesars pizza, and then we got, like, Netflix. Or like, pick a Redbox movie and like, so that we could just be like, sitting and not destroying everything. Friday was the date. Yeah, so like, every Friday we had like a pizza movie day. Yeah. And probably you and your sister and these other kids too. Yeah, me and my sister, it was, um, one, um, special ed kid, but he was like, we love him and everything. And then, um, I was still Besides, like, the babies, I was, like, the youngest one. So, usually all my sisters age, like, two, three years older than me. But were you the oldest one, really? Even when you were younger? No. No? I mean, that's a joke. I mean, obviously not actual, but my sister, when she would be like, Oh, like, they said something mean to me, or like, not bullying, but just like, Oh, like, she would come to me, like, Yeah, like I'm gonna do something about it or like, what do I do? I'm like, we're like, bro, like, just say this back or be like, I don't know, like violence or something. So that was like, yeah. Activate violence. Yeah, I was like, come on. So it was this, like, obviously I was not going to do anything. But that's what they say. Yeah, uh, but yeah, I mean, uh, I don't know if I shared it the first time either, but, I mean they say I did this, I mean I guess I, I guess I did, but like at, I don't know, I guess like four or something, that I would take all the silverware, like I'd just grab random spoons and knives, like not actual knives, but like butter knives and spoons and stuff, and I would hide them in the freezer, and then, you When I wanted or people were not looking, I would go grab it and then I would pull up like my mom or my sibling's shirt and I'd like stick it on them. Oh, you're a prankster. Yeah. And I'm like, that is super like high level thinking. It very much is. Yeah. And I was like, okay. And then like, yeah, like you would just like do that. But why did you shed that? Cause you don't do that kind of stuff with Isaac or anything. No. And then. Like the eyeglasses case that like shuts really hard. It's like when someone was watching like the tv, I'd like go up super, super sneaky and I would try to stop not even, and I would try to like close it like on their earlobe dark hard. So I mean their earlobe. Yeah. I thought their figure. No. Oh my God. I'm not, I can't, I'm not gonna be able to sleep on this couch anymore. Yeah, she terrifies me now. No. Okay, let's stop telling stories. I'm getting too scared. Anyway, I'm crying almost. I think that's like, probably like the, just the youngest sibling type of person, I don't know. Pay attention to me, send stuff. Yeah. Oh, the next highlight, what I, I'm crying over here. The next highlight, what I was going to bring out is, uh, Mark Torres, number 139. I like that one. Yeah. That was really fun. Yeah. He's a, he's a very interesting guy, and there's the Chiba story, obviously, is such a fun story too, but, uh, he is just, uh, I just, he was very open, very vulnerable, and he's had such a, a, a great, uh, rise, and kinda riding the wave of all things Chiba, and experiencing so many different jobs along the way. Has anybody been more, like, real? Like, he's the CEO of motherfuckin Cheapa Hut. And just so humble, kind, but also real. Um, you know. I mean, started from, like, making the sandwiches. Round one. Yeah. Exactly. I didn't, I can't believe I didn't know that he had a, uh, like, He got his Chibahut job in part because he got, like, bounced out of a job pool from a positive marijuana test. Right. Drug test. That's the impetus to join. Right, yeah, you should go do a job at Chibahut. I don't think they test there. Isn't it funny how, just, there's so many forks. Right. Uh, like for him, that's like, what an amazing fork, like getting this email or a call from city of Fort Collins. Sorry, you, you pissed hot. That leads to an application at Chiba Hut for a entry level role. And whatever, 15 years later, he's the CEO. Yup. And the person that took over from the founder. Yeah. And without whom, no offense, Scott, if you're listening, but the founder wouldn't have been Successful to the degree it's been. Yeah. So, that's been cool. Yeah, there's a huge amount of serendipity, and there's very little, I feel, very little, like, targeted approach. Like, I'm gonna do this, and this is how I'm gonna do it. Like you said, most of it's a curving road, and people fall into it, and then become, mm. Yeah. And it's such a great journey. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, years ago, I suspect even when Scott left Loco Think Tank and said, Hey, you should have Mark be a member. of a chapter. Like that was literally year two or so of Loco Think Tank. Like, he knew Mark was probably his guy then. Yeah. Ish. Just like you knew uh, Isaac was gonna be your guy when, you know when you're, when you're married? Yeah. Mom would just celebrate her first anniversary. You remember that? Early December. Isaac's cool. He is a cool guy. Best, uh, hair artist in town. Noco Stellar Barbers. Yes. That's Kurt's barber. My barber. Uh, I'm only like a once a quarter. Like, I'm so shaggy right now. Like, I was looking at the hair on the back of my neck going, Oh, man. Shoot me, but whatever. Um. Moving on. Moving on. Moving on. Uh, oh, Heather Rubin. Um, the name of her resin company. It is fast resin. It's it's the cure. Rapicure. Rapicure. Rapicure Solutions. Yes. And, uh, Heather and I, I think we're already friends. Like, she came by to get her forgotten podcast swag and we spent another 30 minutes and stuff. And she introduced me to her COO the other day. Cool. Uh, who's a super cool guy whose name I don't remember, but, um, yeah, she's gonna have a successful company in my, uh, like, talent spotter matrix. She's high up there. How did that one come to be, uh, how did that business develop? Well, how it came to be was, it was technology developed at a university in Illinois, whose name I can't remember off the moment, and they, yeah, had to develop this kind of process to make a resin that like, cures rapidly under, uh, low temperature conditions. Uh, which is super significant for like making things without so much time or baking of heat and stuff. And she was like an expert on this whole thing. This venture capital fund like hired her to see if this was a viable technology. And she said, yeah, it probably is. And they're like, cool. You want to be the CEO? Ish. Sure. Yeah. She was like, well, I just started my consulting business, but you know, this is. Seems like an opportunity, you know, it's cool. It was, was Warehouse the connector in that? Oh, how did I find Heather? Well, how did, how did the VC find Heather? That was through her own, like, making a difference in other areas. She had worked with another startup down in Denver, actually. She was a CSU grad, got her PhD here. And so she had already become kind of an expert in the field. Yeah, maybe they scooped her papers. Yeah, I don't know exactly what. And then, uh, but she was also involved in like. kind of funding and technology grants and roles and different things like that. So she was working connections and, uh, whatever else. And, um, yeah, longer story short, they knew of the, the Loveland, the Forge campus there. And she won the People's Choice and the Most Disruptive at the warehouse. Innovation Awards? Mm hmm. Very cool. So that was how, and I, I was literally talking with her before they called the awards, and I'm like, you're going to win Most Disruptive and People's Choice, and then like, seven minutes later, she's like, oh, I won the most disruptive, and I was like, I told you, you want me on my podcast? Yeah. And, uh, but yeah, that was fun. Those foundings are so different. Um, and, and I'm not exposed to them. I don't know a whole lot of people from that, uh, that, that ilk, but that VC funding, that, uh, that, that real high, high tech, uh, uh, implement product, whatever you want to call it, uh, that to develop it, to, to bring it to market requires such a massive investment. It just, wow. Oh, yeah. Well, and Mind blowing. They got a good opportunity. I think it's going to work. I think so. I think it's going to work. I mean, when you make things faster or better Always. Like, it makes things easier. Mm hmm. So, anyway, uh, if you heard it here first, uh, Rapicure, or whatever they rebrand to, because I know they're rebranding, is going to be a big player in a skyrocketing company in northern Colorado. Um, what does that say? Oh, Al Jansen. We just saw him today. Mm hmm. That's silver grill. I'm thinking if Al's out of here listening that uh we're gonna get Al as a member in the first quarter of twenty four, twenty twenty four. So uh but yeah, the owner of Verne's and Silver Grill. Breakfast, right? Only. Uh Silver Grill is breakfast, lunch only, and Verne's is all day. Oh, okay. Yeah, Verne's is a great spot heading out to the port, hitting the mountains up. They got a wonderful back patio. Probably one of the best but Back patios in, in Northern Colorado. For sure. In 90 years for Silver Grill and like 76 years or something for, for That's so crazy. So great fun podcast conversation with Al. Um, that was number 143. We're getting close to the end. Who's that? By notes I can't remember. Oh, Vindicate. That's the last one I really wanted to call out. As a special, uh, one. 146. Food Rescue. Yes. Did you listen to that one? I did not yet. No. Oh, it's so good. It's like, like they're not there to feed poor people food, like the, the income, like, or whatever, people that want their food, they're like rescuing food from going to waste that's good. Right. Like it's not about charity so much as it is just finding a good home in my belly, uh, for this food that really shouldn't go to waste because it's good yet. Yeah. Yeah. For. Anybody, pretty much. Not just, like, food bank, but Exactly, yeah. As somebody who did not listen to it yet, how do you fall into that? He was, uh, he was an engineer, uh, from Texas. He worked in the oil fields a little bit. Oh, geology. He was a geologist. And, uh, he was, he started dumpster diving. And, like Because he was hungry, or? Because he, because he just kind of hated waste. I guess, uh, but also because, you know, he was in his early career, you know, so making thirty five grand a year isn't going to get you very rich in Fort Collins. So, and he's, it's all this. Probably getting like lumber or something like that? No, dumpster diving's for food. Oh, for food? What? Yeah, and, and, they do, they throw out like really good food in the dumpsters, like in the Safeway dumpsters and stuff. My, I know neighbors and stuff that have told me about this. And soon he's like, not only dumpster diving for himself, but he's like filling up his freezer, his garage full of freezers, full of food, his friends freezers full of food. He's having like 30 person community dinners in his garage to eat up all this food for free or fundraise. And then bada bing bada boom, he's got a non profit because he's because his whole thing is stop this food from being wasted. It's not like feed the hungry, right? So it's, it's a really. Yeah. Absolutely. Interesting and inspiring episode to me. Yeah, it's really cool. Yeah, I think so too. Um, so that's your recap. What are we going to do in Season 4? I think we've tossed out some great ideas on the podcast. Um, not doing anything too crazy, but maybe adding YouTube. Uh, maybe adding short clips of highlights. I agree. Recaps. Going mobile. Newsletters. Going mobile. With Hank. Finding ways to, yeah, keep people apprised of, uh, who, um, which guests are coming on and, and, uh, staying on top of this. Yeah, signaling ahead. That's important. Yeah. We want to give a little, like, upcoming, like, wait for next Monday or whatever. We don't, we don't pretend like we know what we're doing with this whole podcast thing really. Like, we're figuring it out a little bit at a time, uh, getting feedback from our listeners and our people. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, uh, here, shout out to Phil Gattula for, uh, one of our Next Level members for saying, dude, I listened to your, actually it was Mark Torres one, he's like, that was so good, like, I never listened, but I had a drive to Sheridan, and so I thought I could finally listen to one of your shows, like, why do you make your shows so stupid long? So anyway, Phil, I heard you. We're going to put some shorter stuff in the feed in 2024. I like the long format, but I think there's ways using tech and everything else that we can serve up some small snippets. Why not? Yeah. Why not? So, Loco Think Tank side, our focus this year is really, uh, filling out a few chapters. We're starting a new thinker chapter, uh, with Colin Jones as the facilitator. So you'll be a business development and facilitator of a chapter. So if you're a, you know, 1, 2, 3 million dollar company and you want to become a 5 or 10 million dollar company, uh, that would be a great place for you to be plugged in. Um, what else are we doing? Oh, we're doing the biz equity stuff. Yep. Business valuation, online business valuation tool that Local Think Tank has subscribed to. Yep. So check out our website for that. Soon. Yep. Yeah. We'll make that public. Almost like I don't even have anything put together for that. You totally owe me like a write up before I could put that on the website. Um, what else do I have written down here? Socials. Oh. Yeah, events. Yeah. Strategic planning. Mm hmm. If you haven't done your strategic plan yet for 2024, or you've done it but it's pretty, could use some work. Which probably is the case. For all of us, including local headquarters. January 31, Sean Fallon, which we didn't highlight, but episode, I don't know, This fall. Yeah. Maybe September. Yeah. A couple months ago. Yeah. Two, three months ago. So Sean Follin is going to be our, uh, our facilitator of a strategic planning workshop slash retreat. And then we're going to celebrate ten years. Anniversary of local think tank being in existence in February and really a cadence of workshop then social, workshop then social. We'll have another next level summit this year, I think. We gotta put that together. Haven't talked about that yet, but probably should. And, uh, what else? Should we let the kids out early? I don't know. Maybe. What are, let's do, uh, what are you most excited for? For the new year, personal and business for each of us, and then we'll sign off. Okay. Who wants to go first? Youngest first. Always. Sure. Um, I mean, business, excited, we've, there's a, I described it the other day as I feel like, um, like there's a lot of momentum coming our way, and we're kind of like planning, and, and. Getting the vision and getting it all, like, right, to do it right, and, um, timely also, I want to say. So, I'm excited about that. We've got new, like, um, our CRM and stuff, and just things that have been headaches for us. That it's going to be easier, so I just You know, seeing it grow more and that's what makes me the most excited and and that's what your job is, right? Yeah, that's operations. How do you what was the definition you embraced? Yeah, um, this is shared to me by Kimberly O'Neil. Yeah, shout out to Kim. You're awesome, too. And Drew and everybody really. She said, uh, operations like My job, basically, what you want to do is unlocking people. So, giving or doing whatever they need so that they can, you know, Be more effective, efficient. So, that's What I feel like I'm gonna get to really super do, um, this new year. So super excited for that and personal This past or first I guess year of being married but has been just grinding Very much for my husband. He's has not had a day off really and obviously over a year now and He's just eye on the goal and like, grind grind, and so we're on the homestretch here, and We'll have our little mobile home paid off. Yeah, in like a year. In, I think it's like, scheduled February or something. Yeah, and so then after that It feels like a big relief, I guess. And so Oh, then you don't want me to raise anytime soon. Uh, no. That's funny. And um, so, I mean, Isaac, you know, maybe he'll get a day off finally. And so then, we feel like we didn't have time to just kind of enjoy each other really well. So, I'm obviously super looking forward to that. And um. I dig it. Awesome. Call it. Uh, professionally, for me, um, and this is just me being a little bit greedy, but, uh, Spouting the benefits of, of peer advisory, it's, um, candidly, it's something that, uh, was never on my radar, uh, in all of my career, uh, but probably would have been, um, one of the, the few things that really would have helped me, uh, turn a corner, uh, with my leadership and everything else, uh, that I, uh, uh, went through with, uh, with WeldWorks. So I just want to, uh, inform people of, uh, what that benefit is and, uh, how it works and. And, uh, trump up the facilitators and the members of each group. I mean, if you really, uh, peel back the, uh, the cover on a, on any one of our chapters, the amount of experience, the, the depth of business, the, uh, Jesus, I mean, these are just rockstar, uh, groups and, and it's such a quiet, uh, little, little secret. I feel that, uh, just needs to be kind of shouted from the mountains a little bit. So looking forward to being an advocate, uh, for that, uh, cause it really does come from the heart. Uh, and also just kind of back in the entrepreneurial spirit of things, working with a small team and getting back to building and, uh, I love that. I realized through my, uh, through my journey of just kind of sitting that, um, I never wanted to get into something that was, was, was already completed, that was already built. built that just needed a buyer. Um, I want to come in, I want to make a change. I want to help build. Uh, I really knew that that was something that I wanted to do. So, uh, this opportunity, uh, checked all those boxes, uh, quite perfectly. So, uh, looking forward to enacting all of that, uh, professionally. And then, um, personally, uh, it's, it's crazy time in a way that we have. I have four kids between, uh, uh, my, my partner and I and, uh, mine are a little bit older but still, uh, are doing, uh, crazy things and onward and upward and, and, uh, not that they need a lot of help but, uh, just, uh, being able to be there when they need me and having the attention, uh, and the time for them and, uh, two young girls still in, uh, in high school and on their, uh, way through that journey and getting on to college and everything else. Nothing's easier than having two teenage girls in your house with you. Not at all. Not at all. Oh, and, uh, me and my beautiful fiance, hopefully we're getting married sometime in 2024. Uh, we need to reinitiate those talks and kinda see what, what plan can be built there. Every time we take a trip, uh, she always looks at me and she says, can, do you think we can get married a here? I'm like, we've already checked, like, you gotta be a resident of, of Paris or France. So just, yeah, yeah. Traveling and then, uh, just, uh, taking those nice, slow, uh, steady, uh, advances, uh, for, uh, both me and my partner and our families, uh, and our children. So, yeah. Good stuff. I will say, um, for me, from a business, like, highlight or something I'm excited about, it's, uh, like, starting to, uh, get good at measuring how much, uh, The value of loco think tank is and, uh, I've actually been pondering that in different ways and even my blog that's coming out soon is going to be, or it'll actually come up just before this probably. But what was that? What is the value of a tank? But what is the value of a think tank? You know, and like, we're starting to get where we can add some metrics and to start to define things. And, you know, each Business owners decisions are their own, but, and, like you were there the other day when, um, it wasn't Valeria either, it was somebody else, it was Mandy, talking about how her, like, approach angle on, uh, sponsorship conversation was different and more informative, more powerful, because of her relationship, and it got her a, I won't say how many dollar sponsorship, but that we, she might have been willing to give nearly for free before. Right, exactly right. So that's 6, 000. Her membership is 3, 000 a year. Yeah. So that one conversation, you know, whatever. Yep. So that's the value. So anyway, that's what I've been thinking about a little bit. It's just like, helping us. Inform ourselves on what that value is and share that with more people. And as a, as kind of a, somebody that's been glomming on to some of these, uh, chapter meetings, uh, there's almost one of those stories in every single meeting. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. But to your point, how do you quantify sometimes the unquantifiable? Yeah, well, and we don't, we haven't historically asked very many questions about, you know, how big is your business now? How big do you want to get? You know, what's your goal? You know. And I think that's probably the kind of stuff that we can really add to the experience right from the start. What are you actually trying to achieve? And we can help you get there. Yep. That'll help dictate which group we put them in, and at what level, and everything else. Um, I would agree. So, and personally, um, you know, I'm excited for, by the way, this last tequila is yours before I kill it. Um, what I'm excited for is, uh, You know, I've just added, uh, executive assistant to my mix and just in the midst of November and Amber Zerby, shout out, thanks for being part of the Loco team. Um, and so it's freed up my mind space a lot for just the, the communications flow and things. Um, and so I want to like take that free space and like, just. Be the right me more instead of kind of being this person that's always swimming in chaos. But take just a little bit more time to, to, to not be frantic. Kind of like what you've had. And I'm not saying I'm not going to work hard or do my salesperson job or whatever. But also just, you know, having a little space. We'll celebrate 10 years this spring in six, 45 days or something. And, uh, you know, just taking time to breathe occasionally more. And, uh, that's what I'm excited about next year. Beautiful. Cool. Palma. Words of wisdom, uh, in Spanish, please. In Spanish! Uh, vamos a echarle ganas en este dos mil veinticuatro, y vamos a estar en que misa. And that means? That means, uh, we're gonna work hard, basically, for, in this 2024, and the grind don't stop. I don't stop. I like it. Well, Merry Christmas, uh, late, by the time you guys listen to this. Happy New Year. Happy New Year is more appropriate. And, uh, look forward to seeing you guys in the New Year as well. Absolutely. We'll be rockin and rollin Cheers.