Take the Elevator
325th Floor: Embracing Setbacks and Celebrating Growth
What if every setback brought you closer to your true self? Join us today as we spotlight the book "Ruffles" and its main character, Ruffles, who resonantly symbolizes self-awareness and decision-making. Our conversation emphasizes the importance of a thriving, inclusive community and offers a sneak peek into the series' future, brimming with diverse characters that represent various facets of our shared experiences.
Have you ever wondered what losing teaches us about winning? We explore valuable life lessons through the lens of Ruffles, discussing the significance of playing fair, maintaining the right mindset, and having fun while embracing the joy of winning. Kory shares his personal journey of creative collaboration, highlighting the resilience required to overcome setbacks and the exhilaration of finding alignment with new partners.
Ruffles' authenticity celebrates self-acceptance and fosters a sense of community, and we're eager to share these stories with you. We touch on inclusivity and acceptance within the Fuzzy Furry Forest, where a diverse animal community learns to live harmoniously, mirroring essential human experiences. We invite you to engage with the series, share your experiences, and join us in building this enriching world.
Look up and let's elevate!
What if every setback brought you closer to your true self? Join us today as we spotlight the book "Ruffles" and its main character, Ruffles, who resonantly symbolizes self-awareness and decision-making. Our conversation emphasizes the importance of a thriving, inclusive community and offers a sneak peek into the series' future, brimming with diverse characters that represent various facets of our shared experiences.
Have you ever wondered what losing teaches us about winning? We explore valuable life lessons through the lens of Ruffles, discussing the significance of playing fair, maintaining the right mindset, and having fun while embracing the joy of winning. Kory shares his personal journey of creative collaboration, highlighting the resilience required to overcome setbacks and the exhilaration of finding alignment with new partners.
Ruffles' authenticity celebrates self-acceptance and fosters a sense of community, and we're eager to share these stories with you. We touch on inclusivity and acceptance within the Fuzzy Furry Forest, where a diverse animal community learns to live harmoniously, mirroring essential human experiences. We invite you to engage with the series, share your experiences, and join us in building this enriching world.
Look up and let's elevate!
hey, it's jen the builder and cory, and welcome back to another overly uplifting episode of take the elevator.
Speaker 2:Oh no, it's definitely uplifting and I'm looking very forward to this. Jen um cory, I am really getting excited about how this feels very nostalgic at this point. Any thoughts on that?
Speaker 1:I'm wondering what's making it feel nostalgic to you?
Speaker 2:well, because you know we we've overcome some milestones and when you overcome a milestone like 300 episodes and you know that your material is existing in the atmosphere, there's not a lot of pressure to accomplish certain things anymore, but there's still the pressure to create the value and the excitement of the content.
Speaker 1:Okay, I see what you mean, yeah, I, and I think where we're going next makes sense, right. So, for those who are wondering, where have Corrigan been and why is it not as consistent on Take the Elevator as it used to be? I mean, at one point we were doing two episodes a week and then we went down to one, and you know, we kind of just play in the area, but we are bringing a big project, a big passion of ours into this, yeah, into this space, cause it is very much about taking the elevator. And for those who are new to us, um, what we're about is really placing everyone on positive levels every day, and I think that is still the drive of the fuzzy furry forest, yeah, and so that was our last episode where we introduced this amazing community environment that you've created. That is something, I think, that we strive to every day, right In what we do for our careers and what we do for work and how we are with family and friends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, more importantly for ourselves, we want a healthy environment, right? We all want to thrive and feel like we're moving the needle, making progress. But in the ecosystem you want to also feel that you know everything around you is on that thrive. Everything is growing, everything is prospering and it's possible, and we realize that that's the key. A lot of people haven't realized that you can have that much positivity and growth around you at all times that's right, and so people might be wondering.
Speaker 1:So where is this going? Is it solely going to be on the fuzzy furry forest and the book? The thing is is storytelling is a big part of our lives as far as learning and sharing experience, and we're gonna bring the forest and the characters to life and I promise you it's gonna resonate with you about yourself, uh, about someone you know, about a situation you're in. So it's still very much tied into what this podcast has been about absolutely.
Speaker 1:It just has a little bit more of an elemental side of it now yeah, so I get the pleasure of asking questions and sharing thoughts with the author of ruffles being cory himself. This is I never take that for granted. It's very humbling to be able to speak to cory and bring things out, maybe even things that you didn't realize. So today we're going to focus on a very special topic and um person of interest in the book called ruffles and its charming main character, ruffles himself. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So tell us, gory, why the series started with ruffles so that's um multi-faceted, if you won't allow me to say it that way, and the reason why it started with ruffles, on one hand, was because I wanted to write about a character that I felt close to. I wanted to write about a character who had some of my same or similar struggles, victories and some of my personality traits, and so that's why I was able to connect that so well with the character, because I felt like a lot of the personality type and traits were were in ruffles that's so neat because you know I'm going to go ahead and say this now ruffles is not the only character we're bringing out in, it's a series, um.
Speaker 1:So I think it's clever that you would start your book with someone you're comfortable with, and that's yourself absolutely and we do have other characters.
Speaker 2:So is it safe to say that ruffles, out of all the characters, is the one that is most like you absolutely, but the key to that is that, um, I'm not narcissistic in the way that every book will be about ruffles. It will have, um, the center point on different characters and which have other personality types, other, uh, characteristics that other people may feel like they connect with, and that's the key to writing this series. I don't feel like I need to write about Ruffles every single book.
Speaker 1:And that's a part of being inclusive and creating a space of belonging right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Is highlighting everyone that's in the community. Yeah, so I think beautifully done on that. Everyone that's in the community yeah, so I think, beautifully done on that. So I love the behind the scenes pieces that you've given me to Ruffles. But, corey, let's go ahead and talk about what's actually in the book. So Ruffles is not just a character. I feel he's a symbol of many things. If you had to tell us what he symbolizes, what his character is about, what would you say?
Speaker 2:well, it's a sense of, uh, knowing self and knowing how far he's willing to go, and when pushed to that threshold, he comes to realizations that you know what. That's not. That's a bridge too far. I'm not willing to do that. Also, I'm trying to make the best decision possible for him himself and and then also thinking about the consequences in a broader form for other people consequences in a broader form for other people.
Speaker 1:Okay, what I love about Ruffles is he's got in this book of I don't know how many pages 14 pages. He's got quite a bit of character to him and different things show up. All of us like super quick about him. I just feel like you learn a lot about Ruffles and there's many layers to learn about him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in a very short amount of time.
Speaker 1:I was like whoa, I need to read this again because, true to form, he's a fast rabbit. So, you kind of feel that speed, even in the book.
Speaker 2:That's exactly. I wanted the cadence of the book to be very fast-paced, very, and what I learned is that the average attention span is 15 minutes. So if you're taking this in and it's taking you an hour to break down nine times out of 10, there's a lot of people that's going to just forget it or not hear it, get distracted. So you got to really pour this in at full speed yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So the beginning of the book. Obviously the community um realizes he's pretty fast. Yeah, so the question is Ruffles, do you tell how do you run so fast?
Speaker 2:And so I'm glad you said that and started there, because a lot of people don't realize this about themselves. But when given an opportunity to speak about yourself, you're excited. Right? You want to tell Some people, some people, some people, other people, just kind of clam up.
Speaker 2:I say most people get excited about telling things about themselves, be it about what they do, who they are, where they work, what kind of schooling and background they have. They get excited because, first of all, someone's asking, so they're inquiring about you, and then, second of all, you get an opportunity to be showcased. And most people know I don't get this opportunity very often, so I want to really enjoy this.
Speaker 1:That's the book, and I want to say this now that I've heard you describe ruffles in that way, even the name ruffles is a real playful ring to it. So just hearing his name speaks fun, energetic and always ready to experience new things. I don't know why. I think I've just become very attached to the book. So, um well, I'm noticing the little details.
Speaker 2:Can I say something? About the name. All throughout the book there are these sounds, and I'm pausing because I really want the listener to understand what's happening. When you say ruffles or you roll that R with ruffles, it's exciting to the palate first and foremost. Kids get excited, adults get excited.
Speaker 1:That's why you want to use those tones and sounds and and have those kind of nuances happening when you're reading the book yeah, because even when you roll your r it's, it's almost like a a feeling of being at the start line of a race and you're like revving your engine I'm a ruff and I'm revving the engine okay anyways. So when ruffles responds you know, because every reader reads this differently yeah, um, and for those who don't know, ruffles is from england yes, he is okay and his last name is boinks ruffles boinks.
Speaker 1:Yes, see, those are the behind the scenes stuff. That's very fun. So ruffles boinks um cory kind of, if you don't mind, bring him to life for us here. I going to read this part where it says Ruffles, do tell, how do you run so fast?
Speaker 2:And then Ruffles begins to break down what he does and how he does it, and he works out three times a day, not taking any breaks, never eating any trash.
Speaker 1:Right, but see, what I want you to do is respond to me as Ruffles. Oh, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Okay. So he says Ruffles, do tell, how do you run so fast? And Ruffles says it's simply. I tell you it's simple. It's simple. I tell you, I work out three times a day eating the best of foods never any trash, uh-huh.
Speaker 1:So he's very clear and absolute and in my mind for those who don't know, I love to do accents, yes. So if I'm reading this book, I might say it is simple. I tell you, I work out three times a day, eat the best of foods, never any trash, right?
Speaker 1:so it's got that kind of anyways that's so good, yeah, yeah um, so obviously very healthy and cory, because ruffles is more like you. I know that you have a health journey and this was not how you started when we got together. No, so obviously I'm feeling like this is something that you're proud of, that this is now your way of being.
Speaker 2:Um, as far as health well, I mean again, when you're writing a character, writing about a character, building a character, and you realize that this character has some of the personality traits that you have, it's important to put the authentic you in there, whether it be the authentic you right now or the authentic you who you've been hoping to become in the very near future, or sometimes the distant future. But it's it's important that I felt it was very important to me that I felt like I connect with this, because I truly believe this in my core. This is what I am, who I am and, um, I wanted the character to feel, have the same feel got it, got it.
Speaker 1:So, as the story proceeds, you know he's boinking around in the forest and the mayor actually says stop gloating, yeah, right. And so you get this build up and you understand that winning is really important to ruffles is really important to ruffles. Yeah, it's. In fact, he describes it as a radiant sound, yes, yeah. And then, as the story progresses, you experience a very confident ruffles and he kind of dips and he's feeling insecure. Well, again.
Speaker 2:I think that's a big part of life where you have these peaks and valleys where you feel very confident about the thing that you do and then someone comes along and challenges that and they actually have the ability to showcase that and you realize very quickly I might not be the best that I thought I was, is there room for me to improve? Or have I topped out? And so, yeah, in my situation, that confidence bridging into arrogance gets brought to a humanizing place where you say I may not be the best. There's someone out there better than me, someone out there better than me. So we have we're faced with this, this thing in life where we have to decide whether we're going to continue on our journey being the best we can be, or do we just throw in the towel, take our ball and go home and never to be seen again? And and I didn't I did not want that to be the theme of any book that I ever wrote, because that's not my life.
Speaker 2:My life has never been to just call it quits and go home. I'm still good at what I can do. I may not be the best, but I'm going to be the best that I can be and cheer on anybody that is better than me, because, guess what? The mold wasn't broken on running, because I could run fast or as Ruffles could run fast. It was a gift that many people may, or many individuals may, have.
Speaker 1:I like that because how that translates to me is that Ruffles had a belief that he was the fastest, right. And then in comes someone younger and for those of us who are over 40, which is interesting that's a protected class in the work setting. By the way, it's interesting when you're in that group. Now you're like, oh, wait, a minute, I'm not in that protected class, is that? Yes, there's always fresher and newer and technology really can take you there, right, like I'm solid on the way to do this. And here comes technology and it's something faster, uh, something that you had not been taught before. And now you're having to self-learn and other people come into the workforce new, and they know this stuff.
Speaker 1:So I like how ruffles is able, throughout the book, to change the beliefs he had, and it shows his resilience, um, which is another r word. So ruffles has resilience, right. So there's that piece too. And, cory, I'm really going to encourage everyone if you've not read the book, please get the book. It's on amazon, and so you can understand some of the things that we're talking about here. Um, how did you so cleverly bring in a moral to the story in a way that's engaging for a child to read or hear about?
Speaker 2:Well, most kids have to do some type of physical activity. They have to, you know, play some form of PE in elementary school or middle school. They also have to, you know, in elementary school, go to recess and there's all kind of games, so there's always a competition of some sort. And then there's spelling bees, there's math games and chess, so everyone has the competition challenge type of deal. So that's always going to be something. Tests, right. That's always going to excite most individuals, especially if you tell them that there's a prize at the end of this and what you have to do is do it the best, the fastest, the strongest, the hardest, whatever it is, and so that's always going to translate to fun somehow some way. That's always going to translate to fun somehow some way, when you can win a prize or you can complete a task and you're the best at doing it. So that's what usually motivates an interesting read or an interesting book on a child's level. Adults are not exempt to that either. So, yeah, I love that, are not exempt to that either.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I love that. So, speaking of adults, speaking to parents and teachers, what advice would you give them on using ruffles to teach important life lessons?
Speaker 2:I would just simply say that we're always challenged one way or another to play fair.
Speaker 1:We're always challenged one way or another to play fair.
Speaker 2:We're challenged with how to approach a competition, what mindset to be in. You know a lot. When I was younger, the thing was we're not playing to win. We're not doing this to win. We're doing this to have fun. If people aren't having fun, then there's no need to play the game.
Speaker 2:Well, winning is fun and that's a fact. That's not one of those things that you know. You have to go down a deep rabbit hole to prove, and losing cannot be fun at times. You know, and so it teaches young individuals, that there are winners and there are losers. It's how you approach each one, and you can approach it as a poor sport and be down on yourself and do something to hurt someone because you lost, or you can accept the fact that I did my best, but there's someone better than me, and it's okay if they're better than me at that. I may be better than them at something else, or maybe nothing else, but there's a way to accept that loss, opposed to being a poor sport. And so that's where it's always a good teach and a good learn for, for younger people, how to win, how to lose there's a way to do both.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what I love about the book is that it also speaks to adults, so I would equate it to people who are trying to get a promotion at a job right, or they're applying to get into a school that they really want to get into and they're not in that chosen group of people. And it's in those moments of life, I think, when we really learn the important life lessons and who we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the core.
Speaker 1:It really tests your core values. Values, yeah, and those really come out and they are the thing that you hold on to and you realize these aren't the moments that define me. It's the journey into who I'm becoming, right, yep, and so even in the illustration I just in the original illustration and I'm trying to remember what it shows in the newer book, but it just shows Ruffles losing and having to leave town. He's got his suitcase and everything. But even in the illustration it shows that he has a sense of pride, that he lived true to his values.
Speaker 2:He didn't compromise who he is as a person and he was in it to win it and didn't, yeah, but all the while he had won something else and this was a a defeat he faced in in the public state, on the public stage, and and I wanted to point that out because a lot of times we think about winning and losing behind closed doors or opening a letter and realizing no, I didn't get it, so true. So you can kind of hide your true feelings when you lose on the world stage, when you lose in public, at school, in front of people, and that defeat hurts and you have to figure out how to rise up, become resilient and accept the fact that I'm not the best at this. I wanted to give that example so that anyone reading the book would be able to say there is a way to walk away from this without dropping your head and feeling less than what a way to use the book as a tool in in this story.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of illustrators, I know we're going to have vanessa, the illustrator on the podcast here very, very soon. Um, and one of the things I love about this whole adventure of I didn't start off this way but eventually becoming a co-author with you and that's a later story is just watching you collaborate with Vanessa on bringing Ruffles to the next dimension, visually right. So this isn't someone who's been in your life, this is a new person, um, and it's just really cool to see two strangers come together in alignment with a vision and both be equally excited about it yeah, and that this has been probably one of the best parts of the journey for me, because anybody that doesn't know, my daughter, michaela, was the illustrator of the first book.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so that was a bond. That Was a really joyful time for me because it was, you know, my daughter and we're bouncing ideas off of one another, but she informed me, you know, at one point in time that this is not what she wants to do and she didn't want to go any further in that particular journey with me. Um, so I was broken, I was hurt, I I experienced defeat, and I felt like the whole world saw Corey walk away with his head down and I said I can't let it be, that can't be the final chapter. So I started this journey and this pursuit and I got burned. I got burned really, really bad. I hired someone on Instagram and he ran amok on me and it was bad. So, thank goodness, everything was tracked and so the bank was able to refund my money, but it was just one of those bad experiences that really Not cool, yeah, and it took me to the edge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I then looked into this and I don't want to say the website just yet, I want Vanessa to talk about that but finding her was like a godsend and her personality type is very similar to mine and we work a lot alike. And then you liked her, which made it even better for me, because I mean, if you don't like her, then it's like, oh, how do I make this work? But, uh, that part came and, um, yeah, I can't wait for people to meet her. Uh, we just had a conversation last week and it was phenomenal, as usual, and we're just looking forward to the next chapter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I love how there's these parallel universes in this one thing, right. So there's the writing of the book and the growing and creating new relationships and learning as you're writing about the book. It's even added another dimension to our relationship oh, yeah, absolutely yeah. So I'm gonna ask you another question about the book itself. Do you have a favorite moment that was captured, whether it be an event in the book or the writing of a particular passage in it?
Speaker 2:well, excuse me, there's um a couple of parts in the in the books that stand out to me. The moment that ruffles realized and this was before the race between him and ringo, which is the uh other rabbit that he's racing against the moment that ruffles realized there was no way possible for him to beat Ringo, that was one of my favorite parts. You may ask why, and I'll tell you. That's the best part of life, when you realize that, as good as you thought you were, you got more work to do. Because more work doesn't mean that you can't continue.
Speaker 2:More work means that you get an opportunity to challenge yourself, to become better. You get that opportunity to go back to the books, go back to the gym, go back to the drawing board and revamp. Whether you get better or not and when I say get better, I mean whether you get the victory or not you're going to get better, you're going to get stronger, you're going to get faster, and so it's always going to be a better you coming out of the fire, so to speak. The fire, so to speak. So that's definitely one of my most favorite. A lot of people don't know what's in the next book, but the end is very key because you just feel like man, we're losing a character and in a lot of ways, you are.
Speaker 1:So that's a big part of my uh favorite, nice, nice, so we cover that. Ruffles is english, yeah, which is so fun because that even brings the drawings um to life more, because when you look at his attire it's like, okay, that makes sense yeah. What other things do you want the readers to know about Ruffles that they might not pick up from the book?
Speaker 2:Ruffles is a very confident, secure person or a bunny rabbit, but he also has a high need for solid, good, positive friendship, and so that's why you see that the ability to connect with other individuals, other animals in the fuzzy furry forest, because even though he wants to win, it's not all about winning. There's other ways to have victories and other ways to win without you know, beating someone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so our next episode is going to be around the friendships. My last question I believe this is my last question about Ruffles is what is Ruffles teach children about inclusivity and acceptance, whether it be Ruffles the character, ruffles the book, and acceptance?
Speaker 2:whether it be Ruffles, the character, ruffles, the book. Well, ruffles the book is a big start into an environment where those things are welcome and the Fuzzy Furry Forest encompasses that. There's so many different animals and so many different things that are happening and everyone is forced to get along. Everyone is forced to figure out how to coexist with the next animal or the next situation that's being presented in the fuzzy furry forest. And that's life. You know as much as we have our own little pocket of friends, things we do. We go to stores all the time, we go to concerts and movies and work school and we're forced to deal with other people.
Speaker 2:And I've watched people attempt to isolate and not deal with. But it's impossible because it's only an attempt. We got to figure this thing out one way or another. There's no way we're ever going to exist on this earth and not get along with everyone somehow some way. And the other side of that is just too detrimental, you know, if you get into fights and wars and battles and it's never ending. So that's the crux of it, yeah.
Speaker 1:I love that and, if I may add from a reader's perspective, I love how Ruffles is authentic to who he is. So I think that's really important in a space of saying, okay, this is a place where people belong, where they can feel safe and where trust is established right. So it's him really being confident in who he is and in fact, we applaud that. To know your strengths, to understand your identity and then, I think, being an accepting of self first. So that's the important piece of the journey. As we grow with other people, we have to know who we are, and so Ruffle shows how you go through the process of learning something new about yourself and being okay with being wrong. I think that's a really important element in community is that we make mistakes and you know we have moments where we thought we had it figured out and we don't, and to acknowledge that and understand that and accept it is so important. Another thing I love about Ruffles is that his friends are different than him.
Speaker 1:You know, and so that adds the dimensions of the relationships. They're different, but yet they're the same at core. You know you can see people as different, but it's to your point that you said earlier it's what's happening on the inside.
Speaker 2:Yeah the values.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I hope y'all can see how the series is going to help all of us grow and and elevate and just start to change some of the things that we we look for or our perception on things, and if it's a big aha moment, that's great. Or maybe it's like the smallest little thing and we are advocates for the small learns. I believe that it's these one to two small things that equate to the bigger picture anyways.
Speaker 2:So, corey, thanks for letting us into the world of Ruffles and in your mind of how this all came about Absolutely, and just to give a little bit of an update and give a little bit of announcement as far as some exciting things happening. We are currently working on an Audible book and we would love to play that during one of the episodes of the podcast so that everyone could hear how the book is supposed to be not just read but understood. There's a cadence in every book that we were writing I say we because Jim did join me on this journey of writing and so once you understand that cadence, it makes a lot more sense. It doesn't just sound like a book that's just being read. There's a storyline with a, with a drumbeat that goes along with it that's right.
Speaker 1:So if you're listening to this and you're interested in having cory um read the book to kiddos at school or at a church, or for a community like the city or the county or even the state you know, there's no limit to where this book can be read. It adds a whole nother experience. Cory, we've gotten so much wonderful feedback on that. You can reach out to us and email and, cory, why don't you go ahead and give the email for the ruffles? Uh, ruffles?
Speaker 2:It'd be ruffles290 at Gmail. You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook and the website is wwwfuzzyfurryforestcom, and the website is about 98% done and I think that you would find some really enjoyable things on there. Feel free to reach out and connect and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Speaker 1:And we're so looking forward to hearing from you, and we'd love to hear your feedback too, on your experience, your kids' experience, on reading the book. And just let us know because this is a three, how do I want to say it? If you could compare Fuzzy Furry Forest to a series on Netflix, this is going to be three seasons, three episodes in each season, so that's a total of nine books.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And Ruffles is book number one.
Speaker 2:And so away we go. Two and three are done, we're just waiting for release dates.
Speaker 1:So exciting and it is going to be this year.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, um well, I can say this uh, the next book, oswald the wise old owl, will be out in august august is a beautiful month, isn't it?
Speaker 1:though it it is, it is All right, everyone. We hope you have a good day. Thank you for being here, and you know as to take the elevator. We say look up and let's elevate Every day, elevate Every day, elevate Every day. Get the book. It's on Amazon.