Episode 27: Endings & Beginnings

The season finale of our cherished podcast weaves together the rich threads that have colored our lives: from unforgettable hot air balloon rides and wedding vows to the heartache of loss and the triumphs of personal achievements. With laughter as our companion, we recount the ups and downs of the year and explore how endings and beginnings shape our success. Join Kristelle and Jace for Season One's final episode of Stories, Success & Stuff!

A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza Moon & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza Moon
Producer: Jace Downey
Video/Editing: Justin Otsuka

Watch episodes at siarza.com/siarza-podcast
Follow us on FB, IG, TT, YT and TW @siarzatheagency
Follow Kristelle @kristellesiarza
www.misskristelle.com
Follow Jace @jacedowneyofficial
www.jacedowney.com

Transcript

Jace: 0:00

My mom asked me the other day since you've kind of planned to stay in Albuquerque now for a bit, have you thought about buying a house? To which I just burst into laughter because I kid you not. Recently I bought two throw blankets at one time and felt very proud of myself, like that was this huge luxury. I was like I couldn't decide between two throw blankets at Ross, so I bought both of them and I was like boom, fancy adulthood. And my mom's like are you thinking of buying a house? I'm like bitch, I barely think about buying stuff for my house.

Kristelle: 0:27

Like Welcome to another episode, episode 27,. Story success and stuff. The last of the season actually. We had a phenomenal run so far and the best is yet to come. We've got it's a lot of pressure.

Jace: 0:46

I was thinking of really just letting it ride from here on out.

Kristelle: 0:49

Yeah, no we're going to have an exciting starting next year, but this is the beginning of an episode about the beginning and the end. It's also the end of the season. Beginning season.

Jace: 1:01

Yeah, yeah, it's the end of the beginning.

Kristelle: 1:03

This now constitutes the beginning of the end episode I feel like we're in the Testament of revelations and it's just like the end.

Jace: 1:11

Yeah, it's actually just revelation. Revelation yeah, there's just one.

Kristelle: 1:15

Oh, really, yeah, oh, I spoke of revelation you know every decision in Catholic school.

Jace: 1:20

Shit, that's OK. That's OK, but they no matter.

Kristelle: 1:26

No, no well 20, 23 was a really phenomenal year for many of us in the agency Also trials, tribulations, tough times as well. How would you? You know, instagram always has those like nice little grids, like my top nine, yeah, or there's always like recap reels. I started to make mine and then my phone damn broke because of the memory the lack of memory on my phone. So let me ask you this If you were going to create a recap reel for 2023, what would be in it?

Jace: 1:58

Oh, this is great because I actually in my self mastery intensive that I've been guiding for our final assignments. We've been doing kind of end of year reflection and 2024 visioning and planning and things like that. So it's been so fun to look back at 2023. And I'd say highlights for me were my birthday this year Totally epic, with friends coming out and staying with me and doing all of these really fun activities and just being like super celebrated. That's on the highlight, as weird as this sounds, because caregiving was absolutely one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. It was also one of the greatest gifts to take care of someone every moment by hand, to just give fully of the heart. It was really exhausting and I lost my patients, plenty and all that, but it was such a special time to kind of pay a debt in a way, like Charlie added so much to my life, and then here at the end I got to make sure that absolutely everything he needed was cared for by my hand, and so that, weirdly, was a highlight and, though it's sad that he's gone like being able to send him out of his old body and back into whatever playfulness exists in the other world or in the nothingness. Even the vet when he was passing she was like rest in peace, charlie, and I said hell no, play in peace, brother. Like get the hell out of here. You've done nothing but resting. Like go play, be wild. So that was a highlight.

Jace: 3:29

I did a lot of festivals with my family this year, which was really fun. My big sister and I became Festi's besties and we went to all kinds of different music fests and things throughout the year. That was really fun and bonding yeah gosh time with people that I love, I think, top the charts. We started this podcast, which was really fun. Got to do great retreats and speaking gigs this year as well. That were really cool. It was a really. This was a big year. This was a really cool year. That's great, yeah what about you?

Kristelle: 4:00

What's on your no? I appreciate how you just was very real with it, right, like 2023. And I think one of the things it was a really phenomenal year, one of the things I will say that I'm gonna I'm gonna work on now before I get to my recap. 2024 was what I plan on really managing the tempo a little bit better, meaning there were times where I was it was the highest of the highs for 2023. And then it was the lowest of the lows in 2023. Like I couldn't just be okay, and so that's my goal for 2024 is just to kind of maintain positively right.

Kristelle: 4:41

We had strategic planning recently and I said stability is really what we wanna. Improving stability or enhancing stability is what. Evolving stability was the actual theme. That's what I'm hoping to do for the agency in 2024. Like if I was gonna say that's my owner secret. Setting a good goal or setting a good theme like that is a good theme to kind of kick off the new year, but yeah.

Jace: 5:05

That was my. 2023 was around stability Very very big.

Kristelle: 5:09

You were a very big part of the inspiration for the strat, for strategic planning for 2024.

Jace: 5:14

I will say for our last for that episode where we were talking about stability, one of the pieces of feedback I got is that it kind of touched my soul a little bit and I was like that's all we need to hear. I was like, oh shit, you never know. You know, we put this stuff out there and is it helpful to people like it? I don't know. And someone was like, wow, that was a great topic to reflect on. It kind of touched my soul a little bit, yeah, and I was like, yeah, yeah, I meant to send that to you, I forgot, but boom.

Kristelle: 5:38

I realized that my mom listens. Oh, see my mom doesn't anymore.

Jace: 5:42

I don't think, but a lot of other people do that are loved ones in my life.

Kristelle: 5:45

I love my mom to death. But she was like I don't get it and you should wear makeup. That's what my mom said. Ok, it's fine. Hey, she listens, that's all that matters. Maybe she should just listen and not watch.

Jace: 5:59

Yeah, I guess so.

Kristelle: 6:00

That's fine. Anyways, so my 2023 week cap. I was going through my videos yesterday trying to put an Instagram reel, which didn't work. January was we were at. I was at the White House.

Jace: 6:09

Yes.

Kristelle: 6:10

Cool, freaking experience. You got invited to the White House. Yeah, I would do that again 10 times out of 10. February was a lot of ballooning, a lot of love and that was a really great month just of love in general.

Jace: 6:23

Yeah, I was to say friends and lovers balloon rally, which I got to participate in and go up in a balloon Exactly March was a fun one too, because that was when a little bit of travel for work related.

Kristelle: 6:35

But there was spring break, which is nice because I always try to spend some quality time with my kid around spring break. April was the bachelorette party. The summer was just planning the wedding, which was awesome. And then August and September was the wedding itself, which was really an incredible experience. I would marry that man 10 times out of 10 again, all the time, and I was telling you earlier, amy, no, it's like it's definitely death to his part. I'm really excited for the dementia years because those are going to be fun, those are going to be great. It's just going to be like 50 first dates, it's going to be great. And then so, yeah, so we've had a really epic year. And then, financially, the company set its million dollar mark.

Jace: 7:17

It was good and hit it.

Kristelle: 7:19

It set it and hit it and it was incredible to hit that mark and thanks to this incredible team, it was a very hard goal to hit, but I'm grateful for the team just being incredible at the work that they've done. Another thing that was really great throughout the year, too, a couple of different milestones was the fact that we hit number two as an agency on the list. I talk about how financially, operationally and visually, I'd like to make sure that CRS is number one, the number one agency in New Mexico. We're number two, like we're number two. We're right there. Yeah, that's crazy.

Jace: 7:54

Yeah, and we're significantly smaller than the number one spot. Yeah.

Kristelle: 8:00

It's been a blessing for sure. We did a lot of awards this year.

Jace: 8:03

We just got announced for Family Friendly Business 2024.

Kristelle: 8:09

A gold award there. Another great idea, another great thing that we had was we won Best of Show. We've had a little bit of a Best of Show drought, oh yeah. So it's been since 2019 since we won the Best of Show and so, thanks to Marissa's yeah, we're back. The boys are back in town, but yeah, so we got that award, which was great 2020. Excellent award of excellence is kind of like what it is, right, yeah, and Marissa did a really phenomenal job with that campaign, leading the team with Bernalillo County, so that was really fun to see. Trying to think of other really amazing awards, donyelle got her 40 and her 40. Epic year for her.

Jace: 8:50

Totally.

Kristelle: 8:50

And that's also it. While we say it's an agency's success, it's really her Like. We're very excited for her.

Jace: 8:56

Absolutely.

Kristelle: 8:57

The fact that it happens to make us look good. I mean, you know, it just happens that she has a really cute outfit and she has a really cute headshot with us. That's even better.

Jace: 9:05

True story.

Kristelle: 9:07

So yeah, we just had just some really great milestones. I got my APR, I forgot about that, yeah, so what did I do in May? Yeah, I got my APR, that's right. So it was a really, really big year. It was a big year, yeah, definitely tough on the depression side. Depression and anxiety, you know, just kind of hit me out of nowhere.

Jace: 9:24

I knew that it had been a tough year because my Spotify recap what is it called? Oh no, this is a reek, yeah, okay. So that came back with, like, my top artist, who is an artist I only listen to when I'm really struggling, and I was like, oh, apparently this was a tough year because that artist and well, okay, my actual number one artist was Abba. But Abba is a catch all for me. If I'm really happy, abba, I'm struggling also Abba. So that's not. That doesn't tell you whether or not I had a good or bad year, because Abba works for everything. But my second artist was someone who I listened to. I'm really having a hard time. And so I texted my friend who introduced me to her and I'm like, oh, apparently this is a pretty tough year because I was listening to her a lot this year. So a lot of huge, wonderful, amazing things and then a lot of you know I need a little, I need a little help.

Jace: 10:12

This year too for the, for the whole, the soul and the heart.

Kristelle: 10:16

What so someone makes already sisters do that and a lot of women in in my line of work do a lot of like goal setting and goal planning and visioning board in the beginning of the year, trying to map out 2024 like new bod, new me, you know, new life, new me and go for a dad bod this year, I think.

Jace: 10:35

Yeah, no, I definitely a female equivalent of a dad bod.

Kristelle: 10:38

It is. I was going to say girl dinner, but no, that's not right.

Jace: 10:41

I think girl dinner helps you get there, I guess.

Kristelle: 10:45

I don't care what I look like. Like, I don't really care if I don't wear makeup on the show.

Jace: 10:50

So do you hear that mom? Leave her alone. Let her be who she wants to be Beautiful inside and out.

Kristelle: 10:55

Yes, do you do you do that? Like some of my already sisters do that, some of it. I'm like man, it's cool.

Jace: 10:59

Yeah, no, I actually. We talked traditions our last episode and I do have some end of year traditions that I've maintained and they, they shift both consistently for me. At the end of the year, I start reflecting on the past year. I look at areas of grief, maybe things that didn't work out, that I wanted to have happen, or losses that I felt, things that maybe I worked for but didn't come to fruition, just stuff to to keep an eye out for what's underneath the goals and before setting new ones, right. So we talk about the why. A lot right. So I'm I investigate some of that. I also look at my accomplishments, which was really fun to do this year because I had a lot, especially in the professional realm. I had some big things come up this year which was really cool, and I always set an intention for the year.

Jace: 11:46

I don't do resolutions that I don't really do goals per se, but I'll set like a theme for the year and it's usually one big ticket item for me to work through. So this year was stability, you know, gaining that outer stability and security that I have not experienced before and becoming okay with it and coming to terms with it, and all of that. We talked about that in episode 25. And around October I'll start looking at how I have I met my intention for the year. That way I can play catch up if I haven't, and I also start thinking about what I want as my intention for next year, which usually comes out of set, you know, looking at my areas of grief which show me like, oh, here's some things maybe I wanted to happen but didn't, and I can bring them into 2024, as well as my accomplishments, and then what I want to bring in to my life with the new year. And then I'll set one intention to really focus on throughout the year.

Kristelle: 12:40

That's like a playbook that you just wrote.

Jace: 12:43

It's a really, really fun activity.

Kristelle: 12:46

Yeah.

Jace: 12:47

It's a little daunting because it can be a lot, but it's time goes so fast and we forget things. And I don't know about you, but the older I get, the faster time seems to move 100%.

Jace: 12:57

Yeah, and so it's like to pause down and actually look at it all of it. That's something we didn't get to, that I wanted to on episode 25. And we're like talking about the stability and how do you stick with it and think of the future, and the depression comes in and all those things, and like actually looking at the successes along the way is really helpful, and this practice helps me do that. And then I go, oh, I actually can do some shit. It was rock. Next year, I'm way more capable than I gave myself credit for perhaps. Yeah, and I bring that in with me to the new year. What about you?

Kristelle: 13:26

I set a timeframe for myself to really like the next two years obviously grow the company to the goal that we have as an organization, but I really want to just enjoy life as a wife and as a mom.

Kristelle: 13:43

So my son's a sophomore by next year. He's going to be a junior and then he's going to be gone off to college, right, or what he thinks is a gap year or a deferment, kind of waiting it out, trying to see what he wants to do, etc. Which I'm all for, right, yeah, but really just kind of. He just wants to kind of do his own thing, which I think is a great idea and a great opportunity for him. So I kind of want to just enjoy that part of my life, because I don't know how long I'll have it right, yeah, I talk about my custody situation, about how I didn't get to raise Jonathan. That was a painful time, but one of the things I really love is as much of a pain in the ass it can be for some parents, like the teenagers are actually really fun, really difficult, but really fun, oh yeah.

Jace: 14:31

Like I said, no one ever.

Kristelle: 14:32

Yeah, I know right, but he's been. He's been an incredible kid and so I want him to be an incredible adult. So that's why I'm kind of focusing on that. But at the same time, like I guess my career and the next steps with my family and my son are just really what I want to focus on, because I want to be so where I what I realized at the end after we got married, I tried too hard to be a wife and I started like really saying like oh, I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this, I have to do that, and I'm going wait, I don't have to try so hard.

Jace: 15:06

Yeah, who decided this?

Kristelle: 15:07

Yeah, I think it was just the stigma or that expectation. And you know, I also have to tell myself, like what, what do I think is good and what do I think is not good, and and for myself. So I think that's where I'm, you know, and that's why it's helpful to have episodes like this, because I kind of think it through. I'm like, no, no, no, I definitely want to be more focused as a wife and more present as a mom. More present, I think, is the best way, the phrase that I really want to focus on but at the same time, I want this company to be even more successful than it already is.

Jace: 15:38

Yeah.

Kristelle: 15:39

Well stabilizing it.

Jace: 15:40

You've created a team that is quite capable, and so some of that can be delegated, which allows you to be more present and get to have the fruits of your labor over the last nine years.

Kristelle: 15:51

Sure, but it's also now time for the others that have been here for quite some time to enjoy their fruits of their labor too.

Jace: 15:58

It's true, it's tough, it's ongoing. Yeah, I think my 2024 is probably going to be something around finances. That's kind of what keeps coming up as I'm doing my reflections and I had a moment that's like made all of this very clear to me. This is like TMI maybe in my financial situation. But my mom asked me the other day honey, since you know, since you've kind of planned to stay in Albuquerque now for a bit, have you thought about buying a house? To which I just burst into laughter because I kid you not.

Jace: 16:26

Recently I bought two throw blankets at one time and felt very proud of myself, like that was this huge luxury. I was like I couldn't decide between two throw blankets at Ross, so I bought both of them and I was like boom, fancy adulthood. And my mom's like are you thinking of buying a house? I'm like bitch, I barely think about buying stuff for my house, like I think you understand me to be in a very different financial situation than I am currently. So I'm still playing catch up from running my business and supplementing my income through my own, like all you know the things that go into early years of a business and coming back into the working world only in 2022. And so I'm like buy a house. Yeah, I just bought two throw blankets at Ross and was excited about it.

Jace: 17:08

Girl. They're so fluffy and I just got a gift delivered another float throw blanket. There we go. I now have three new throw blankets. I don't want to, I don't want to make anybody feel bad, but it's pretty fancy at my house now that's really bad, every floor is going to have a new throw blanket.

Kristelle: 17:24

Yes, I know I it's okay. From business owner, former business owner to business owner now. I'm just going to say this very out loud I know everybody wants more money.

Jace: 17:36

I want more money.

Kristelle: 17:36

Hey, come on and optics. I may seem like this badass entrepreneur. I'm fucking broke, Just like everybody else Times.

Jace: 17:45

That's the name of the game right now.

Kristelle: 17:47

It's really financially difficult and I hear people that are like I'm going to look for another job to make more money. Not saying you, but I'm just saying in general.

Jace: 17:54

I was like you almost fired me in episode 25. So did I? Did I really you were talking about? Like I can't wait to see you leave the, leave our door. I was like oh, she's like you're like low key, firing me on air.

Kristelle: 18:05

Oh my going. Oh, is this my exit? Is this my swan song? No, Everybody is going to be asking for more money because during, you know, 2020, 2021, it was just like money here, money here, money here, money here and everybody enjoyed it, and I get it, and I understand the challenges that everybody enjoyed out of it all, but at the end of the day, I'm just saying, you know, the economy is not going to be able to maintain what it's currently at right now.

Kristelle: 18:27

Like CR is that is really just keeping everybody afloat, not in a bad way. Like I'm not airing our dirty laundry. Like there's no additional reason for us to hire more people. Right, Keep the team that we have. You know, be loyal to the team that we, we have currently inherited. Like we've had maybe one person leave and that's it in the last 12 months. Like that's great. I would rather reward them than to have somebody come in and be like I want more money for a better job and a better opportunity. I'm like I'm sorry, you even said it best. You're like. You know, Chris, a lot of the people here in this team is actually making sacrifices too. I'm one of them. We all are.

Jace: 19:04

Well, I think something that people who have not been, you know, open with their eyes at the financial level.

Jace: 19:10

So somebody who's run a business or whatever people who've only worked as employees, don't recognize because there's like everybody's bills have gone up, it's expensive, and it's stupidly expensive to live in Albuquerque, and I'm like y'all Albuquerque is supposed to be the place people come when they can't afford to live anywhere else, and I'm like I don't, you're going to have to get a lot cooler.

Jace: 19:25

I love Albuquerque, it's my hometown, but still it's crazy expensive everywhere right now, including here, and so everybody's bills have gone up. That's the truth. But then when we expand that out further, that's true for every business as well, and that means that there's less money to go towards expenses as a business, like hiring a marketing agency, and so cutbacks happen everywhere, and so it's like it's this huge effect that happens all over the place. That is one of the reasons I stopped running a business that trying to hold that harmony between all of the things, so that, yeah, so that you're employing enough people and you're doing it well, so that way you can do all of the work and have that be at a certain quality, yet at the same time, it's that balancing act of the clients can drop in and out at any minute. Like it's hella stressful.

Jace: 20:14

Yeah, I was like when you talked to me about, you asked me like are you sure you want to work for someone else?

Kristelle: 20:21

And I was like I asked you that in your interview. You sure did.

Jace: 20:23

And I in my head, I was like girl you don't even know Like I am so ready to not have that responsibility.

Kristelle: 20:29

And then, when you said that, I said I envy the position that you're in. Like in my head, I envy that right. And I think and Ed even said it best right, he goes. Yes, it was great that we achieved a million dollars, but what I feel like it's that Thanos moment. At what cost did it bring to you? Or like, what was the line Justin here, my fellow nerd when Thanos said what did you have to sacrifice in order to get here? You know what I'm trying to say. What did it cost you? What did it cost you? It cost me everything. That's what Thanos said at the end of Endgame, right?

Jace: 21:03

So are you saying you're a supervillain.

Kristelle: 21:05

I'm saying that I'm purple, just kidding.

Jace: 21:07

Oh.

Kristelle: 21:09

What I'm saying is he illustrated how that percentage of net profit, while we ended at 19 last year, we're only ending at 9%, and for the numbers, people, and that's the NOI right. And so you're like, well, that sucks, but you only got 9%, and agencies are typically in the 15% to 20% out range.

Jace: 21:30

Right, but you also made a huge commitment to raise wages this year.

Kristelle: 21:35

Yeah, because I too was just like why the fuck is my butter? Remember when eggs were $6 a dozen?

Jace: 21:42

What the shit? I bypassed your raised eggs, so they're way more than that.

Kristelle: 21:45

Yeah exactly.

Jace: 21:46

It's like a Trader Joe's. Yeah, exactly. Maintain, I don't know what their egg source is. They're part of some egg cartel, but you can get pasture eggs for $5.

Kristelle: 21:53

It doesn't really mean OK. So you're talking about eggs and then Justin's eating a damn uncrustable and I'm like I'm hungry here.

Jace: 21:59

Right.

Kristelle: 22:00

This is not fair and shit's expensive, but no.

Jace: 22:04

I get that. I was like, if it helps, I can tell you what goes on for factory farmed eggs and that'll kill your appetite real quick. Am I right? Vegan? Yeah, this dude has some shit figured out.

Kristelle: 22:17

But going back to the beginning of the end, right? So I appreciate how my fellow business owners are out here talking about how great of a year that they are having more power to you, but there's also those business owners that are like this was a very tough financial year and I don't know if I'm going to make it in 2024. I hear you, I see you, I feel you. It is what it is. This is the nature of the economy that we're in.

Jace: 22:42

It's true, and I will throw it because I'm kind of the weirdo in the room when somebody talks about oh, my business failed or I got divorced or I just got fired. I'm always like hooray, and I feel really excited for people when that happens. I love endings Because I believe everything's a win-win. I think that I believe in a benevolent universe that's aligned with our best and highest good at all times, even if it doesn't feel like it and it's a mystery, but I really do believe that that, given enough time, all things align for our best and highest good. And so when someone has the universe do something for them, perhaps, which they could not do themselves, it opens them up for a new beginning that is more aligned with who they are today.

Jace: 23:24

And so, even though they're super hard and they're scary and I'm all for grieving and going through the process I love when people come to endings, and my mom taught us something all the time growing up. She would always say, when we would be in a tough moment, like I can't wait to see what good will come from this, she encouraged us to affirm that, to just affirm the good, and I can't wait to get excited about it. I can't wait to see what good will come from this and to hold that mentality, not Pollyanna style of pretending it's not tough. You got to do all the feels, pollyanna.

Jace: 23:56

But to also oh yeah, back in the day, youngsters, look it up. Oh god, I just said youngsters. I think we've hit an ending for me and it's called my youth. That's done now. Sorry, halby. Yeah, just to get excited about endings, recognizing there's a new beginning at the turn of all of them.

Kristelle: 24:14

Yeah, yeah. Well, I remember when my son not to talk about his private he was going through a tough time. It was a breakup. Oh well, then he's 15. He was 15 when it happened. Those are some of the worst heartbreaks.

Kristelle: 24:27

Those are early ones, the early ones, because that really sets the tone of confidence for you or for yourself. And so when he was in a shitty state of mind, I was just telling him onward and upward, bud, or look at what exciting opportunities you might have. And I told him I've had multiple heartbreaks, multiple heartbreaks before my husband, and those heartbreaks always become a new beginning. In fact I was using the Xs as mile markers in my life, Like US presidents. You just remember history by US presidents. I remember what had happened by ex-boyfriends.

Jace: 25:07

I always joke that my life's a whole lot like the Bible. There's a man's name at the top of every chapter.

Kristelle: 25:13

Such a good one. Can we put that in the trailer, damn. Anyways, it's totally true and I'll never forget. I think I told this story once about how a gal, professionally, did I tell you that?

Jace: 25:26

story on the podcast, I know, you've only said four words of it. Oh, ok, a gal professionally A gal professionally.

Kristelle: 25:31

She got a divorce Because when I saw her and I met up with her in one of the professional Albuquerque events, she changed her last name and her last name was a very distinct last name. And then it changed and I said, oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were. It was like a if I say it, I remember who it is. And so I said and she goes, no, I actually got a divorce and the first thing that came out of my mouth was congratulations.

Jace: 25:53

Yes.

Kristelle: 25:54

Yeah, I love it, we did.

Jace: 25:55

We talked about this on the failure episode, episode number two.

Kristelle: 25:57

Episode number two.

Jace: 25:58

Throwback Friday I felt like such an asshole.

Kristelle: 26:02

And I even told another friend of mine who just recently got divorced. I said I know it's really fresh, but just know that in my head I'm saying congratulations to you Because I know this is a new beginning and it's all going to be onward and upward from here, and that's the beauty of the end of one chapter is the beginning of a next.

Jace: 26:19

I had the best analogy for this placed in front of me last week or a couple weeks ago, when I was really struggling with grief and I was talking to someone who recently went through losing a pup and I was like what'd you do? Like how do you get through it? I know it, I know I'll get through it, I know that, I know that grief is not a straight line and it's a process and it comes up at very inconvenient times and all the things. But I was like what advice do you have? How did you get through it? Because I just can't imagine my life without Charlie. I've never had an adult life without Charlie, so I can't visibly see it, and that makes things really hard for me. So I said, how did you do it?

Jace: 26:56

And I was talking about that and how? Like I just I can't visualize the next chapter. And he was like it's like Super Mario Brothers, where and I'm like, okay, please continue, how is my sadness like Super Mario Brothers? But he was talking about how you go through the level and you're in the water and you think that's life because you're surrounded by it, and then you complete the level and all of a sudden you're in a totally new world that doesn't look anything like water anymore, but you're still you and you still bring all your coins and everything that you gained in your lives and whatnot from the last one, and then you move on in a world that looks completely different and yet you're still the same, and I'm like that's weird and yet wildly comforting. It was a game changer for me, and so now when I'm like struggling.

Kristelle: 27:45

Was that intentionally a pun? It's a game changer for you.

Jace: 27:48

Damn it, it's happening involuntarily now, so I'm gonna still take credit for it, but no, I did not catch that. It's pretty good, though. Yeah, it's pretty good, though, but when now I'm struggling, he just tells me, he just says you're not in the water level anymore, and it like is really comforting. And so now I think about beginnings and endings. It's like it's just a moving on, it's just a new level. Yeah, nothing has actually ended.

Kristelle: 28:14

While we wrap up season one so beautifully, with the many lives that have come across that we've talked about in this podcast. Really quickly, 30 seconds, give me what you are grateful for for 2023 and what you're hopeful for 2024.

Jace: 28:32

I am most grateful for the people in my life.

Kristelle: 28:35

They have brought me through you took my week and both be grateful for people.

Jace: 28:40

More than ever. They brought me through the tough times. They lifted me up in my high, my great times. They, like my people, were the example of my success this year. Yeah, of all the work I've put into being a person that has these types of relationships and supporting them myself, right. So that's definitely the big one. And what was the other one I'm looking for for 2024. Yes, thriving, my foundation is set. My stability is set. I am a capable, adult human person, upward and onward. Like you said, I see 2024 as a real, like upward growth year for me. That's exciting.

Kristelle: 29:13

2023 was same thing People, the people around me, the company, the staff, the, my family, all of my family. You know the wedding was really that precursor of, of or that, that it painted the picture of the people we love so so dearly friends, family, colleagues, it was just a. It was a beautiful mix of people. So the people I'm very grateful for in 2023, 2024, fucking crushing it.

Kristelle: 29:43

I'm so excited to see what is entail, like some of the clients that we currently have have just been really just doing so good in their business, considering all the challenges of last year and financial you know, financial changes in our economy and then the new ones that we just recently brought on. It's just we were I was talking to them on the way over here. I'm going. This is going to be a really fun project, right. So 2024, I think it's just going to be a year just crushing it, and you know we can always crush it with just maintaining this, that excitement of stability. Those words are not often used interchangeably, but I am. I'm very excited for the stability this company is going to have and I'm excited for the new challenges that we're going to face.

Jace: 30:29

So 2024 is going to be a great year, so stability is far sexier than people think it is.

Kristelle: 30:36

Last words from Jace for 2023. Thank you all so much for a phenomenal season. Season one has been such a joy. Thank you for seeing the good, the bad, the ugly of producing a podcast together, but, most importantly, thank you. Thank you for listening. You're the reason why we are constantly producing these really phenomenal shows. My thanks to Jace, my thanks to Justin and, most importantly, thanks to the entire team at CRS for letting us do this for story, success and stuff. We are looking for guests, we're looking for commentary. We're looking for more involvement from you, the listener, for season two. So if you want to subscribe, don't forget to visit CRScom, don't forget to also like us, share us on your favorite social media channel and, most importantly, thank you for being a great listener of stories, success and stuff. Season one. Have a good one.