Baseball, Business, and Middle School with Decklan Murphy

Recall the whirlwind of emotions that came with starting middle school? My grandson, Decklan Murphy, stops by the Good Neighbor podcast to recount the thrills and challenges of his fifth-grade year at Walton Verona Middle School. It's not just another "kids these days" talk; Decklan's experiences shed light on the unexpected camaraderie found in the hallways, the dissipating fears of intimidation, and the surprising kindness of older students. His candidness is a breath of fresh air, reminding us that while the schoolyard may have changed, the journey through it is as poignant as ever.

Beyond the classroom, Decklan swings into his love for baseball and his aspirations that might just give Shark Tank a run for its money. As the Bearcats' infielder coached by his dad, he shares the joys of sport and teamwork. But it doesn't end with baseball; this young entrepreneur-to-be has his eyes set on the family business and a unique venture in the medical field, hoping to provide care at races and events. Our conversation travels from locker room dynamics to the budding business acumen celebrated at Young Entrepreneur Saturday, proving that no matter the age, ambition knows no bounds. Join us for an episode that's a home run in inspiration, showcasing that dreams are ageless and the entrepreneurial spirit can strike early.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, mike Murphy. Thank you, charlie. Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Neighbor podcast. With me today is a very special guest. He is my grandson, declan Declan. Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast. Tell us a little something about yourself. What do you want the listeners to know about Declan Murphy?

Speaker 2: 0:35

Well, thank you for having me. A little bit to know about myself is I am 11 years old and I go to Walton Verona Middle School and I'm in fifth grade, and I am currently halfway through the school year and I'm loving fifth grade.

Speaker 1: 0:55

So, if I recall fifth grade, that's the first year of middle school, right? Yeah, you said you're in middle school now. Yeah, I'm in middle school, Because in my day sixth grade was middle school, so how do you feel about being the youngest grade in a big school like that?

Speaker 2: 1:14

People think that like, oh, that must be scary, that must be hard with all them high schoolers. They don't really talk to you as much as you think. They're more like, um, weird about their stuff and you're weird about yours, and you have the sixth grade lockers above yours and then you have the bottom lockers in fifth grade. So basically, at the end of the day you're all really sane and everybody's getting their stuff. Nobody's paying attention. It's not as much bullying as you think, but people would think a lot of high schoolers would be picking on them. But it's not like that. They're actually really nice and don't really talk.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Okay, Well. So yeah, I was afraid that you would be intimidated to be one of the younger kids in the school, but it sounds to me like everything's going fine for you. Yeah, Okay, when you're not in class, what do you do for like extracurricular activities? Do you have any after school activities or play any sports?

Speaker 2: 2:15

So on Fridays we have clubs, but they're in school, so I have board game club and it is really fun. But besides that I do play baseball. I've been playing for seven years and I am a third baseman or a second baseman and our team is the Bearcats and my dad is the main coach and I just love playing the game.

Speaker 1: 2:44

Well, I've had fun watching you play baseball through the years. You know, once upon a time it was frustrating because nobody on your team could catch, throw, hit the ball or do anything. They were playing in the dirt Right exactly. But this last season I was really, I have to say, very, very pleasantly surprised because, kind of lost, yeah Right.

Speaker 1: 3:10

You've done well, so it's actually fun to go and watch you play, so I can't wait to see you play this summer. So let's see. Normally I'm talking to business owners on this podcast. You're obviously not a business owner, but I just have to wonder if you could, if you see yourself in the future as an adult owning a business, what do you think that would be?

Speaker 2: 3:38

Definitely taking over my dad's business would be one of them, mark Brothers flooring. He does flooring stuff and I really don't know what he does, but I would like to do that. But also, if I wanted to start my own business I started it I would do something, maybe that. Maybe a little travel medical team, because I love medical stuff like I like watching Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy and stuff like that, so I love a lot of medical stuff. So I would love to have like a travel medical medicine team who, like they go to all these races and all these like dirt tracks and people who like fall off or get hurt. We would assist them and stuff like that. That would be really cool.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Well, I was today years old when I found out that little tidbit about you. I had no idea that that's something that interested you. Well, I guess that's one reason why we're doing this podcast, huh. So you do have some business experience, because We'll recall the past two years, a special day that we've held here in the Triple Crown subdivision called yes Day Young Entrepreneur Saturday. So each of the last two years you've participated with a friend, you have set up a business at this event and you've provided a service or a product to other kids in the community and you've had a lot of fun doing it. You've done it for two years. What were the actual businesses that you had on yes?

Speaker 2: 5:25

Day. So the first business I had it was a bacon bite, which is we had banana bread, lemon bread, cake pops and I think we had chocolate chip cookies and brownies. That was a good one. But since it's in July, a lot of stuff melted and it was really frustrating because there was stuff melting. People like I want my money. Everything was. It was a complete mess. We drove home with the leftover cake pops we had. They were all melting in my hand. I was like stop this madness.

Speaker 2: 6:08

But in the second year we went back and it was much better, a little bit cooler, still really hot out, but we had we did root beer floats and that was one of my favorites because we got like maybe three, two liters of root beer and basically just like put it all in a cooler and the ice cream and made our own little root beer floats and they're really good. Like we tried some and they were really good. A lot of people came up to our booth and bought some and at the end we ended up making like 70 something bucks and like it's really fun and so far in other people's businesses too, like there's a lot of little kids that put in the effort to like paint these little things or make little bracelets, and I think it's really cute that they do that and it's really fun to go around and buy some stuff from these kids.

Speaker 1: 7:08

It is a lot of fun seeing what ideas kids come up with and then being able to support them by encouraging them to Take chances and to learn about business. You don't know till you try, and I think that that's one of the things that you've learned about. Cakepop business in the summer, yeah, the, the sun can, the heat and the sun can be a real challenge when you've got baked goods on the table, chocolate especially, yeah. So, yeah, boy, the the root beer floats turned out way better. That was, that was a great idea. So that's that's the benefits of trying different things is you gain experience along the way and you know what works and what doesn't, so it just makes things better moving forward.

Speaker 2: 7:55

And I have no clue what I want to do for Next July when we do it again. I don't know what to do. My friend Luke. He was doing pizzas and I thought that was a lot for that hot day. So I really don't know what I want to do next time. I was thinking maybe doing bracelets, because that was a really cool idea.

Speaker 1: 8:16

So Maybe this year every kid Will be doing Rupert floats.

Speaker 2: 8:22

Probably I copied off my friends my friend Luke that one year, which it wasn't really copying. I just thought it was a good idea, so I did it, yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Yeah, everybody wants something cold and refreshing when it's when it's hot. And yes, and it was easy to do so, there's your business experience. I mean, you have been a business owner for a day at a time. Yeah, so yeah, and I'm looking forward to this year's too. So. So here's a question out of left field. I know you're only 11, but so far, what makes you happy in life?

Speaker 2: 8:56

Um, stuff that makes me happy is I know this sounds like a lot of kid these days it's like oh, mom, I stub my toe because you're always on that phone. Mom, I broke my leg. It's always because you're on that phone. Um, I, I do like my family to play a bunch of games and just like talk to my friends and stuff. I also love my Xbox because I can play fortnight in called duty and stuff like that. Um, but besides electronics, I really just like hanging out with my friends going into the woods and exploring. I love hiking and exploring the woods. I love Going to the lake with her at our lake house and swimming and boating. Those are what those are good times.

Speaker 1: 9:43

Well, I can tell one thing, just based on that Last minute. I can tell you lead a much more exciting life than I do, so good for you. So then, conversely, what? What makes you sad? What bombs you out in life?

Speaker 2: 10:00

What makes me really sad in life is when, um, I see other people getting bullied, when, like, I watch, um, like other people on tv shows, or even though it's not real, it still makes me sad. Or like darman videos that, like they, make me really sad because I hate watching other people get picked On. So I kind of like go up and stand by them because I'm like no, I don't want to say I'm this popular big kid in school, but like I'm four, nine, but I'm still like I don't know, I, I still feel like I can stand up for someone, even though I'm short, I'm, it may be a five foot tall person being picked on, but I'm still going to go stand up for them because that's the right thing to do.

Speaker 1: 10:44

Right, yeah, doesn't matter how big or small anyone is, they can always stand up for others and do the right thing. So, yeah, well, good for you, I'm proud of you. So another out of left field question If you could go anywhere in the world right now Money's not an option or not a not a problem when would you go?

Speaker 2: 11:06

I would get to Hawaii Because I would like to see the volcanoes from the ocean and um, also, one thing that not everybody knows about me is my favorite animal is a dolphin, I don't know why. So they have like these places in Hawaii, on the in Hawaii, maybe in forta, but there's like, um, a little part in like an aquarium and it's like really big, it's like a pool, it's like an ocean pool and it like goes out and you get to swim with dolphins and like hang on to their fans and stuff, and I've always wanted to do that. It's so cool. I've always wanted to go hang out and play with dolphins because they're Really really smart and I always wanted to, like you know, play with one. So okay.

Speaker 1: 11:48

Well, so far I've asked you a lot of questions and I just kind of wonder if you have any questions for me. Is there anything that you'd like to know about me that we never talk about, or just something off the top of your head right now?

Speaker 2: 12:10

I don't know, it's a hard one. Oh yeah, you've never told me this. What sports did you play when you were my age?

Speaker 1: 12:22

Starts with a B runs with ace ball, Just like you.

Speaker 2: 12:25

You played baseball.

Speaker 1: 12:27

I played second base. So I think every baseball player, when you're in the game long enough, you kind of have a natural position that you gravitate towards, that you just kind of play just like almost like you've always played that position and for me second base was my thing.

Speaker 2: 12:51

Mine was shortstop for the longest time and people always tell me like you should be first, because I am a lefty and I have loved the number 16 for my whole life, ever since I was in T-ball. Well, I found out, maybe when I was like six or seven or maybe eight, that that was Jolie Vadas number and I was like, oh, that's so cool, I didn't even know. And they're like you should play first base just like him, because you're a lefty and that makes it even better. And I'm like, yeah, I do not like first base and it's not my favorite, and I've been playing shortstop for the longest time until I'm a smaller dude. So I'm not, I don't have a really stronger arm and that's why I know this sounds so weird, but I can't get it in to first base from short stop, but I can get it in from third base. It's so weird, I don't know like dynamics or something, but I've been playing third half of last season and practicing third this season. So, yeah, I've really liked third and I just like it.

Speaker 1: 14:01

Well, you're not always going to be four foot nine. Trust me, that's going to change very quickly and you're not going to have any trouble getting the ball to home plate, no matter what position you're at before you know it, and I'm looking forward to just spending the summer with you watching you play baseball. And now you understand why I like watching you play, because, yeah, I played it myself. There's no way I could do it these days, so I have to watch you do it. That's one of the fun things about being a grandpa.

Speaker 2: 14:36

You would be running to home and you would hear like a thousand cracks.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Yep, snap, crackle and pop. Yeah, just like every day I get out of bed. It's like it's hard on you every day. So well, let's just leave it at that right now, because I can tell right now you're a natural and you're going to enjoy doing occasional podcasts with me and it's one way we can learn more about each other and just have fun, something fun to look back on through the years. So thanks for being my guest, very welcome. You did a great job. You did better than me, so maybe you'll just take over this podcast someday.

Speaker 2: 15:18

Maybe I'll be the next show Rogan.

Speaker 1: 15:21

Well, let's not get carried away. Well, thanks for being my guest and to all the listeners out there, whoever you are, I just want to remind you we are the Good Neighbor podcast, so be good to your neighbors and until next time we'll see you. Bye-bye.

Speaker 2: 15:38

Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Union. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPunioncom. That's GNPunioncom. We'll call you soon.