Maria Romano, Las Vegas Wedding Officiant, Speaker, and Coach

Maria Romano is in the "Love Business", but the skills she teaches apply to more than just those looking for romance. We're talking Leadership Riz, Y'all!

Much like you're told to put your own oxygen mask on first when you fly, she emphasizes that you need to take care of Yourself first. How we start our day is a choice, and Maria gives us tips on how to begin each day on a positive note. 

Before becoming a wedding officiant, Maria spent 35 years in the rental car industry. How she found the wedding industry is a fun story! Today, she not only officiates around 100 wedding ceremonies each month, she also trains others on getting ordained, coaches newly single people in how to put themselves back out there, and translates these soft skills for businesses and corporations looking to develop employees.

We had a fascinating conversation on Leap Day this year, which apparently is a very popular day to get married! She described multiple ceremonies, including helicopter rides for 2 of the couples that day! This calls for Champagne!

To learn more or connect with Maria: https://trueloveknots.com/
on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truelove.knots/
on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maria.romano.9212

Maverick Helicopter Tours: https://www.maverickhelicopter.com/

Brendon Burchard's Growth Day: https://www.growthday.com/

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Transcript

Maria Romano

[00:00:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Maria Romano is in the love business. But the skills she teaches apply to more than just those looking for romance. We're talking about Leadership Rizz, y'all. Much like you're told to put on your own oxygen mask first when you fly, she emphasizes that you need to take care of yourself first in any relationship.

[00:00:55] How we start our day is a choice, and Maria gives us tips on how to begin each day on a positive note. Before becoming a wedding officiant, Maria spent 35 years in the car rental industry. Today, she not only officiates around 100 wedding ceremonies each month, she also trains others on getting ordained.

[00:01:14] She coaches newly single people and how to put themselves back out there and translates these soft skills for businesses and corporations looking to develop employees. We had a fascinating conversation on leap day this year, which apparently is a very popular day to get married. She described multiple ceremonies, including helicopter rides for two of the couples that day! That calls for Champagne!

[00:01:37] Here is Maria Romano. hi, Maria. Thank you so much for joining me today. 

[00:01:44] Maria Romano: Well, good morning and thank you for having me, Penny. 

[00:01:47] Penny Fitzgerald: You are in Las Vegas, 

[00:01:49] Maria Romano: correct?

[00:01:50] Yes. And, uh, yes, I've been here. Actually, I'm a transplant, Penny, from New York. I'm from the Bronx originally. So once in a while, you're going to hear a little bit of my dialect come out. I'll speak Bronx for your listeners. I love it. But, uh Yeah, so I've been here since 1976 and oh, gosh, so many, so, so many changes.

[00:02:13] Yeah, 

[00:02:13] Penny Fitzgerald: for sure. Well, and you, you may hear some of my, um, upper Midwest come out too, I ope every now and then long O's from, uh, Northern Iowa days. 

[00:02:25] Maria Romano: I know it's going to say you're from, I would go back and forth to Iowa, right? Yeah, 

[00:02:28] Penny Fitzgerald: I do. I do. Yeah. So Maria, tell, tell us a little bit about you. What, what do you do?

[00:02:34] Maria Romano: Well, actually, you know, it's interesting. What do you do? Right? That's an interesting as we evolve through life. Well, 1st of all, 1 thing I just started thinking about this is I'm doing life on my terms as. Think that's very important as we hit a certain stage in our life. Good for you that we're doing because we're so busy.

[00:02:58] As you know, uh, we start off right where we're under the care of our caregivers, whether it's our parents or another family member, whomever. So we're running a structure and we're going to school and we're learning. And then we go on into our professional world and maybe we're fortunate enough. We meet somebody and we're married and we have children and everything evolves.

[00:03:18] And what happens is, is we put ourselves.

[00:03:20] on the back seat. On the back burner. It's almost like we treat ourselves like a stepchild, and I feel that as we, as women and more so women, not men, men are now starting to feel this as well, because a lot of men are also getting involved in their children's lives or their parents lives, and whether they're taking care of and their professional life as well, and their communities that we really need to take care of ourselves and what I, one thing is, is I, yeah.

[00:03:49] I, first of all, what I do is I take care of myself first and it took me many 60 plus plus plus plus plus. Okay. So, probably most of your listeners are a lot younger than me. I am 68 and it's important that you really work on feeling good about yourself. So, in the morning, my, I do me and then. But then my day is I do the things that I love, you know, I spent over 35 years in the rental car industry.

[00:04:18] That's where I met my late husband, Frank. I'm a widow for those of you that are listening. I've been a widow for 11 years and actually my late husband had a heart transplant. In 1997. Yes. A heart transplant. Oh my God. And he lived 15 years post transplant. How he had some great years. He was very fortunate.

[00:04:40] However, towards the latter part of his life, it was brutal for him. Oxygen wheelchair, a lot of me. And what happens is the medicines that you're taking. So that you don't reject that organ is really what takes a toll on the body today. Fortunately, medicine has come even further for those people out there that might eventually need something a new organ.

[00:05:05] And, you know, with that, um. I stayed in the rental car industry, but I never loved it. I mean, I never loved what I did. And in 2009, uh, one of my friends got married over at the Las Vegas country club. And I saw this woman, she actually was performing the wedding ceremony. He said, no, I would like to do that.

[00:05:25] I really like to do that. And I embarked on that journey. And in 2010. I actually got my license to perform wedding ceremonies in the state of Nevada and Nevada was really difficult because Nevada has some funky laws. Then you had to be affiliated with the religious organization. You can get ordained online.

[00:05:49] So I got my ordination. It's changed now. It's a lot easier. And I went out and I put together a mock wedding ceremony in my backyard with the CD. Yes, we did use. CDs. And before that I know what VH A tapes are and cassettes. And I went out and I pounded the pavement. Crickets. Crickets, crickets, crickets. Oh wow.

[00:06:11] And I was looking for somebody to teach me, and it was trial and error. It was not an easy journey. But hence 14 years later, I. Love what I do. I probably perform about a hundred ceremonies a month, more or less. Oh my goodness. Yes, it's Las Vegas, but you have to remember market and it's not a five minute ceremony.

[00:06:35] I only work with clients. I have a few clients that I work with because I want to be able to give my couple something that is memorable. I mean, it's the trajectory, it's the kickoff of your special day. So I actually transitioned. From being in the rental car industry, I was president of our company transitioned to becoming a wedding officiant, but I also now coach people how to do this.

[00:06:57] Wow. And in my journey, even further, when I lost my late husband and got back in the dating world, a couple of years after that, I realized getting back in the dating world. So we have listeners out there that are dating. First of all, I marry lots of people. They meet online, they meet in all different places.

[00:07:16] You'll find someone. It's a matter of being patient, but I talk to people about finding love. So I love what I do. I'm in the love business in all respects. 

[00:07:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Start to finish. That 

[00:07:28] Maria Romano: was long, but I wanted you to hear this because I think that your community of people that listen to you, and especially if it's women and they're men too, you know, there's a time in life when you, you look into Maybe do something that you love.

[00:07:42] And actually when you do is when you're actually, you're paid for that and you love it. 

[00:07:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Yeah. You know, it's, it sounds like a very joyful career and choice. Um, and love, love that. And. You are speaking my language basically, because I feel too like women, we take on responsibilities. We just put one foot in front of the other.

[00:08:04] We raise our family. We do our jobs. We go to work. We, you know, do what we have to do. And we lose a little bit of our joy or our spark along the way. And, you know, when you, when you really come to the realization that, you know, what you do. Day to day has to bring you joy, um, that's so important 

[00:08:25] Maria Romano: and you know, yourself, you do that as well.

[00:08:29] I think that you said that you can hit the nail on the head. It's not so much about being happy. It's being joyful and finding peace. Yes. Those are two things that are so important in life when you think about, and time, time as we get older. Right. Right. Today we're recording this. It is leap day and this is one extra fabulous day a year.

[00:08:53] We'll only get this four years. So yeah. 

[00:08:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Take advantage of it. Yeah. Absolutely. We don't have time for stupid things. Maria, you mentioned you start your morning with me time. What does that look like for you? What do you do? 

[00:09:08] Maria Romano: Well, in the morning, the first thing I do is I open my eyes. I feel great and say, thank you, God. I feel good. My sciatica is not bothering me. No, actually in the morning, uh, when I start off, I do, I pray and I meditate just for a couple of minutes.

[00:09:25] I would love to have more time and spend more time meditating, but my days sometimes doesn't work that way. And I have two dogs, we have another redhead in the house and I have a little, a black and white, a Maltese Shih Tzu. So they like to get up early and you know what? I have to tend to them. And even in the morning, I have my coffee and I actually, I listened to a couple of apps.

[00:09:48] I don't know if anybody's familiar with Brendan Burchard growth day, but sometimes we need a push. And one thing that I've learned too, is especially because I am single, you don't have that partner there to more or less, you can bounce off of and talk to and you're, and that kind of pushes you. So I've, you have to learn how to motivate yourself and have conversations with yourself that are positive.

[00:10:11] So if I have a negative thought in the morning, I'd Stop and say, okay, let's not start the day this way. Let's rewind and go back. That's the first thing. And I exercise. So before I got on the podcast, I spent 30 minutes of exercising. I have a, um, uh, app I download. I go through that and the dogs were looking at me like, when are you taking me to the park?

[00:10:32] I said, penny we'll go to the park, but that's my day. And then today, so today, since it's a leap day, right? Busy day. I'm gonna share with your listeners. 'cause I, I love what I do. I, I have a client that I'm coaching at nine o'clock and she is almost ready to get out there and start to, oh, get weddings, which is a great, you know, it, it's something wonderful.

[00:10:56] She, again, is transitioning from one career to another. Mm-Hmm. . And after that I go over to Maverick Helicopters. I jump on a helicopter for your listeners. Oh, how fun. Go to the Red Rock Canyon about. 20 miles out, land there, perform a wedding ceremony, come back, a break. I go with Maverick again to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, marry another couple.

[00:11:21] After that, then I go to one of the chapels that I work with and I do three ceremonies. So my day will end about 9 30 tonight. Well, I love it. I love it. I love it. I pack power food too. 

[00:11:40] Penny Fitzgerald: So proteins and veggies 

[00:11:42] Maria Romano: and yeah, well today it'll be just probably lots of tuna fish that I take crackers, but something easy because you have to remember when you're, you don't have a refrigerator, you want something that you can open up those little deli packs.

[00:11:54] But, but I think that's the key thing. And you're talking about what you did, what you eat. Okay. And what you put in your body really so important and I love, I mean, I love a great cocktail. I love wine, but I don't overindulge. And moderation. 

[00:12:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. I feel like the older I get to, it's not as easy to, you don't want to feel like you've you're weighted down by anything really.

[00:12:21] Maria Romano: You're right. Food or beverages. You don't mind getting a little tipsy, but you know what, there's a point in life that you just decide, you know, I want to wake up feeling good in the morning and everybody metabolizes food and what they drink differently. 

[00:12:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So meditation, you mentioned meditation.

[00:12:41] I, I love that too. Do you agree that I feel like it helps me focus on what's in front of me so that I have the mental capacity or the, um, ability to be present and to give my time to someone and, and be in front of, you know, like us speaking together. It's so important that I not be thinking about, what's You know, what I've got to do next and all of the things.

[00:13:06] So do you find meditation helps you in that way as well? 

[00:13:10] Maria Romano: It does. It keeps me grounded. And you know what? Throughout the day I'll say, Hey, stop focusing on having your mind go in 50 different directions, especially when I have a couple in front of me or performing a ceremony because I've done so many.

[00:13:23] And you try not to sound automatic. I think that's the key thing. So I really try to stay focused. This is the first time this couple's hearing my ceremony, but you know, you mentioned something about meditation and it's interesting. I just listened to another podcast and what they were talking about, because now we're pretty much way past the COVID situation where we were all hibernating, what ends.

[00:13:47] So this is statistics. Now I'm only quoting you what I heard. First of all, there are over a million users. That actually Netflix, let me preface this again. Netflix is down over a million users, which means people are not watching the binging as much and meditation apps. Are down by 30%. Really? So, yeah, which is interesting.

[00:14:09] So what that is saying is that the way the world is, going back to this instant gratification, entertain me every four seconds, as you know, when they do on tv, when you're watching a frame, a scene every three or four seconds so quick. It's changing. It's so quick to keep you interested. So I think that those people that like yourself, like me, that really recognize the importance, whether it's.

[00:14:33] Gratitude in the morning, whatever type of meditation works for you, listening to music. Oh, and I listened to bird sounds. I will tell Alexa, bird sounds because bird sounds statistically will make you feel better. The University of Austin, Texas did a study will actually help you feel happier for eight hours during the day.

[00:14:55] A minute. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So that's one thing. If I'm meditating, I will ask them to play birds now, so, or you can find it, but they, and think about if your meditation app, some of them are, they do have background, but so I think that meditation is something that really needs to be put into practice, whatever meditation look and it doesn't have to be long.

[00:15:17] It doesn't have to be a half an hour. No. Five minutes. It could be three minutes. 

[00:15:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just start every day with just a three minute, even if you have a journal or a notebook near, near your bed, wake up and write three things I'm grateful for every morning. 

[00:15:32] Maria Romano: Oh, absolutely. And you know what?

[00:15:34] That journaling, I finally, I finally grew up and started doing that a year ago. And make a difference in a couple of times where I've been trying to figure out something about maybe a talk. I want to give, or what do you want to say? All of a sudden I wake up and I write it down. It's like, oh, my God, had I not written it down, I would have been wracking my brains out the next morning.

[00:15:56] So, yeah, it's been a great tool. Yeah, we get 

[00:15:58] Penny Fitzgerald: so busy. It's, it's easy to forget the things that we. That come to us like that little moments like that, that are inspiring. It's nice to write them down or have some kind of tool to keep track of them. That's right. So, okay. So getting back to your day, how fun is that?

[00:16:16] So you, do you often get in a helicopter to go to your 

[00:16:20] Maria Romano: ceremonies? Uh, well, it just depends upon the client and what their needs are, uh, because I'm. Because I already have, like I said, I have 4 clients. So that's 2 clients that I'm working with. So I really am particular with who I work with. So, on the Grand Canyon, I plan them out.

[00:16:37] And yeah, sometimes we go and it's 118 degrees. Oh, gosh. It's a little hot, you know, but it just depends. Some months I'll fly with them, you know, 9 times and some months, 2 months. On January 1st, which, um, I Was a great day here, January one. And I was, I had quite a few weddings at one chapel. Then I went to Maverick and I did four Strip weddings.

[00:17:03] So I actually, every 40 minutes, I can't, it was a 10 to 15 minute flight. We married them in the year over the Strip. It's absolutely magnificent. Oh my goodness. Up and down four times and you just never know. You just never know what's going to happen. 

[00:17:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, it's a ceremony in the air in the helicopter.

[00:17:21] Maria Romano: Now, that one is a little different. And the reason is, is when we go to when we go to the Grand Canyon or Valley of Fire, we fly there or Red Rock, you land and you perform the ceremony, which is great. And you have time. However, in the air it's, you're in the year for about 10 minutes, 11 minutes. So that ceremony is shortened to about four or five because everybody's going up in the helicopter and going, Ooh, look at the lights, you know, concentrating on the officiate.

[00:17:50] They're like, wow, this is cool. But marriage is secondary. And then they get off and they realize we were married too. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And it's a little noisy because you're wearing headsets. Uh huh. You speak, you know, with the microphone, otherwise you can't hear. Right. But I have to tell you, the scope of Las Vegas has changed so much with the Sphere now that opened up.

[00:18:11] Yes. I mean, you look down Penny, it's absolutely amazing. If any of your listeners come to Vegas, just take the helicopter tour. It is absolutely beautiful at night. Just wow. 

[00:18:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I would, I would love that personally. 

[00:18:27] Maria Romano: Tell your husband, yeah, let's go get you hooked up. I'll get you a discount.

[00:18:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Um, well, I can, I can see you light up when you talk about what you do and you've been doing this since you said 2010, is that 

[00:18:43] Maria Romano: right? 2010 weddings and then in 2000..., 15, 16 is when I started also adding, um, my speaking to my portfolio and getting out there. Speaking, which is great because when you're performing a wedding ceremony, you're in front of a couple, a crowd, you have to learn how to deal with several microphones, several situations, control.

[00:19:10] So the public speaking gets easier and easier and easier. And then I, um. Did find some great coaches. I started working with them and working on my craft of speaking. So that makes a difference. And 1 thing I did learn is you just don't get up there and speak. There is an actual formulary of what you're going to share because you want the audience to, you know, engage with you and come away valuable.

[00:19:34] They're giving you their time, which is valuable, right? You're putting together something that's important for them. So I started on the trajectory of talking to people about getting back in the dating world. And especially since dating apps are so prevalent. And even though I know you're married for many years, it is different if you were to ever get back into the dating world than it was because people just, we don't sit at bars and which, you know, you need to either.

[00:20:01] Maybe golf quite a bit, but get out there and put and put yourself out there and we're vulnerable. I mean, vulnerability. Okay. It's like, Oh my gosh, how do I compete? Everybody looks better. We get this. So what I did, I started talking to men and women. About really how to, you know, overcome those challenges and just giving them tips.

[00:20:24] And just like what we're talking about, you know, meditation and focusing, you know, we all have wonderful, unique qualities about ourselves that we can offer a person. So we don't have to be somebody that's on, you know, GQ magazine or glamour that we all have something. Think so that I realized that we need that.

[00:20:43] Some people just need that little push. So I give them the tools on how to set themselves up online, maybe help them with the first date or what to say. I'm not there to, to, to coach them forever because they need to get back out there themselves. I can't do it for them. Right. Yeah. And then I talk about find love in the workplace because of what's happened.

[00:21:07] We have lost touch with communication, especially post. COVID. And also I'm from the hospitality industry and I see this wherever I go because in Las Vegas we're a big hospitality city. And because you had so many people that quietly have, they called this the great resignation that we're going on to think they're quitting and they think they can stay at home.

[00:21:32] There's a quick fix and I can just go on my app and you know, make money while nothing is that easy. No. Aw. Thank you. So I talked about also, uh, getting, when you're back into working with the team and being able to foster great relationships and leading with kindness, I don't know if anybody out here has had anyone that they work with.

[00:21:55] They said, oh, my God, how did they ever get to this position? Right? It's 

[00:21:59] Penny Fitzgerald: exactly the skills that you're teaching, the, the things that you're saying are very. Applicable to anything because it's all about relationships, I feel, and not just, you know, a dating relationship or romantic relationship, but the, the workplace you spoke of, uh, and like starting something new, everybody's afraid to not everybody, but it's a kind of a common theme that you're, you have this maybe still small voice that wants to try something and fear holds us 

[00:22:31] Maria Romano: back.

[00:22:33] Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head. Isn't that true? Fear does hold us back and we shouldn't do that. We, you know what the worst thing you can do is allowing that fear to grip you and paralyze you. Yes. And you don't want to be looking back on your life saying should have what it could have. We've all done that before.

[00:22:54] Exactly. The first time when you're in the classroom. And you're not too sure and you know the answer, but you don't want to raise your hand, raise your hand. Raise your hand. Take the risk. What? Take the risk. People will respect you if you don't do it the right way. Okay. Or even if you give the wrong answer, it's okay.

[00:23:16] You took a chance. Yeah. You're vulnerable. And that's what people want to see. And I think that's the key thing, not perfectionism, right? 

[00:23:24] Penny Fitzgerald: People don't like perfectionism. I mean, if you come across as perfect. If you look at any movie, any TV show, the perfect people are the ones that are hated in the scenes, 

[00:23:35] Maria Romano: you know, and it's the people that are vulnerable out there that say they're very authentic.

[00:23:40] And that's what we're craving for because of what has happened with social media and the filtering and everything else, genetically modifying ourselves. Facial wise, body wise that people preferred. Hey, I have a bad day. Hey, I get wrinkles, right? I have days where I'm, I'm just beating on myself, but we just learned we have to have the coping mechanisms to keep moving forward.

[00:24:07] Yeah, 

[00:24:08] Penny Fitzgerald: for sure. And you know, when you, when you think about people that, you know, you said that if you speak up, if you raise your hand, if you take that risk, it's an admirable thing to do. Absolutely. And we worry about the people that might judge us, but really don't you feel like if, if someone is out there.

[00:24:28] Begrudging what we're doing or, um, naysaying or saying, Oh, why would you want to do that? Those are the people who have something in them that they have a want or desire to do something, and they're letting their own fear hold themselves back. So they projected onto you. I see that. Yes, 

[00:24:48] Maria Romano: you do. And, you know, it's interesting because we talk about what's happened post COVID and what large companies are looking for are looking for people with soft skills.

[00:24:59] And also that in your groups that you're in within your Facebook groups or whatever groups you meet with. And the soft skills, we need the people that are the cheerleaders, the people that will The people that, yes, that's what it's all about. And that's part of leadership. And most people don't realize that being a leader is not somebody that walks in big and strong.

[00:25:22] You have to have confidence and feel worthy, but being a leader, there's two qualities that are very important in leading and everybody, everybody that listens to your, your podcast today is a leader. And really think about this, whether it's in your home. Whether it's outside your home in your community or in your workplace, wherever it is, but there's two things that make up a leader.

[00:25:43] Okay. People want to know besides having, having charisma means they, first of all, somebody that is going to listen to you actually listen. That's the key thing. Somebody that has your back. So those are two things. Think about that. Yeah. So those are 2 very, very important skills and you don't need this is not rocket scientists.

[00:26:07] So we're having a conversation and we're, we're paying attention to each other being and being present. But then, of course, having that person's back because nothing worse when you're part of a team or wherever you're at, whether you're home. Right. Which maybe you're with your spouse and you want him to have your back.

[00:26:26] If you're trying to do something with your family, whether it's your children, right. And then , all of a sudden they go the opposite way. Absolutely. Yes. Let's talk about it. Right. So those are skill sets and those are easy skill sets to develop and people don't realize that. 

[00:26:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Is that something that you teach Maria?

[00:26:43] Is that something I 

[00:26:44] Maria Romano: can speak about? I speak about that and I don't get into a complete detail like about it, but I do, although I do offer workshops when I'm speaking to companies about how to build up your team and how to foster collaboration and really think about when you're setting your team up properly or setting your day, whether it's your children, it doesn't just have to be.

[00:27:06] Or your husband or your parents, whomever it is, your organization, your workflow, even it's so important to be able to set them up properly. 

[00:27:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Everyone, everyone wants to feel seen and heard. 

[00:27:21] Maria Romano: Very important. 

[00:27:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. I just feel like we go through our days and just head down. Probably on our phone, you know, going from one task to the other, maybe multitasking because that's what we do.

[00:27:37] Maria Romano: It's funny. It's, I'll never forget when I was calling over to the warranty service, I had an issue with something in my home and I said, gosh, it's just blah, blah, blah, blah. And that mechanically, I'm so sorry you're going through this, Mrs. Roma. And they don't really care. There's no, it's like they just read it.

[00:27:53] Oh, exactly. I can say I'm ready to kill myself. I'm so sorry to hear that. Exactly. What would 

[00:28:00] Penny Fitzgerald: happen? You hear pages flipping in the 

[00:28:02] Maria Romano: book. Where do I find something to answer her with that? Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:28:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Clicking of the mouse to scroll the screen. Anyway, 

[00:28:09] What, what have I not asked you that you are just dying to share with people or that you would want people to know? 

[00:28:16] Maria Romano: Well, first of all, I would like you to share my information with anybody in your community.

[00:28:20] Absolutely. Yeah. I'll put that in my show 

[00:28:22] Penny Fitzgerald: notes too. 

[00:28:22] Maria Romano: With that might be struggling with imposter syndrome or just wanting to put themselves out there and not necessarily maybe. Finding love, maybe they're divorced, maybe they're a widow or maybe a, you know, what a word might be listening. You just don't know, but the point is, is that if they need some tools, I've got some free tools on my website that will help them.

[00:28:44] Okay. That's the first thing I have a free, um, PDF file. They can download that they can use if they're looking to put themselves on a dating app. And it'll help them and give them some information. And this is something that I talk about to people. Because if you're filling out a resume, you're going to make sure you dot your I's and cross your T's.

[00:29:03] Well, same thing when you're going on a dating app and you're talking about that person you're looking for is a hell more important sometimes than the job you're 

[00:29:11] Penny Fitzgerald: looking for. You're going to spend a lot of 

[00:29:13] Maria Romano: time with that person. A lot of time. And statistic wise, what happens is we get to our fifties. Up until wherever we're going to spend the most time.

[00:29:23] If we have a partner with our partner, so you better like him or 

[00:29:27] Penny Fitzgerald: her choose wisely 

[00:29:28] Maria Romano: by yourself. If you're, if you don't have a partner anymore, right? So that's the choice we have. So we need to make sure that we are fostering relationships. So that's one thing. And then also if they have anyone getting married, I have some great ideas.

[00:29:41] I have like a hundred ceremony ideas they can download. There's so many things that people are doing. Or if they're looking to maybe they want to transition and do what I do, I teach people how to officiate. You don't have to be in Las Vegas. It could be anywhere. 

[00:29:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Fun. And what's your website, Maria?

[00:29:59] Maria Romano: What's the name of your It's true love knots. T R U E L O V E K N O T S. 

[00:30:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Well, I will put all that information and links to, to you in our show notes and in my communications out to my people too. But before we wrap up, um, I would love to hear, you mentioned briefly, you'd like a good cocktail.

[00:30:21] What's your favorite? Our favorite 

[00:30:23] Maria Romano: actually. So what I'm right now is my taste changes. So when it comes to wine, for example, we're coming into the spring soon. So I'm going to enjoy a great rosé. Oh, nice. Yeah. So usually something maybe from the Loire area. Which I love France. I do too. I started enjoying.

[00:30:42] Okay. I started enjoying peanut butter whiskey. Oh my gosh. The skittle bell. I think it's called or I can't remember the name. Oh my goodness. And I'm not a whiskey drinker. You take a little bit of it with some ice. Uh huh. And it's smooth. You don't really taste the peanut butter. The point is sometimes if you've had whiskey, when it hits your mouth, right, it's very hot.

[00:31:03] A couple of different things can happen, but, uh, it can sometimes feel bitter. It's different. It's, it's, uh, you know, 

[00:31:10] Penny Fitzgerald: harder, higher alcohol if you feel the heat, 

[00:31:13] Maria Romano: exactly. Yeah. You feel the heat more, but this is smooth. And sometimes you just want, I want a tiny little bit to take off the edge before I head upstairs to go to sleep.

[00:31:22] That's all. So now I don't smoke cigars, but probably that would go well. I bet 

[00:31:27] Penny Fitzgerald: it would. I don't either. So I wouldn't, I can't confess, but 

[00:31:31] Maria Romano: yeah, anyway, and I just, I love wines. I think wines are really, for me, it's more seasonal. Yeah. I enjoy all of them, but my go to favorite is a Gruner Veltliner. I love those.

[00:31:43] Yes. One of my 

[00:31:44] Penny Fitzgerald: favorites. Crisp and 

[00:31:45] Maria Romano: refreshing, exactly. And your 

[00:31:49] Penny Fitzgerald: climate too. I bet that's a really nice, 

[00:31:51] Maria Romano: it is fabulous. It is fabulous. Yeah. 

[00:31:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Very cool. Austrian 

[00:31:57] Maria Romano: wine. Love Austrian wines. They're really good up there. So if you'd like that crisp taste. Uh, huh. 

[00:32:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Is there anything else that you would you would want to share?

[00:32:08] Maria Romano: If you're and anytime you have something, if you want to invite me to come on, I'll be more than happy to if they come to Las Vegas, just share my email with them, share my website, but then happy to chat. You know, I think we need to be there to help each other. Absolutely. Doesn't matter. Where we're at and today with technology, we need to take advantage that we can form friendships across the Atlantic across the Pacific, right?

[00:32:34] So it's important to be able to do that and utilize and reach out to people, you know, find people, find your people that you need. And I think that's Surrounding yourself with the right community. It's going to keep building you up. No matter what age you are when decision life thinking, I'm going to retire and sit back.

[00:32:53] No, no, no, no. No, what you need to do is make sure your mind is active your body as much as you can keep it active. Those are things and emotionally and spiritually. Yeah. Anytime, 

[00:33:04] Penny Fitzgerald: especially as we age, but yeah, anytime we need, we need our people, our tribe that just push us, inspire us, lift us up, support us.

[00:33:13] Right. Absolutely. Oh, wonderful. Maria, this has been so fun. Thank 

[00:33:18] Maria Romano: you so much. Oh, I'm so well, you are so, so welcome. I'm just thrilled I, I, I met you. 

[00:33:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes, this has been a great connection and I'm grateful to meet a new friend. have fun up in the helicopter and, um, gosh, I'm so excited for your couples to experience all of it.

[00:33:37] Have a great day. 

[00:33:38] Maria Romano: Thank you. You too. Bye. Bye. 

[00:33:43]