We all want to feel fulfilled and happy, but when life throws some curveballs, we can lose our sense of direction and struggle to find meaning and purpose.

Tune in to this terrific episode of What's the Story where Jared Mitchell shares his journey of finding meaning in life while struggling with anxiety, running a business with his wife, raising a child with ASD and all of life's ups and downs!

Here’s a summary of this week’s story:

• Jared accepted Jesus into his heart at the age of five, when his teacher Miss Peggy asked if he wanted to do so. He used to feel bad that he didn't have an exciting story about how he became a Christian, but now realizes being consistent in faith is more important than having a crazy story to tell.
• Jared chose to attend Biola University in La Mirada, California despite being offered scholarships from other schools. He met his wife Alana there and they both felt a calling on their lives. After an incident of spilling salad on him, Jared and Alana connected instantly and felt like they knew each other their whole life after only meeting once.
• Jared started a decking business while he was playing music in a band. His wife got an aesthetician license to make money. When the housing market tanked, Jared's wife suggested starting an e-commerce website which he built using instructions from a flyer at Costco.
• As a result of his business, Jared realized he had an anxiety problem which he was not aware of before. He tried various treatments such as medication and therapies to overcome it but found that mentorship from Dr Ron proved to be key in helping him understand and control his anxiety. To fight for the kingdom, Jared started taking part of each day to pray with friends at their office multiple times per week, resulting in positive outcomes for himself and those involved.
• Jared and Alana have been happily married while running a business together for some time. To make it work, they've had to put in place strict boundaries between work and home life. Marriage counseling has helped them understand that each of them brings different strengths to both the marriage and business relationship which need to be respected rather than competing against one another's weaknesses.
• Jared and Alana experienced a foundation-shaking moment when their first son, Malachi was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of four or five. They faced numerous challenges such as lack of sleep due to gastrointestinal reflux disease, people not wanting Malachi around their kids and having multiple different therapies for him which required much investment in terms of time and money.
• Jared believes that the best advice he could give himself is to not worry about the future or regret the past. He developed a routine of praying and reading scripture daily, as well as bringing his son to church and surrounding him with good people. It appears that this journey has changed Jared more than it did Malachi; however, both have grown in amazing ways throughout their experience together – including Malachi inventing and patenting his own product!
• Jared has been donating some of his Saturdays working with kids with special needs - an experience he finds extremely rewarding. He believes that God values people's time more than their money and encourages others to think along these terms when deciding how best to invest in His kingdom.

ABOUT JARED:

Jared and his beautiful wife Alana are successful "Fampreneurs" with a thriving online skin care business in the US called SkincarebyAlana.com. They have been happily married for the last 19 years, with two children (Malachi and Eli). They live and work in Orange County California. 

I still.

I remember the moment and the words I said.

And accepting Jesus into my heart when I was five.

Um, and I feel fortunate.

Um, I used to feel bad, like, oh, I don't have a braggamony or testimony and

like some crazy story to tell, you know?

But now I realize that I, it's the best thing ever because I've never

had swayed away from the faith

Welcome to what's the story?

My name is Matt Edmundson, and this is a podcast full of stories about

faith and courage from everyday people.

And today I'm chatting with the Waving man on screen.

If you're watching Jared Mitchell about his Christian journey challenges he's

faced, what life is like in business, uh, and lessons he has learned along the way.

But before we get into all things with Jared, one of the things that

I love to do, Uh, is give a shout out to past guest and episodes.

So make sure you check out the livestream that we did where we asked the question,

what does the Bible say about work?

Awesome, awesome livestream that was really enjoyed that one.

And check out the What's the Story podcast episode that we did with

a chap called Brett Curry, who is a good friend, uh, of Jared's.

Uh, and that one was called How my Mum Dying of Cancer Drew Me Closer To God.

Uh, one of the most downloaded episodes, uh, of our podcast actually.

Uh, you can find these and our entire archive of episodes, uh, and

livestreams on our website for free at www.whatsthestorypodcast.com.

And whilst you are there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

And each week we will email you these links along with the notes and the

links from conversations like the one we're gonna have today with Jared.

They come direct to your inbox totally free.

All amazing.

Yes it is.

Now this episode is brought to you by Crowd Online Church.

Yeah, you know what?

Not everybody wants to go to church.

I get it.

And not everybody can get to a church building.

And this is where online Church works super well.

It is a safe space to explore the Christian faith.

And the thing that I love about Crowd Church is that you get to join in the

conversation and you get to shape it.

They don't just talk at you.

Super cool.

So if you've never been to church before, or if you're looking for a new

church, why not check out Crowd Church?

The website is www.crowd.church.

Or you can email me directly at matt@crowd.church with any questions.

I'd love to help and answer them.

Oh yes.

Now let's talk about Jared.

Jared, what a legend this man is, right?

Uh, Jared is married to the beautiful Alana and they are successful fampreneurs,

which is a word I just absolutely love.

I dunno if you made it up, but it's awesome.

Uh, they've got a thriving online skincare business in the US called

skincarebyalana.com, and they've been happily married for almost 19 years,

coming up to the Big two zero oh yes.

Two fab kids, Malachi and Eli.

Hello boys.

If you're listening.

Uh, they live and work in Orange County, California.

That's Jared and Alana live and work in Orange, orange County.

The boys, not so much.

They live there, but I don't, I don't think they work unless,

I dunno, maybe they do things differently in Orange County.

Anyway, I am super curious to get in this conversation with Jared and I'm

really keen to dig into his story.

So, welcome my US brother.

Thanks for joining me on the podcast.

Great to have you here.

How are we doing?

We're doing good.

Thanks for having me.

It's gonna be hard to follow up after Brett Curry.

I tell you what.

I think you and Brett have got a serious bromance going on.

Whenever I talk to Brett, he's just like Jared.

He's my man, man.

And then, and then you, you just, you just, you, you're each other's biggest

fans, which I really like actually.

It's quite, quite a lovely thing.

I'm definitely his fan because I mean he, what has he got like eight kids?

Crushing wife.

Like I, you know, I can't do anything as good as him.

It's impossible.

Yeah.

I don't, yeah, maybe.

I dunno.

Can you surf better than he can?

I think you probably can, can't you?

Uh, but yeah,

barely

Yeah.

Brett's great actually.

Uh, Brett's a legend.

Do check out that episode if you've not heard it.

I really enjoyed that conversation.

Such a cool guy.

Um, but you are pretty cool as well, Jared.

You know, uh, it's worth telling the listeners actually that, um, I mean,

we've known each other because of our mutual connections in the world of

e-commerce, in the world of business.

Uh, but this no, last year, cuz we're in the new year now in 2022.

Uh, Zoe, my daughter and I, we flew out to the states, uh, on

this mammoth dad and daughter trip.

Uh, and we flew 12 hours in a very cramped airplane.

And our first stop was, uh, to come spend a couple of days with you guys.

It was the first time we'd met.

Um, we'd been on the plane.

We stank, we were jet lagged, and you were very kind and gracious

to us, and it was lovely to get to meet you guys and the family.

Yeah.

I hope you guys come out again soon too.

That was like a highlight for us to host you guys for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

, it was, uh, it was, it was an awesome trip, man.

And, and you guys are super kind.

So, uh, yeah.

I'm looking forward to this, uh, conversation.

So you live, uh, in a beautiful part of the world, very close to the beach.

You're a bit of a surf dude, right?

Have you, have you always been a surf dude?

Um, yeah, it, it kind of depended on where I, I moved a lot

or, uh, growing up, you know.

Mm-hmm.

over the, like, San Diego, Texas, San Clemente, Oregon,

but, uh, the Midland States.

Yeah.

. Yeah.

The only place I didn't surf was was Texas.

But yeah, I've always been a little bit, uh, obsessed with, with the ocean.

And truth be told, I did just get out of the water about an hour ago..

Yeah, that does not surprise me.

Uh, if Tim Bond is listening, uh, who's a very good friend of mine, he pastors a

church over in Jersey, the small island off the coast of England, not New Jersey.

Uh, you and him are so similar.

This is the love for surfing.

And in fact, if you're watching the podcast on YouTube on the wall behind

you, I'm assuming that's a surfboard.

Oh yeah, it is.

You know what, I could do this too, cuz this is kind of cool.

This is the first board, whoops.

Wrong way that I ever learned to surf on.

Yeah.

And so I kept it somehow, by the grace of God over the years, it survived,

and I thought it'd be cool to hang up my surfboards on the ceiling.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then also I wanted to show people how cool I was when I was a kid, . So

I put all my soccer trophies, , and I thought that'd be really like, get

me ahead in the business world when I show people like the office, you know?

Yeah, yeah.

Totally.

All your trophies.

They'd be like, man, this guy knows how to achieve.

Right.

He's legit, you know,

totes, totes legit.

But did you say they were soccer trophies?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Uh, for example, um, first place, division five, uh, 1993.

Wow.

That was a good year.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I I, I've heard similar, this is one of those things I didn't know about you.

I didn't realize you got soccer trophies.

I didn't think anybody played soccer in America before, like, I

don't know, maybe five years ago.

. Yeah.

I, I, I don't know how to play it anymore.

Um, but , I'd love to go see one of those games.

It, it seems like a lot of fun, you know, you fill the stadium

up, people are going crazy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You should tell when you come over to the uk we'll go watch Liverpool play.

Um, okay.

I understand.

I've just alienated most of our English listening audience.

Liverpool Liverpool.

No.

Why?

It's a big deal.

Yeah, no, it is.

In terms of which football team you support over here, it's, it's,

you know, it's, they often say that football over here, or soccer as you

would call it, is like a religion.

So, you know, it's, um, yeah, you have to be careful with who you affiliate.

Anyway, we'll go watch a Liverpool game.

Uh, so let's start with, um, your journey to faith then.

How did you become a Christian?

Were you like, uh, were you surfing the waves one day and angels appeared to you

as you were cresting the waves, or was it a little bit more straightforward?

uh, I would say more straightforward.

Um, , I think it really started for me, um, my parents accepted Jesus during

a movement out here that was going on, which ended up being a Calvary Chapel

movement called the Jesus Movement.

Mm-hmm.

. And they accepted Christ when they're in college and dating, and they

were married soon after and had kids young and right off the bat, they

just, every Sunday it was church.

And at the time, we are going to Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego.

And my teacher, miss Peggy, who I used to call Miss Piggy, but she didn't mind.

She didn't mind?

Wow.

Yeah.

And she was the neatest old lady and she asked one Sunday

if we wanted to accept Jesus.

And I was five years old and I still.

I remember the moment and the words I said.

And accepting Jesus into my heart when I was five.

Um, and I feel fortunate.

Um, I used to feel bad, like, oh, I don't have a braggamony or testimony and

like some crazy story to tell, you know?

But now I realize that I, it's the best thing ever because I've never had

swayed away from the faith and I've grown up and been consistent about it.

Sure.

It's not perfect at times.

Mm-hmm.

. Yeah.

But, um, but yeah, I've always, uh, had that faith in Christ.

Wow.

So I, from five years old.

That's a pretty, I mean, you know, it's a long old time, isn't it?

So, what was it like for you growing up then in the church,

in the States at the time?

Was it quite, I mean, I, I, you know, I, I live in the UK and you hear

various different things, don't you?

Uh, all over the world.

Um, was it quite strict?

Was it quite fair?

I'm just kind of curious what kind of environment it was that you grew up in?

Yeah.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Um, it was strict.

Hmm.

Um, at times it was unfair, but.

I just remember getting really into like Christian heavy

metal bands in the eighties.

Okay.

And there's this one band called Petra, and then there's this other

, there's this other group of like power lifters that used to go around

the nation tearing phone books and running through ice called Power Team.

. Mm-hmm.

and I, I just realized when I was like a kid, I was like, this can be really cool.

This can be just as cool as not being a Christian, if not cooler.

Mm-hmm.

. And so I, I chose to like embrace the things that at the time that I thought

were cool about the culture and the music.

And I saw also, I was able, I felt like God from a early age gave me,

uh, through the Holy Spirit, just the ability to look at some of my friends at

the public school and their situations.

Yeah.

I remember vividly in Texas, it was a little bit of a rougher school situation.

And I remember vividly there was things such as, uh, a girl came into class

when I was in the second grade and she had bruises all over her face.

And I remember her telling the teacher that her mom was

beating her with a broom and.

Yeah, I remember, um, this other kid in the class, the kid in second grade

who was already cussing, um, and he was talking foul mouthed about different

situations that were very inappropriate for anyone to talk about at class.

And I just remember experiencing these things and, and knowing that's

not what I wanted for my life.

And I was thankful that's not what my experience was.

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

That's pretty intense.

Uh, so, so you, you grew up in this sort of Christian faith, you

grew up in a Christian family, various situations go along.

And then, um, what are some of the key milestones for

you then during this journey?

Or is it all fairly straightforward until you hit college and then

mm.

I, I'm a big fan of trying to mark the defining moments in our lives mm-hmm.

, and I think when you're a follower of Jesus, the defining

moments are more significant.

I just feel that way.

Yeah.

I think that the first one is when you accept Jesus into your

heart and, and fully undersand it.

. Mm-hmm.

. I think another one for me was, uh, when I requested to be baptized soon after.

Yeah.

I think that's a really neat experience and milestone.

I think another one comes sometimes around the point where you're turning into a man

and you have to make the decision of what you want for yourself as far as, you know,

sexually or, um, substance wise, when the kids school are getting into that stuff.

And you have to decide if you're gonna partake or not.

Mm-hmm.

or if you're not gonna do it.

And if you're not gonna do it, why?

Because they're gonna ask you.

Yeah.

And you're gonna need to say something to them.

Um, so I think that those are the first three that you really have to consider.

Mm-hmm.

. And then from there, for me, it, it was, uh, marriage, um, probably

choosing like, you know, college career and um, having children.

So were you married before you go to college or are you married?

Uh, at, when, when did that happen?

In the, in the, in the timeline?

Yeah.

Um, I went to college at Biola University in La Mirada, California.

That stands for Biblical Institute of Los Angeles.

Okay.

And I, I really felt God had called me to go there despite, um, other

schools wanting me to play sports there, even for scholarships.

Oh, wow.

And so I had, um, chosen Biola and I don't regret it.

Mm-hmm.

. Um, and that is where I met my wife Alana, who also felt

the same calling on her life.

There's a, there's an interesting thing on your LinkedIn profile, I dunno how true

this is actually, I've never asked you.

Um, but it says on there that you met Alana after she

tipped salad into your lap.

Is that correct?

. Yes, that is correct.

That's a, that's the best way you can meet a man.

Literally go and pour salad over them.

We're gonna get right to the point here.

Yeah.

So, um, I'd seen her walking around.

I, I'm not a very social person.

I'm a little bit more introverted unless I'm at work, then I have

to be extroverted, I feel like.

But, uh, she tells a story where like, she was passing me on the sidewalk and I

looked the other way and went the other way and like purposefully avoiding her.

I, I think my philosophy was, I'm gonna pray about this and, you know,

if there's a girl that comes into the equation, you know Sure, I'll ask her out.

And so I'd had my eye on her as I'm sure many of the other guys at my school did.

Um, and I'd seen her, we had mutual friends in the cafeteria looking

for a place to sit and something.

Uh, I was talking to a friend and something, uh, told me to go grab

a table, so I picked up a table and brought it over, which, um, they all

sat at and the tables were heavy.

I'm kind of a bigger guy and so it kind of like, I didn't mean to draw

attention, but it kinda like drew attention and I was like, whatever.

So I just sat down and she was next to me and instantly there

was this really cool connection.

She did, uh, spill salad in my lap, but it, that definitely was

not why I asked her out later.

It, we got along right away.

Mm-hmm.

. And it was the strangest experience, Matt, because we didn't know this at the time,

but we had both been praying in college.

Lord, just show us.

I don't want to date anymore, I'm, I'm over it.

Like, show me the person that you want me to be with and make it clear.

Mm-hmm.

And we were on the first date, and the only way I could describe it was

being with her was like, I, I never had sisters, I only had brothers.

But it was like being with someone who was like my sister, like someone

I literally knew my whole life.

Mm-hmm.

and we had just met.

Mm-hmm.

. Oh wow.

So the sparks fly, uh, as they say.

The spark fly.

Yeah.

They still do after 19 years.

It is funny actually because, um, I think I've mentioned this to you before, is,

uh, the way Zoe, my daughter refers to you to, to you guys, he went, I, I remember

a couple of weeks ago I said, Zoe, I'm chatting with Jared later, and she went,

Jared, the, the guy with the hot wife?

And I was like, well, I'm, I'm sure he will appreciate you saying that actually..

Yeah.

Yeah, she is.

She's beautiful lady.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And um, we have this phrase here in the uk, I dunno if it translates,

but punching above your weight.

Oh yeah.

Big time.

Yeah.

I, I, I even, I understand that one.

Mm-hmm..

So you're, you, you go to college, you get married.

When did the business start?

Was that quite early on in your marriage?

Uh, yeah, it was, um, I was playing music for a living in a band.

Mm-hmm..

Um, and I had started a decking business because when we were not touring or in

the studio, I could make some money.

I didn't wanna surf all day.

, you know, and, and she's like, you know, what should I do?

And her and her mom have always been entrepreneurs and her mom owns

a chain of, used to own a chain of spas, salons and hair cutting

stores in Northern California.

And she said, go get your aesthetician license.

You can do facials and make a hundred bucks an hour.

Back then.

That's maybe more like 200 or $300 an hour now, but, uh, when you're

newly married and just, uh, starting out, we were like, yeah, let's do it.

And so, . Um, she started that business and as soon as the housing

market tanked the last time mm-hmm.

, my decking job started falling away.

And she said, why don't you start a website?

Um, and I had a little bit of experience building one with my decking business.

Mm-hmm.

, but I didn't know anything about e-commerce, so I was like, okay, Lord.

that's a good idea.

Why don't we just try it?

I can build one.

I built my decking business and mm-hmm.

and it was like so weird cuz I just got out of the water and back then

we didn't have any money, so I went to Costco and out here in the States,

Costco, at the time it was like slice of pizza for like a quarter and a

hot dog and a coke for like 50 cents.

So I had my own meal deal there, I called it, where you get the hotdog

and the slice of pizza and the coke and you're, you know, it's like you're

outta there for a dollar, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, um, fantastic.

I can't eat that way anymore, just so you know.

It's, yeah.

No, no one can, wouldn't say when you, once you sort of pass 25.

That's it.

Yeah, man.

Um, yeah, so as I was walking through Costco on the side there was this

flyer, how to build a website.

This is literally the story.

It's so funny.

And I grabbed the flyer and I went home and I used it to build a website.

Fantastic.

Just followed it step by step.

Yeah.

So there it was.

Wow.

So the website then Skincare by Alana starts.

Um, and it's a skincare site, so you just, you start to throw in

different skincare products on there.

Right.

And does it, um, I mean, we don't need to get in the business side too

much, but I'm just kind of curious.

You've been doing this, what about 15 years now, haven't you?

And so did it take off straight away, or did it, um, did it sort of trickle

for a little bit and then it took, it took a little while before it sort

of caught everyone's imagination.

Yeah, it took off right away.

It was like wildfire.

Well, and it wasn't even, I didn't even know how to build a shopping cart.

We did all call to order at.

I just figured out how to list products on pages, how to build a

website, how to do seo, and then I figured out how to use Google.

Someone told me Google was a big search engine, so they had a, a wizard at the

time that brought you through Google AdWords, which is how people advertised.

On Google.

And I figured that out.

And then we decided, let's go on a vacation.

So we went to visit my parents in Oregon and I turned on the ads and I put it

to her cell phone and started ringing off the hook and it just took off.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

So here you are, you're still, um, you've got your business.

In fact, when we came over, you'd just moved premises, hadn't you?

And, um, all that was going on.

So,

I'm, I'm kind of curious, you're building a business.

You're, you've got your family, your, your growing family.

Um, is life all sunshine and rainbows or are there, are there some sort of

challenges along the way that you, that you guys have to deal with?

Hmm.

I think about that a lot because I felt like the first 12 years

or so of the business was not all sunshine and rainbows.

There's a lot of really tough times there, but I also think,

well, we still have tough times.

I'm, I feel better equipped now Yeah.

To deal with it for what it really is.

Um, we even just had one pop up this morning where I had to tell

myself, that hasn't happened yet.

Um, and God has you.

, you know, like he's had you this whole time, you know you're doing

what he wants you to do because he'll make it clear if you're not.

Mm-hmm.

. And, um, I still have those moments each day, but I tell you what, figuring that

out for the first 12 years and the blood, sweat, and tears when you're someone

who didn't think that God created you to be like an entrepreneur and like

a boss and like a leader is intense.

I was supposed to sit at a desk all day like my dad.

Wow.

You know?

So that's a clash of identity then, isn't it?

That's, um, that's not even a clash of identity.

That's not, that's not understanding your identity, I guess, at this point.

Correct.

Yes.

So how did you, um, I mean, I.

It's interesting, isn't it?

I think as you go through your Christian walk, you go through your Christian life.

I think one of the things that happens, I thave been a Christian A little while now

and certainly a Christian entrepreneur, um, is your, your identity kind of unfolds

the deeper into the journey you go.

You know, it's not like one day you wake up and, oh, I'm the most

secure person on the planet now.

Thank you very much for that, Lord.

Uh, it is not like there's a magic wand sort of wave, but you, you sort

of figure things out as you go along.

So I'm kind of curious, what are the key things which have shifted in your

thinking then from, you know, when you started the business to where you are now?

Hmm.

The business taught me that I had a big problem with anxiety.

Okay.

. And I didn't know that I had that, um, until the business started

falling apart during this mm-hmm.

one season we had and that was a really difficult time for me, um,

because I didn't know I had it.

Mm-hmm.

, I didn't understand it.

I didn't know what to do.

Um, so yeah, I, I think I had to learn all about it.

Mm-hmm.

and I went on medication for a while.

I tried everything, I mean everything including medication and all sorts

of therapies and this and that.

And I'd realized that I'd been actually struggling with this

for as long as I could remember.

I was just used to it.

It was normal.

I remember like in high school getting ready for like wrestling matches.

Mm-hmm.

and in, uh, the US collegiate wrestling in high school, um, you're

wearing like nothing , you're wearing like a singlet and you gotta go out

there in front of your high school.

Yeah.

Okay.

You're like ages 15, 18 or whatever, you know, half naked and wrestle another dude.

Yeah.

And it's just you two.

Yeah.

And it's, you wanna talk about like, everything on the line.

Mm-hmm.

, you know, that was the experience.

And I just remember before those matches, like, not only before them, but like the

whole week before, the whole year before, just like, being so anxious that I, I

literally couldn't even perform, you know?

So to this day I'm like, I wish I never did wrestling, but it was

probably one of the best things for me.

So, um, fast forward in the business world, we were going

through this time where I thought we were gonna lose a business.

Uh, Google gave us a penalty.

Um, we had gone through a website platform migration, which was butched and botched.

Yeah.

You know, just terrible time.

And, um, there's some other things that sort of were thrown on at the same time.

And so, yeah, I, how I handled it, , I, uh, of course was trying everything

I could, but I ended up going and getting some therapy, getting some help.

Mm-hmm.

. Um, and then I, he's since gone to be with the Lord, but one of the

mentors that I ended up working with had a profound impact on my life and

I think was really the key factor at helping me overcome that stage.

We all call him Dr.

Ron, and he is, he was the coolest guy ever.

He died of cancer a few years back.

Um, but uh, he is the one that taught me how to deal with it and get through it.

And one of the things that he did is he said, you know, when you're going through

these deepest, darkest moments, Hmm.

You know, how are you gonna fight back?

How are you gonna fight back for the kingdom?

So what I did is I started taking a big part of my business day

and devoting it to Prayer and.

that got kind of boring, to be honest.

Cuz like if you pray alone by yourself for an hour a day.

Yeah, yeah.

It could be kind of gnarly.

Right.

So I thought, let me start inviting some guys and some friends in, and it turned in

this really cool season before we had kids where we'd meet up sometimes three or four

times a week every morning at our office and just pray over each other's lives.

Mm-hmm.

. So throughout this process I was able to sort of overcome my anxiety in a sense.

Mm-hmm.

understand it.

Um, and the fruit of everything that came out of all those times we

spent together in Prayer over each other's lives was like incredible.

Not only for me, but also for the other guys involved.

Yeah.

No, fantastic.

Fantastic.

So how, how are you with the anxiety now?

Um, I, I just feel, I, I don't think you're ever cured, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, but I feel so much better.

Like the situation from this morning could have totally thrown me off,

and there are times where I feel it, but I just feel like I have enough

tools now, you know, to overcome it.

The most importantly, I just, to your earlier point, the

identity, remembering who I am.

Yeah.

Like, I'm a child of God.

I'm a priest.

He has a plan for my life.

Uh, oh gosh, your business doesn't work out.

. Big deal.

You know, like, I don't know.

That's like, there's so much more to life and I don't know, keeping

my focus and priorities on the right things, I think for me is huge.

Yeah.

It's, um, it's interesting isn't it, as you, as you get older, um, one of the

things that I've noticed in me is I.

if, because like you, we've had the odd occasion where you think Christmas,

I'm gonna just lose everything.

You know, the whole business is gonna go under and I can't see a way out of this,

but somehow God works his works his thing.

Um, but I kind of came to the conclusion a few years ago and I, I, we were

going through this particular time and I thought to myself, you know

what, if we lose everything, I'm okay.

Cuz God's still on the throne.

It's not like if I lose a business, God's like not God anymore.

Do, you know what I mean?

, he's, he's still there.

Uh, I think he still likes me, so I think we'll be all right.

And, um, that, I think for me, when I was thinking about it, I'm going, oh, that's

a really interesting attitude to have.

Do, you know what I mean?

It's a, it's a bit sort of like, well, God, I hold onto these things

lightly, which I'm supposed to.

I think I would, the thing which concerned me more was not losing the business on

my part, but all the families of the people that work with me, I think I

was more concerned about that and that.

I think is one of the big changes that's happened in me from when I

first started the business because when I was in my early twenties,

I'm like, it's all about success.

It's all about this, you know, let's take over the world, man.

And I have a multimillion pound company and you know, officers in

New York, London, and wherever.

Um, and I remember my, uh, pastor saying to me, Dave, um, who's also

been on whats the story, actually, you should listen to Dave's story.

He's such a brilliant guy.

Um, he, I remember him saying, you know what, men before they're

40 are all about, um, success.

When you hit sort of 40, your attitude starts to change and you.

You become all about significance.

Uh, which I thought was very, very insightful because that was my charting.

I was all about success and it all became about significance.

So how have you and Alana then you, one of the things I love about you

guys, and you don't see it a lot right?

is as a couple you are running your business.

I know you have a few other things outside of it, and um, and I know

you are not in the treatment rooms.

I assume you're not in the treatment rooms doing facials for

a hundred bucks an hour because who, who would pay for that, right?

just no.

Um, so, so I, and you are working on the website, Alana doing stuff over here, but

together you are growing this business.

You're sort of focused on your strengths.

There aren't that many people I've met Jared, like you guys, where as a married

couple, you are running a business together and happily married and the

business seems to be functioning and communication has yet to break down.

Um, how, how have you guys sort of jiggled that over the years?

Yeah, that has not always been easy either.

We've Recently realized how unique it is.

Mm-hmm.

, and I'm starting to actually see ads now.

Um, they don't appear to be faith-based, but like famtrepreneurs couple-trepreneurs

cuz it's, you know, uh, becoming more common for wives and husbands

to own and run businesses together.

Hmm.

I mean, for us what that meant was a lot of marriage counseling,

Fair enough.

I'm like so thankful for it because I, the most important thing for us is boundaries.

Mm-hmm.

. So we have like pretty strict rules that when we're at work, we just talk

about work and if we have like, personal stuff to talk about, we try to take

a lunch break together, you know?

Mm-hmm.

. after work, like we get home and like we draw a line and we just

focus on each other and the kids.

Mm-hmm.

, that's very big one that we had to learn.

Cuz if you're crossing over those boundaries too much, it just

becomes like really difficult.

Yeah.

To do both Well, um, I think I'm like so thankful for it now because I feel

like it's made me like a better person and a husband to be able to figure

out how to do both of them very well.

Yeah.

And I think in a relationship we all have a tendency to be, uh, very selfish

and, um, think about things in terms of 50 50, if you've heard that one.

Mm-hmm.

. And that's just at home.

And it's hard for me to remember normal couples, they go home and

they haven't seen each other all day.

Yeah.

For me and my wife, we've seen each other all day.

And now I want to see her all day.

I wanna see her at work and at home.

And you start that, that 50 50 mentality, we all go through it and you start to

think both at home and at work, what I'm better at and what she's not as good at.

Like . So like imagine doing that at home, but then imagine having to work with

that person and realizing in a business, what they're good at versus bad at.

I had this like mentality for years and through a lot of like,

you know, counseling and stuff.

Yeah.

Had to realize that like I was really bad at stuff in both areas as well.

Yeah.

, I tend to like rush and execute and get a million things done and she tends to not

work as quickly and take her time and put more thought into it and oftentimes she'll

end up making a way better decision.

Mm-hmm.

than I would have in just getting it done.

Mm-hmm.

that's at work Right.

You know, at home.

Um, she tends to be a little less organized.

I'm more organized and you know, there's just these differences that

we've really had to work through and I've had to realize I'm not better

because of some of these things.

Mm-hmm.

, I'm just different.

Yeah.

And we need each other and we need to compliment each other in those ways.

Yeah.

That's such a powerful revelation, isn't it?

Because it, your marriage isn't a competition.

It's not like, I have to be better than you.

You have to be, uh, to, to win this, this thing.

Uh, but it, it is how I'm, I'm stereotyping, but of course it's, it

is how a lot of men end up thinking that sort of competitive nature.

And so this is why I'm intrigued, like how you guys have managed

to make this work, um, in the, in the business arena that you have.

So, you guys went to marriage counseling, and I'm curious, what

is, what's the, the, the piece of advice that they gave you that sort of

sticks out or transformed everything?

Well, yeah, I'd start with the boundaries and mm-hmm.

, the 50 50 thing.

Those were the two big ones that I think we really had to get through first.

Another one for me is learning how to really listen and really connect.

Mm-hmm.

, which I thought I was like really good at, you know, Rico Suave,

romantic and this and that.

But you can do everything you want in a marriage.

You can do flowers, you can do chocolates, you can do all this stuff.

But if you're not able to connect in the way that she needs to connect.

you're not being a good husband.

in my opinion.

And so we had to go through learning all the love languages.

And if you don't, if you can't like recite your partner's love languages mm-hmm.

, if you don't have it memorized, like to me, that's something you

can work on right away, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just buy the book, read it together.

Just do, yeah.

. Yeah.

For me, that was very, very helpful.

Like realizing that like she needs quality time and words of affirmation,

and I actually need to be present while I'm giving them to her.

Mm-hmm.

and actually look her in the eyes and not be thinking about

work or surfing or this or that.

And she can tell if I am, believe me.

Mm-hmm.

She knows.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, bro.

, that's you, just, you, they just know.

I need to initiate date night at least once every couple weeks.

Mm-hmm.

because it means more if I do it and I take the time to plan something special.

Mm-hmm.

, I need to initiate a quarterly getaway where it's just me and her and, uh,

my parents are watching the kids.

And these are some things that we do ritualistically, um, to

make sure that our marriage stays fresh and we're still in love.

And I, I have to tell you, like 19 years, like I'm crazy about her.

We've seen at least half the couples we graduated bible school

with get divorced at this point.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

It's crazy.

The amount, even in the church, the amount of people that get divorced,

it's really sad I think actually.

Um, but then it's, it's also sad when people stay together cuz they feel like

they have to stay together but they don't take the time to invest in the marriage.

So it's a great marriage and I think.

. You know, there's a lot of people I know that have really great marriages, and

I find that really inspiring because it's like, I can have a great marriage.

I, I have to work at it like I have.

Yeah.

It just doesn't come, you know, there have to be things that I do, but I

have a great marriage and, and that's such a life given thing, right?

I, I, I dunno about you, but the I just, that's my big thing.

Uh, everything else you can, obviously you've got your faith, you've got

your kids, but fundamentally, I've got a, I've got a great marriage

and that just transforms everything.

I think.

It's something to be proud of.

I, I'm okay bragging about it to people.

You know?

It, it does feel boastful, but I feel like, you know what, it's

kind of uncommon, like we've made it in like, yeah, I'm proud of it.

Like we've worked hard and we have a good time.

And like people like say, , we didn't know this.

We found out, like our friends are like, sometimes we're the

couple where like, they're like, oh man, they're like so in love.

They're like pda.

They're like, think of us as this couple who's like really connected and we

make them uncomfortable or something.

We make them feel like they need to be another way.

And it's not us trying to do any of that stuff at all.

It's just us enjoying each other.

Yeah.

You know?

And it wasn't always like that.

Like, uh, just very important like years of, of, uh, therapy, blood, sweat, tears.

Mm-hmm.

business, personal, working through the motions, kids up all night, you know?

Yeah.

Uh, kid throwing their poop across the, you know, room on the floor.

Just like the, all the stuff, you know,

. Yeah.

Yeah.

No, I mean it was when we were with you guys hanging out, um, I really

enjoyed hanging out with you both cuz.

Um, it just felt really, na you reminded me a lot of me and Sharon

and I just thought, this is lovely.

There's a couple who actually like to be with each other, um, and that's,

that's quite, that's quite nice.

So let's dig into your kids a little bit.

So yeah, the kids come along.

Um, were there any challenges there?

Obviously throwing poop across the floor's annoying.

Not really a challenge, but what, what, what did you guys have to deal with?

Yeah.

You know, um, yeah, to me, uh, to me, our first son completely changed my

life and not maybe in the ways that people normally say, um, sure, you

know, you walk out of the hospital and you don't know how to work the car seat

and you feel like he's too small to bring home and, you know, your whole

life has changed and all that stuff.

And, um, but at the age of roughly, , four or five years old, he was diagnosed

with autism spectrum disorder.

Mm-hmm.

short asd or people just call it autism oftentimes.

Mm-hmm.

. And thankfully these days, um, it feels like there's more understanding around the

diagnosis and what it means for a person.

Yeah.

Um, and you know, I think the word disorder is probably misplaced.

Mm-hmm.

, uh, you know, I think there's some things that he can do better, but for us, that

was a significant just foundation shaking moment in our life where we had to realize

that our first son had special needs.

Mm-hmm.

And it was serious.

Mm-hmm.

So I, let me just preface everything about, say, with,

I've obviously met Malachi and, and the kid's such a cool kid.

Um, so how, how.

How did you deal with that?

I mean, your, your foundations are shaken, um, with your, your first son.

There's almost a grief, I guess, that you have to go through at this point.

Um, what, how, how, how did you guys get through that?

Yeah, it, it, I ask myself the same question often, like, how did

we, how did we get through that?

I, I asked Alana that as well because before he was five he had

gastrointestinal reflux disease, GIRD.

And so he was, he just wouldn't sleep.

It was like, I think he'd maybe sleep like 20 minutes at a time.

He was just screaming the whole time in pain.

And it was just a, a really difficult, um, newborn experience up to that point.

So at that point, when we're receiving that news, we're already in a place

where we know there's something a little different about him.

and we both have a lack of sleep.

We're both probably, uh, not doing well, maritally, you know?

Mm-hmm.

because of everything going on.

Yeah.

And we got this business and I got my anxiety and like all this stuff.

Right.

. Yeah.

So, um, basically we heard that it, it shook our foundation.

Cuz I think for me, this ties back into my testimony of like, okay,

Lord, I accepted you when I was five.

I wasn't going out Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights and partying like my peers.

Like I, I listened to your voice.

I went to Bible school.

Like you brought me this amazing wife like this.

You, why are you giving me, why me?

You know, so I, I reached, for me it was like, it got really deep.

I reached this place of.

, why, you know, and, um, for Alana, I mean, she'd have to answer for

herself, but it was, it was, it was so, so hard for so many years.

I'm talking lack of people that wanted to hang out with us because he wasn't normal.

They didn't want him around their kids.

We're talking multiple different therapies.

We're trying every sort of therapy we can.

Uh, he must have gone to 10 different, uh, schools just to try to do like

preschool or daycare so we could work.

Yeah.

And he just kind of kept getting kicked out, really.

Um, dealing with different doctors who all had different opinions, dealing with

people who'd come up and just be like, yeah, you know, you shouldn't have given

them all those immunizations and just all the different theories, you know?

Yeah.

All the helpful people.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh, honestly, when.

We were younger.

There was a a point in time where I'm like, Elena, like, are we

raising like a serial killer?

Like what is this guy's deal?

Hmm.

Like I'd spend time with him.

He would like bite me a lot.

He had a biting issue.

A lot of kids with a s d have that.

Um, talking so much of a monetary investment, like , I'm just like, I

dunno how we afforded all this stuff.

Um, every, oh my gosh.

So every morning for about 10 years, it was a struggle just to get him

ready for school, wake him up, convince him to eat, brush his teeth.

He would just sit there and just stare.

And I, I, I, I tried everything.

I tried yelling at him.

I tried massaging it.

I tried like being nice, being mean, being angry, being loud, being quiet.

And, um, man, it was just an incredible struggle.

And it's only something that you can really understand.

If you've had experience with it, you can hear someone talk about it all day

long, and, uh, it just doesn't register unless you've actually been through it.

Yeah, I can imagine.

I, I mean, I'm, I'm listening to you talk, man, that's gotta drain every ounce of

energy out of you in a lot of ways, right?

Yeah.

You talk in a lack of energy, lack of sleep, lack of communication.

Um, it really brings out your differences, your parenting difference mm-hmm.

, um, between yourself and your wife.

And everyone's got 'em, but it, it just amplifies those, right.

Um, it makes it hard to enjoy those micro moments and those moments that you want to

enjoy and those key moments in his life.

Um, so it's, it's just, it's not as hard now.

We're, I feel like we're at the beginning of the happy ending now.

Right.

But, . I just, sometimes I look back and I just ask myself, I

don't know how we got through it.

Yeah.

How did we do that?

I think it's, it's, um, it's true of most parents to be fair, but I imagine

if having an autistic child is, is, um, is just throwing fuel to the fire.

So, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of curious here, Jared, if you, if you could somehow

magically teleport back, um, a few years and have a conversation with yourself,

what advice would you say to yourself, um, that would get you through it?

Yeah, man, I love that.

What would I say?

That question is catching me a little off guard.

I feel like there's so many things that I'd love to say, but I think my

biggest thing would be, um, don't worry about the future or regret the past.

One thing that I did right was I.

I just developed a routine where I prayed over him every

day and I read him every day.

We are in the word every day and we brought him to church.

We made sure that he hung around the right people and the right friends,

and it taught me an incredible amount of patience and selflessness,

endurance, um, how to move slower.

Mm-hmm.

and just be more of a regular human being as opposed to some

like supercharged business guy.

Um, so yeah, I was just so worried, Matt, about what is this kid?

Is this kid gonna be able to have a wife?

Have a job?

Is he gonna be able to go to like college, like a regular school?

He didn't go to regular school.

Hmm.

For half of his life, we had to pay so much money to send him to a very

nice school that could help him the way that he needed to be helped.

I was just so fixated on the future, I guess I'd go back and try to

just give myself some assurance.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, um, yeah, don't worry about tomorrow enough.

Today's got enough trouble of its own.

Um, uh, something I often have to say to myself, , uh, it's, um, but I mean,

is it, is it chalk and cheese now?

I'm, I guess if someone's listening to the podcast right?

And they've got a similar experience with a young child who's maybe also

autistic, um, I, I wonder if they're sort of sitting there listening to you

saying, oh, it's actually easier now.

Um, and don't worry about the future.

Um, but I, when I met him, when I met Malachi, . It was it was great.

Um, and it, it, it seems like whenever I talk to you about your kids, you're

always smiling, you're always beaming.

It's, it's, you know, you, you, your kids are a massive part of your life.

Um, so I, I assume that change has that, that, has that been

more in you maybe than him?

Hmm.

Yeah, that's a good question too.

I don't know.

I think I, I think you're onto something there, probably,

or maybe that's more equal.

I don't know.

I, he's changed so much, so I can't discount all the ways that he's grown up.

Um, you know, the update on him is he is currently going

to a neurotypical junior high.

It is a Christian school.

Um, so they do have help if he needs it, but he doesn't really

need the help so much anymore.

Mm-hmm.

, he's a full-blown, sarcastic teenager now, . Um, he plays football and

basketball with all the kids.

Mm-hmm.

In the sports leagues.

He just scored his first basketball hoop the other day.

Fantastic.

This semester he is got all A's and B's.

Um, he's, I'd look back at the things that he's accomplished along the way.

He's, he invented and patented his own product.

Um,

of course.

Why would, why would he not?

Yeah.

Surely every teenager's done that.

Yeah.

He's done these things.

That's like kind of amazing, you know, as I was sort of looking back.

So he's definitely changed a ton and developed a ton.

But I think to your question, I feel like it's changed me more.

Mm-hmm.

In better ways.

And it's all, I think just the way that God uses these situations, um, in our

lives, whether it's a business, a marriage relationship, or, um, you know, situations

like having a special needs son, um, to mold us and shape us continually

over our entire life, no matter.

Yeah.

If you accepted Christ when you're 5 or 45, we're on this journey and he's

gonna refine us through his fire.

in the way that he best sees fit for us.

And that's what I think one of the most beautiful things is about

having a relationship with Christ.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, that's fantastic.

That's fantastic.

So if you were to, um, Uh, one of the questions I'd like to ask people

is like, what's your one message?

You know, what's the, the, the big key learning, the one thing, so if

you had one opportunity to preach one sermon, what would be that?

What would be that sermon?

What would be the key takeaway from that point?

Uh, from that message?

Yeah.

I don't think you want me preaching any sermons.

I don't think that um,

I dunno.

I'd listen.

Oh, thanks.

Thanks man.

You and Brett.

I'd have two people in the audience.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We'd cheer you on.

Yeah.

My son though, he'd be like, Nope.

See ya.

Um, yeah.

So, uh, , uh, I, no, I do love this question.

I would probably give a sermon if someone forced me to, but, um, I've

been thinking a lot lately about Matthew 12 and the widow's offering.

Mm-hmm.

. I have a friend who will go unnamed and, um, , he baffles me because

he's much older than me, but he's had a crazy life, bumpy life.

He loves the Lord.

And we happen to have kids that are the same age.

Mm-hmm.

at the same school and he, most of the time you'll see him and

he's wearing secondhand clothing.

And, um, he's always been kind of a quirky, strange guy, but a good friend.

Mm-hmm.

and over the years have gotten closer to him and his family.

Well, as you do with anyone, you start learning more and more

about people's personal lives.

Mm.

If you go to the same church and you're hanging out, your kids are hanging out

at the park and this and that mm-hmm.

And it turns out this one gentleman is, um, extremely rich, wealthy.

Mm-hmm.

. And it was the last person.

on the planet that I expected to have any sort of money because I

mean, I'm looking at car house kids.

Yeah.

Clothes.

And it's the opposite.

Mm.

And um, so I was reading through Matthew 12, and that's the widows offering when

Jesus basically, um, a, a widow, very poor widow comes up and donates two

small copper coins worth only a few cents, you know, to the offering or

offering box whatever they had back then, you know, offering plate or whatever.

And Jesus just said, you know, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put more

into the treasury than all others, right?

Yeah.

They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in

everything, all she had to live on.

And so lately what I've been thinking about a lot is, you

know, we've all heard this before, God doesn't need our money and.

just through some circumstances in our life lately, I thought, man, we

all say that we all go to church, but at the end of the day, most of

the people, at least here in southern California, they still want the car.

They still want the clothes, they still want the status power.

They still want the house close to the beach, right?

Mm-hmm.

, they still want it.

Um, we know the last thing that God wants us to do is work more

so we can give him more money.

like, but we don't live that way, right?

Mm-hmm.

. So lately I've been trying to think of the same way.

If God doesn't view our finances proportionally, I don't think he

views our time that way either at all.

And you may feel like you do or do not have a lot of money, and

you may be able to give all of it or none of it to the Lord, but

what are you doing with your time?

Yeah.

And I think that he values the time way more.

Mm-hmm.

than he does the money, because that's how he lived his life.

Yeah.

He spent time with people and time with his apostles, and time with the

poor, with the widows and the orphans.

So if I had to preach any message, I would just say, Hey, you know, in my life, in

our life lately, what I've been trying to do is not even think about the money that

I'm donating to this or that or whatever.

What am I doing with my time?

Mm-hmm.

, we do have spare time.

Sure.

Let's spend it with our kids.

Let's run our businesses, let's go to work, let's spend it with the wife.

But we do have time on top of that.

Mm-hmm.

. Yeah.

Let's just go surfing for another 10 hours.

Like no, you know, like find the balance.

But I've been sort of like getting started by donating some of my time on Saturdays,

uh, to work with kids with special needs and , it's been the most rewarding thing

that I think I could have ever done.

Mm-hmm.

, because it's time where literally I will sit apart and I'll be like, okay, Lord,

show me what you want to, this is for you.

Mm-hmm.

, like, I know this kid needs me.

We're gonna go do X, Y, Z.

Mm-hmm.

, just, this is out of praise, out of service.

This is what I want to give, you know, and show me where to take it from here.

Hmm.

So, I don't know, I, I'm kinda like rambling a lot, but, um, for me, my

encouragement to people, if you're listening to this, is to start thinking

of things more along those terms.

And if you're not investing in the kingdom in a way that you should be with your

time, um, ask God, you know, where you should be spending your time doing that.

Yeah.

Very good.

Super powerful because I think it's one of the things that, uh, in the modern

culture, it's almost become a taboo topic.

Do not challenge me about how I spend my time.

Uh, you know, don't challenge me about how I spend my money and don't

challenge me about how I spend my time cause it's none of your business.

Um, and don't ask me to do stuff because we've become a, I think

we've become a culture of, um, what's the word I heard the other day?

Atomization, uh, is the word I heard.

It's a very fancy word.

Uh, and we we're become, we, we become these sort of breakaway, these individuals

and uh, we see it in the church actually.

More and more people are giving less and less time to church.

And we're using arguments like, well I've got work pressures,

I've got family pressures, I've got this, that and the other.

Um, and they could be right, they could be genuine, they could be

real, they could just be an excuse.

I don't know.

I dunno your circumstances.

Um, but it is.

. It is very insightful, I think, in terms of where culture, modern culture is at,

in terms of that's what is happening and we see that happening in the church and

what you are, what you're in effect here.

What I'm hearing from you, Jared, is the exact opposite it's like, no, no.

As Christians, we have to be intentional about using our time

to build the kingdom of God.

Um, what are you gonna do?

How are you gonna use that time?

Right?

And how are you gonna use your talents during that time?

That's fascinating.

Oh, I really enjoyed that.

That was great.

You should definitely preach more, bro.

Well, I think people just assume they have to go be a

missionary or do some big thing.

And I was kind, I kind of had that mentality for a while too.

Mm-hmm.

And the Lord just showed me, Hey, they're, you know, first of all, he's like, what

did my son do while he was on the earth?

And Jesus just rolled around just serving people.

Mm-hmm.

Widows, orphans, anyone who had special needs, cripple, you

know, you know the whole deal.

Right?

So, yeah.

Yeah.

I was like, oh, boom.

Like special needs.

I got it.

Like I walk in a room now and like, understand and figure

out how to talk to these kids.

Cause of my own experiences with my son mm-hmm.

and there are so many, um, people with special needs in our area

that are just, it's almost shunned.

Like people are scared of them.

People have like phobias.

Yeah.

And to be able to walk up and give them a big hug.

And some of the things that I do with some of these, uh, some of 'em are kids,

some of 'em are a little bit older.

Um, it, you can't help but just smile the whole time.

Yeah.

I imagine it's immensely rewarding, isn't it?

Super, super rewarding.

Have you ever felt like in business that, um, you were seen as an, as an

entrepreneur, as a business person that your sole, the sole reason God

gave you a business was so you could give copious amounts of cash to the

church for want of a better expression?

Yeah.

Or have you kind of avoided that?

I went through a period a season where I, I was like, oh, I think

that God's going to use me to give a boatload of money to X, Y, Z.

And you know what?

Um, maybe there's times where he has or hasn't.

I'm not concerned with that because I think where I've ended up is like

he really just doesn't view money in terms of, you know, amounts.

Mm-hmm.

I just don't really don't think he does.

I think, um, he makes sure we all have what we need, like

the birds of the field Mm.

Fields and also the ministries that, you know, he wants to survive.

Mm-hmm.

Um, anyways, I don't know if that answers your question though.

I'm sorry,

. No, no, no, not at all.

It's just really intriguing, isn't it?

I mean, a lot of businesses, business people that I've met in church have

sort of felt sort of pigeoned whole in this, oh, you're in business.

We kind of in church, we tolerate that.

As long as you give lots of money to the church over here kind of thing.

Uh, which I think is, is just crazy.

Um, but that's just me.

Uh, we maybe that's a topic for another day.

Jared, I'm aware of time, so I'm gonna ask you my closing

question, uh, which has left you confuzzled, uh, for the last hour.

Um, the Oscars question, , Jared, it's like at the start,

I dunno about the Oscars.

Don't ask me about this.

So the Oscars question is this, right?

Uh, I want you to imagine you are at the Oscars.

You have been given a lifetime achievement award, you know,

celebrating the life of Jared.

It's like, go Jared.

Yeah.

All things Jared.

Um, and you get chance to stand up and you say, listen, I just wanna say

thanks to X, Y, and z because of the impact they've had on my life, right?

It could be a church leader, it could be a family member, it could be an author

of a book, it could be a music album.

Who do you thank and why?

Is this before or after the guy Will Smith comes up and slaps me?

So you do know about the Oscars, uh, let's, let's say pre Slap.

I like it when, uh, there's this video going around of Jim

Carey accepting a Golden Globe.

I dunno if you've seen it.

You gotta Google it because he, he gets up there and I'm gonna butcher this,

so you're gonna have to all check this out on your own, but he just says,

you know, I'm not just Jim Carey.

When I wake up in the morning, I'm two time Golden Globe.

Winner Jim Carey.

And he has, he goes on like 10 different things and this, that.

. Oh man.

That would be so terrifying to be up there and to, and then they, they play the music

when you start talking to Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I don't know, man.

I, I think I would just thank God, you know, and I'd probably try to

figure out a way to do it where it was well received and, um,

people actually listened, you know?

Yeah.

Rather bit, talk a little bit about Jesus and, and why I'm

thankful and how I got there.

Mm-hmm.

And then, um, yeah, I probably in my life would thank my

parents and my grandparents.

Mm-hmm.

and probably some of my mentors.

I don't know if you know who they are, I haven't mentioned

them, but, uh, I probably thank some of my mentors and mm-hmm.

first and foremost.

I, I definitely, you know, wife and kids for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, totally.

It's a really interesting question cuz sometimes when you ask this

question to people, the answers they give you, you're just like, what?

I, I would never have known that.

Uh, and um, and so this is why I keep asking the question, the Oscar's

questions, it's now becoming nice.

So, um, but you're the first person to stand there and go, oh, that's terrifying.

Don't wanna do that.

No, no, no, no.

. I'm not going, somebody else can read the, read the speech.

I'm not doing it.

Man that's awesome.

Listen man, if people listen to the podcast and they think that

Jared bloke, he's kind of cool, I've got some more questions.

How do they reach you?

What's the best way to connect?

Yeah.

Uh, I'm on, on like Facebook and Instagram.

My handle is beefy sites, which is an old business I used to have.

My nickname is beefy and I just kinda went for it.

So beefy sites.

And then, or you can just email me.

Um, my email address is, Jared, j a r e d.

Then the word Donald, which is my middle name, like the duck.

And then my last name Mitchell, m i t c h e l l, at Gmail.

So jareddonaldmitchell

@gmail.com.

Uh, not jareddonaldduckmitchell@gmail.com.

No.

Somebody else has already got that, uh, email address.

Yeah, . Brilliant.

Jared, listen, man, um, we will of course link to your, uh, stuff in the show notes,

which you can get for free and along with the transcript on the website, uh,

the whatsthestorypodcast.com website.

Of course if you're signed up to the newsletter, they're gonna

come winging their way to your inbox, uh, without too much drama.

Uh, Jared, you're a legend man.

Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story.

Really enjoyed listening to it.

Um, uh, and you're just, you're just a top geezer.

Uh, really appreciate you just.

Super inspiring with what you do with business, with the family,

uh, and I love the fact that you're often in the sea surfing.

That's super cool.

You can teach me how to surf one day.

Oh, I'd love to.

You gotta come out, I'll take you right.

It's a little cold right now, but sounds like you have some surfing pretty close

to your house up in the Jersey area.

And, and we can do it there too, so

yeah, why not?

Let's just, let's go to Jersey.

Meet tim.

Tim, Tim and you.

You get on.

Great.

Uh, so yeah.

Awesome.

There you have it.

What a great conversation.

Huge.

Thanks again to Jared for joining me today.

Remember to check out Crowd online church at www.crowd.church, even if

you might not see the point of church.

We are a digital church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps us a

more meaningful life, the kind of life that Jared's been talking about.

We are a community, a space to explore the Christian faith and a place

where you can contribute and grow.

And you are welcome at Crowd Church.

Now be sure to subscribe to what's the story wherever you get your podcast

from, because we've got some more great conversations lined up and you're

not gonna want to miss any of them.

Let me tell you, and in case no one has told you yet today.

You are awesome.

Yes you are.

You are created awesome.

It's a burden you just have to bear.

Jared has to bear it.

I have to bear it.

You've got to bear it as well.

Uh, what's the story is produced by Crowd Online Church.

You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app.

The team that makes this show possible is the wonderful, beautiful, talented Sadaf

Beynon, uh, the amazing Estella Robin.

We've got Tanya.

We've got Tim, we've got Jo, everybody at the office, all legends.

Uh, our theme song was written by Josh Edmundson, and if you would like to read

the transcript, or show notes, as I said, you can get them for free on the website.

Uh, whatsthestorypodcast.com.

Uh, wait.

Like I say, you can also sign up for the weekly newsletter and get all of

this good stuff direct to your inbox.

That's it from me.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Have a fantastic week wherever you are, uh, while I'll see you next time.