1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: Everybody, It's Bill Courtney. This is Shop Talk number twenty three, 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: and Alex still has not bought me a bell. Today 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about Oh, you just timestamped them. Yeah, Okay, 4 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: maybe between twenty three and twenty four he'll do something 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: beside to sit there. 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 2: Okay. 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: Shop Talk number twenty three, We're going to talk about 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: getting out of your comfort zone from an interesting perspective 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: of a young girl that I coached in basketball who 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: absolutely love Her name is Rachel Smith, and her mom's Sunday. 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: Their story is pretty phenomenal, and it speaks to the 12 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: power of those of us who have the temerity to 13 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: get out our comfort zone because it can change hour 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: and the lives of those around us. So getting out 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: of our comfort zone coming up next, right after these 16 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: brief messages from our general. 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 2: Sponsors, everybody, Bill Courtney, Shop Talk number twenty three. 18 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: A lady named Sunday Smith from New York City. Pretty 19 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: remarkable woman. Sunday knew New York well knew its restaurants 20 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: at shops. Was a successful journalist, first on the print 21 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: side and then as a TV producer, mostly for financial shows. 22 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: She was aggressive. She loved to pursue the latest huge story. However, 23 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: there was one story that wasn't coming together for her, 24 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: and it was her own. Missing were the children she'd 25 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: always wanted. When she came home from a long day 26 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: at the office, the only messages on her answer machine 27 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: were work related. She thought back to how happy she'd 28 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: been on her grandparents' farm in Iowa and her parents' 29 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: farm in Tennessee, where tons of relatives and friends were 30 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: around all the time. Life in the big city, despite 31 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: all of her successes, felt kind of empty compared to 32 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: her life back then. The men she dated they didn't 33 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: want kids, and Sunday became more and more frustrated, and 34 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: suddenly she found herself in her forties. In her words, 35 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: and if you knew her, boy, would you get this? 36 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: She said? It was getting late in the game in 37 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: the late eighties when she worked on a documentary for 38 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: PBS about how the most creative ideas of when one 39 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: summons the courage to deviate from old routines ie get 40 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: out of their comfort zone. Soon she realized that the 41 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: information she was collecting was as much for her own 42 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: personal development as it was for material for her show. 43 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: The following year, Sunday left New York for Moscow, Tennessee, 44 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: a small town where her parents own the farm Manhattan 45 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: to rule Tennessee. That's a pretty big change, and that's 46 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: way out of the comfort zone. But she was just 47 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: getting started. She was working for a public television station 48 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: in Jackson, Mississippi, when she was put in touch with 49 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: a woman in Memphis who arranged for couples in the 50 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: United States to adopt babies from orphanages in Moscow, Russia. 51 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: She approached the process blindly, which was a good thing 52 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: because if she'd known how much red tape would be involved. 53 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: There was one torturous delay after another. She might not 54 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: have proceeded in the first place. But in July of 55 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: ninety three, Sunday by herself alone, flew to Russia to 56 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: bring home Elena, a three year old baby girl every 57 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: bit as beautiful as she appeared on the video Sunday 58 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: had been sent many months before. At last, Sunday was 59 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: a mother. Once she took on the new role, she 60 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: wanted more, despite the difficulties raising a children challenging enough 61 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: without a language barrier. Over the next decade, she adopted 62 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: three more girls, each from Romania, each with its own 63 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: trials and rewards. One girl was named Rachel. Sunday didn't 64 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: make the trip this time as she couldn't leave her 65 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: own mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's. Sunday and Elena 66 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: greeted Rachel, who was only two and a stroller at 67 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: the Memphis Airport. Rachel was hysterical at being passed around 68 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: the world from one stranger to the next, but they 69 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: calmed her down and took her home. That was a 70 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: about twenty eight years ago. Rachel, I knew as a 71 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: kid in high school was an amazing lacrosse player and 72 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: a really good basketball player, and she ended up earning 73 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: a scholarship to the University of Vermont to play lacrosse. 74 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: I was her eighth grade girls basketball cage at St. 75 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: George's Independent School, at private school outside of Memphis. Rachel 76 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 1: was as tough and competitive of a kid as I've 77 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: ever coached in any sport, and had she been a guy, 78 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: she would have been a middle linebacker in football. There's 79 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: no doubt that she will be a champion whatever she 80 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: decides to do with their life. No one can know 81 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: for certain where Rachel would have ended up, certainly not 82 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: playing lacrosse in Vermont if Sunday had not gotten out 83 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: of her comfort zone. Perhaps someone else would have adopted her. 84 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: Perhaps not. The orphanage where Rachel lived was in a 85 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: remote area. There's a real chance she would have ended 86 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: up like many other young girls that Sunday had run 87 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: into at the train station in bukarust selling flowers to survive, 88 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: or selling something else much worse to survive. When you 89 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: get out of your comfort zone, guys, the world can 90 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: change if Sunday can leave Manhattan to come home to 91 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: a completely rural area and then, as a single woman, 92 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: adopt four children, one from Russia and three from Romania 93 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: and change lives and in her richer own by simply 94 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: having the temerity and the courage to get out of 95 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: their comfort zone and in doing so, build her family 96 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: and change a life. What can you do? What can 97 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: you do if you're just willing to get out of 98 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: your comfort zone? Go against the norms, go against the grain. 99 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: I Talk number twenty three. I hope you'll think about 100 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: getting out of your comfort zone this week. If you 101 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: have any ideas of stuff you'd like to hear about, tenants, fundamentals, values, 102 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: current events, please email me at Bill at normal Folks 103 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: dot us, and if I think I have something to 104 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: add to it, we'll talk about it, and we'll cite 105 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: that it came from you, thanks to our producer, Ironlight Labs. 106 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.