Speaker 1: Carala. She's a queen of talking. He was she's on
Speaker 1: the inside. She got the scoop on no one can
Speaker 1: do with Carala, Carala, No one can do with Caral. Carol.
Speaker 1: I have the amazing Cassie Kelly joining me today on
Speaker 1: this episode of Get Real podcast. Cassie is so beautiful
Speaker 1: inside and out. She has a heart of gold. She
Speaker 1: is a fashionista. If you need help planning anything, go
Speaker 1: to Cassie's page. She knows how to decorate for any
Speaker 1: type of occasion and make it fabulous. Traveling, she knows
Speaker 1: all the best places to go, everywhere to eat. She
Speaker 1: is just fabulous. She's married to Charles Kelly of Lady
Speaker 1: to Bellam. They met over ten years ago and there's
Speaker 1: pretty much love at first sight with them. We talked
Speaker 1: about their love story. We talked about being on the road,
Speaker 1: how road life has changed ever since they had Warred,
Speaker 1: their child, who's so precious. We talked about their journey
Speaker 1: to having a kid. It wasn't just perfectly easy for them,
Speaker 1: but he's an amazing miracle in their life, and we
Speaker 1: talked all about that, how motherhood has changed everything in
Speaker 1: the best way. We talked about her brand woman Issa
Speaker 1: that she started as a blog on the road as
Speaker 1: a as a road warrior wife and it turned into
Speaker 1: a huge company that she's sold. She's an incredible business woman.
Speaker 1: She's just so good at everything she does. She's a
Speaker 1: great friend, she's such a supporter of women. She has
Speaker 1: truly the sweetest, biggest heart of anyone you will ever meet.
Speaker 1: And her story is amazing. So here's Cassie. Hello, Hello,
Speaker 1: Cassie Kelly, Caroline Hobby in your house in the Kelly House,
Speaker 1: which is so beautiful. We were just talking about how
Speaker 1: you love to decorate and design and your house is
Speaker 1: unbelievable because it makes you feel so peaceful and calm.
Speaker 1: But then you have all these pops of like awesome color,
Speaker 1: And how did you get your vision for how you
Speaker 1: want to dick at your house? And what's your style? Well,
Speaker 1: this house, it's interesting because we did not intend on
Speaker 1: moving into this house. Okay, what happened to tell So
Speaker 1: we were living in our house which I we renovated
Speaker 1: and completely redecorated as a fashion of yours. I love
Speaker 1: it um and that was our in my mind, our
Speaker 1: forever house. But you know the saying, like you know,
Speaker 1: want to make god laugh, make a plan. Um, And
Speaker 1: then we bought this house to flip because again I
Speaker 1: just like, when did you start flipping? Well, it wasn't this.
Speaker 1: This actually was the first project that we did intentionally. Um, Like,
Speaker 1: every other house that we've owned has not been on
Speaker 1: the market and just sold, okay, So which is a
Speaker 1: weird thing to say, but this was the first one
Speaker 1: that we like intentionally bought to renovate and flip, and
Speaker 1: we moved into it, renovated it and made it so awesome.
Speaker 1: So we didn't live it. Well. We ended up getting
Speaker 1: an offer on our house that I thought was our
Speaker 1: forever house just randomly, someone just drove by and saw it.
Speaker 1: This was a little more you know, in in it
Speaker 1: than that, but basically, um, and it was you know,
Speaker 1: an offer that we couldn't really refuse. And so my
Speaker 1: husband and I still didn't really want to move at
Speaker 1: the time, but my husband was like, I mean, we
Speaker 1: have this other house that we're we can move into,
Speaker 1: and so we ended up moving into this house, and um,
Speaker 1: it just it's been I mean, I love it so
Speaker 1: all of that. To answer your question, the design of it,
Speaker 1: I mean I picked everything, like I you know, I
Speaker 1: loved everything that I picked, But I didn't do the
Speaker 1: design in this house with the intention of me living here.
Speaker 1: So did that make you do it differently than you
Speaker 1: would have if you thought you would have lived here? Um?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know. There's a couple of things that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, in furnishings and stuff was all ours. But um,
Speaker 1: as far as you know design picks, I don't. I mean,
Speaker 1: we didn't do custom cabinetry in there in here, in
Speaker 1: the kitchen, and I don't know. Maybe I would have
Speaker 1: done that, but I love it, Like you know, the
Speaker 1: only difference is um, which this is so nerd deal
Speaker 1: are probably not interested. But um, you know, the island
Speaker 1: height when you do custom cabinetry. In our old house,
Speaker 1: we did them taller because Charles is so tall. So
Speaker 1: like our island heights six six oh my god, maybe
Speaker 1: six seven, I don't know. So in like the bathroom
Speaker 1: counter height is was taller, um, and we didn't do
Speaker 1: that in this house. Um. So it's just shorter. But
Speaker 1: little things like that that you live with and then
Speaker 1: they don't really matter. Oh my gosh, And are you
Speaker 1: still doing an a frame house right now? So because
Speaker 1: Michael's obsessed with a frame house. I am obsessed with
Speaker 1: a frame to move into one and live there. Well,
Speaker 1: this one, it was on Center Hill Lake. So this
Speaker 1: is such a sad story. It's the one that got away.
Speaker 1: It's like an hour outside of Nashville, like a getaway.
Speaker 1: We were gonna probably renovate and flip that one too,
Speaker 1: or just accidentally right like it happens around here. Um. So,
Speaker 1: to make a very long story short about that one, UM,
Speaker 1: it was an elderly couple and they were selling this
Speaker 1: has been their getaway house for a long time, and
Speaker 1: their kids were kind of handling the sale. And um,
Speaker 1: the mother, I think this was all relayed to me,
Speaker 1: so I don't know for sure, had some um dementia issues.
Speaker 1: And when the title company called to you know, we
Speaker 1: were closing to um get all the information, she kind
Speaker 1: of had a freak out. Ince at this house isn't
Speaker 1: for sale. I don't know what you're talking about. And
Speaker 1: so we just wasn't wasn't meant to be. And you've
Speaker 1: got to trust those Oh my gosh. I told Charles,
Speaker 1: I said, you know, there's no more direct message than
Speaker 1: the owner saying this house isn't for sale. I don't
Speaker 1: need to buy this house, so we're not doing an
Speaker 1: a frame. Are you pretty good at following signs or messages?
Speaker 1: I feel like I try, you know, to pay attention,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. I mean, I'm enough in touch
Speaker 1: with my spiritual self in my heart that you know,
Speaker 1: if there's a clear message like that, you know, I
Speaker 1: I try to, you know, pay attention, but I don't know.
Speaker 1: I also get caught up in life too. I know.
Speaker 1: It's a balance. Yeah, I feel like before we started this,
Speaker 1: we're talking about surrendering and how important that is, and
Speaker 1: I always think I have surrendered and I'm like, they're
Speaker 1: in my spirituality, and then I'll just get hit with
Speaker 1: something else and I'm like, oh gosh, I'm really I
Speaker 1: haven't surrendered because I'm freaking out right now and desperately
Speaker 1: under control of situations. Right, It's true. I mean, um,
Speaker 1: my grandmother one of my favorite sayings that she taught
Speaker 1: me was never get attached to anything that can be
Speaker 1: bought or sold, and that is, you know, something to
Speaker 1: completely remember in surrender. I mean, again, just our whole
Speaker 1: house situation. You know, it's not like we didn't get
Speaker 1: to move into an amazing house also, but you know,
Speaker 1: the things that matter in life are nothing that you
Speaker 1: can you know, hold tangibly other than people, so I know,
Speaker 1: and even with people, you know, it's like this Christmas,
Speaker 1: I talked to you about it, like my dad almost died,
Speaker 1: and I know you've dealt with a lot of pain
Speaker 1: in that way. And then it's like and then we
Speaker 1: also last year, Michael and I are dealing with baby
Speaker 1: stuff and trying to have a baby and miscarrie, and
Speaker 1: we went through all of that and that Sorry, it's hard,
Speaker 1: it's hard, really hard, and I love I just talked
Speaker 1: to an interview with Caroline Brian and she was talking
Speaker 1: about it and she had had a miscarriage and it's
Speaker 1: just like son. People have gone through infertility or struggling
Speaker 1: with it. And that's another thing. How do you deal
Speaker 1: with those bigger moments in life when it's like you
Speaker 1: want something so badly it's not a object, but it's
Speaker 1: like a life, right, but it's not happening, or something
Speaker 1: you lose someone. How have you navigated those waters? Um?
Speaker 1: I think in the hardest times in my life, you know,
Speaker 1: Like we talked about surrender, the key message for me,
Speaker 1: which you asked if I pay attention to messages, maybe
Speaker 1: I do. Um, the key message for me is just
Speaker 1: you know, trust we're walking through it, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: feel growth, You're gonna feel better on the other side.
Speaker 1: I mean every time that we've walked through something hard,
Speaker 1: whether it was our infertility struggle before we had Ward,
Speaker 1: or you know, anything in our marriage or careers. UM,
Speaker 1: I have always just trusted in the Lord and and
Speaker 1: you know my heart that us to stay the course.
Speaker 1: And UM, you know, you never grow without change and hardship,
Speaker 1: so you know, sometimes God teaches us lessons through that
Speaker 1: kind of hardship. I'm trying to learn the lesson that
Speaker 1: things aren't good or bad, that they're all for growth, right,
Speaker 1: you know, because like in my younger days, I would
Speaker 1: be upset when things wouldn't go the way I wanted
Speaker 1: them to go. And now I have learned through living
Speaker 1: through many things that have not gone as planned or
Speaker 1: really shook my world, that Okay, there is a big
Speaker 1: growth here, and I would have never gotten it without
Speaker 1: this experience. I think a lot of times for me
Speaker 1: to you know, in my marriage, UM, Charles, he like
Speaker 1: really kind of focuses hard on things that aren't right
Speaker 1: and you know, can really kind of stew about things,
Speaker 1: and so I've had to be the one that's like
Speaker 1: roll with it a little more, um for better for worse.
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't know if I've just been
Speaker 1: like forced to have that mentality of nothing's like you said,
Speaker 1: nothing's good or bad. It's just for growth, it is. Um.
Speaker 1: You know. We were talking a little bit earlier about
Speaker 1: trying to conceive Ward and we were married for probably said, well,
Speaker 1: we were married for seven years, um almost we had him,
Speaker 1: and I mean we probably started trying to have a
Speaker 1: baby four years into our marriage, so it was for
Speaker 1: three years. Yeah. I mean at the beginning it was
Speaker 1: more just like let's give it a world, right, right. Um.
Speaker 1: When didn't start getting serious for you, well, probably a
Speaker 1: year before he was conceived, we were like, okay, we
Speaker 1: need to probably go to see a specialist doctor. So
Speaker 1: we went to Nashville Infertility or Nashville Fertility it's called
Speaker 1: it's not infertility, um right, and uh, you know, went
Speaker 1: through a lot of testing and started to um, you know,
Speaker 1: after all of tests and results and everything. Our doctor,
Speaker 1: dr Abby Evelyn is who who we saw, and she's amazing,
Speaker 1: but she said we had a one percent chance of
Speaker 1: conceiving a baby without IVF. Wow, so how do you
Speaker 1: take that? New? So that was hard, That is very hard, um,
Speaker 1: but you know, so that was I guess in April
Speaker 1: of two thousand fifteen, and um, Charles had a big,
Speaker 1: busy summer tour coming up. Um what tour was it?
Speaker 1: It was the It was with Sam Hunt and Hunter Hayes.
Speaker 1: I can't remember the title of it. I'm the Worst
Speaker 1: and a lot of tours. Um, it was a great one.
Speaker 1: It was great. But so they were about to just
Speaker 1: get really busy touring and I had, um a bunch
Speaker 1: of work stuff, um coming up. I had was just
Speaker 1: about to partner with a bit in Nashville to take
Speaker 1: womany stuff from my blog to a media site. So
Speaker 1: it was just it was a busy talk about woman.
Speaker 1: How you launched that? Well, okay, because you're like on
Speaker 1: the forefront of blogging. Well that it was fun, yes, Um,
Speaker 1: So it was just it was a really busy season
Speaker 1: for us, and so we thought, okay, we'll just take
Speaker 1: the summer off and then do IVF in the fall.
Speaker 1: And I ended up getting pregnant in May. Do you
Speaker 1: think it's because you weren't stressing about it. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean people when they do I V or I
Speaker 1: B I v F I v F. You don't have
Speaker 1: to do IVF for anything, I know. So one of
Speaker 1: my Philippian tubes was blocked, and of course the ovary
Speaker 1: on the other side was the week ovary, so of course,
Speaker 1: naturally obviously um so he was a little he made
Speaker 1: it through the blocked Philippian tubes. He either went through
Speaker 1: the blocked one or he was a really weak egg.
Speaker 1: He was a little one percent miracle baby. So truly,
Speaker 1: I mean I felt like, um, after going through that,
Speaker 1: the creation of life is not in our hands. Did
Speaker 1: that really rock your world? Like having that all happen here,
Speaker 1: Like trying for three years, hearing you have one per
Speaker 1: cent you're probably gonna have to do and v true
Speaker 1: and then miraculously getting pregnant, Like what does that do
Speaker 1: to your brain? And I guess your faith? It's yeah,
Speaker 1: you know. The thing about going walking through that, um
Speaker 1: fertility struggle for us and having to have a ward
Speaker 1: is life was so good otherwise, so it was hard
Speaker 1: for me to try to, you know, feel sorry for myself.
Speaker 1: Not that you feel sorry for yourself if you're you know,
Speaker 1: it can be a sad season though, and it can
Speaker 1: be a very isolating season. It is, especially if all
Speaker 1: your friends are having kids and and of course you're
Speaker 1: so happy for him, but you're like, oh, when is
Speaker 1: it going to be me? And I don't know, I
Speaker 1: mean a in I guess just my faith and you know,
Speaker 1: the Lord, by the grace of God just sort of
Speaker 1: walked me through that because I, um never felt like
Speaker 1: I was missing anything. How amazing is that? And I
Speaker 1: can't I don't like attribute that to my own thought whatever.
Speaker 1: I mean, that was just the way that I was
Speaker 1: carried through that season. You had faith that you were
Speaker 1: on your right. I just knew we would be parents somehow. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, whether that ended up being doing IVF and
Speaker 1: getting pregnant that way or adoption. I just I knew
Speaker 1: that we would be parents somehow. And you know, gratefully
Speaker 1: we didn't have to work that hard. Um. And you
Speaker 1: know he was He's just a little miracle, perfect baby,
Speaker 1: and he came in the right time for himself, so
Speaker 1: and for us. Um. You know, we were married long
Speaker 1: enough to really be able to do a lot together. Um.
Speaker 1: Through Charles's career that we maybe wouldn't have been able
Speaker 1: to do had we had a child at the time,
Speaker 1: and which Scott to be together, and that was such
Speaker 1: a gift in hindsight, that is such an incredible gift
Speaker 1: to get to just navigate the craziness of the music
Speaker 1: business life in your first couple of years of marriage,
Speaker 1: especial when you're so young and you're doing all of
Speaker 1: it for the first time together. I have really learned
Speaker 1: to appreciate that with Michael, Like so we started dating
Speaker 1: when he was twenty one and I was twenty four,
Speaker 1: and like this whole journey, the good, the bad, all
Speaker 1: of it, we've been able to experience it together. And
Speaker 1: I just feel so thankful for that foundation and all
Speaker 1: of these first things that we've done because it's just
Speaker 1: so wild, right. And I remember when you and Charles
Speaker 1: started dating, he was I was twenty three and he
Speaker 1: was twenty. It was in January two thousand seven, so
Speaker 1: I was I guess almost, and I was born in
Speaker 1: eighty three, so I was almost twenty four. I was
Speaker 1: twenty three, and then he was I know he was
Speaker 1: twenties five or twenty six, and you he was working
Speaker 1: with Victoria Shaw as like writing a polisher and up.
Speaker 1: And so when you all started dating, I remember thinking like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this is so crazy and cool because
Speaker 1: I followed y'all's journey and I had I had never
Speaker 1: really been in the music business. I was so green.
Speaker 1: I know, you were so young, so young, and just
Speaker 1: seeing y'all's evolution, I feel honestly like one of those
Speaker 1: weird grandparents or something. He's like, it's watching y'all because
Speaker 1: y'all have always been such an example to me of
Speaker 1: a great couple. And I've always just thought y'all were
Speaker 1: so awesome and you're always been so beautiful, and just
Speaker 1: to see y'all grow and evolve and all the things
Speaker 1: that you've gone through his career, your career starting Womanisa, Yeah,
Speaker 1: how is all that just starting from meeting this person?
Speaker 1: They're just getting going and you're in a whirl one.
Speaker 1: I grew up in Nashville, so and my mom was
Speaker 1: in the music business. Um, she's a great stylist. She
Speaker 1: was a wardrobe stylist. Did you do Martina and everybody?
Speaker 1: She's like. She was a single mom, you know, for
Speaker 1: a couple of years and basically just took every job
Speaker 1: that could put food on our table. So she's styled everyone,
Speaker 1: and she's got incredible style, which has obviously been passed
Speaker 1: on to you. Yeah, she's amazing. She has three boutiques
Speaker 1: in Nashville now, but they're called Hero. She has Haven,
Speaker 1: which is in frank the first one that she had,
Speaker 1: and then she opened Hero which is in twelfth South,
Speaker 1: And now she has Parish, which is in Parish. Is
Speaker 1: your mom stop it. I don't even go in that
Speaker 1: store because I'm like, I cannot fall in love with
Speaker 1: anything in there, you know, higher price point, but it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's so impeccably merchandized, and she's so talented. When I
Speaker 1: was in a band with Taylor Len, We're in a
Speaker 1: band called Steeling Angel, and Taylor would shop at Haven
Speaker 1: all the time, like she lived in there constantly. My
Speaker 1: mom loves Taylor so much. She is a nut job
Speaker 1: and I love her. She's the best, the best. Nobody
Speaker 1: like her, right, no, one of the kind. Um, But
Speaker 1: you grew up here, So I grew up here in music,
Speaker 1: right and or just you know, via my parents. My mom,
Speaker 1: you think that you would date an artist. No, So
Speaker 1: when I met Charles and he was like yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to do the music thing. Um we met.
Speaker 1: I had. I moved to New York after college, and
Speaker 1: then I got a job back in Nashville, and I
Speaker 1: it wasn't really personally ready to move back to Nashville,
Speaker 1: but it was a great job opportunity, and I thought, well,
Speaker 1: I'll move back for a couple of years, saved some money,
Speaker 1: and then moved back up to New York. And I
Speaker 1: met Charles a month after I moved back here. You're like, well,
Speaker 1: I guess I'm not moving that I'm not moving? Was
Speaker 1: it kind of love at first? It was? It was
Speaker 1: truly like magnetic instant. Like we were going to um
Speaker 1: a group dinner at what's the place above South Street,
Speaker 1: like the tree House. Is it called South Street? Well,
Speaker 1: I think it has a different name, but it's it's
Speaker 1: like the second story of South Street. Um, for those
Speaker 1: of you who don't know Nashville restaurants, it's one of
Speaker 1: the old O G O G s um last man
Speaker 1: standing in that area that was been there. But anyway,
Speaker 1: we were at a group dinner and um he arrived
Speaker 1: late and he like walked in and our eyes just
Speaker 1: locked and it was like that magic, truly instant love
Speaker 1: at first sight. I had only been back here a month,
Speaker 1: and um, I was living with my parents, and uh,
Speaker 1: I told my mom the next morning, I said, I
Speaker 1: think I met the guy I'm in to. Mary, Are
Speaker 1: you kidding? Crazy? Years old? You just felt so different,
Speaker 1: it was so different. And then we just h was
Speaker 1: an instant dating right away, instant dating. So we ended
Speaker 1: up staying up talking, like truly just talking until about
Speaker 1: five that morning, and so our first date and then
Speaker 1: I you know, stumbled on home and then our first
Speaker 1: Nate wasn't that night because we've been up till five
Speaker 1: in the morning, but it was the very next night,
Speaker 1: and that oh my gosh. Yeah. What's the secret to
Speaker 1: marriage in the music music industry? Right? I'll going on
Speaker 1: ten years and we ten years in July, So ten
Speaker 1: years married in the music industry starting off as babies.
Speaker 1: How do you navigate this and do it well? Well?
Speaker 1: I don't know. If we do it well, I'll do
Speaker 1: it well. Um. I read a do you know Beth
Speaker 1: Moore because she's like this amazing she's an author and
Speaker 1: she's she's a Christian author, and um, I read a
Speaker 1: quote that she said one time because She's very vocal
Speaker 1: about she and her husband have been married for forty years,
Speaker 1: and she's like, it's been of the time good. But
Speaker 1: she jokes about how her marriage has not been all
Speaker 1: roses and neither has ours for sure. Um, but she
Speaker 1: said one time, she said, sometimes the secret to a
Speaker 1: long marriage is just waking up and say, I'll give
Speaker 1: it one more day. I love that. It's like just
Speaker 1: every morning, you say, even in the hard, hard times
Speaker 1: where you just want to be so much easier to
Speaker 1: not hang on, I'm just gonna give it one more day.
Speaker 1: I love that. So and then one more day turns
Speaker 1: into a week, turns into one day at a time,
Speaker 1: like anything, and then you're through it. You're through that
Speaker 1: patch and into something else. That's one thing I've learned.
Speaker 1: I've been with Michael. Now we've been together ten years.
Speaker 1: We had a two year break. We did a tumultuous start,
Speaker 1: like our first four years. We were so young. He
Speaker 1: was Puma, you know, a little older. But we're still
Speaker 1: such a hottie, such a hottie mess. Hot mess is
Speaker 1: more like it insane. In my twenties, oh gosh, thank god,
Speaker 1: I'm through my twenties. But I have one thing I
Speaker 1: have realized is the good, the bad, all of it.
Speaker 1: Like it's like if you stay and if you stick
Speaker 1: it out, and if you realize that things will not
Speaker 1: always be the mountaintop and not always be the valley,
Speaker 1: but if you just stay and love that person through everything,
Speaker 1: you get through it. And now looking back, I look
Speaker 1: at our ten years of everything and like the hard
Speaker 1: parts make me emotional in a good way. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, like I even get tear you, and
Speaker 1: like we've made it through some really hard parts, you know,
Speaker 1: and we got stronger because of it. And then you
Speaker 1: have this strength in your marriage that you could have
Speaker 1: never gotten if you hadn't just stayed with it. Well,
Speaker 1: and it's our history. I mean, it's it's our history.
Speaker 1: And now we have a child together that you know,
Speaker 1: we're going to be connected no matter what for the
Speaker 1: rest of our lives. So you might as well make
Speaker 1: it work with each other, I mean, rather than introduce
Speaker 1: other people into it just to make it more complicated. Um.
Speaker 1: So you know, I think that that's that's the lesson.
Speaker 1: Like we've we haven't been perfect to each other. Um,
Speaker 1: We've just never given up. And that is you know,
Speaker 1: a gift that we get to have now in having
Speaker 1: an almost in your marriage and hopefully you know, for
Speaker 1: as many more years as we're on this planet marriage,
Speaker 1: what makes you I'll reconnect, Like if you all want
Speaker 1: to have a moment where you're getting back to you guys,
Speaker 1: what do y'all like to do? We like to sit
Speaker 1: out just on the patio and listen to music and
Speaker 1: have a glass of wine and um, just talk. You know,
Speaker 1: we'll get We'll go through seasons. Um. You know again,
Speaker 1: we have a toddler, and it's can be stressful. We
Speaker 1: travel a lot um because the whole fan goes on
Speaker 1: the road. Yes, get haven't slept in one hundred years?
Speaker 1: In case you can't tell, that really does go away?
Speaker 1: The sleeping yes like audios, yes forever. When does it
Speaker 1: come back? Uh? Well, I think once your kids are
Speaker 1: teenagers would have been told teenagers. When your kids are
Speaker 1: teenagers and sleeping, then like you are, you just started
Speaker 1: season to not sleep. That was that was such a
Speaker 1: struggle for us because we were both such sleepers before ward.
Speaker 1: I remember thinking like if I had to do something
Speaker 1: before ten thirty am, like that was early not happening.
Speaker 1: It's happening now, oh now ten thirties like lunch. I
Speaker 1: mean truly, it's just you just get used to it,
Speaker 1: or you don't get used to it, you just do it.
Speaker 1: So what's road life like now? What was it before?
Speaker 1: Like in the early days? What was road life like
Speaker 1: with Lady A? And now what is it like with
Speaker 1: Lady A and all the families? Because every s a
Speaker 1: one of the members has baby. Yes I have three,
Speaker 1: which is just she got that double whammy, those twins.
Speaker 1: But I know, I like don't know how she does
Speaker 1: everything with such grace that she does. She's such an
Speaker 1: amazing mom. And she toured pregnant with twins too, right,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, she so well. The twins were born
Speaker 1: in January. So the last tour, I mean they had
Speaker 1: a couple of like one off shows, but it was
Speaker 1: Europe in October. She was pregnant with twins in Europe
Speaker 1: in October. Dang, I know, wow, yeah, she's done. And
Speaker 1: then with Osle she toured up until Osley was born.
Speaker 1: Um she was born on Prince William's birthday, I think
Speaker 1: or not. Prince William, Prince George, the oldest little kids,
Speaker 1: the little buddy. Um so Asley was born end of July,
Speaker 1: and she toured up until the beginning of July with Aslie.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, gosh Renaissance woman, but life on
Speaker 1: the road. I mean again. When Charles and I started dating,
Speaker 1: they weren't assigned banned, so they were in his jeep
Speaker 1: Cherokee like drive into Chicago to play Joe's Bar opening
Speaker 1: up for she Daisy and Phil Vasster. He opened up
Speaker 1: for Phil Vaster on my birthday in Chicago. I remember,
Speaker 1: I love Philaster. I saw Lululemon the other day. I
Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, I love you. Just another
Speaker 1: day in paradise. Yeah, every day, um right, and then
Speaker 1: uh they got signed and I remember, um, like one
Speaker 1: of Charles and I first big fights was they were
Speaker 1: opening up for the Doobie Brothers in Ohio, which was
Speaker 1: like a big thing. This is a big one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: They had a Winnebago okay, which was like huge sleep
Speaker 1: in it a sleeping thing. Yeah, there was like a
Speaker 1: bed in the you know. Um. And he asked I
Speaker 1: was going to go. We've been dating for probably like
Speaker 1: five months, and he asked if I would sell merch
Speaker 1: and I was like, uh no, we need the help.
Speaker 1: I know, which in hindsight that was so rude of me.
Speaker 1: But I was like, I, this is not mixed, Like
Speaker 1: I okay, So you drew boundaries from the beginning, which
Speaker 1: again maybe I shouldn't have. I should have sold the
Speaker 1: freaking T shirts. He was like, well, we don't have
Speaker 1: room for you if you're not going to do something
Speaker 1: to help you have a job, which is true. Um,
Speaker 1: But anyway, that was a big fight that we had.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't sell merch. Did you end up going or
Speaker 1: not going? No? I didn't go. Oh wow, okay, he
Speaker 1: drew boundaries to everybody has their their undred um. So
Speaker 1: then they you know, we're in their Winnebago. And they
Speaker 1: took that Winnebago also to open up for Carrie Underwood
Speaker 1: and Doe b that's a big deal. Yeah, they had
Speaker 1: some good They signed with CIA before they signed with anyone,
Speaker 1: so they got some good shows for everyone listening to
Speaker 1: booking company. Yes they book all the shows, yes of
Speaker 1: artist agency. Um. And then they got signed and they
Speaker 1: went on radio tour um that fall, and um, I
Speaker 1: mean played every kind of show, like on a pontoon
Speaker 1: boat in Texas and at a gas station. The opening
Speaker 1: of Deer season in Wisconsin. That's the thing with the
Speaker 1: radio tour. It's not glamorous, No, it is grinding. And
Speaker 1: you played the craziest shows because radio stations have all
Speaker 1: sorts of events that they put on for their listeners
Speaker 1: and they need artists. Yes, and when you are new
Speaker 1: and that's say, you got to get in there. The
Speaker 1: opening of Deer season, when Maybe takes the cake for
Speaker 1: them at a gas station, they were like standing singing
Speaker 1: Acapello by the cashier while everyone's like getting there sausage
Speaker 1: biscuit after going out that morning. Is that recorded? I
Speaker 1: think they have footage of it, which is amazing. Um,
Speaker 1: and then their album came out that following April, and um,
Speaker 1: you know things things really went fast went fast for
Speaker 1: them and we ended up actually breaking up. That may
Speaker 1: how long have you been together? I guess we've been together,
Speaker 1: um for like a year and a half. I feel
Speaker 1: like sometimes a break is a good thing. It was huge,
Speaker 1: it was amazing. I mean he and he was so busy,
Speaker 1: So we were broken up for pretty much that whole
Speaker 1: summer two thousand eight. Kind of lets you like see
Speaker 1: do I really want to do this with this person
Speaker 1: or not? Because when you get to that point, especially
Speaker 1: with this lifestyle, you gotta you gotta really know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think for him too, he was like, I
Speaker 1: just have so much to focus on and so much
Speaker 1: on my plate, Like, can I mentally also have a
Speaker 1: relationship totally because we all know men can't multitask. That
Speaker 1: is very true. Um, but it was great, and I
Speaker 1: uh dated other people, and how was it? Was it
Speaker 1: weird or I mean it was My heart honestly was
Speaker 1: always with Charles. UM, but I met a lot of
Speaker 1: nice people. Yeah, hey, it's a good try. It was fun,
Speaker 1: right and um then he was basically gone that whole
Speaker 1: summer anyway, So even had we been together, like I
Speaker 1: wouldn't have seen him. And he was on the road
Speaker 1: so much. And then he um called me one day
Speaker 1: like early August and said, you know, I'm coming back
Speaker 1: from the road and I just want to talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe next steps for us. And I was
Speaker 1: thinking like just getting back together, and he was talking
Speaker 1: about getting engaged. He was like ready. So his summer
Speaker 1: of uh solo nous made him really, I'm ready to
Speaker 1: do this. Yeah. He got to see what else was
Speaker 1: out there and realized he didn't want any of that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's really awesome. It was good. It was It was
Speaker 1: good for us because then he came back to our
Speaker 1: relationship knowing ready. Some people are so afraid of a break,
Speaker 1: and like for me and Michael, we had a two
Speaker 1: year break. We would not be happily married if we
Speaker 1: had not broken up, just because I don't know, we
Speaker 1: had things we just sort out and we just couldn't
Speaker 1: do it as a couple at that point. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: we all got engaged right away. We got engaged, so
Speaker 1: that was in August, and we got engaged um that
Speaker 1: Christmas Day, and then got married the following July. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, did you all get married at thirty eight? No,
Speaker 1: we got married in Bahamas, you guys. But we got
Speaker 1: married on Harbor Island because y'all beach people. Yes, we're
Speaker 1: beach people for sure. Okay, you love thirty A, y'all,
Speaker 1: that's your second little getaway. We love it so much.
Speaker 1: That was our first like a trip together, was thirty A.
Speaker 1: And Charles had grown up going to beaches on the
Speaker 1: East Coast and he'd never seen white sand like that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we love it. Something about the beach. I
Speaker 1: feel just so peaceful y'all just got back from the Bahamas.
Speaker 1: So is it a regular thing that you'll do go
Speaker 1: to the Bahamas? I mean, I love it so much. Um,
Speaker 1: this was and it ward. This was his third trip
Speaker 1: to the Bahamas, which is hilarious. And I love that
Speaker 1: he's saying Bahamas everything he's got. He's got such a
Speaker 1: charmed life. It's it's amazing. He's so charming, he's a sweet,
Speaker 1: so cute, he's really just his heart is in the
Speaker 1: right place. I hope it stays like that forever. It will. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we just got back from Mohamas. It's about to get
Speaker 1: busy for um Charles, and so we just had one
Speaker 1: more family getaway. Y'all be going on the road again
Speaker 1: this year. We are we he starts his he has
Speaker 1: a Vegas residency. Oh heck yeah yeah. So there, Um
Speaker 1: there's five shows and people are asking me like, are
Speaker 1: you moving to Vegas for the year. And it's not
Speaker 1: like a Britney Spears residency. It's um, is it five
Speaker 1: shows total? No, it's fifteen shows total. But there's five
Speaker 1: shows in February, five shows in May, and then five
Speaker 1: shows in August. That's gonna be awesome. Yeah, so our
Speaker 1: first jaunt is out to Vegas in February. We are
Speaker 1: just kind of post up at a hotel. We rented
Speaker 1: a house. Yeah, we're gonna have Ward with us. Um,
Speaker 1: and you just like need a kitchen and a washer
Speaker 1: and dryer and not to be in a casino, which
Speaker 1: is a good thing that we learned this. Or we
Speaker 1: went ahead and rented a house because in the Bahamas
Speaker 1: we were staying at a place called Bahamar that has
Speaker 1: a casino, and we went to dinner one night with
Speaker 1: him at a restaurant that was off the casino floor,
Speaker 1: and he Ward was so furious that he couldn't play
Speaker 1: all of the games. He was like, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: he thought they were kids games. Why can't I touch
Speaker 1: any of these machines? Oh my gosh. Good to So anyway,
Speaker 1: had we decided to stay at the Palms where their
Speaker 1: residency is and had to like be in the casino
Speaker 1: every day with a crazy little toddler, I don't think
Speaker 1: that would have worked. Vegas is so pretty. The Strip
Speaker 1: is wild, but outside of Vegas it is so pretty. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we left a hike and um, so I think there's
Speaker 1: some really good hikes around there, and I'm excited. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you actually never told me. So how has read
Speaker 1: life changed with the babies? Yes, I got off on
Speaker 1: the tangents. I mean I definitely don't watch every show anymore. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a thing like watching every show in the beginning.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, every show. Um. But now um, and thankfully
Speaker 1: we have an absolutely amazing nanny and um she comes
Speaker 1: with us, and so if I do want to go
Speaker 1: out and watch a show, I can. I don't have
Speaker 1: to leave my kids so along the bus probably the
Speaker 1: baby monitor stretches right, but you know, he goes to
Speaker 1: bed before they go on stage. So if I do
Speaker 1: want to watch the show, and he's an early riser,
Speaker 1: the timing of a show, you know, if they don't
Speaker 1: get off stage till eleven o'clock and then you kind
Speaker 1: of unwind and you don't end up going to bed
Speaker 1: until at the earliest midnight, and then your child wakes
Speaker 1: up at six am. It's not the most conducive schedule.
Speaker 1: So um, our nannie will wake up with him. Um
Speaker 1: some and then if I have to get up with him,
Speaker 1: a lot of times I just won't watch the show.
Speaker 1: But now it's filled with I mean, you're up early
Speaker 1: you're not sleeping till noon anymore. And we try to
Speaker 1: find fun activities for him to do in the cities
Speaker 1: that we're in and just so he's not on the bus.
Speaker 1: But he likes the camaraderie of just running around with
Speaker 1: the other kids when they're out there. He's worship sizely.
Speaker 1: He does. She the Queen Asley is the queen. She
Speaker 1: she's five, she'll be six in July. Um, and she
Speaker 1: he like gets on her nerves sometimes she's like, I
Speaker 1: just need some space. Word did she say that? Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, that's so cute. But he just adores her
Speaker 1: and wants to do whatever she's doing. So cute. Um.
Speaker 1: And then he plays so sweet with Cash, who's Dave's
Speaker 1: oldest son, and he is four, so he'll be five
Speaker 1: in Charles Ward will be three in February, and then
Speaker 1: Cash will be five and staid Org is to hang
Speaker 1: all the big kids. He does. And then Lily Haywood
Speaker 1: just turned one, and then the twins are about to
Speaker 1: turn one at the end of this month. My god,
Speaker 1: he's right in the middle. How fun. So just kids own,
Speaker 1: it's kid's own. Dave is like super dad and he
Speaker 1: when his kids are out. He always plans for a
Speaker 1: fun backstage activity. We'll have a bounce house, We'll have
Speaker 1: an ice cream truck come stop. He always has a
Speaker 1: Disneyland dad mentality, and it's like, what can we do
Speaker 1: for the kids? That's awesome? I know. He always brings
Speaker 1: really good toys Cash, and we have like one toy
Speaker 1: for awards, and Cash has like a slew of amazing
Speaker 1: toys back there. So Ward's super happy when Cash is up,
Speaker 1: I know, because Dave always has something fun planned. So
Speaker 1: it is. It's just it's not hanging out and drinking
Speaker 1: after the show anymore. So it's probably nice to transition.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm almost thirty six years old. Like the
Speaker 1: hangovers get bad, right, I can't really have a hangover
Speaker 1: anymore and me out for the rest of the day.
Speaker 1: And if you have to get up with a toddler
Speaker 1: with a hangover, like pure torture. Yeah, not worth it
Speaker 1: on a moving bus. It has to be worth it
Speaker 1: for me to like really go hard. And I say,
Speaker 1: I'm okay, I'm gonna like embrace the party. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go hard. I still even when I try, I get
Speaker 1: a point, I'm like, I just have to go to bed.
Speaker 1: Nothing's fun enough for me? Is that bad? No, I'm
Speaker 1: the same way. I'm like, I don't get fomo. I
Speaker 1: used to think I wanted to do everything, and now
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my gosh, when I get tired, it's
Speaker 1: over for me. Like the thought of staying up past
Speaker 1: one am really eleven pm. But if we want to
Speaker 1: get into party zone one am, I don't think I
Speaker 1: can physically do it. Michael, he could stay up forever
Speaker 1: if there's people around that he likes to hang out
Speaker 1: with and something fun to do. I mean, he could
Speaker 1: say untill the sun comes up, and he wouldn't care
Speaker 1: if you told me how to wake up two hours
Speaker 1: later to be like fines great, That to me would
Speaker 1: wreck my week. Yeah, I'm the same way. And you
Speaker 1: know it goes from club and on a Friday night
Speaker 1: to date line on a Friday night and that is
Speaker 1: like the best time ever. So I don't know, We're
Speaker 1: just we've grown up. So tell me how you started.
Speaker 1: A woman used to back in the day because you
Speaker 1: were one of the very first bloggers, and this was
Speaker 1: a huge deal because you're blogging road life, you're blogging
Speaker 1: just all things fashion, fabulous, travel. So I um, really
Speaker 1: just needed a creative outlet to do while on the
Speaker 1: road or that I could do from anywhere. And um,
Speaker 1: so blogging fit that niche and blogging was just getting
Speaker 1: going to well maybe in Nashville, but people like had blogs.
Speaker 1: Um I uh, I went to a blogger conference. So
Speaker 1: I started Woman used to uh in like all the
Speaker 1: back leg work of it in February two thousand twelve. Um,
Speaker 1: and then I my first post went live on my
Speaker 1: word press site. So it was like, you know, word
Speaker 1: pressed woman to dot com or whatever it was in
Speaker 1: uh March and then a woman easta dot com. Like
Speaker 1: I did a site design which at the time felt
Speaker 1: really legit. That launch, um, and that was such a
Speaker 1: great name. Thank you. I loved that name. I still
Speaker 1: love that name. Such a great name. UM. So you
Speaker 1: know it has an air of feminism but doesn't feel preachy.
Speaker 1: It feels like all encompassing totally. So anyway, I was
Speaker 1: very happy with that. So how did what was it
Speaker 1: like having woman soa What did you do to keep
Speaker 1: it running? Um? Well, in the beginning, I mean it
Speaker 1: was just I wasn't doing it with the intent of
Speaker 1: make growing some giant brand. It was more just like
Speaker 1: a creative outlet for me and if I had I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, the first week I had like fifty people
Speaker 1: click on a post, was like I have made it. There,
Speaker 1: people have watched this or read this or whatever it was. Um.
Speaker 1: So that gave me a lot of pride and you know,
Speaker 1: again just being able to create something with no um,
Speaker 1: worry about any sort of production of it. What were
Speaker 1: your favorite topics? Um, I did a lot of travel.
Speaker 1: I did fashion, I did beauty, I did food. Um,
Speaker 1: we were obviously traveling so much. You know. I think
Speaker 1: the first week I did UM, we were in Calgary
Speaker 1: and I did like we went to dinner and I
Speaker 1: was like taking pictures on my iPhone at like the
Speaker 1: quality of the production of it was terrible looking back,
Speaker 1: I mean, hey, what you're doing it? Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: just fun for me to do. UM. And so I
Speaker 1: started doing that and then just toned in on it
Speaker 1: a little bit more and my photo quality got better.
Speaker 1: I had a professional photographer taking pictures, and UM, you
Speaker 1: know started planning, like not just so what am I
Speaker 1: doing this week? It was like making a plan for content.
Speaker 1: When did you realize it was a business? Um? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, it got to be a business for me,
Speaker 1: like a viable business where you know it adds right part?
Speaker 1: What is it? Like? What do you have when it's
Speaker 1: a business as a blog like ads sponsors? So yes,
Speaker 1: all of that. Um, but that didn't really happen for
Speaker 1: me until I partnered with a company here in Nashville
Speaker 1: to relaunch it as a media site. So is that
Speaker 1: like a like an all encompassing website. Yes, so there's
Speaker 1: more than just a blog that it was more than
Speaker 1: just like my perspective on something. It was truly like
Speaker 1: a when you read Pop Sugar or Refinery twenty nine,
Speaker 1: you know those are media sites. Um, so that's a
Speaker 1: big deal. Yeah. And the the irony of it was
Speaker 1: the week that I signed the paperwork to partner with
Speaker 1: this company to you know, relaunch as the media site
Speaker 1: was the week I got pregnant. God. So and that
Speaker 1: sign wasn't lost on me either of like, wow, what
Speaker 1: a transition, what a new chapter. How amazing is that?
Speaker 1: I know? So uh yeah, that just became incredible. I
Speaker 1: learned so much and what it takes to run media site,
Speaker 1: you know that to make something a viable business. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sort of on the content creation side,
Speaker 1: and I am a dreamer, and you know that doesn't
Speaker 1: always keep the lights on. I mean, you really like
Speaker 1: the amount of back in technical the way something appears
Speaker 1: in a Google search, Oh my gosh, all that stuff
Speaker 1: that it knows about that stuff. Not me, I mean
Speaker 1: the whole other team that is much smarter than me.
Speaker 1: But you know, and just for instance, say you're doing
Speaker 1: a content calendar for no member, Google actually um categorizes
Speaker 1: what the top searches are for for each day, so
Speaker 1: like pumpkin pie might be the top search at nine
Speaker 1: am on November nine, and so we would try to
Speaker 1: do our content calendar based on those key searches. I
Speaker 1: mean that wasn't always the case. But you can just
Speaker 1: dive into the tech side and even if you're the
Speaker 1: content isn't great. I mean I thought our content was
Speaker 1: was good. But even if it's not great content, just
Speaker 1: the traffic that you'll get based on those tech decisions alone,
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. So people can just track all that
Speaker 1: and it's crazy, it's crazy. Yeah. Well, I know, my
Speaker 1: iPhone listens to me right again. If I'll like talk
Speaker 1: about something, it pops up. So I mean it doesn't
Speaker 1: shock me that you can track literally anything that's trending, right,
Speaker 1: So anyway, I learned a lot and then, you know,
Speaker 1: the gift of it was then I had my son
Speaker 1: the following February, and I mean, as all new moms
Speaker 1: can attest, like trying to do anything when you have
Speaker 1: a newborn, it's impossible. It's divine timing that it had partnered,
Speaker 1: that had gotten this new wasn't just up to me
Speaker 1: that it was running on its own. You can now
Speaker 1: do what you love, which is adding blogs content, but
Speaker 1: you don't have to keep the whole thing going. But
Speaker 1: I really had such a um guilt that went along
Speaker 1: with like letting go of some of those pieces because
Speaker 1: I felt like it was in the first year of
Speaker 1: its um you know, birth essentially in this new form,
Speaker 1: and that after you know, I had ward, I just
Speaker 1: I didn't have any I couldn't give it what I
Speaker 1: wanted to, and so I had a lot of guilt
Speaker 1: about that. It just felt like, you know, because it
Speaker 1: was a startup um and we had it was completely
Speaker 1: incapable hands, like they didn't need me for anything. But
Speaker 1: but I was you maybe your little dream that has
Speaker 1: now grown into this big flower. Right, So my own
Speaker 1: personal I went through like a really a period of
Speaker 1: a lot of which was probably also a postpartum depression.
Speaker 1: At least you had somewhere to put it right right.
Speaker 1: Um So, I you know, we did that and we
Speaker 1: grew it and then um my partner also had a
Speaker 1: company called comic book dot Com and we ended up
Speaker 1: repackaging Woman Needs To and Comic Book as pop culture
Speaker 1: dot com oh wow, called pop culture dot com cop
Speaker 1: pop culture dot Com. And we sold it to CBS
Speaker 1: last April. Well, okay, so hello media mogul. Well I
Speaker 1: mean that what a big deal? Yeah, it's it was
Speaker 1: of csh my god, like legit, I know it was legit.
Speaker 1: That's what like I love so much, is like this
Speaker 1: tiny little thing that you started just because out of passion,
Speaker 1: out of passion, got attention to grow it into media website,
Speaker 1: got more attention to grow it even bigger, and then
Speaker 1: sell it to CBS. How does that make you feel?
Speaker 1: I know you have all the feelings that go along
Speaker 1: with creating something from scratch, but like, how do you
Speaker 1: feel the end of the day that your little dream
Speaker 1: went all the way? Honestly, Caroline, I don't know if
Speaker 1: I've even like processed that because it coincided with the
Speaker 1: beginning of my son's life, and so I just like
Speaker 1: and we were on the road, like it was such
Speaker 1: a couple of years of complete exhaustion and insanity that
Speaker 1: um and so many blessings, but it just was like insane.
Speaker 1: I hope you know how incredible that is to have
Speaker 1: something start from your passion to develop into something that
Speaker 1: CBS wants to buy. That is really I'm very proud
Speaker 1: of it, thank you. But the something I start to think, like, well,
Speaker 1: what have I contributed to this family? And then I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: wait a second, lot do you think as women, it's
Speaker 1: hard to realize what you contribute because like you're just
Speaker 1: always doing things. It's part of your nature. And we
Speaker 1: talked you're an Instagram number two. Yes, you're a helper,
Speaker 1: so you're already always doing things. So you probably don't
Speaker 1: even realize all the things you do because it's just
Speaker 1: so natural. I think it gets especially in this job
Speaker 1: or you know, any job that's in the entertainment businesses,
Speaker 1: you get so hyper focused on you know, whoever's the
Speaker 1: performer their career, and you know the things that you're
Speaker 1: doing is to you know, that makes your family go.
Speaker 1: You know, if my husband can't do his job, then
Speaker 1: you know, we can't pay O bills. So you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of the things that you end up doing
Speaker 1: as a wife, at least in my case, is you know,
Speaker 1: you're you're helping this whole machine run, um, and as
Speaker 1: much as you contribute to that, there's not really like
Speaker 1: a tangible paycheck obviously, UM that comes with that. And
Speaker 1: so for me to think about, you know, the sale
Speaker 1: of pop culture, it's like, wow, we were able to
Speaker 1: accomplish that. Wow, life was insane, and you know it
Speaker 1: feels I mean, women can do anything that they want
Speaker 1: to do. They can't even while they you know, have
Speaker 1: an infant. And also being the one who is the
Speaker 1: soul caretaker mainly of the child keeping. You have a
Speaker 1: lot of help truly, but keeping the family together, being
Speaker 1: that rock for Charles, I mean that makes a huge difference,
Speaker 1: having stability, having someone keeping the family together. It just
Speaker 1: really shines a light to you know how. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have full time help, but you make sacrifices to
Speaker 1: live on the road, I mean, to sacrifice your dreams.
Speaker 1: You know, not that you have you found ways to
Speaker 1: get your dreams out there, right, but you know, you
Speaker 1: never moved back to New York like to be that
Speaker 1: support for Charles. It takes a lot to be willing
Speaker 1: to sacrifice like that. I think that this life is
Speaker 1: not for everyone. It is definitely not. I mean it
Speaker 1: is it might look glamorous, and I'm sure every wife
Speaker 1: who you've interviewed has said that, like, it is not
Speaker 1: glamorous at all. Like here, I am, Um, you always
Speaker 1: know you always look glamorous, but it, Um, it's not
Speaker 1: for everyone. I mean I feel like there's probably a
Speaker 1: lot of twos who are you no country music wives?
Speaker 1: Because it takes a mentality that isn't selfish. You just
Speaker 1: see the bigger picture to have a to be in
Speaker 1: a happy family. Yes, um, you know if you're expecting
Speaker 1: to sign up to be in like a rap video, like,
Speaker 1: it is not like that whatsoever. I mean, we get
Speaker 1: to do a lot of amazing things. And we were
Speaker 1: talking just the other day about all the travel that
Speaker 1: we've done and how it's like ten lifetimes for a
Speaker 1: lot of people. And I love to travel, so that
Speaker 1: has been such a gift getting to do that. So
Speaker 1: we get to do so much and we get to
Speaker 1: live in a beautiful home and UM not have to
Speaker 1: worry about putting food on the table or paying for
Speaker 1: our healthcare crazy experiences. Yeah, I mean there are so
Speaker 1: many gifts that come along with it that don't take
Speaker 1: for granted. But the emotional toll that it can take
Speaker 1: UM as well as physical just it's the amount of
Speaker 1: God yeah, UM is high, and so I think you
Speaker 1: have to have a a real resilience and a real
Speaker 1: sense of self UM too. You know that's what you sacrifice,
Speaker 1: is the emotional toll that it can take on you
Speaker 1: totally talk to me about all your girlfriends because we're
Speaker 1: talking before. The girl group in Nashville is so strong,
Speaker 1: and I know you have some incredible girlfriends that are
Speaker 1: your rocks. How is country music different with like the
Speaker 1: wives and just the support because I know that you
Speaker 1: are such a supportive person and you've surrounded yourself with
Speaker 1: women who are so supportive. I just feel lucky, um,
Speaker 1: to get to be in the same business as women
Speaker 1: who are such good people. UM. I truly feel that's
Speaker 1: the case. You know, we all UM don't take anything
Speaker 1: for granted, I think for the most part, and we
Speaker 1: know we aren't trying to put on a show about
Speaker 1: what life really looks like to each other, especially um,
Speaker 1: we can all just be really honest with each other.
Speaker 1: I mean, is that so? I don't know. I think
Speaker 1: we all just are innately that way. I think because
Speaker 1: you know, we see other people being that way and
Speaker 1: being vulnerable and um, you know, not feeling like we
Speaker 1: have to show outwardly anything that isn't often tick to us.
Speaker 1: I don't know, we just all are that way because
Speaker 1: that's rare. It is rare, especially in entertainment, it is rare. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I definitely have a whole closet of nice
Speaker 1: shoes that I used to wear when I was younger,
Speaker 1: but now, like, what you see is what you get.
Speaker 1: And I think, um, you know, we're going through a
Speaker 1: phase of new motherhood um together and you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of I know what it's like to be married
Speaker 1: to someone whose success is taking off on a rocket
Speaker 1: ship and what that feels like. And I think a
Speaker 1: lot of my friends um have recently gone through that too.
Speaker 1: And it's just when it comes down to it, you know, faith,
Speaker 1: family and friendship is what keeps us all afloat in
Speaker 1: any business. So I think I just we share those
Speaker 1: commonalities and I feel incredibly lucky for that. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: And I think being in Nashville too, Like obviously National
Speaker 1: is growing so much, but it's just it's not a
Speaker 1: fake place. No it's not. There's pockets of you know,
Speaker 1: b s, but Nashville to me just feels so thriving
Speaker 1: in every way, Like it just feels like a place
Speaker 1: to thrive and to just be the best version of yourself.
Speaker 1: Which another statistic off topic, but you'll appreciate this. Um,
Speaker 1: Nashville has the most the most number of women UH
Speaker 1: created companies, businesses really in all the US. Well, you
Speaker 1: know what, I could totally see. Yeah, so I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know again, as a woman here, like it is
Speaker 1: a place to thrive. So maybe that plays into you know,
Speaker 1: friendship and not feeling stifled and feeling like you have
Speaker 1: a creative outlet. Yes, and I feel like the men
Speaker 1: support it too, you know. Yeah. My husband every day
Speaker 1: is like what do you what do you love? What
Speaker 1: do you want to wake up and do? Or where
Speaker 1: do you want to wake up and be? You know,
Speaker 1: one of our favorite things to say is like being
Speaker 1: a human being, not a human doing. I love that,
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't have to like have any
Speaker 1: kind of job or anything that I produced other than
Speaker 1: taking care of you are right. That is something I've
Speaker 1: had to really learn because in my twenties I was
Speaker 1: very much I'm a four on the Instagram, So like
Speaker 1: finding my self worth has been a journey for me,
Speaker 1: I have had to feel I felt like I needed
Speaker 1: to prove myself with accomplishments and validations to to feel
Speaker 1: like I was a worthy person to exist, and that
Speaker 1: if I hadn't gotten a few big things checked off
Speaker 1: of a list and I wasn't worthy. And I think
Speaker 1: in my thirties especially, I have learned that you are
Speaker 1: worthy because you're here and coming to terms of that
Speaker 1: and just realizing that me being a human being put
Speaker 1: on this earth, being myself loving is enough and then
Speaker 1: anything is great that I want to pursue out of
Speaker 1: love and passion. But I don't need that. I don't
Speaker 1: need to prove to people that I'm a worthy person
Speaker 1: because I've done something. And that was what my twenties
Speaker 1: are all about, was just proving that I'm good enough
Speaker 1: for me to um, you know, becoming a mother didn't
Speaker 1: automatically give me that. Oh my purpose as a mother
Speaker 1: now not. I mean a lot of women have that,
Speaker 1: and that's incredible, but I didn't feel that. I felt
Speaker 1: almost the opposite of I'm you know, I don't want
Speaker 1: to say I'm just a mom, but I had to
Speaker 1: really walk through that same mentality of like, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing anything even though you're doing everythreething. Um. You know.
Speaker 1: I really struggled with that too, of feeling like my
Speaker 1: purpose was you know, me achieving um. And when you're
Speaker 1: a mom, you know, especially the very early newborn phase,
Speaker 1: sometimes all you can achieve is like changing from one
Speaker 1: pair of pajamas to another pair of pajamas, Like you
Speaker 1: just it's you're keeping a human alive and not sleeping,
Speaker 1: and it's it's a really hard season. So how did
Speaker 1: you overcome those lies? I mean I feel like I still,
Speaker 1: you know, battle that um. But again, my girlfriends like
Speaker 1: just the validation that you get of like, hey, you're great,
Speaker 1: just exactly what you just said, just because I'm here
Speaker 1: on this earth and I am a breathing, you know, thinking,
Speaker 1: loving person. That makes me enough. That has been my
Speaker 1: biggest lesson in my whole life is just being okay
Speaker 1: with myself and just like and I've gone through all
Speaker 1: sorts of seasons when I felt like I was on
Speaker 1: a hamster or chasing and everything seemed to be happening,
Speaker 1: and then losing all of these goals and dreams come
Speaker 1: crashing down, and all these things have taught me that, Okay,
Speaker 1: you've got to get okay with just being here just
Speaker 1: exactly as you are. Who cares what's going on around you.
Speaker 1: But that has been a big, big lesson for me,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure it will continue to always be the
Speaker 1: lesson ever evolving. My mom, I mean, so much of
Speaker 1: my you know, parents got divorced, and my mom was
Speaker 1: always you know, working and supporting herself. And so the
Speaker 1: model that I got um from a mother, which I
Speaker 1: think is very positive, is you know, never let a man,
Speaker 1: never rely on a man like never you know, always
Speaker 1: have your own thing. And that's just not the case
Speaker 1: in our marriage, um, at least financially. And so you know,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, overcoming that too has is just a
Speaker 1: you know, in the same way of like I feel
Speaker 1: like I need to be doing something that is, you know,
Speaker 1: doing X, Y Z in order to have self worth.
Speaker 1: But you're right, I know, like sometimes like if I
Speaker 1: don't have something to do I'm like Caroline, you can
Speaker 1: just not have anything to do, and that people would
Speaker 1: die to not have anything to do, So embrace it
Speaker 1: because what a blessing, right right, It's just getting out
Speaker 1: of the head. But I mean, I think everyone goes
Speaker 1: through that, especially as women, especially as women's men too,
Speaker 1: who have big careers, and you know, like you said,
Speaker 1: like with me and Michael, his schedule is always going
Speaker 1: to come first. It just is. So I think that's
Speaker 1: why I tried to navigate my life into fitting around it,
Speaker 1: to figure out an outlet for myself, like hosting that
Speaker 1: is flexible and on my own terms, but I can
Speaker 1: still do it well exactly. I mean that what you're
Speaker 1: doing right now with everything that you have going on,
Speaker 1: that's all amazing and creative. You know, you created that platform,
Speaker 1: But I built it around Michael, right, you know, and
Speaker 1: that's how blogging started for me. It was like, all right,
Speaker 1: what can I do that? Like I can do wherever
Speaker 1: I am exactly what can I still do to fill
Speaker 1: my passion? But I can still be there, right because
Speaker 1: I know, And it's just I think that women are
Speaker 1: I do think that falls on women a lot, and
Speaker 1: I'm happy to take it because I want to have
Speaker 1: a family that's connected. It's always been a priority for me.
Speaker 1: And so I'm like, Okay, if I'll just figure it out,
Speaker 1: and here we are, and here we are, I could
Speaker 1: talk to you forever. Obviously I've got to wrap up.
Speaker 1: You have a sweet boy sleeping sticking an app. I
Speaker 1: like to end my episodes with leave your Light, And
Speaker 1: this whole podcast with you is light inspiring. But just
Speaker 1: what is some advice that you would want to share
Speaker 1: with someone maybe who is struggling, or just something that
Speaker 1: you've learned, Just some wisdom that you would like to
Speaker 1: impart to anyone listening that you have gathered through all
Speaker 1: of your experiences. Maybe a lesson you've learned that you
Speaker 1: wish you would have known, or just a piece of
Speaker 1: advice that you would want to live by that you've
Speaker 1: learned through everything. Oh man, I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I have any advice. Um, I don't. I think, Uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know. Just being kind to yourself I think
Speaker 1: is so important and most um you know, if if
Speaker 1: you can you know that, like be do unto others
Speaker 1: as you would want done unto you. I think flipping
Speaker 1: that on its head and saying do unto yourself, how
Speaker 1: you would treat others is really important because we definitely
Speaker 1: I I don't always do that. So not to put
Speaker 1: yourself down or to think of yourself last right, um,
Speaker 1: and you know, I walked through a lot of body issues,
Speaker 1: um in the years since I've had Ward, and I
Speaker 1: still like basically in the same way I was when
Speaker 1: I was nine months pregnant. But you know, learning to
Speaker 1: have self acceptance of you know what, who cares? Who cares?
Speaker 1: Who cares? Who cares? That is a hard one. I've
Speaker 1: I've had to eating disorders and struggle to wait my
Speaker 1: whole life. Also, I think that's a woman thing because
Speaker 1: we put such a value on beauty and perfection, and
Speaker 1: when you get to a point where perfection and beauty
Speaker 1: isn't your goal, you know, like, of course we love it,
Speaker 1: but it's not the goal, right, like being a great mom,
Speaker 1: having Ward, right, being a wife, having your family. So
Speaker 1: how have you flipped that script? Honestly, I just prayed
Speaker 1: about it so much. Last August, I like really hit
Speaker 1: a low point and just so much just self I
Speaker 1: mean really just body hatred, and I just prayed about it,
Speaker 1: and I heard very clearly, like you don't have to
Speaker 1: fix everything, just sweat every day. I love that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that was the message after I prayed, Like,
Speaker 1: you don't have to fix everything to sweat every day.
Speaker 1: And so I've just made it a point to have
Speaker 1: health in my life in that way, even if I'm
Speaker 1: not moving the needle on the scale. Um, and I've
Speaker 1: you know again, I just it's changed everything. Like my
Speaker 1: body hasn't changed very much, but my mind your right,
Speaker 1: because all that our body does for it, I know,
Speaker 1: you know, I think about that because like the things
Speaker 1: I used to do to myself with like bulimia and
Speaker 1: diet pills and laxatives and all sorts of awful things
Speaker 1: to be away in Caroline that nobody cares about, right,
Speaker 1: you know, Like, and that's the thing with you. You
Speaker 1: are so stunning. No one but you even thinks about
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. But that can take away
Speaker 1: so much joy. I mean, had I been in the
Speaker 1: hot Bahamas, in this beautiful, stunning place with my dressing
Speaker 1: and husband and like been insecure in a bathing suit,
Speaker 1: you would have missed it? Who would have missed it?
Speaker 1: You'd have missed the whole moment or not, you know,
Speaker 1: eating a slice of pizza or a taco or enjoyed,
Speaker 1: you know, a margarita, and you would have missed the
Speaker 1: experience obsessing about this number and this body image that
Speaker 1: no one else is obsessing about. But because we have
Speaker 1: this standard of perfection, miss playing with my son in
Speaker 1: the pool, you know, like I can wear a large swimsuit.
Speaker 1: Who cares? It's a cute cares. Who cares. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm obsessed with women like Ashley Graham. I follow her
Speaker 1: religiously because to me, she's one of the most beautiful
Speaker 1: people have ever seen, and she flaunts her curves all
Speaker 1: the time. And it's all about the way you few
Speaker 1: yourself and speak to yourself. I've had to work on
Speaker 1: my self talk a lot this year because I realized
Speaker 1: I am so hateful to myself, like my self talk
Speaker 1: I are. We're friends with I don't know if you
Speaker 1: know Michael and Bree Chandler, They're like, Okay, he talks
Speaker 1: about self talk all the time and just like having
Speaker 1: positive self talk. So I started noticing mine and I
Speaker 1: was like, I am so awful to myself. I would
Speaker 1: never speak to anyone the way I speak to myself
Speaker 1: to do unto yourself as you would do unto others.
Speaker 1: And so I've really tried to catch myself on that
Speaker 1: and be like, because when we were trying to get
Speaker 1: pregnant and went through miscarriages and all that last year,
Speaker 1: it was really like sad year for me, and I
Speaker 1: was so hateful to myself, just feeling like I wasn't worthy,
Speaker 1: that I wasn't good enough, that I hasn't chosen, you know,
Speaker 1: like even the baby doesn't want you, and just like
Speaker 1: I know it makes me sad that I could be
Speaker 1: so hard to myself. But then I started checking myself.
Speaker 1: Why am I being so brutally awful to myself? You know?
Speaker 1: So I've tried to, like you're saying, retrain myself, like
Speaker 1: if I go off on one of those tangents, turn it,
Speaker 1: you know, because it's just lies and it's just trying
Speaker 1: to be perfect, which is not my goal. Right. Well,
Speaker 1: all of that said, I felt like hearing that message
Speaker 1: of you don't have to fix everything. Just sweat every day,
Speaker 1: you know, in the same way that maybe you just
Speaker 1: have like one mantra that makes you feel good, and
Speaker 1: just treating myself with that kindness of a sweat or
Speaker 1: a run, or just today I just stretched. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm really tired, I need to just do a couple
Speaker 1: of yoga moves and like just stretch and treating myself
Speaker 1: and my body with that kindness has just it's changed
Speaker 1: my mentality about it. That is so inspiring. And thank
Speaker 1: you so much for sharing that. Thank you for Katty,
Speaker 1: this is so fun. You're the best. Thank you for
Speaker 1: joining me. Thank you, Caroline. I appreciate it. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you and your heart you too. Bye. Thank you all
Speaker 1: so much for joining me. I know you're so inspired
Speaker 1: by Cassie's story and just what a bright light she is.
Speaker 1: She just blesses anyone that she touches and anyone that
Speaker 1: gets to be around her presence. So I know her
Speaker 1: story inspired you all just like it did me. Next week,
Speaker 1: I have the beautiful, amazing Kaylee Dickerson. She is married
Speaker 1: to Russell Dickerson, and we talk all about the past year,
Speaker 1: how it has been a rocket for them. Russell has
Speaker 1: been on a giant wave to stardom, had two number
Speaker 1: one songs. She talks about how it was before they
Speaker 1: had all the hits and how life has changed and
Speaker 1: just how grateful they are their journey with God. It's
Speaker 1: really truly inspiring, so tune in next week for Kayleie
Speaker 1: Dickerson The Apple about