Character and Growth: Cali Jones

And I also, uh, am a podcast editor and I'm also the managing editor at the B Podcast Network. Shout 'em out. Go check them out. They have some really good stuff and I can say that after working for them for a couple years, and I got my start with that, uh, with Jethro Jones from Transform Principle. Shout him out. Go check out his podcast and, um.

My dad took a chance on me when I was young to learn how to do something difficult, and I made a lot of mistakes in way, but I learned and grew a lot from that and here I am now. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah.

Um, so let's talk a little bit about that because that, um, there have been some hard times. There have been some hard times with us and, um. There were times where I was like, I don't even wanna have Kelly do it anymore. Mm-hmm. And other times where I was like, thank goodness Kelly's doing it because she's awesome. So what has been your perspective on that learning process? Um, I would say it's been, it's been hard to learn how to do it. It's been hard.

The, one of the hardest parts has been getting feedback from. Uh, you about it and how I'm doing things terribly and how I stuck at it. That's always, that's how I felt as it was that I was not doing a very good job. And every time I got a bit of positive feedback, it meant a lot. 'cause I actually felt like I was doing something good, but it was, it was, yeah. Jethro D. Jones: So with that, like it's hard to get. It's hard to get feedback from other people.

What made it, what made it difficult for you? Like what were the things that, why did you feel like I was telling you did a terrible job when I pointed out mistakes? Well, because I made a lot of mistakes and you pointed all of them out. Jethro D. Jones: Which is funny because I actually didn't point all of them out. Oh. But it may have felt that way to you, but there are a lot of things that I just did not even bring up. Mm-hmm. That were, that I said, I just have to live with that.

Because if I pointed out every single mistake, I felt like you would just give up. Mm-hmm. I probably would've. Yeah. You think you would have? Why? Because I would not have wanted to. Continue going forth, that there was all this opposition and there was no, like, there was no like, positive to it. Mm. Like if everything was, if I was doing everything wrong, like what was the point for me to keep going?

If there was one thing I, like, if I did all these things wrong, but then there was one thing I was doing right, I probably would've kept going. 'cause there still would've been one thing I was doing right. That I could kept working on. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well there, there was one thing that was right, you were, there were multiple things that were right. But the, the problem was, was that the.

The, well, the problem with anything is that the errors often stand out more than the good things because they are errors and um, and they show where there's a mistake or there's something wrong and it's more noticeable than the positive things. You know, you could have a 30 minute podcast and then have five, one second mistakes.

And that's not, that's only three sec or five seconds long, but it looks a lot bigger because, you know, you're just listening to the episode and then those five things stand out a lot. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. How do you, how do you see that now? 'cause you're now giving feedback to other editors who are doing things and how, how are you incorporating that learning into your, into your work? Uh, being someone who.

Needs the positive feedback along with the negative feedback to know that I'm not doing everything wrong. I make sure that when I give a piece of feedback, I make sure to point out something that they're, that somebody's doing right to praise them.

Especially with people that are new to it, like if they pick up on something that was important that they picked up on, I made sure to tell them that I appreciated that they picked up on while they did a good job with that, but I'm also very clear with the feedback and the things need to be fixed, and I'm making it easy for them to understand what needs to be fixed. And be able to learn and grow from it.

It's not a difficult process where I just say, you sucked at this, and they're left confused. But I tell them specifically what they did wrong and how they can fix it. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

So, um, so talk to me about, uh, your running. Why do you like running? What is good about that and why are you into it? So I don't really know why I like running. I just really, really like for some reason. But I started, let's see. Well, I did cross country in elementary school, like most elementary school kids did. And I don't think I liked it very much, but I'm not totally sure. But I do remember I walked a lot in my races. Mm-hmm. I maybe ran like a tiny bit and then I just like walked.

Um, and so I was, didn't really like it very much. And then when we moved here, middle school, I didn't do it in middle school. 'cause I do did flag football instead. Yeah, that was awesome. That was, that was cool. And so then, and I did volleyball and since volleyball in high school is the same season as cross country, I really liked volleyball. So I was like, I'll just do volleyball. Then some part of me was like, but what about cross country? But I'm like, I running, I don't know about that.

But I was like, but what about cross country? And I think that was the spirit prompting me to do cross country because that has absolutely changed my life and that's been such a blessing to me. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. That's, that's so fascinating to hear. I've actually never heard you tell that before. Mm-hmm. So that's really cool. So tell me about that, that, that call from the spirit.

What, what did that look like? What did that feel like? How did you know, did you know at the time it was a spirit or do you feel like it was later you learned that? Like, tell me about the, that whole process. I definitely think that it was later that I recognized that it was a spirit because I saw how much it had blessed my life and how much it like meant to me. It took until later for me to see how much of a change it had, uh, wrought on me.

And so I recognized the time, but I just was like, had this feeling to like try it out and just see how cross country would be, and it just, like, I just kept coming back, but, and I prayed about it and I was like, should I do cross country? Like, should I try out? And I was like, I'll just try it out and see what happens. It's like, it's just one season and like it can't be that hard. And so I tried it out.

I. Texted one of the girls who was in our stake who was on the team, and I asked her about it and I came out to one of their like little summer runs and I ran and it was really hard as running is tell you people out there who know who have tried running. Um, and I was like, okay, I'll just do it. And so I did it my first season, my freshman year and it was so much fun and I had such a blast and I was like, okay, I'll do track in the spring instead of track in the spring.

But at that point I was just kinda like, I was just doing it for fun and I wasn't super serious about it. But then over the summer I started to get more serious about it and I trained over the summer and that was my first summer training after my freshman year. And that was a lot of fun. And then I've just been building up ever since. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So you must have been really good, like top of the, the pack in, in your school if you had so much fun with it. No, I was, I was not.

I was not fast and that's okay. 'cause I didn't care if I was fast or not. I just did it because I liked it and I enjoyed being with my team and I had fun with it. Jethro D. Jones: So this is an important thing because you, I. You are not the top of your class in running and yet you still love it. And um, and so why do you love it if you're not the best at it? Well, being the best is something doesn't matter. Sometimes it just matters that you love it.

And I mean, I want to be the best I can be that maybe that doesn't mean I'll be the best at my school or in my state. But I want to be the best I can be. And that's what makes it fun, is that I'm trying to be the best runner I can be for myself. Jethro D. Jones: So that means that you are in competition with yourself. Right. And because you're not trying to, you're not getting first place in your races. Um, and you got on varsity as a junior. Tell me about that. What did that look like?

Um, well that was, it was kind of exciting for me. I. But I also, the one race I raced as varsity, I fumbled it pretty badly, so I wasn't very happy about it, so I didn't get another chance to be on varsity. But it was an interesting experience being under that kind of pressure and seeing what it was gonna be like, and, yeah. Jethro D. Jones: Okay. So you had one race where you raced as varsity and like, so that you, you qualified to get your letter, but you didn't, you weren't like.

On varsity all the time. You weren't racing with all the fast girls every single time. And so how do you feel about that aspect of it? Um, I mean, the fact that I wasn't doing that all the time, like that's where I want to be. I wanted to be on varsity and I wanted to be racing with those girls. But now realizing, looking back at the season, I wasn't quite ready to be in that position yet.

And so that's what I'm working on now is I'm trying to be ready to be in that spot where I can race up there and I can be confident. Uh, racing up there with those girls.

Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So one of the things that you really liked doing before was playing basketball and, and what The way that we have tried to encourage you and support you is by doing different things, uh, like saying, giving you opportunities to do games. Uh, or activities and sports and all that kind of stuff. Do I need to mute you so you can breathe? Good idea. Okay. Jethro D. Jones: It's okay. Alright. Are you a little nervous? Yeah, just you're okay.

Let me just, uh, adjust your volume a little bit and that might bring it down to bring it up. Jethro D. Jones: Bring it down. Thank you. You're Jethro D. Jones: welcome. Okay. Go ahead. Jethro D. Jones: Alright, so, um, so you were in basketball before and to support your interest in basketball that you seem to really like. We got you this basketball thing for Christmas, this little dribble thing so you could practice.

'cause neither of your mom nor I know, um, how to really help you with basketball. And so what happened with that gift? Um, it's sitting in our garage not being used because I don't play basketball anymore. I decided not to play this year because I wanna focus on running. 'cause I realized that was way more important to me than basketball. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. And did you ever use that basketball? I used it, but Jethro D. Jones: like how many times? At least? 10. Jethro D. Jones: At least.

10. At least Ted. So some like what we want to do is support you as your parents, but. Like, we didn't know how to help you. So we thought maybe having an app would, or some, some way to get some support would be helpful. And so we got you that basketball. And what we thought would happen is that you would use it in practice. And what you didn't do is you didn't use it in practice and use it like 10 times and that was it.

And so what that showed us was you just didn't actually care about it that much. Because now what do you do every single day, uh, for the last year or so? What do you do? Run? Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So tell me about why you're running every day and why you're taking your training so seriously now when it didn't seem to be that important before. Um, well one of the things was I realized I wanted to be fast and I wanted to like, I just wanted to be fast and I think I thought that would be fun.

And so I've been. Working on being fast, but I also realized with this cross country season that I really wanted to see what I can do when I go all in. And so that's what I've been doing, is I've been going all in. I've been putting in as much effort as I can. I wanna see what I really am capable of. I don't wanna finish like high school and be like, oh, I never consistently raised varsity. Oh, I never went to stay. I wanna see if I can go to stay. I wanna see if I can qualify for Foot Locker.

Mm-hmm. Regionals. I wanna see if I can do all these things. I don't want to like stop and be like, this is all I can do. I want to wonder how much more I can do still. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So going back to the spiritual aspect of this, you said that it was the spirit whispering that you should try this cross country thing. So what did, what does that look like for you where you, it seems like you have a spiritual purpose to your running now.

What is, tell me about your thought process on that. Um, well, something important to me in my running is including the Lord in my running all the time. And so every day before I go out for a run, I say a prayer that, okay. This could be a long podcast. Oh geez. Uh, um, where was I? So I say a prayer that I'll be safe and I'll be able to have a good time and I'll enjoy my running. And I always, when I'm done running, I always say, I pray how grateful I am that I'm able to run.

And so I always do that. I also do that before all my races and the season. I, I think I did this almost every race. I, sorry. Let me, oh goodness. Okay. I think almost before every race with my team, I huddled up and I set a prayer with my whole team. Mm-hmm. And that was cool. 'cause some of the people on my team, I just don't, I wanna just be able to talk without crying. Jethro D. Jones: That would be cool. Maybe someday, maybe never.

Well, if I'm gonna be talking about Jesus and running, I'm not, I'm gonna be able to not cry or no, if you know what I mean. Yep. You gonna edit this out or No? Hopefully not. Jethro D. Jones: This will be part of the fun. Okay. Yeah, and that was, it was cool playing with my teams before every race because. Um, not, there were some people that were members of the church. There were some people that weren't.

There was a girl on my team that was Jewish, but we all got together and everyone seemed really happy to pray together. And I was the one that said that prayer and it was just really cool experience. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So the other aspect of that is that because this is spiritual for you, this is bigger than. Just getting on varsity. Like if you don't make it on varsity and you don't go to state next year, was this all a waste? Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: Why not?

Because that's like ultimately this's not my goal. Like running is not just something that's gonna be important to me in high school. It's something that's gonna be important to me for my whole life. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. So we're gonna do this podcast every year for the next 10 years. And so that means I'm gonna come back to this question and say, are you still running a decade from now? I sure hope I will be cheese.

Jethro D. Jones: And so like why is, how do you know that that's something that you're gonna be doing in 10 years? Um, I mean, just because I've loved it so much and like as I've done it, like through the past few years, like I've changed and I've still loved it and running has changed me and it's made me a better person. And so. I think that's a sign to me, that's something I'm gonna keep doing if it's gonna keep helping me grow and make me a better person. Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah.

And this is one of the things that I think is amazing about how the Lord teaches us, is that we can see these glimpses of things that make us better and improve us. And uh, sometimes those are work things. Sometimes those are sports things. Sometimes those are spiritual, specifically things like very church related. The reality is, is that we learn all these things in this, in whatever way we need to, for the Lord to teach us that lesson.

So what are the lessons that you have learned from running that have been unique to you and helped you? Um, I've learned that, um, let me think for a second. I've learned that especially this past season, that success isn't always the way that you think. And I've also learned that the Lord will help use abilities that you didn't know you had to bless other people. Um, I've also learned like the importance of like hard work and what else. No, I think that's what I got for now.

Jethro D. Jones: Okay. So there's three good ones. Um, so let's talk about those. Uh, so you said success isn't what you think. So what does that mean and how have you learned that?

Um, well, especially in this season, I really wanted to do a lot better than I actually did. I wanted to PR by a lot and I wanted to be running faster than I actually ran this year, but I didn't PR at all this season and. I just did not race how I wanted to race, and I was capable of a lot more, but I didn't know how to tap into that capability. And that was one of the most frustrating things for me this season. But in reality, the season was successful because, um, I was like.

I was a incredible teammate and I was an inspiration, uh, my teammates be. And I know that because, uh, at the, at the end of our, uh, at our end of the season award banquet, um, I got voted most inspirational mm-hmm. By my teammates, which was something really impactful because I really wanted to be a better teammate and I wanted to be a better leader on the team and help out my teammates and get to know everybody and talk to everybody. And getting voted is most inspirational was really like.

It helped me like recognize that my teammates thought highly of me and that they, that I had helped them and that was something that was really important to me. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. And if I can add to that from my perspective, one of the things that your coach said when you got that award was that even when Kelly had a not very good day racing herself, she still. Went out of her way to make sure that other people felt supported and felt success, uh, in their race.

And what I thought was so powerful about that is that you would not, you wouldn't finish first, but you wouldn't stop and then go sulk and cry about it. I mean, you did that sometimes, but you didn't just go sulk. You went and supported your other teammates even when, um, when it was tough for you. Nobody told you to do that. You decided that that's what you needed to do. Why, where did that come from?

Um, I think a lot about like, if something, if something happened to me, what, how I want, would want people to respond to me. Like I really like, I like when people say nice things to me. So I go out on my way to say nice things to people and to support others. Like, and I just also feel this, like lately I've been feeling like I just need to like.

I just like, I've have been feeling this desire to love and help other people and just like I realize that's through like supporting others in like kind words. 'cause I realized one of my gifts is like the gift of words. 'cause I'm able to write really nice notes and I'm able to say really kind things to people.

Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: And it's so powerful to know what your spiritual gifts are, um, throughout your life and you understanding that that's one of your spiritual gifts is, is really amazing. Um, along those lines, you.

Had, uh, you were very close to going to districts and got beat out by someone else, um, who went instead of you and, uh, you, you had a chance to go and then you weren't able to go, but you still drove three and a half hours or however it was to the middle of the state to go support your teammates when. You really didn't have to, and you made sure that that was something that you did. And as your dad, I was like, why is she doing this? She doesn't need to be there.

She doesn't need to go drive this whole way by herself. Well, I mean, you took your brother and, and others, right? So you, you weren't totally by yourself, but you don't need to drive all the way out there and go support your team when. You're not part of that and like you don't get to ride the bus with them or anything like that. So, um, it's, it's not necessary. And yet you still did it. Why was that important to you?

Well, because I love my team and I love the sport and so I love the sport and so I wanted to go see everybody else 'cause I'm such a huge nerd about running and so I wanted to go see. Everybody raced and I wanted to see how the races would turn out, but I also love my team so much and they've all worked, all the girls that were racing have worked so hard and they deserve to have people there cheering for them. Mm-hmm.

They deserve to have people supporting them and congratulating them when they did really well. Like one of my teammates, she had a really, really good race. She's a freshman. She prd by two minutes and like. She's very, very chatty. And so a lot of people are kinda like turned off by that, that she's so like chatty. But I've made a point to really support her and be there for her the whole season and she really appreciated that I was there for her.

Yeah. Jethro D. Jones: Well, and it, it was really powerful and it was evident at the. Banquet that you were well loved and appreciated by your team. And, um, when we, as your parents try to figure out ways to help you learn and grow in the ways that we want the, like, if you are successful in the worldly things of being on varsity, going to districts, going to state, getting first place, that kind of stuff, that's, that's great. And we want that for all of our kids.

But when you show the kind of character that you showed for us, that's like, okay, that's, that's amazing because you're not doing that for praise. You're not doing that for, uh, anybody to notice you're doing that because you want to, because. A lot of the times people don't notice that. And, um, and your coach, thankfully, has created a mechanism for people to recognize that and give you some kudos. Um, but, but that's not why you're doing that. Right.

And you, you said that you're doing it because you love the sport and you love your team and you want to make sure people feel supported and like, where did you get that idea from, that that was important? Um, I don't know. I mean, it's something Jesus would do. So I've like worked on becoming more like Jesus. I've been praying and I read my scriptures every day, and so I guess it just like comes with that. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. That's pretty cool.

So, um, you know, when you think about the, the important things in life, uh. The way that you're acting with your team, the way that you're training yourself, uh, those are the things that are, uh, important. The second thing you said was that the Lord will use it to bless other people, it being the, the sport and running and, and that kind of stuff. So that's not what I said. Jethro D. Jones: What did you say? The Lord will use gifts that you don't, you know, you had to bless others.

Jethro D. Jones: Oh, okay. The Lord will use gifts that you have to bless others. Alright, well, specifically you didn't know that you have. Jethro D. Jones: Gifts you didn't know you have to bless others. Yes. Good thing you're paying more attention than I am. I even wrote down a note to make sure I didn't forget it, and you're like, you're not very good at this. Alright, so tell me about that. How, how has that helped? Like how did you learn that and how has that, how?

Um, well again, going back to the thing of being an inspiration, like I would not have thought of myself as an inspiration. Like I would've said, like if it was like most supportive, I would've been like, oh yeah, that makes sense. Or like. Most positive that would make sense, but like inspirational, like I would've never thought like I would be inspirational. Like when I think of inspirational, I think of people like absorbing something and then doing something like the other things.

I like being supportive and being positive is just people absorbing something and taking it. But with inspirational, it's somebody acting, I feel like, and it's a more actionable thing, and I would've not have thought of myself as being able to do that and have an impact like that on other people to get them to do things and act. Jethro D. Jones: So if I can rephrase that a little bit. What, what it sounds like you're saying is that the.

The inspirational person is like a motivational speaker out there getting people fired up and, and ins like inspiring people. And you were just supporting people and you didn't realize that that support was inspirational. Is that a fair summary? Yeah, I would say so. Jethro D. Jones: Okay. So, um, so why, how did you not know that's a gift and how does, how is the Lord using that to bless others?

Well, I just didn't recognize that I had the power to like, like I had the gift to for people to like recognize that they could like, like change and do something. Like, I just felt like I've always been really supportive and I've always been like loving of people. I didn't realize that people like saw that as being inspiring and like, especially from like where I was at the season. Like I wasn't like the fastest runner. So like that can be inspiring. Like I worked hard. Like I wasn't the best.

And that was also really interesting to me to see that. And so Jethro D. Jones: what do you mean? Like, I just, like when I think of someone being inspiring, I think of somebody like, like putting in a lot of work and getting like results and then like that's inspiring to see somebody be able to do that. But I was just kinda, I put in a lot of work, but I just stayed where I was at.

But I think the inspiring part of that was I kept putting in the work, even though I wasn't seeing the results I wanted to. Mm-hmm. And I think that is what was inspiring to people. Like if I saw that from somebody working hard every single day and still not getting what they wanted, I'd be like, wow, they're still doing it and they're still working hard, even though things aren't going their way. And that must be really frustrating. I would still be like, that's pretty inspiring.

Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So do you feel like, um, things would've been different if you would've seen success? Um, probably. Jethro D. Jones: How so? Um, I'm not exactly sure, but I mean, I still like being a really supportive teammate and being there for my teammates was still really important to me. I think that would've stayed the same, whether or not I was like getting the success I wanted to, but I think, I think I would've.

I think the benefit of not having that success was being able to find some success from the things that weren't, like the temporal things, like if that makes sense. Like not having the success I want to, enabled me to see the more important stuff, and I wouldn't have, I don't think I would've been able to notice that stuff as much. I would've been like, oh yeah, I had a great season because I ran super fast.

Jethro D. Jones: Mm. But now I'm able to say I had a great season because I was an inspiration of my teammates. Jethro D. Jones: Mm. And you worked hard. Mm-hmm. And I worked hard.

Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. Which is the next point, uh, which is hard work. So talk about why hard work is important and what does, I mean, what does hard work even mean? Like, uh, you go into practice is hard work, and so why not just stop there? I think hard work is an intentional thing, like going to practice. Like you could say that's hard, but it really isn't. Like you just go and you show up. Like there's people who could say, oh, I go to practice every day. That's hard work.

No hard work is intentionally choosing to give what you got that day and choosing intentionally, like The biggest thing behind hard work for me is like being intentional about like intentionally choosing to give what you have. Jethro D. Jones: And what does that mean? Well, like. I don't, you're being intentional about it. You're choosing, like you're choosing what you wanna do.

Yeah. You're not just showing up to practice and you're not just doing the reps just to do them and like hitting the times, but like you're showing up and you're like, I'm going to give like my best. And even if the best, your best is truly not, like your best that day is not the best you can do. Like you're still showing up and giving what you haven't. Doing the best with what you have that day. 'cause every day is different. And that's something that's very true in running.

Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So what's really interesting there is that, um, there's also other things that you're doing outside of running that are, uh, helping you with developing your skills and things like that. So you're, you're outside of practice, so what are the other things you're doing beyond practice, uh, each day? Like running wise, that we're still talking.

Jethro D. Jones: I mean, you, you just talked about how hard work is showing up and given the best that you can that day, but you're not just, you're not just, oh boy. You're not just showing up to, you're not just showing up to practice. You're doing more than that. So what are the other things in your life that you're doing to make sure that you are showing up as your best at practice, but then also. Uh, doing well in other areas.

So for example, your, what you're eating, your sleep, those kind of things, your scripture study, those kind of things as well. I. Because it's more than just physically going to practice. You have to prepare for it beforehand. That's part of the intentionality. You have to prepare for it beforehand, and then you have to recover from it afterward, and you have to do all these things.

And you've really, this last year made a big intention to do a lot of these things that, um, uh, we're just seeing a different side of you. And that's, that's not typical of a 17-year-old girl. Mm-hmm.

Something that's really important to me is eating well. Like I've just learned that that is something really important to, like, I recognize that when I eat right my body feels a lot better and so I feel like that's definitely something that sets me apart. 'cause I'm very intentional about what I eat and every, like I meal prep my lunch for the week and I put like a lot of thought into it and I try to figure out what's gonna best help me for the week.

And another thing that's really important to me is sleep. Like I really am really particular about this and I get annoyed by dog kit. Jethro D. Jones: Don't snap your buttons while you're talking. Um, and I'm annoyed when I don't get enough sleep. And so I try to focus on that and make sure that's, um, important to me. Um, that doesn't make sense. Um, yeah, go ahead, take it away. Now I'm done talking.

Jethro D. Jones: All right. So, uh, getting enough sleep, meal, prepping. You talked about doing your scripture study. What other things do you think are really important to help you perform at your best? Um, I pray every day before practice. Mm-hmm. I mean, I pray that it's gonna go well, so that's important that I do that to me. Um, Jethro D. Jones: here, put this under your cup. That way it won't make us know your Oh, loud one. There you go.

That way when you take a drink, it won't be quite as loud. Um, all right, so you've learned these three lessons from doing running this year, so let's talk about what the future looks like.

What are some of your goals and ambitions that you're working towards, um, and what are some things that you want to accomplish? Uh, you can say over the next 10 years, or you can say in the next year before we talk again. But, you know, I wanna just keep it open and then we'll dig down deeper into some things. Alright. Um, well next, this next year I want to run 2025. I want to run 1500 miles, which will be the most I've ever ran. This year I ran like 1,114. Mm-hmm. And so I want to. I do that.

And so with that comes more consistency in my running, like throughout the summer, which was something I struggled with last year. And so that consistency, consistency piece is important in a lot of other areas of my life. Like I'm already pretty consistent in reading my scriptures and stuff, but I wanna consistently be going like deeper and I want to like be consistently doing a lot of. Other important things in my life. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm.

So running 1500 miles is a lot, you know, it's basically like five miles a day essentially, or thereabouts. 'cause you don't run on one day a week, right? Mm-hmm. So that's, that's a lot of time. Uh, to spend running. That's a lot of distance to cover.

Um, and so that's something that you are tracking regularly and how do you keep track of that? Strava. Strava. All right. Shout out to Kelly Strava. Yeah, go ahead and follow her on Strava, if you're a runner. Um, tell me about a connection that you made recently on Strava. Where you did a workout. Oh yeah. So I did a workout last Saturday. It was, I'll, I'll drop it here for any you run and also then also wanna try it. Um, let's see.

It was two by 400, two by 200, two by 400, three by 200 and that was all in trainers and then a 400 and 200 and spikes. And so I did that last Saturday with one of my friends. Um, and so then I posted it on my Strava, which I love Strava. It's, it's so much fun. I posted on my Strava and there's this girl, uh, who is from like the other side of Washington, who I've never met before, but she follows me. And she's like commented before she's, I get the impression that she's super nice.

I'm sure she is. And so then she commented on that workout. She's like, wow, this sounds fun. I'm gonna try it. And so then the next day she tried it out and she was like, she, on her little description of her run, she said, try this workout that I saw Cali Jones do. Um. And she didn't complete it, but she tried it. And that's, to me, it was pretty cool that she saw something I did and was like, wow, that looks cool. And then tried to do it. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. That is cool.

And uh, again, another example of you being an inspiration and helping someone do something that they may not have thought of doing before, which is pretty cool. Um, so you, we don't let you have social media. Um, and have kept you off of that until you did Strava. And so Strava is really the only social media that you have. And, um, you, you've got peers who use social media and you haven't been able to do that. How do you feel like that has affected you as a 17-year-old girl?

Well, sometimes I feel left out 'cause my friends will all be like sending reels to each other, but. I don't get, actually I do get sent reels, but it's not the same when you have Instagram. And sometimes I just like wanna go on Instagram and like, look something up because that's where a lot of like news happens, especially in the running world. And like, especially with like people being recruited and stuff, like, 'cause I'm a nerd, I like seeing that kind of stuff.

Mm-hmm. But since I, on Instagram, I can't see it. And so it's hard for me to see that. But it's also good 'cause um, I know social media is like a huge problem with youth and I. I'm sure I would be on it way too much. Like I'm already on Strava a lot, so. Yeah.

Jethro D. Jones: And you, you recently made a, a change in how you use Strava. So tell me about that. I dunno what you're talking about. I'm confused. This is Jethro D. Jones: great. You said I'm gonna delete Strava from my phone. Mm-hmm. Did you put it back on? Yes. Okay, so why did you take it off and why did you put it back on?

Okay, so I took it off because I think it was during Thanksgiving break that I, and during some of the school, the school weeks, 'cause I just like get on it when I'm like, when I'm not doing anything. And I wanted to, there was like, oh I think it was a couple weeks ago. I wanted to just like seelo, I could get my screen time and do that hep take off Strava. 'cause I get on there and just look at. People running. So that's such a nerdy thing to do, but I just do that.

And so I was like, I'll just take it off and see what happens. But, uh, I put it back on because it's really hard to like, comment and like. Put in a description and title. My run on the web version. Mm-hmm. It's really annoying and I really, really like titling my runs and doing like the description, so I couldn't just like not do it. Mm-hmm. Like it pain me, not do it. 'cause I spend a lot of my run thinking about what I'm gonna put on my Strava because that's just something like.

It's like a creative expression for me. Like I just love putting like fun, like captions or like titles on. And so that to me is just like something really fun that I enjoy, and so I put it back on so I could keep doing that. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Okay. That's cool. No judgment by the way. And um, what's, what's so fascinating is that it's so easy to get stuck into social media and things, uh, pulling you down, right? And, um. And, and waste time on those kind of things.

Like I struggle with that myself, especially with X, formerly known as Twitter and Nerd. Nerd. Yep. And, uh, and there are a lot of different nerdy things that I just get sucked into. Um, and so it's, you know, you gotta figure out what the right balance is. And what I appreciated was that you saw.

That it was a problem because you were wasting time and you were, as we call it, buffering or sedating in instead of dealing with the frustrating things that were going on, you recognized it and then you saw why you wanted to have Strava in your life, and so have you been better about sedating or buffering? Um, it's been hard over the break 'cause there's just so much more free time. I dunno what to do with myself, so I'll just pull up my phone and get on Strava and so it hasn't been the best.

Yeah. And so it's been difficult, but I just, I think what I need to do is I just need to slow down and think like, why am I getting on my phone right now? Why am I getting on Strava right now? Like, is there a purpose behind what I'm doing? And I just need to like, put it down. I'm like, okay with being bored. And like just sit there like stirring at the wall if I need to and like thinking like my brain is like twitching. 'cause I'm like I can't do this.

I need to be doing something, but I need to be okay with like not doing something at the wall and deal with that like feeling of like, I dunno what to do with myself.

Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So we talked a little bit about your, your need for sleep. What are some other things, I just remembered that I wanted to ask you this question. What are some other things you do to make sure that you get the sleep? I. That you need, that maybe your peers. Um, aren't doing, we're not judging anybody. So like that, that's not what this is about. Don't name drop, Jethro D. Jones: don't name drop.

We're not doing any of that, but like you're intentional in a way that, that other people aren't. And so I think it's valuable for you to share some of the things that you do, whether they're family rules that you don't have a choice with. Wink, wink, or, or whether there are things that you, uh, have just decided to do yourself. How do you, how do you get the, the sleep that you need? Okay, well shout out Jethro and Stacey.

My parents, let's go for one of our family rules is no devices in our rooms. And so, um, like I don't have my room, my, my phone in my room. I sleep. So that definitely helps a lot. 'cause I know a lot of people will just like be on their phone super late and like, I know like. Science, the blue light helps you not go to sleep.

And another thing is I try to put my phone, like, especially like during like the school time, this is mainly the more important, I try to put my phone, put my phone away at like a certain time or like have it like a certain, like, like an hour before I go to bed and stuff. And so that's something I try to do.

And I also try when I wake up in the morning, so like this isn't really to my sleep, but this is just really to like mentally, I try to like wait like 30 minutes before I get on my phone and like wait a certain amount of time before I get on my phone in the morning to like check my messages and. Checks Strava. It's not trying, let's be real. Let's be real. That's what I do in the mornings. I try to like give a, like a, a buffer time before that.

And I've noticed when I've gotten on my phone, like pretty soon after I wake up, I notice I feel different throughout the day. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Uh, what other things do you do to help you with your sleep? Um. Well, I exercise during the day, so it helps me sleep better at night. Yeah. And so that's a big one. Like I don't just like sit around all day and then when it's time to go to bed and I'm like, I can't sleep. And so I make sure to like exercise during the day and, um.

I do stuff to help me wind down for bed. Like I stretch and I roll out and I write in a journal and read my scriptures and that is all stuff that usually is since that's kind of, I've had that routine down since like the beginning of the school year. And so that's kinda like a signal to my brain that's like, it's time for you to go to bed now. And so usually that is something that helps a lot and. I usually need to get, be in my room by a certain time.

I've been trying to be in my room by eight because it just takes like, I just like to have time to do that. I don't wanna feel rushed trying to do those things 'cause they're important to me and I just want to be able to do them and not like stress about getting them done by like a certain time. 'cause they're the things that are helping me try to go to sleep. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. So, uh, a teenage girl going to her room to go to bed at eight o'clock. That seems pretty unique.

I don't know of a lot of other girls who are doing that, do you? No. Jethro D. Jones: So why do you go to bed to your bedroom so early? Uh, so I can, again, so I can have the time I need to wind down for bed. 'cause that's something that's important to me is getting my sleep because I don't like not having enough sleep. I don't like feeling like I'm gonna fall asleep in my boring classes. Jethro D. Jones: All right. We could, we could maybe talk about school in a minute, but, um.

But one of the other things that, that I've seen from you is that you recognize that sleep is important, and so you prioritize doing that. So even if I'm up late or the other kids are up late, you're like, I'm ready to go to bed. And part of the the credit. That I give to you learning that, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but your mom is a really good example of that in how she is like, I know I'm getting tired and I need to go to bed.

And so she just is ready to go to bed and she gets up at five o'clock most mornings, and so she needs sleep and she prioritizes that also. And so her setting that example, I think has been really valuable. Do you see that as valuable yourself or do you not even notice it? Um, I haven't really thought of it like that, but I think sub subconsciously, I think subconsciously I recognized that and saw that she recognized the importance of it and like.

She's like recognized like sometimes when I act a certain way or like I'm like getting worried about things. She's like, Kylie, you just need to go to sleep. And so stuff like that over like the past couple years since she's been saying, oh, you're acting like this because you're tired. Mm-hmm. I'm like, okay. So I probably should sleep more. Yeah. We should go to bed earlier. Such and such. Jethro D. Jones: So, um, what is our, what is our family's remedy for any ailment?

Uh, sleep and water, right? Jethro D. Jones: Something's wrong. What do we say? Sleep and water. Oh, and probably eat too. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. Eat, sleep and water. Or not eat that. Or not eat also, that's also a remedy sometimes just stop eating. You're just bored. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. It's funny because, uh, 'cause that is, we have said this for so long, you just need to go to sleep, so just go to bed and that'll, you'll feel fine in the morning. Mm-hmm.

And it's funny because as a, as a parent, you're like. You honestly don't know what you're doing. You have no idea, right? You're just making up as you go along. But what we have found is that when you guys do get sleep, then you're better. Wow. And I'm so glad you realized that. Jethro D. Jones: And so now like we always say, just go to sleep. And it, and it always does. It does help.

Um, alright, so, uh, so we talked about one of your goals for this year is 1500 miles. What other things do you have looking forward to the future? Well. Okay. As you know, I'm 17 and in the next 20 years, I mean 10, well, not 20. Hello. Um, well, in 10 years I'll be 27 and a lot's gonna happen in that time. Mm-hmm. College, hopefully a mission. Probably getting married, hopefully traveling, maybe kids that would probably be good to have kids for 27. If not, then gonna getting old.

And so there's a lot of big things like gonna happen. I'm gonna be an adult. Yeah, that too. Jethro D. Jones: Yes. Um, I can vote. That's a, that's coming this year. That's coming this year. Yep. Shout out me turning 18 soon. Um, and so it's just a lot of things that are happening with that. And I mean, all those big events that I like have and like I want to get married and go on a mission and go get into college.

I mean, I don't think I'll have a problem with that, you know, but I also want to run. Mar a marathon, probably a couple marathons, not just one. Um, and just like try new things. And I do really wanna travel more. 'cause I, with my trip to Costa Rica this past summer, which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, I realized I really like traveling and I want to do more of it. And so that's a goal that I have. When I'm an adult is to travel more.

Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about you going to Costa Rica. 'cause that was, uh, that was a big deal. Mm-hmm. Something that you wanted to do. Mm-hmm. And, uh, how did you pay for that? Well, during my time for the B Podcast Network, I gained a salary in which I was able to spend ex save money to do such a thing. But yeah, I, there's a lot of not buying things I wanted. There's a lot of.

Saying no to things that I wanted to get because I knew that I had to save for Costa Rica and I mean, I missed a few payments and so I had to pay an extra $200 'cause I missed like four. Mm-hmm. And so that was really frustrating, especially 'cause I, most of the time I had enough money, it was just not in the right account for it. And the dates got changed, like a little messed up from like switching things over. So it was one of those really frustrating things.

But even with extra things, I was able to pay for it and. I mean, the Lord helped make that happen because Costa Rica was really amazing and he knew that I needed that experience. Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. So I thought it was really amazing that you paid for it yourself, that you were disciplined and saved your money and didn't waste it on things. And that was awesome. And that was really cool to see because um, it's not easy to do that.

But again, going back to some of the things we've talked about, you had a deeper purpose to it. And it wasn't just like, Hey, this would be fun. I want to go do it. Like, you know, buying a game for your phone or something. It was, I'm not that person. Maybe you are, but not be, Jethro D. Jones: ain't that the truth? Uh, you, you said no to things that, that you wanted so that you could do the thing that you really felt you needed to do. And so what made going to Costa Rica so amazing.

Um, I don't know. I think it was just, 'cause it was something I had never done before and it was a new experience. It was my first time, like, really going to a foreign country like Canada doesn't count because it's like right there. And so it was like really just like a completely new experience. And like, I love Spanish so much and so being able to like go there and like speak Spanish, to hear people speak Spanish all the time was very, very cool.

And like, it was just something very much outta my comfort zone and going with people like I wasn't, didn't really know very well. Like doing something that was like, something I'd never done before, and that was very cool. Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: And so what about going to, uh, this other country? Like what perspective did you get about other people and how they live and different cultures and things like that?

Well, I thought it was really cool that I was able to see like how another, like group of people lived and like being able to also see like the commonalities, like the love that people have for each other and like. People are all just trying to like do their best. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, yeah, that was pretty cool. That was a neat experience. What else do you wanna say about Costa Rica?

Um, I mean, it was just such a beautiful country and all the people, there were, everyone went there was really nice. Like people in Costa Rica are very nice. I learned and I thought that was really cool. And I mean, it's just a cool experience going to like see outside of where you live and that's what I would say.

To anybody who's like ever thought about traveling and who's ever like traveled before, I would say you should go see some other place and don't just like go see like the usual, like touristy stuff. Try to go really see people. Mm-hmm. That's what I'd say. That's what makes like trips so cool is seeing people and like that's what people say about their mission too. It's like it doesn't matter where you get sent, it's like the people that you fall in love with and so, Jethro D. Jones: yeah.

Well, one of the things that you realize is that everybody is a child of God. And they have their own life and their own experience that they're living and they have miracles and trials and frustrations just like everybody else. And, um, and it's, it's really amazing.

So you've mentioned a mission a couple times. Why do you want to go on a mission? Like where did that come from? Um, well I think that would be really cool to go again, go someplace else and see like. Other, like see how other people live and just like, I mean, I wanna share my testimony with other people. Excuse me. That was nasty. Oh my gosh. I mean, I just, I wanna go like I love the Lord and I just want other people to feel the joy that I've been feeling.

And so, Jethro D. Jones: okay, so like, let's go deeper. Um, you're not required to go on a mission. No. So why have there been any, uh, examples or influences or people where you're like, somebody said or suggested it and you're like, oh, maybe that is for me, like, and we've certainly never pushed you to do it. Um, 'cause that's not our style. So what are you, like, where's, where's this desire coming from? Um, well, everybody, like we have return missionaries come speak to like our seminar.

It's like, come speak at seminar and like everybody gets together and like this Return missionary speaks and every return missionary said, like, think about going on a mission. Like, just like, think about it like to everybody. It's not just like, like the boys are kinda like required too, but it's like, it's like to the girls there like, think about it. Like at least think about it. And so I think that's important to like. Keep that opportunity open. That's something I do want to do.

I think that would be, it's gonna be really hard, but hard things are good and so, Jethro D. Jones: mm-hmm. Yeah, they, they definitely are. They definitely are good and hard. Um, and so you're going to graduate from high school and turn 19 and be eligible to go just a few months after you graduate next year, so about six. Yep. Jethro D. Jones: So, um, so you got some decisions to make about that, of going to college for a semester or not and, and things like that.

Um, you have cousins and people, uh, in the stake who've gone on missions. What has their example done to help you decide to do that yourself? Um, well, it's really coolest thing.

You'll just show faith in choosing to do that and like hearing people's like stories and hearing like where they've come from and just being like, they're just choosing to have faith and choosing to try it out and see what happens and seeing how all these different people are choosing to all do the same thing, which is serve the Lord and love other people. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's really powerful and it's, it is a choice, right? Like you.

Even if you go on a mission, you still have to choose to serve, just like you were saying with your, um, practice for cross country and track. You have to be intentional and choose to do it, and if you don't, then like you can just show up and go through the motions, but what good is that? Is that an actual question? Jethro D. Jones: No, you should have really look boss and looked at me. Sorry. I like zoned out a little bit. Jethro D. Jones: I have that effect on people. Thanks. Okay. Alright.

Um. What are, uh, what are some of the habits that you want to keep going into the future? Um, definitely reading my scriptures every day. Uh, like I read the Book of Mormon every, every night, and I've been doing that since like. For like four years. And so I don't think I've missed a night in four years of reading the book Morn every night. And that's something I still wanna keep up. 'cause like, like President Nelson said, read the book morn every day. And I'm like, bear choices every day.

Mm-hmm. And so I definitely don't wanna lose that habit. And I also want to stay consistent in my running. 'cause that's, that's important to me. And also eating healthy and sleeping well, those are all very important. Jethro D. Jones: Mm-hmm. Um, are there any things that you're doing that you want to stop doing or want to be done with? Uh, chewing my nails for sure. I don't like that.

I like that I do that, but, um, and there's also like when I sometimes get stressed, like I crack my neck a lot, but doesn't like crack and so I'm just like. Twisting my neck a lot and it, and my neck, like sometimes on a really stressful day, it like ends up being really sore and I just don't like that I do that, but I just like do it and I don't know how to like stop doing it. So it's like, I just like don't like that I do that. Hmm. And it's just annoying.

Jethro D. Jones: Okay. Uh, so you're, I in your junior year, what advice would you give yourself as a freshman if you could go back and give yourself some advice? That was a real question. I know. I just dunno what I would advice I would give. Um, I, I honestly don't know, like, um, I would just say probably just like love other people. More and just like, like, just be nice to everybody.

Like I wasn't like a mean kid or anything, and I wasn't like, I dunno, this is, it's not like a huge piece of advice. I would like completely change things, but it's just like a little thing. Like I've definitely grown in like loving people more and it's not like, like, uh, like a hit on my, like freshman self. Like it's just how I've grown. And it's not like things have happened the way I need to be, but I'm just saying like.

Just like, make sure to love other people and like focus on loving other people and don't worry about yourself so much. Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: So the, the beauty in that question is that, um, we often give the advice that brought us to where we're at. When, when we answer that question or we give the advice that, that we. That reflects the regret that we have about not being where we're at.

And so in your situation, you gave the advice that has brought you to where you're at, which is love other people and you've done a really good job of that. And, um, things are certainly not perfect. And it's not like you have everything that you could possibly want and you succeed at everything in your life. But that is one thing that I have seen. You grow with over the last three years is you've just really done a good job of loving other people and um, and I think that's really powerful.

Um, is there anything else that you want to talk about before we end? Anything that we missed? I don't think so. Jethro D. Jones: Okay. You good to call and end for this year? And then we'll try, we'll start, we'll chat again next year. I think so. Jethro D. Jones: All right, well, uh, I'll miss seeing you for the next year. Oh yeah. What we gonna do? We're not gonna talk at all for the next. Jethro D. Jones: No, that's definitely not gonna happen.

Oh. Um, so, uh, so we will do this one again a year from now. Uh, so January of 2026. Um, we'll have another discussion like this and, um, I'm looking forward to seeing where you go and what you accomplish over the next day. Hopefully. By that time, I'll be accepted into colleges. Jethro D. Jones: Oh, that would be pretty wild, wouldn't it? Mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: We could start talking about where you're gonna go to college and, mm-hmm. Jethro D. Jones: Man. Okay. How exciting. How exciting.

I'm gonna miss you so much. Hey, we still have a while. I know. I, it's too real. Jethro D. Jones: All right. Thanks, Kelly. I love you. Thanks, dad. I love you too.