SUNDAY SAMPLER - The Nashville Podcast Network (12-22-24)

Hey guys, Sunday Sampler, what do your thank you? We had a two new podcasts in the Vets Office with Doctor Josie and take this personally with Morgan Hulesman. You'll hear a clip from these episodes and just a bit and subscribe to those if you like them, love them. On the Bobby Cast, I sat down with Hunter Girl talk about what life was like before she hit it and before American idol and the origin of her stage name.

But we're gonna get started here.

Within the Vets office with Doctor Josie, they had Dug the Pug on Dug the Og celebrity dog millions of Instagram followers. So Doctor Josie talked with his owner Leslie about how famous Doug got the rise to fame the DMS.

He gets funny episode.

Here we go in the Vets Office with Doctor Josie.

You're listening to in the Vet's Office with Doctor Josie Horchak.

How did this all come to be?

So? I used to actually work a few buildings over on Music Row. I went to Belmont and that's what moved me to Nashville, and I had dreams of working in the music industry and doing marketing and PR and like graphic design and branding and stuff for bands, and so I got a job doing that at a small record label artist management company. And I got Doug when I was.

A junior at Belmont.

So I was in college in college, and so I was going to work on music row and then I would come home and I had my dream pug who loved getting dressed up and loved doing activities with me around town. And it became this kind of tradition where I would get home from work and go out around Nashville and take pics with him. This was in the very beginning of Instagram. I think this was twenty thirteen when I started posting him, and so I just did

Doug, like, we don't really care. They just wanted to see Doug.

And so I started getting a little more creative and doing I started getting a little more creative and doing you know, things that were on trend, like holiday type things, or if a famous artist was coming into Nashville, I would like play off that and big Instagram pug accounts that had all these followers at the time. When they would take our photos and post them and tag us.

They would get so many likes, and it.

Was this rush of like, WHOA, that's so cool a photo that I took and a concept that I came up with, and the styling and everything, like people are resonating with this, they like it. And again this is very condensed, but I ended up switching my account from me to just Dug and putting more effort and time into it. And he reached one hundred thousand followers on Instagram, which was insane and huge and amazing at the time.

And we had a.

Little party and I was just honestly a very fun hobby. It got me, brought me a lot of joy, and it brought other people joy. And I would be lying if I didn't say that at that time, I saw it being something like what it is now. I had this gut feeling to pursue it, and so I actually when he hit one hundred thousand followers, I put in my notice to quit my job.

Wow, and people thought I was crazy.

I kind of lied to most people and said I'm starting my own graphic design business because I didn't want to be like So, I have this dog that has an Instagram and I think he would make a really cute stuffed animal. But it happened as soon as I

Can you put like people?

Let me tell you about my best friend, Like, let's make the pug balloon his best friend, and I posted it to Doug's Facebook, his Instagram, and then I made him a Twitter because I was like, what would a band need, Like if I were to help one of my artists at the label, what would they need? And so I put it on all these things and I had a logo for Doug and I took it very seriously. But that night I posted it, didn't think anything of it.

I'm like, what happened? And I looked at the video and had twenty million views.

Wow, and this is the one hundred k party where he's running around with a pug bull Yes, Like right after that party, I took a little video with a leftover balloon and I was like, whoa.

All of a sudden, it.

Was real okay, you know, And by the end of that week he had a million likes followers on Facebook.

Doug was like, my mom just quit her job. I got to go to one. He was like, let's go.

And so it was this crazy feeling of like I felt very ready for it, because I had already kind of set it up for success, but for it to actually happen and for me to have the free time to do it.

So Rob luckily.

Got home from tour right around then, and we just started making videos. I mean every day we were coming up with like, let's dress Dug up as Harry Potter and call him Harry Pugger or you know all these popular TV shows, The Walking Dead. I dressed him as a zombie and we were crazy people running around Radner Lake with our dog with a dressed as a zombie and like but we didn't care. It was just this

We went to London. Did he hit his first million followers that year? Oh yeah?

So he on Facebook went from three thousand to a million within like a few weeks.

Okay, on Instagram.

Instagram's a harder platform to grow, so I think it took a little longer. But honestly, justin Bieber posting he posted two pictures of Doug. They his label actually hit us up and was like, hey, remember the Justin Bieber era of like sorry and what do you mean?

It was like the best era, but take me back?

And he was like on the Calvin Klein ads, they asked Doug to be a part of a countdown for how many days until?

What do you mean?

Okay?

And so I took pictures of Doug wearing Calvin kleins and that little sign that said eight days what do you mean? And Justin posted two of those photos and tagged Doug. We went up like one hundred thousand followers in a.

Day, I bet, and it was.

It's just still so crazy to even look back on that and to see what it is now, and just it's been the most amazing fun ride and Doug.

Loves every second of it.

One thing that you said that I just feel like sitting here and talking with you is I feel like there's Instagram influencers and TikTok where you're like, Okay, this is like their job, and you can kind of tell like it just seems so organic and you just enjoy I mean, obviously he's like your child, so you enjoy doing it. He loves to do it, and like that just really translates. I thank you on his page is why he's so successful.

I really appreciate that.

I feel like, obviously, social media has changed exponentially. We've been doing it full time for almost ten years, and it's changed so much, and I think every day I have to make the conscious choice and Rob as well to do it because we love it, right, because we would have a completely different approach to social media with Doug if we were doing it just for the followers and the clout at this point, yeah, and so it's honestly become so much more laid back and we're a

What we want to share doing anyway. Yeah, we feel like we.

Have nothing else to prove at this point, right, and it's it's just like truly for fun and to like we still have so many big dreams obviously, but his happiness and our happiness is like most important of course.

Why one word hunter girl?

Why?

I know and I've heard the story. You know you were the only or whatever the version is, you were the only in your class. You're a girl, But what as a stage name and one word like all that came together and you decided on it?

When why just because That's what everybody called me growing up, and my last name's Walking Awski, eleven letters, pretty rough, but I feel like that just part of me, especially right now, and like, hey, hunter girl, like how are you doing? That's what my Paul would call me. And so whenever I come up on stage and I have the name that a lot of people call me when I was growing up, it kind of always just reminds me of home. That's how I feel when I think of it.

Did I don't say anything to you about just going by one name? Weirdly? Were they like, are you sure you want to do this?

Uh?

Like I think somebody had like mentioned that. They're like, do you want to do Hunter Walking Awski? And I was like, I think I want to be I think I'm gonna be Hunter girl.

One word And they're like, that's cool.

People will remember it, and they were like, just go for it.

People do remember. I remember going, oh, this girl's I got one name. I didn't even know what it was about. I was like, this is cool, Like that's how I was again. I was checking out the show I'd Adventures, but you you never know who they're going to keep on that show. I watched them edit people and like two people in but only to cut them out later, but they'd already been eliminated, like for for drama.

So Hunter, though, is your name? I remember asking I know the answer, but I remember.

Asking you this in the same way, like what do I call you?

Your friends call you that.

My friends call me hunter, like my like my Paul will still he still calls me hunter girl, just because that's what he always did. But my friends called me hunter and uh, but on stage, it's like I kind of get to separate myself a little bits, like the like hunters going home and enter PJS. But whenever I'm on stage, I get to be Hunter girl.

What I would like for you to go back and talk about, just for a second, when you talk about writing with the veterans, which is how you and I ended up together that night we were doing some veterans stuff at the Opry together.

Yeah, explain like what that is.

So I started writing writing with veterans when I was about seventeen.

And why why would you write with veterans?

My grandfa, my grandpa's in the service, and six of my great uncles and I just got involved and I was just volunteering and singing songs for the people that were writing the songs with the veterans, and so it's always been something like meant a lot to me and just seeing how much it, like it affected my family too. And basically what we do is we get in a room with a veteran and we write their story about whatever they want to talk about, whether it's like something

Since I was about seventeen and still do it.

I had one a few weeks ago.

Really yeah, cast.

Up Little Food for your Soul.

Life.

Oh it's pretty bad. It's pretty beautiful, BEFU.

That's a little more family said, ek cut you're kicking with full thing with Amy Brown, We're.

Just gonna have a little chat today. I am sitting on my bed next to my dog with my computer. I've been looking at emails. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, or it would be her birthday if she was still alive. But I think I just got a little emotional as I was prepping for the episode because I thought, well, in honor of her birthday, maybe I should share one of my favorite things that she would make, which was cherry Berry's on a Cloud. And it's not a recipe

And then Ben and.

I aren't married anymore, but we're still close and our families are close. But all of those relationships came from my mom and her friendships that she made, and I was just thinking how special it was that we would all gather together. And I'm getting emotional because I miss that, I really do. But I'm about to be with my sister and her family for Christmas, and I know we're going to be gathering around the table We're going to be cooking and hanging out, and it's going to have

It will be a hit.

It is so good. And if you ever just have some time and you want to reminisce, type in keywords into your email. I mean, I was going all the way back to I think it was two thousand and ten or twenty eleven that I saw that email that my sister sent out to everybody, and I copied and pasted that and I sent it over to my sister so that she could reminisce. But then I had to go find the actual recipe, So then I had to google or search inside my Gmail my mom's name and

You don't have to.

You can buy tomato plants and that will be much faster. And I said, mom, I started with seeds. I will transplant them to separate pots when they get three inches tall. It's a salsa garden. Did you watch my video? I'm not scared. I'm being patient. When it's time, I'll get to make salsa. For Ben's smiley face. I said, my first sprouts came in today. I just noticed about twenty minutes ago, and I got so excited.

And I don't even know that version of me.

That decided to make a little salsa garden from seeds.

We're gonna do it live. We ah the one shoot three sore losers?

What up, everybody? I am lunchbox.

I know the most about sports, so I'll give you the sports facts, my sports opinions, because I'm pretty much a sports genius, y'all.

It's Sison I'm from the North. I'm an alpha male. I live on the north side of Nashville with Bayser, my wife. We do have a farm. It's beautiful, a lot of acreage, no animals, a lot of crops. Hopefully soon corn pumpkins, rye. I believe maybe a little fescue to be determined.

Over to you, coach, And here's a clip from this week's episode of The Sore Losers.

Right, tell me, how'd that Christmas party go?

Man?

You missed out. I told you it was networking.

I know I was gonna go. Then the wife informed me we had Christmas caroling with the neighborhood and we were getting together with other families and we were gonna go Christmas caroling.

Sometimes you realize I just got a network for the good of the Sore Losers. And I realized that. Baser even said before I went, I can't believe you're going to this because it was an hour and a half drive from where I live.

Yeah, it's at a higher up's house, which is weird. It's not easy to get to and they do it at five o'clock, and I don't know if they understand what five o'clock means.

It means grid lock traffic.

So if you want to get there right at five o'clock, you got to leave at three o'clock. If you don't leave, if you leave any later than three, it's gonna take you an hour and a half proceed.

And I get there, and when I say networking, it was me, the two big bosses, and Robin from Media Base.

Robin still works here.

Yeah, show's great too.

Excuse me, m h. I had no idea.

Stuff she does outside of here that you just don't see her doing. I guess she deals with songs, artists, media base ratings, rankings, songs, climbing charts, getting credit for playing live performances, et cetera.

I mean that means she works from home, because I mean she has not been around in eight years.

Correct, FTW, that's awesome. From the home. Fth from the home. Okay, And that's it, dude, it's I said in Indian Circle having a pow wow. That is how you promote the sore losers. And I mean it's just when it's just you and the brass in the kitchen, dude, you have no choice.

So it was just four people, yes.

Because I got there so early. It was my fault. It was nothing on the party. It was what times you get there, right at five and I get and it's one of those where they were on the couches, and so I didn't really want to I pulled up. I just pulled up a chair, dude.

You didn't want to sell on the couch in between two of them.

I just pulled up a chair. Dude. Hey, if we're going to network, let's network, baby. I told Beazer before I left the country, I said, going to network. I kind of like I was going to war. I was like, I'll be back after my tour. I'll see in a couple hours. But yeah, that was the start of it. They weren't in the kitchen, dude, and it caught me

And the driveway is right on a busy road.

Truck ain't fitting in that driveway. So you park in the neighborhood over for not a quarter eighth of a mile, for half of a football field, you're literally walking on the road.

Yeah, bro, And there's no street lights.

I'm running on the road because I didn't want to walk in the grass. Well, then a car starts coming, so I go into the grass and it looks like other cars have gone into the grass as well, and it might be muddy, so there were probably mud on my shoes. I walk into the party and there's nothing but white carpet. Ugh, So what do you think I did because it'd.

Been raining, Yeah, took a shoe off.

So I looked at the party host, the brass they all had their shoes on. I just couldn't risk walking on that carpet and making shoeprints when I'm trying to network for the sore losers and I'm just dirtying up the place. I took off my shoes. Why was that a mistake? Bro? Every time I tried to network and conversate with somebody, I was a foot shorter than everybody because everybody wore their shoes except for me. That leads me to my next story. Dude comes walking in, looks

But did he have a scarf?

No? Yeah, just a long black jacket, butt up, good shoes, good jeans.

What looked like what was his hair?

He looked he looked like falcon. Oh and but but you knew he was important and I had already. Dude, I talked to every brass there there was. There was no more brass left.

So he's a baldy.

Huh. I didn't even talk to Abbie.

I don't even know who the baldy. I don't know who this guy is.

There's people this company don't even know there was a brunuit chick. I go Morgan, who's at Oh she works for a premiere. No, I never seen her. Who is that blondie? How do you even know her? Why are you guys so friendly? Oh, she's great, she was at the last Christmas party. I don't know. I'm literally never seen her. And we work in the same building.

Got it.

And so then this dude comes in. He looks important. I've talked to everybody, Abbey, I see every dam damn IM not talking about?

So what did you talk about with the brass when you're sitting in that little circle the pow wow?

It's did you do your high low for the day, or your rose or your thorn. Now I was trying to think that's what it was. It was she's from Kentucky and she goes, oh, yeah, I hope the Valls win on Saturday. Because the one lady not to get too much in the weeds. The one lady just got a divorced and her husband ex husband was a huge fan of the Boles. And so I was being funny and I was like, hey, screw the balls, let's root against the balls this Saturday, being on her side, just

Yeah, let's go.

Actually I want the Falls. Let's go. We want Tennessee. And I go, aren't you from Kentucky? And then she goes, I just go for the game. But she goes, I'm more of a basketball girl, and she said I love the pre games. And then we talked about Rup and I said I was out rupping, Oh the Steak the area of Rop, And I was like, have you ever been there? She goes, Honey, I ever been there. I've been there a hundred times. And I said, I want

And you said me and you should go to a game sometime. What did she say?

It was all just laughing joke. Here's a Christmas party? Am I in the brass? Gonna go driving Kentucky and go to Rupprena sometime maybe?

But anyways, I've heard rough so old and that needs improven.

Dude. They looked good. But I moved to the kitchen and here comes another brass. There's so many brass around, dude.

Hey, which one got divorced?

Robin?

Oh?

Oh, but I knew that already. Oh but it would have been bad if I got caught off Guarden. I didn't get a heads up about that. Then the dude walks in and I go right up to I'm not I chill in the glassroom with Abby. I'm not trying to be like, hey, Abby, how's it going. I've talked to Abby about everything. I'm good. So she Abby's like call me over. I'm like, ha ha, I totally dissed her.

Abby. I see you every day at work.

I'm going to network with this dude. I go Hey, how's it going. He goes, hey, you right, yeah, how are you? What's your name? He goes Bob, and he goes, he were sore losers, right? What dude? I just about fell out. Not only did he know my name, he knew about sore losers.

Tell me more about it.

So Bob runs everything the volume. Colin cow or Dan Patrick, if they go somewhere to Fountain Blue, he runs it. If they're at the pool, he runs it. He's all over the country. They'll go to events, six hundred people pop up, boom, he goes. Sometimes the crowds are wild. For Steven A. Smith, he runs it. Draymond Green runs it. The volume has Jeff Tigue and the some of oh yeah.

Yeah, that Jeff guy. He's pretty funny.

Runs it. He's always there, advice, ads, marketing. Who's the other show? He said, Draymond getting on a mic. Right, I forgets the technical It's amazing, he said. That shows that volume blowing up. He goes, you guys are blowing up. Great talk with him?

What all did he say?

Everything? He was just talking And I said, I used to listen to Colin Cowhard. That must be so cool. He does it. Sounded more with the sports shows, and I was trying to think of the one other one that is huge. Oh, Ocho Cinco is on a show with you guys are yelling at your trucks right now. Ocho Cinco has a show with Shannon Sharp.

Yeah. I think you're right that one.

Yeah, And he said, blowing up, dude. The fact sore Losers was mentioned in the same sentence as Ocho Cinco, Draymond Green, Shannon Sharp, Colin Cowherd, and Dan Patrick blowing up.

What else did Bob say about sore Losers.

Uh, not not much, but the fact that he knew the show and then put us in the category of sports and he said, blowing up.

Seles Man, are you ready, Hillary, I'm excited.

I'm excited to get a talk with you on a microphone.

Not that I haven't talked to you in a long time.

But this is our first official talk on a microphone since you left the show.

Yeah, it's been almost three years. I was thinking about that today. I was like, this is the first I've been behind a microphone and almost three years, and the last time I was was probably the last best bits.

But you had mentioned how Tyler is your first boyfriend and now like potentially going to be your fiance. But what's that been like for you? He's your first boyfriend and you weren't dating before that. Is there like any part of you that thinks about that and that kind of situation?

Yes, I yes, I have thought about it.

First of all, when I was never you know, part of the reasons I haven't dated was I feel like if I liked a guy, they wouldn't like me back.

So it wasn't like a choice. Part of it was, but part of it wasn't. It was just people just didn't like me. So I always saw something was wrong with me. Okay, I liked you, well, you know what I mean.

There were I'm ninety nine point nine percent sure, even though I have only known you my adult life, that there were people that liked you. You just probably didn't feel that back, so.

They never pursued it or they didn't tell me. Yeah that's possible too. Yeah, Yeah, you maybe beautiful, So I can guarantee that there were people that liked you. Yeah, maybe they just didn't tell me.

Okay, So maybe there have been missed opportunities, which is fine because I'm happy where I'm at. Yeah, but yeah, no, I've always felt like, Okay, something's wrong with me. If I'm not nobody likes me, nobody wants to be in a relationship with me. Something's wrong with me. And I'd have strangers on the internet telling me something is wrong with me too, So that didn't help. Yeah, they definitely let me know. They're like, something's wrong with you, Like, are you, you know, normal?

I was like, no, I'm fine, You're perfectly normal. Yeah, I'm just not finding someone. Timeline was just different.

My timeline was different, and it was definitely worth the way of waiting for waiting to find him. Like he is, like you said, just to a gem of a human.

Yeah, he's precious.

Well do you feel like, do you still have those feelings now or did once you met him? Did that all kind of quiet itself?

It did? It quieted itself?

I mean I I you know me, I struggle with self confidence issues and things like that, so that stuff has remained. But the whole it was like it was different. It was I do feel like I'm worthy enough and you know, good enough for someone, and so I feel very secure in that. But within myself, I definitely still have you know, the doubts and.

Self confidence issues, all those things.

You want to talk about that a little bit, because mental health is part of this podcast, yes, and we talk about.

Those things a lot.

So where do you feel like you're at kind of right now in your life with your I guess you can say self love journey. Do you feel like you're on a better path or do you feel like you're kind of stagnant?

Where are you right now?

I feel like I'm in a good place now. I think a couple a couple of years ago, i'd had a not I was not in the best place, which was right around the time. It was right before I started dating Tyler. But I'll never forget. We were at a dinner. I know exactly. I know you're gonna remember what it was. It was a Valentine's Day. It was Valentine's Day dinner. And at the point at that time, I was still single and I just turned thirty, and.

I just was having so many self doubt issues.

And I've dealt with that my entire life, Like, honestly, ever since I was in elementary school, I've dealt with self confidence issues and didn't know it at the time. As I've gotten older, I've learned a lot about anxiety and things like that, and I know that's you know, what I was dealing with. But yeah, a couple of years ago, I remember I was just in not a great place. I didn't like myself. I've always struggled with weight and you know how I view myself body my

And I kind of had dealt with.

That a little bit in you know, my early twenties, and I was doing fine and then for some reason a couple of years ago, I just was having some issues and just not loving myself. I was turning thirty and I was not at all where I thought i'd be in my life. And I think that had a lot to do with it. Was turning thirty and realizing I'm not married, i don't own a house, i don't have kids, I'm not at all where I thought I

Hey, it's Mike d And this week All Movie Mike's Movie podcast, I shared my top ten underrated.

Movies of the year.

And these are a lot of movies that aren't sequels, aren't remakes, aren't superhero movies. So if you're somebody who says, man, everything's a remaked these days, I have ten movies that maybe you missed in theaters. I think they are underappreciated. More people should have seen these, they should have performed better at the box office, because I think they're all

That's two million dollars.

Now.

Though it sputtering bean in the red.

I just think that it is hard to make a fresh coming of age movie at this point. And I love the formula. I could watch the same coming of age formula in any amount of movies and I would still enjoy There's just something special about it when done right. And this one the twist was that she takes some mushrooms,

It was cool to see Aubrey Plaza on more like I mean, she was still her like dry, comedic self, but a little bit more.

Of an emotional Yeah.

Well, there was a scene in this movie where I damn near cried.

Yeah, I think you did.

Like I think it was there was a span of movies there. I think this one in the Wild Robot. We watched back to back, I believe, and both times the movies like I almost cried.

I look over and.

I did not expect to go there because there's just a moment where it's like, oh, man, all this stuff that had been building up and building up. Yeah, there's a lot of fights between her younger self and her older self, which I would question things that I would be telling my younger self, and there's a moment that just hits you right in the gut and then it just like, oh man, I just kind of sat with it.

What's the number one thing that you would tell your younger self? Sitting here now as a thirty three year old, I always have to remember, hold you are.

It's very difficul I don't know how cliche this is, but like, stop caring what people think. I think that kept me from doing a lot of things that I enjoyed younger because I was worried about how they would be perceived by other people. And at that time, I didn't realize that those other people would not matter when I was older. Like look at this room now, Like all these things that I embraced now were things that

Mine's also cliche, and mine would be to like stop worrying about the boys that didn't like me. Like I just was like, no one's ever gonna like me. I'm gonna be single forever. I felt that too, and I was so young. But I think I think when you're in high school and it's like you have those couples and like ever I never had a boyfriend. You were my first boyfriend.

I damn you went my first girlfriend dates.

Like I liked people, I talk to people, but like no one ever really fully liked me. And I just used to think, like I'm ugly, no one's gonna like me. And I'm just say in retrospect, I think I was just like too smart. I think I intimidated people like not to toot my own horn, but I think I just was like unapproachable because I was really smart.

I've oddly been thinking about this lately.

Is.

I always felt that it was people not giving me a chance. And when I look back on myself there, I think I just didn't respect myself enough, Like I didn't put enough effort into myself to attract anybody. I thought it was all about looks, but I think it was how I treated myself and probably the energy I put out that was really what it was. And I just thought it was, like I said, just people not give me a chance. But I thought about like would

Yeah, I think I would tell myself to stop stressing. Because I met you when I was twenty four. That's that is still so young when in retrospect, I met you when I was twenty four, I'm married to twenty seven. Like I don't know. I think I just was like, oh my god, I'm going to be alone forever. But like those things feel so big when you're younger. Yeah, they feel so monumental.

When you're younger, you want to get older. When you're older, you want to be younger. I think if I was more specific about my advice I think it would be that you're on your own timeline. Yeah, like nobody else is really looking at your timeline, even though to you it feels like, ah, I'm so behind. How am I

I think I would also I would warn myself not to like several of the guys that I liked. I think I would be like, don't waste your time, don't just don't delete his number.

Even more specific advice, I would have told myself to like to get into coding more like pay attention to technology more.

I would have told myself to purchase real estate at the age of like five.

I'd invested in like TikTok or something.

I would have invested in bitcoin exactly.

I'd have bought it when it was so cheap. It'd be millionaires now as I tell you.

I would have bought stock and Apple.

Would it have been as value?

I guess back then, I feel like the time would have to buy it would have been like the eighties. Whenever they were first launching, it was like dirty. I don't know if they were public by that point.

It's not according to what one of the characters in the Nexolas Sparks book.

Did, But all right, that is the list.

Cary Lone, she's a queen and talking and you saw them. You know, she's getting really not afraid to feel its episode, so.

Just let it flow.

No one can do we quiet cary Lone is kind of care Lone.

I'm sad I was not someone who grew up watching One Tree Hill, and now I feel like I need to go back and binge that because after like reading your book and then deep diving you and then I deep dived One Tree Hill, and that show is like, that's like an amazing That show like shaped our generation. Like I'm forty one, and I feel like, I don't know how I missed watching it, probably because I didn't watch a whole bunch of TV growing up, but.

That was like pretty much I know, I know, right, that was like the show that shaped our like our minds. I feel like I feel like that.

And Friday Night Lights it's like One Tree Hi Lights were the ones.

Right, that was a big one too. Yeah, the others felt like they were as much as we loved Gossip Girl in the OC, they were very they lived in that Beverly Hills nine O, two and O zone of it's such a rare population of America who live like that. But the kids that live like us kids in One Tree Hill and the kids that lived like the Friday Night Light kids are vastly more. Sorry my sentences aren't

You definitely should.

It be fun.

I need to binge it. I love a good show.

I have a five year old daughter and all I watch is like Disney, and now she's into watching YouTube, like YouTube kids and all these families just make their own YouTube videos and I'm like, oh my god, I literally it's torture to watch it, but it's I need to watch like real, real content, and that's our shows were great. You know, that's when the storylines were good. They lasted a long time.

It's just, man, what a life you've lived, Bethanie.

Okay, So now that I'm like diving into your book, I literally you're such a good storyteller.

First off, becauk you, I am so in the story with you.

When I am reading this, I feel like I feel like I'm like in your actual brain walking starting from your childhood with your parents.

Like it's just it makes so much sense, like it's you always wonder.

I'm from Waco, Texas, and we had David Crash in the branch Davidians.

We actually, oh boy, yes, that's right, of course you did.

You had a.

Cult in our in our town. And there's been like.

Lots of other little pop up cults that lots of families join and they're integrated into the city. But it's definitely always been like cults. So there's a lot of culty vibes in Wacos. So I've always grown up with interesting Yeah, I've always grown up like with a big understanding of cults.

But like I always wondered, how does this happen? Like how does so unusual?

But maybe it's not unusual. I haven't. I'm not a researcher, but it seems strange to me that in a town like Waco, where it's known for being the center of this massive cult event, that others would pop up, so many others would still pop up in that region that like people didn't quite learn the lesson.

I guess it's that is wild. It is wild, And there's some other I don't know if they're called cults. What do you call them?

A focus group or like a what does the other word you use for that?

It's not cult, but it's like a control group.

Yeah, high demand, high demand group great, which that is what a cult is. It's it's the definitions are interchangeable.

High demand group think.

I love the group think because I actually was talking to my friend. We're in Georgia and I we're saying with some friends, and we were talking about just faith and how people can have all sorts of.

Rules with it.

Like, so I have some friends right now who I consider really great friends who are like not practicing yoga because they feel like that is sacrilegious. Then I'm like, and you can probably find all of these spiritual practices to back it. But at the same time, like I personally have had so many spiritual experiences that I have had myself that it's like, I know, I have to

And I love that.

I feel like that's sort of the point that I'm getting from your book is yes, someone can have a spiritual idea and that can truly be their road, But like, if it does not align with you, and if it is not your internal guidance system, like really you need to examine that and really take note of why are you doing something just because someone is telling you.

To do them if you don't really know why?

Right, Yeah, it's huge. We do so much in our life and we don't ask why why do I do this? I am very neurodivergent, and my tendency is to examine things, and so I appreciate that not everyone's brain works the same way that mine does. It's taken me a while to get to that point. I used to be so frustrated that people seem to think I was overthinking things

Why?

Because even when I was in this group, it's the why that got me in, but it's also the why that got me out. Like it's just the most important question. I think you can ask yourself with everything. Why do I eat this? Why am I I'm getting married? Why do I walk down an aisle? Why? Why do do I need to keep my room clean? Why do I need to walk my dogs? Why do I pray? Why? And follow it all the way down? And I think,