Let's Talk with Leaha & Rhonda

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you're listening to locally produced programming created in KUNV Studios on public radio KUNV 91.5

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the following is a paid program sponsored by Crawford Management Group and Smart Time Consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you may hear do not necessarily represent the views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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Hi, my name is Leah Crawford.

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And I'm Rhonda Nolan.

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And you're listening to the Let's Talk with Leah and Rhonda show.

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For all the beautiful entrepreneurs out there, this is for you. Good morning, Las Vegas. Leah, how are you doing this Saturday morning? You want to know what? It is nice. It is warm. I am happy. I am happy. You know I'm happy because it's not cold. I know that's right. It was cold for a long time. It was cold last weekend. We went on our retreat. That wasn't even fair. We left this nice warm place. We did. Which is normally beautiful San Diego. It wasn't beautiful San Diego. It was cold San Diego. It was 65 degrees. What do they call it? May gloom? Yeah, something. It was cold. It wasn't even enjoyable, but we had fun though. We did have fun. We worked with it. We worked with it. We worked through it. We both did show up in San Diego with no coats or jackets. Right. They should have told us fur coats. Yeah, they should have told us. 65, 60 degrees is a nice fur jacket to an event to an after five event. You know, after five it was cold in there. I know because it dropped down to 50. It did. And we could have had our fur coats on. That's another conversation. But that's a whole different. All right. So it's a bunch of stuff going on in the next couple of weeks. So let's get prepared. What you got? Happy June. And it is so much going on. There are so many nonprofits that are doing different things over the next couple of weeks. We're back y'all. We're back. So let's start. Starting on Thursday the 8th of June is the Bison in Vegas HBCU Alumni Weekend. It's being kicked off with a career fair that will be held at the Horseshoe Hotel formerly Bally's. That'll be on Thursday morning from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then that evening is the HBCU happy hour at the classic jewel from 6 to 9. So all you HBCU grads.

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Can anybody come?

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So yeah, so yes. Anyone, ok so let's talk about two different things. For the career fair, if you are a HBCU graduate or if you are a professional that is looking for a career change, you can sign up for the career fair. We're going to have several different companies there with lots of great paying jobs that are looking to hire folks. And they do have some entry level jobs, but quite frankly, they're looking for a more seasoned professional. So if you've been working 5, 10 or 15 years in a certain category, they're looking for you as an analyst, as a newscaster, as a writer, as an electrician, as an engineer, if you have any of those backgrounds, we have companies that are coming that want to speak to you about an opportunity. Now for the evening event, which is the HBCU Happy Hour sponsored by the Howard University Alumni Association, you must be 21 years of age.

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Okay, at least 21, but anybody can come, you just got to be 21. Right. Okay, and this is going to start the marathon of events, y'all, because you got more.

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Yeah, so this is for all professionals. This is for all professionals to come hang out, network, and kick off the whole week of events that the Bison in Vegas have scheduled for everybody. Okay, what's the next one? The next one is the golf tournament the next day. We will be at the Siena Golf Course in Summerlin. And so that this is a fundraiser, ladies and gentlemen, for the students from Las Vegas who are attending Howard University in the fall of 2023. So we have 10 events going on. Some of them are free. Actually, most of them are free. There are only three of them where there's a cost, but all that money goes to the students. Each year we have 10 to 15 students from the Las Vegas area that go to Howard University and we want to make sure they have an enjoyable experience. So we like to give them a little change before they leave. And so, yes, you can find out more information regarding the list of events that are happening at www.bisoninvegas.com. Also you can check out everything on Eventbrite as well. So that's that organization. That's that non-profit. The next non-profit that is having an event is the Public Education Foundation. They're having the Black Girls Rock Luncheon on Tuesday, June 13th. Coming up real soon. They're going to be honoring several people here in the Las Vegas area. Several women that rock at their event. The event will be at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, formerly Bally's Hotel. This is a luncheon, ladies and gentlemen. It's from 1130 to 130. So you can get your tickets by visiting www.thepef.org slash black girl magic 2023. Also that same week, the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas is having their annual all white linen scholarship fundraiser on Wednesday, June the 14th at Caesars Palace Hotel at the Apollo Pool. Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite.com and all of the proceeds from this event goes to scholarships to students from the Las Vegas area that are getting ready to go to college in the fall and for students who are already in college. So we're very excited about that. Last year the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas gave out about $50,000 for the scholarships and they're going to do the same thing this year. So yes, if you can join the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas in your all-white fabulous linen outfit They would love to see you Wednesday night, June 14, and then Leah you have something Okay, so I just have one the Las Vegas and to Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund is doing their Annual jazz brunch. Yes, they are back. It is June 11 at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino Miss Peggy Selma at 702-277-2448. Again, 702-277-2448. Now, these funds also are for Las Vegas students, higher education. So again, you like jazz, jazz brunch. It's an amazing luncheon at the Suncoast Hotel on Sunday, June 11.

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Oh, that was a lot.

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That was a lot.

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That was a lot.

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So for all you entrepreneurs out there, make sure you support all of these organizations and make sure all of these organizations have scholarships. Make sure your children are filling out for the scholarships.

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Even more important, right?

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Exactly.

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Because I can tell you, because we're also doing the Hannah Brown Community Development Corporation, their scholarship breakfast. So the scholarship breakfast is June 14th and I was giggling because I'm like I'm gonna be out all day June 14th. So June 14th the scholarship breakfast, Hannah Brown scholarship breakfast and we have 49 scholarships that were given out. Wow! 49 scholarships that were given out and no kudos to Miss Hannah Brown, Miss Jerry Merritt. They work so hard. They've been doing this now, I think this is our maybe 25th year doing this. And used to be with the Urban Chamber, they used to do it through the Chamber, they've been on their own now for about maybe seven years. And amazing time, we will be at the Luxor Hotel. It's just seeing the children light up because they are getting these scholarships. And it helps, as you know, $1,000, you know, going to school, it helps. That's an airline ticket, that's a book. That's a computer. That's a computer. That's something to offset the burden of going because college is expensive. Very expensive.

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Very expensive. Very expensive. Okay, so but we got some guests in the studio with us today. And I, you know, Rhonda and I, like we always say, we are meeting a bunch of people and this platform is to promote entrepreneurship. That's right. So we are looking, you know, we're out here. We're searching high and low for those entrepreneurs that just want to promote their businesses. And we want a good platform where people can hear you. You can tell your story. Because you see businesses, but you don't know the person. You don't know their story. And we're going to give you a chance to tell your story about your business while you start it. So in the studio with us, we have Darryl and Dawn Mickens. They have the timeless connection. All right, honey, they are marrying people, y'all. Wow, they are marrying people. They are marrying all the people. Mm hmm. They've been married though, for 36 years. 36 years. 30 see, I listen. I told you I listen. I listen. Right. Right. So they're married for 36 years. So they're trying to bless some other people.

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That's right.

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Bless some other people.

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You know, touch some people.

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Touch and believe, honey.

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Because marriage ain't easy.

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Not at all.

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It's not easy.

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I know I've never been married.

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Have you been married, Rhonda? No, not to my knowledge.

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Okay, got it.

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Right.

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When you're ready, we got you.

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We got you.

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You got us.

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We got you.

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Okay, I'm going to come see you.

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I'm like, okay, y'all, I'm scared, but I think I'm ready.

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I'm scared.

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Let me look and make sure, Rhonda, make sure I don't run. Okay I know because you may run. Fast, in a hurry. Be like can somebody else stand in for me? So tell us, okay Dawn, from what I we talked, this was your idea correct? Yes, yes it is. Okay so tell us all about, well first of all, where are you from? I am from California. Okay. Mm-hmm. So, yep, San Jose and Sacramento and went to UC Davis. Nice.

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And where'd you meet?

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Where'd you guys meet? Oh, that's a really long story.

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Oh, that's another show.

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You know what?

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I'm going to give you the Reader's Digest version, right? So I live in- Cliff Notes. Cliff Notes, right. I grew up in New Jersey. Okay. A city called Patterson, New Jersey, northern New Jersey, about 15 minutes from the GW Bridge. Okay. And my-

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What's the GW Bridge?

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You know, you can't be using all those acronyms, GW, GW. The G-Dub, man. My New Yorkers know what I'm talking about.

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But we are in Los Angeles.

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Absolutely, absolutely.

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Educate the people. Respect. Okay. So my best friend growing up, right, was, he just so happened to be her cousin. And actually, like, I was working in Vermont one summer, and he writes me that he met a young lady who was from California, who was from San Jose. And I had met her father before I met her. I didn't know she existed, to be honest with you. So her father and I became kind of... Her father was a minister. He would visit our church. And I called him Uncle Bobby, never knowing that he had a daughter. Right? So... Look at God. Yeah, look at God. When Pete wrote me and told me he met a girl from San Jose and I came back to town, I said, well, isn't that where your uncle's from? You know, and he asked the young lady at the time, said do you know any Richardsons in San Jose? And she says, Dawn Richardson is my best friend. Right, and then my boy's like, I think Uncle Bobby has a daughter named, cause they had never met. It was crazy, so it was like a whole world of things, Christmas vacation comes up and he decides he's gonna go to California to visit this other young lady and his uncle says bring your boy Darrell with you Right, and I didn't go I'm like man. I'm not going on you're gonna be chasing this girl You know I'm saying I'm gonna be by myself Right cuz again did not know she existed, but when he came back to New Jersey. Yeah, yeah, right He had all these pictures right and it was him There was the other young lady, and then there was this third female, and I'm like wait a minute who's that he said oh that's just my cousin Dawn I said nah my man we calling her right now you know so that's how it began and we started off you know literally just like on the phone long distance and you know and then I went in the military we would write one another all the time until we finally was able to meet face to face and then that was it. Exactly.

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We were married I think two years after that.

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Exactly.

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Well congratulations.

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Congratulations. Yeah. So how did you come up with Timeless Connections? So Timeless Connections began in 2016 and it's a legacy to my father. Legacy to my father who married us now 36 years ago, 37 in August and I just Was if I was blessed by God by him Putting it in my head that this is what I'm going to do Become a wedding officiant. So that's the term here and Vegas that we use the term wedding officiant or wedding celebrant so I went through the motions and Obtained my license got ordained and came home one day and I'm like this is what I'm going to do. I announced to the family because they know me. I do a lot. I do a lot. But I'm an entrepreneur at heart, right? So I came and I announced that yes, I'm going to be wedding efficient. I'm not sure what I'm going to exactly what that means, but I found out and here we are today seven years later. With me and myself, my husband are both wedding officiants. I brought him on on in 2019. I was turning down business. Why do that? Be smart, grow the business. So I brought him on so we can, you know, to move. But the business itself for me, it's not a business. This is really my passion. This is my heart. This is my love. So, I love to give back. I love love.

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And this is why we're here.

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Nice. I love love. I do too.

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I do.

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I do. I do. I write.

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I love to see people.

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It's fulfilling.

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It is definitely fulfilling. It's fulfilling. And we love it. So, Darrell, okay, so you come in. Yes.

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Now you're, so how'd you feel?

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In the beginning, right, I didn't know what my wife was getting into.

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Okay. All right. That's fair.

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But one of the things that I've learned, because she's always supported me 100 percent, we've lived all over the country, outside of the country, as a result of my career. Right. So when she decided that this is what she wanted to do, the best thing that, you know, that I can do, right, is support her. Right. And get behind her. She had developed this company. She started growing it. And after I left corporate America, you know, and was kind of going through a lot of different iterations with small businesses and things that I have done, you know, it made sense when she came to me one day and she's like, you know what, I'm turning down business because I can't be in two places at once and things of that nature. So then I decided to, I said, well, babe, you know, why don't you just bring me on board and we can do what we do, right? So we've been marching together since that time. And it's been an absolute blessing. Like she said, we get to spend everyone's best day with them. What better business is that?

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What better business is that?

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You get to spend their best day with them when they're on their best behavior. Best behavior.

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Everybody's on their best behavior.

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Best behavior.

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All right, so how can someone reach you, contact you?

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Well, I mean, the website is www.timelessconnection.com. All right? And baby, why don't you go ahead and give them the phone number.

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Okay, and you may contact us at 702-903-7461. Do it one more time. 702-903-7461. Alright, so you've been listening to Let's Talk with Leah and Rhonda. I am Leah Crawford. I am Rhonda Nolan, and we're so happy to be here with you on this beautiful Saturday morning, and we have our wonderful guest. Talking about love. Talking about love and so what would someone do so I'm getting married we're in the wedding capital of the world and I know it's like people have a lot of options. Why choose you guys? Why would someone choose you? Well we love to call ourselves love storytellers. What that means for us is we obtain, we give our couples a questionnaire. We ask them how they first met, what that looked like, how did it feel, when was the proposal, etc. etc. So we gather all this information and we actually write a script based on their love story. Nice! And because you guys are mobile, you can go to anybody, anywhere. We can go anywhere. Absolutely. Oh, they're mobile? Right! Oh, I didn't know that!

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Oh, girl, get us! So we can pick our people! Bury the lead! Bury the lead! They're mobile! Right! Come to you! So basically, we can say we want to have a wedding in my backyard. Correct! And they will show up and take care of everything! And they can show up and take care of everything. Oh, I love it.

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Make it very, very, very easy for you.

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And very cost effective.

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Very cost effective.

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Absolutely.

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So, yeah. I know your brain over there working because you missed that. See, you weren't listening. See, you missed that when we was walking in here.

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You weren't listening.

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So, again, modern day wedding efficiency. We do things a little bit differently over here. Now you also help with the planning, correct? We also help with the planning. We love outdoor ceremonies. So a lot of the places that we go that I plan weddings at specifically, if you want me to name them, I can. Like Valley of Fire, Nelson's Ghost Town, Cactus Joe's Blue Diamond Nursery, Green Gale Farms. Those are the places that I personally like to do micro weddings, which is any wedding that's up to 50 people. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. All right. And since you help with the planning, so that means you don't invitations. You have to do the register. No, no, not. OK. That's OK. No, no. I bring somebody in. So I have it. So now we've grown even further. We have a team. So I have three other officiants on board. I'm bringing getting ready to bring on a fourth as well.

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That's wonderful.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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And then I also have a wedding coordinator. So, yeah, we're a one-stop shop. We can be. Yeah.

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I love it.

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I love it. And it's what you love to do.

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Absolutely.

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It's what you love to do.

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It's beautiful. He said it right. I'm retiring. I'm going to say it because I'm saying it all the time. I retired him from the corporate world.

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She did. She did. And something else that I bring to the table as well, because a little-known fact is I actually was ordained in ministry years before we moved out here. So I actually do the premarital coaching with our couples, those who choose to take advantage of that.

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So that's something that I really love.

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Now how important is that?

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Because not all couples do that.

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Yeah, it's extremely important. And I like to use, like you heard me say, coaching, right? Because some people say premarital counseling counseling is a corrective type of relationship right so

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Coaching I'm cheering you on you know

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And I think it's very important because when you get down to the real basics of it There's a lot of things that people don't talk about or discuss before they get married everybody plans for the wedding day No one plans for the marriage right so You know what I'm saying? Say that again. Say it one more time.

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Say that one more time, baby.

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You just dropped something.

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Everybody plans for the wedding day, right? But not many people plan for the marriage, right? It's one thing when you're thinking about cake cutting in the first dance. That's only one day, baby. It's all one day.

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And they put a lot of planning into that one day.

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Two weeks later, right, when she's looking at him and he's looking at her and they're trying to figure out which one of us is going to clean the toilet, right? That's not glamorous, right? Somebody's got to get in there and clean the toilet. She's like, well, I thought that's what you was going to do. And he's like, well, I thought that was your job. You see, because they never talked about certain things before they got into that situation.

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Now, is that because they didn't live together first? Because if you lived with a person for at least 30, 60, 90 days, you would pick up on some of those little things.

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I agree 100% for that example. Right. Again, the example that I use for cleaning the toilet, but I'm talking about there's a whole lot more. Yes, you can, you can, you know, skirt some of those things. Yeah, you can skirt some of those things if you spend time together, right? But there's always going to be some things that come up that down the line that you may have taken for granted. Right, right. Yeah, you're

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right about that. I'm over here mumbling because I got a whole checklist. I just ran through them. No, for real, like do you, and talking to somebody, because you might be physically attracted to the person,

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but are you equally yoked?

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Right.

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Do you believe in the same thing? Like you just said under your breath, do you shower before bed every night? Like I know people who shower before bed every night. I don't care if they've been up for a week straight, they shower before they hit that bed every night. Every time they before they hit the bed. Exactly. But how you were raised I know in my house and my grandmother's house you couldn't get in the you put you walk in the bedroom and you didn't go you walk past the bathroom. And I know some people who shower the next morning not only miss sleep six or seven hours but I know people who shower

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go to bed and get up and shower again and then go. And some people have a pet peeve some people have a pet peeve, I mean, but that's people's, you know, their... Right. Or how you keep your closet. Are you a neat person? Do you just throw your clothes on the floor?

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You know, do you walk past?

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There you go.

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You know, it's a whole bunch of little... And I realized I got a whole bunch of quirks.

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I got a whole bunch of quirks. It is a lot of little things, because one time I was living with a guy and he wanted to... He left his pants on the floor with his belt buckle and I stepped on it. Oh, wow. Going to the bathroom and injured my foot. And I was like, okay, wait a minute. Now we're going to have to, you know, hang these up because I hang all myself up But we cannot just drop the pants in the floor with the belt buckle so that I can kill myself before I get to the bathroom

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There you go. But again, but the Counseling that's what we talk. I'm not counseling coaching coaching

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Coaching right, right. Okay. I mean we live in a society today. That is very Self-centric right? It's all it's all focused on me, right? And that's the reason why we have so many marriages that end in failure right because everybody's one of the first questions I asked my couples is like why do you want to be married and they said because I love him because I love her. But what does that mean? What happens if you don't like me today? You still love me but you don't like me today. But see we don't know how to we don't know how to how to how to express that right because we love everything in America right we love oranges we love little old ladies we love Italian food so when we talk about loving each other it's always based upon what we receive from it right why do you love her what do you give to it though that's my point right true love is about sacrifice true love is about not what she can do for me but what I can do for her because that's my motivation right is to make her day better it's to make you know make her life fuller so I will take the L right if it means that I'm making my wife you know day brighter but you gotta be and I know

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someone said to me the other day is that they said that he who chooses a wife chooses a good chooses a good thing right and I and I looked at him I was like okay got it got it they got to choose all right cool we're talking 36 years in now right now but we went through some we have been like and we We've learned to compromise and yeah, he's learned we've both learned to take the L You know, it's like you can choose your battles I mean you we've all heard that choose your battles, you know, if there's an argument choose your battles But one thing we try to do is Not go to not go to bed upset with each other. I love it Yeah, again when you sometimes we stay up all night. No. But I know some people that have said that they have the same philosophy where they don't go to bed angry. Angry. So we gonna sit here we gonna work it out. Yes. And whatever workouts gonna be I was like that's why you got dark circles under your eyes. I'm not judging. I'm just saying. Okay but it's a beautiful thing when two people can come together. Yes, and and have a healthy a healthy relationship And you are touching other people. Yeah, so when you see someone and that's not the case

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Do you have you ever had a couple where you just said I just maybe that's not a good idea

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I've had couples

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That have come You know late in the game like getting close to the wedding day. And they wanted to do like some coaching prior to, like a week or so prior to. And those are couples that I may have had a few concerns about myself, right? Because they weren't on the same page, so to speak. And these are the couples that typically will come back to me afterwards and we have some more work to do, right? Even after the wedding day. We have some more work. But as long as they're willing to do the work. They're willing to work.

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Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, but the divorce comes because somebody's not willing. Yeah, right, absolutely. Now you mentioned you were in corporate America prior to being in this entrepreneurial business with your wife. What did you do

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in corporate America? I was a director of operations. I don't know if I should say

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the company or not. That's okay, you were a director of operations for a major corporation. Absolutely. Fantastic. Fantastic. All right. You don't miss it, do you? I'm sorry. Not at all. Here you go. Let me, let me, cause that's leading the person in.

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Not at all. I'll be honest with you. I was so stressed out that it was becoming a health liability for me. Right. So I literally had to walk away from that. So I'm, yeah, I've never been happier than I am today.

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That's wonderful.

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They are glowing baby.

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We are glowing.

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This is my Saturday morning. Definitely in our happy place. For sure. It has been a plump pleasure talking to both of you today. I am glad that you agreed to come on the show and talk about your business. Again, you can contact Dawn and Darryl Mickens, Timeless Connections at 703, I mean I'm sorry, I said that's Virginia, because you're going to do things. 702-903-7461.

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See and we make mistakes too, right? 702, because you know, I must have DC on the brain baby, I got DC on the brain, honey. 702-903-7461. Again, 702-903-7461. All right, Rhonda, you want to run those? But thank you both for coming on the show.

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I really appreciate it.

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Can I say one thing before we go out?

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Yes, go ahead.

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I just want to thank and commend you guys, first of all, for having us on the show, but allowing this platform to be available for up-and-coming entrepreneurs and just helping to get the word out. What you guys are doing is a service to the community and we thank you for that.

0:27:16
Thank you. You're very welcome. But before we go real quick, I just want to talk about the couple of grants that are open to entrepreneurs. Hello Alice has from $5,000 to $25,000 grants for small businesses. You can contact them at https helloalice.com for more information. They have several partnerships happening with different corporations that have money for your small business. And then here, right here in Clark County, they have the Clark County Technical and Economic Assistance Program. That grant was opened on June the 1st. It goes through June 15th. But you must have your business in unincorporated Clark County.

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Y'all know what that means, right? So it can't be in North Las Vegas. It can't be in the city of Las Vegas. It cannot be in Henderson. It has to be in unincorporated Clark County. But they giving away all the money baby. They are they giving away the money again five thousand ten thousand fifteen thousand twenty five thousand fifty seventy five a hundred thousand depending on what your revenue was T-e-a-p on Google and it'll take you to the Clark County Economic Development page will give you more information Well, listen, you've been listening to let's talk with Lee and Rhonda. I am Leah. I'm Rhonda Nolan We enjoyed you this Saturday morning. We will see you next week. Have a great one. Bye. Bye

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Bye.

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You have been listening to a paid program sponsored by Crawford Management Group and Smart Time Consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you heard do not necessarily represent the views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents views of KUNV Las Vegas, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Transcribed with Cockatoo