Charge Forward Podcast

“From Survival Mode to Service: Rhiannon Hiter on Living with Purpose” Part 1

• Jim Cripps • Season 3 • Episode 1

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Rhiannon Hiter on Faith, Family, and the Truth About Health Insurance

What happens when you go all in on a pivot and become a powerhouse in the health insurance industry—and still make breakfast for your kids?

In Part 1 of this powerful two-part series, The Charge Forward Podcast host Jim Cripps sits down with Rhiannon Hiter, a wife, mother, faith-driven entrepreneur, and one of the most respected health insurance professionals in her field.

Rhiannon shares the real story behind her transformation—from juggling toddler tantrums after bar shifts to helping families protect themselves from financial ruin through ethical, customized health insurance.

🔥 You’ll hear:

  • The career pivot that changed her family’s future
  • The shocking truths most people misunderstand about health insurance
  • How she combats “commission breath” and builds her business on integrity
  • Her passion for holistic health, intermittent fasting, and clean living
  • How faith, family, and the National Prayer Breakfast keep her grounded

This episode isn’t just about insurance—it’s about becoming the kind of leader your family can be proud of, and the kind of person clients trust with their future.

👉 Connect with Rhiannon at teamhiter.com to learn more about coverage that truly protects.
📱Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rhiannonhiter/
📆 Book on Calendly  https://calendly.com/teamhiter/consult  

🎧 Listen now, take notes, and prepare for Part 2—where we go even deeper into parenting, personal development, and what real success looks like.

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Speaker 1:

But what if you have an accident? What if you're diagnosed with cancer three months from now? You can't go get insurance after the fact. So $48,000, that's a lot out of pocket and they couldn't even confirm if that was. What if it's out of network? And she was like what?

Speaker 2:

Hey team, jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward Podcast coming to you from HitLab Studios here in Nashville, tennessee. I have a fantastic guest for you today. If you've seen or if you follow Nick Heider, if you see any other podcasts that come out of the HitLab, you probably have already met Miss Rhiannon Heider. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, rhiannon Heider, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Absolutely Now. We are connected in a different way than either one of us thought, and I remember the first day I met you, I came in because we were doing a bowling episode and when you asked to see my bio and when I handed it to you, you started laughing and you were like Nick just thinks you're here for bowling, and obviously that has turned into a whole thing since then. Um, but we also both know some of the same people. So, uh, you used to work with Ms Leanne Jordan.

Speaker 1:

I sure did. I loved her. We had some of the best laughs. We always traded breakfast Like she's like hey, I'm at Sonic, what do you want? Hey, I'm here, which I wouldn't eat that now, but yeah, we had a great time.

Speaker 2:

Well, there's a lot of things that our 19-year-old selves did that we wouldn't do today.

Speaker 1:

No, our bodies don't allow it.

Speaker 2:

Not at all, not at all. But you guys have been busy, I mean between launching an insurance agency, of course, before that, kind of in between or at the same time. You guys work together. You were that was the restaurant scene too at that time, right, the bar scene.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yeah, we. We got out of that to get into insurance, so it just kind of found us over the years.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. And then now there's multifaceted, whether we're talking about the podcast studio, the business relationships, um, you know all the different brand deals. There's a lot going on in y'all's world.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot. It seems like there's always been a lot, even when I was younger. Um, but that's just how we operate, and I feel like that's how we become the best versions of ourselves.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And then y'all, y'all worked with one of my favorite people as well our business partners with Mr Randy Huth.

Speaker 1:

He was. He was actually Nick's roommate when I first started dating Nick and so kind of my roommate here a couple nights a week.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, Randy's just great people and a big shout out to he and his wife. They just got married.

Speaker 1:

I saw that. Yeah, that's fantastic. Congratulations to them, yep.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. But anyway, let's dive into the business side of things a little bit, so kind of as you grew up. Y'all grew up in the restaurant and bar industry, whether that was partners, whether that was just working in it or whether it was your own place. A lot of different facets in that, and then I feel like this happens to a lot of people as you grow up. It's like I don't want to be accountable to things that are happening at 3 am anymore.

Speaker 1:

Very much. You quickly realize it's not a lifestyle that you can obtain for the rest of your life. And we had just had, you know, we had Ethan, I think we got. I got in the bar business, um, when I was, even when I was 19, working at that doctor's office with Leanne. I still worked Tuesday, friday, saturday at a bar because, why not? I was probably going to be there anyway. So I mean I was 19, making a lot of money, um, and then, you know, a lot of money. And then, you know, over time, being in the bar industry, we just once we had Ethan and you know it just became very just not something you wanted to do every day, you know, three nights a week in the bar, getting up at you know 6am when you just went to bed at three cause you have a baby. So we were always kind of looking for our next thing and it just happened to find us.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I think a lot of people that are not successful, they want to dabble, they don't want to go all in and you guys went all in.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean not at first. At first, you know, it sounded too good to be true. What was the catch, you know it's it sounded too good to be true. We just what was the catch, you know? And it took a couple of years because Nick was working at like an LED company at the time. He just took a salary job and I hadn't came on yet. He was just kind of dabbling a little. But then, year two, we saw wow, this really is potential. Two, we saw wow, this really is potential. You know, with the government getting into the healthcare industry and Obamacare, it just it exploded and we were right there in the forefront of it. So, um, that was a God thing, you know, he, he led us in the right place.

Speaker 2:

So yeah Well, you know when I say dabble I don't necessarily mean that in the same way as some people might take it out there. Um, you were cautiously optimistic in that he wanted to make sure it was real before you jumped in and all the family income was dependent upon this thing that you were trying to flesh out. But I think far too often, even when something turns out to be real, people are so hesitant to let go of what might be this little thing over here but is guaranteed every Friday, or they feel like it is for the real thing that they were meant to do.

Speaker 1:

That's right. There's a saying and it might be one of the Vedans that say this but the thing that you don't want to let go of is the one thing that's going to change your life. And you know we were like it was easy being in the bar business. I still bartended, it was easy. It was easy money you most of the time left I mean sure you know you dealt with employees, but nothing on a scale of what you know owning your own businesses are now. So but yeah, once we decided to make that, we made that decision. We didn't look back.

Speaker 2:

So Absolutely Well, and at the same time, you were also figuring out how to be a couple and figuring out how to raise a fine young man. Ethan is now 16.

Speaker 1:

Almost 16. 16 next month yeah.

Speaker 2:

Uh-oh, that's cool. So you are trying to figure out and you are growing up yourselves, but it's also it's kind of like everything came together for you all to be in a different business that was going to fuel the rest of your fuel, a big launching part of your lives.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. I mean you just when you can just let go and let God is, you know, cheesy and uh, cookie cutter is that is. It can be that simple, but you just have to believe in yourself and take those steps forward every single day. And consistent discipline. You know it's suffer the regret of today or, you know, suffer the regret of discipline. I'm going to choose discipline. Not always I'm human, but for the most part that's what you have to do.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it's easier. So life is not necessarily easier when I say this, but I think it's easier to be disciplined, it's easier to think more long-term once you have a family, once there's kids involved, because you're, you're almost forced to. If you're going to be responsible, you have to, whereas somebody without kids. Whatever mistakes I make today, we'll clean up tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

Right, they only affect you, they don't affect you know multiple people that you're in charge of, so very true.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Well, and I used to tell my team this you know, because I think my average team member for most of my working career was probably 26 years old was the average population or average age of our employees, and at that age, some of them have kids, some of them don't. And so when we would go around the room and we're trying to figure out what, why everybody's showing up to work every day, what's your goal? What are you trying to do? Well, the ones that had pictures of their kids on their phone you know we should have them in our wallet, and these days they're on our phone Um, but the ones that had kids, it was real easy.

Speaker 2:

They didn't have to think about what they were working for. But the younger ones are the ones that didn't have kids. They were always a little confused as to why they really showed up every day, and I placed no judgment on them. I said you know, I don't care what your goal is, not meaning that I don't care about it. It's just I'm not going to judge you for your goal. It could be that you want to have enough money in your bank account so that you can go party at the bar on Saturday night, if that's what your goal is, I'm not mad at you, but let's figure out what that goal is.

Speaker 2:

So we used to have, you know, let's just say somebody's goal was to buy a car Okay, what kind of car? And we'd get real specific with that. Because if you've got a child at home, well, it's pretty specific as to why you're showing up. You know that kid's got blue eyes and they're about this tall and you know they're into Ninja Turtles or whatever that is. But we used to get real specific with people's goals. Like, okay, you want a Subaru. Okay, what kind of Subaru? A WRX, what color, what options? Like almost to the point where let's go build it on the website and we'll work backwards from there to figure out how you go pay for it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I totally believe in visioning your. You know some people call it manifesting praying hope. There's so many things for it, but I will say, the one year I did a vision board, it had a house, it had a pool, it had more kids, it had all these things, and every single one of those things happened. Yeah, um, nowhere near at that. Even at that moment I was had like, almost didn't fully believe that they would Um, but I still saw them every day cause they were, you know, posted up on my wall. So totally believe in that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, you know, for years uh, we don't do that in the new house, but for years in the old house the vision board was actually in the master bedroom, our bathroom, because that's where you're going every morning. When you wake up, that's one of the first places you go and it was like, there it is. That's what I'm going to do.

Speaker 1:

Well, and it's also where I feel like you have a lot of thoughts, because it's quiet and you know, even in passing in the mornings, like we'll say good morning, but it's not like we're trying to have a deep conversation. So if you can go ahead and train your mind to look at those things, it kind of sets your day, instead of letting the day set you, because you're all you know anxious about oh, I got to get this done in this. And uh, cause I had almost I've got markers. I'm like I just need to start writing on my mirror, cause we have this huge mirror in our bathroom, that's, and you just solidified that I'm going to do that.

Speaker 2:

So sorry, nick. Well, there you go, but it's. There is a difference between people who know what they're going after and people that don't.

Speaker 1:

Yep, they're far easier, more easily, to be distracted, and the kind of like what you said let their day get ruled by whatever they're trying to get done or whatever somebody throws in their way versus the mission that they started out on. And I think a lot of times people see people that have those mindsets. That doesn't mean it's not something we have to work on every single day, as we're all human Right. We're just putting it out there that we're committing to ourselves that we are going to do that. But I think, you know, I see people people always ask how do you do all the things you do? How do you, you know, do this? It's a decision. It's not something that I just wake up and it happens.

Speaker 1:

It's you know, and there's bad days and good days, but yeah Well, very rarely is someone accidentally successful Correct?

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, very rarely is someone accidentally successful Correct. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it is very far and few between. Conversely, you can very easily accidentally be unsuccessful.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

And that's regardless of what we're talking about. You know whether in business, or in life, or in marriage or with kids, like it takes intention to, to really go after it.

Speaker 1:

That's right.

Speaker 2:

Um now, when you guys jumped into the insurance world um, you know it was it's very apparent to me and people that know you guys, that faith and family and treating people right is just at the cornerstone of what you all do. Um what? How did that play into you guys' insurance decisions? And you know, obviously you come into work in the business as well. What did those early days look like?

Speaker 1:

At the very beginning, like I said, nick was working somewhere else, I was running some salons and you know, because of where I was at, in relationships I had, we could get a lot of like a lot of people wanted our help from those different places and you know, at the beginning our faith was nowhere near it is now.

Speaker 1:

It was still there because we were very active in church, but it just we knew to. Even being in the office we were in and the people, the other agents, I saw people doing things. I'm like how can you sleep at night treating people that way, Like writing them a policy and then not answering the phone, and it was almost like those people were showing me what I did not want to do. They're really, like you know, honed in on exactly what I wanted to do and I just wanted to be someone that they knew they could rely on if they had questions that I would not be doing. You know I'm not going to sleep at night if I'm not putting you in the best position as far as your health insurance goes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I think and it took me a long time to understand this but you can learn something from just about anybody, and so you know they did you a favor by being bad at their morale, or their morals or their job, or whatever you want to call it, because it showed you. Hey, I'm not going to do that, I'm not going to not answer my phone, I'm not going to be the one that is causing issues that you know now are hurting people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know, back then they called it commission breath. I mean sure, at the time we we needed the money as much as the next person, but that didn't mean we weren't going to still do the right thing and and wanted to create that, you know, ethical culture like at the very beginning when we started. So that's, that's kind of what set us up for that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Well, and now you guys are at what? 16, 17 years?

Speaker 1:

Uh, 2013,. We're at 12 years actually. Yeah, so I worked in doctor's offices from the time I was 19 until I was about 25 okay, so you saw the other side of it very much actually using their, their insurance.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and saw how broken even the people at the front desk you know they just don't know what they don't know. So my knowledge from there and then working in the bars and running salons, it was just kind of like I was being. It was building this bridge to where I'm at today because the relationships I was making that are self-employed, that you know, own their own businesses and then just the knowledge that I obtained from how everything works on the back end for filing insurance claims and getting things paid.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and so what does the your ideal client? What does the ideal client look like for you guys?

Speaker 1:

You know I we always say, well, we'll advise anyone, so anybody that needs help. I may not be able to help every single person that comes across my desk. In fact, I'm not going to be able to help, but I'm still going to point them in the right direction because I have relationships and partnerships with people that can help certain people that I can in their situation. Absolutely, my ideal client is someone that is 18 and older, under 65, that is somewhat healthy and can pay for their own insurance. Those are my ideal clients.

Speaker 1:

Um, some of the products that I have access to that most people don't. You can't go online to buy the product, for a very good reason. I mean, you can't even look at anything on the product. You have to have someone that's licensed, and that's the same if you're investing into some kind of 401. You have to talk to a professional. So same thing. Those products are heavily underwritten, but it's a good thing because if you're healthy, you get better rates, you get better coverage. There's just so many more things that go into that if you are healthy, and that's why people say I don't need health insurance. You know I'm healthy, I do Great. But what if you have an accident? What if you're diagnosed with cancer three months from now? You can't go get insurance after the fact. So invest now so that you're prepared for later.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely Well, and you may know the statistic off the top of your head. I know it's staggeringly high, but people who file bankruptcy because of a medical debt is I mean, I forget what the percentage of is of of all people who filed for bankruptcy, but it's staggeringly high.

Speaker 1:

It's more than 50%.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it was. 63% is the last figure I heard.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's always been more than 50. And most of the time those people do have insurance, they just didn't have the right plan. Because you have these people that are unethical or just you know they just maybe not even know, don't know what they don't know. Sure, right, I was in the industry, in the company, for a year and a half before things really, really clicked to be like, oh okay, now I get it, putting all those things together, cause it is a lot to learn, it's so complex. So I'm a professional and it took me almost a year and a half for things to click.

Speaker 1:

You're a consumer and don't have these conversations, but you think you know everything you know about health insurance, right? So it's just, it's so important to talk to professional and explore all of your options. If you're not talking to someone that has access through US Health Group, you're not doing yourself a favor, because there are plans that are just much better than what is out there, that just you know. They really solidify you not having a max out of pocket and have a nationwide coverage, and those are two of the most important.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, and you know, one of the things that I think is and correct me if I'm wrong here, I think it's like a myth is that there's only a certain number of plans, that these are all one size fits all. I'll just pick the middle one or whatever, but it seems like these are really highly customizable if you have a professional that knows how to put it together.

Speaker 1:

Correct and like yes, there's three tiers, but those are usually through your group or employer plan and even some cases I mean I have a ton of clients that opted out of their employer plan because their group was so unhealthy that the claims made, their premiums, go up so much every year that they couldn't even afford it. So they customize private insurance, you know, but then you have the government insurance through Obamacare. They have bronze, silver, gold, but those are also so limited. Even a local I'm not going to throw the name out there because I'm just not going to do that but there's a local company that I tend to. So many people go. I lose clients there. They want to go because it's cheaper and I show them every single thing there is to show them on why. Even myself I didn't go with them when I first got insured myself and they still. They just don't understand what they don't understand. So you know, at the end of the day those people just maybe aren't who I'm wanting to help anyway. They want cheap, they don't want what works.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, well, at the end of the day, and as somebody who's started their own business and had gone through that, you, you want to do the right thing for people, and so that means you want to help people, but you, you can't help people that don't want to be helped or they're not willing to listen to the what's and the wise. Uh, in fact, I think it's Dave Ramsey that says those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still, and that can't be my customer. I'm not here to convince you every day that we should be working together. I'm here to do the right thing for you, and that either works or it doesn't.

Speaker 1:

What is the saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. That's right.

Speaker 1:

You know, I mean there was a client that I had. She went to this company because it was cheaper, even though I showed her all the things. One of their biggest things is that company has no look back period, so that means that they can go back into your medical claims is 20 years ago. If you told a doctor 10 years ago that you smoke cigarettes and you're diagnosed 10 years later with mouth cancer this happened to this client they will not cover that claim and that is one of the biggest reasons. And she called me. You know very upset and you know I'm trying to still help her, kind of advise her what she should do moving forward. And that's why I'm so passionate about when people say, oh, I went with this company. I'm like, well, just remember, here are the things, because I mean hopefully nothing happens, you don't have to use it, but if you do, I guarantee they're going to call me and say you're right and I don't want to be right.

Speaker 1:

I want you just to do right on the front end.

Speaker 2:

So yeah Well, I think the same thing holds true for life insurance. You know um it happens all the time car, homeowners, all of it.

Speaker 1:

You know insurance is so many people. Insurance is a scam. It is if you don't know what you're buying or if you're talking to the wrong person. It's all written in the fine print. Um, so many people read fine print on things that don't matter, but won't look at fine print when you just spent $10,000 for the year, like or you're insuring your, your home and all your worldly possessions. Yeah, like it makes no sense, yeah, but uh, or you know.

Speaker 2:

The other thing that gets me too is people who are grossly underinsured. You know, I know people right now who are professionals that make plenty of money that this shouldn't even be a consideration, and yet they are so deeply underinsured that if something happened I mean it's catastrophic.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know so many plans to people, don't? I've just had this conversation with another couple that, um, they're on that same local plan and we found out that they're out of pocket. Max for a family is $48,000. It's like what that is nuts. They didn't even really know and $48,000, that's a lot out of pocket and they couldn't even confirm if that was what, if it's out of network, and she was like what I didn't even know to ask that I know, that's why you found me.

Speaker 2:

That's what I'm here for, um, is to really dig into those, those big things, yeah well, and you know the other thing too, um, and you tell me your opinion on this, because I know there are firms that do all types of insurance, those types of things. But what I've found in my own personal life is like I need somebody that is a health insurance professional, I need somebody that is in a property and casualty and knows it like the back of their hand. I need somebody that is in a automobile and and sometimes those can be in the same firm. But I mean, if I'm thinking through mine, I mean most of mine is divvied up and I get great service. I'm where I want to be, even even. Uh, I mean this is real nitpicky, but you know, I have an antique car. Well, it is with an antique car insurance company by itself especially you're.

Speaker 1:

No, that's exactly right. I mean, know, and if you have everything bundled, like these people, they have everything bundled. So now they're like, oh my gosh, you know we're getting discounts on this. It should stay in their lane, because and even this company you can't just go into one of their offices and talk to a health insurance agent. They're normally going to let you call into their home office. Because I've tried, because I wanted to like partner with someone and and kind of really just show them like, here's what I have, let's see, this is what you have. Like, let's talk, let's figure out how to work together. Um, and yeah, you, you definitely need the specialty for each thing. Um, it is never a one size fits all.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, and you, you want somebody that is not afraid to partner as well. I mean, if, if somebody is kind of closed in, they're not partnering with other great professionals, I have to wonder what kind of shady thing are they doing in my world? I'm not saying that that is always true, but where I see the most transparency, where I see people doing the great, the best work, is where they know what their lane is and they, they also have great relationships with other providers and then go. That's great. I can do this over here and this is what that's going to look like, but you're going to need to go talk to Rhiannon for this piece over here. And oh, by the way, I'm also going to introduce you to Larry. Larry takes care of that over there, and you know. And they, they help you with their network of professionals.

Speaker 1:

Yep, and that's and that's I. Actually, those same people were from, like their life insurance and their investing firm and that's how they they found, they referred me to them and they're like hey, we'll also start looking into your car and your house and other places If this is the direction you're going, but yeah, it's super important to have the right people on your team. You know your team of insurers.

Speaker 2:

That's right. Well, you know, one of my favorite people on this planet is and y'all haven't met yet, but I need to introduce y'all is Valerie Kemp and she is she's my CPA. We've known each other literally since kindergarten and she, right out of the gate, when she starts working with somebody, she has them list, all the professionals that they use Banker, real estate person, investment person, like insurance agent, all those people and they do a I mean basically it's an agreement so that they can, they can confer with them. That way they make sure that you know your investment guy isn't actually accidentally making a move that turns into a tax liability or you know, but by coordinating all those professionals so that you get the best service possible, the best advice and everybody's not siloed in thinking, oh well, they're just, they're only worried about this piece and then it causes something else to go astray.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, working together is a much better concept than not.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. What do you think is a myth or something out there that you think everybody needs to hear about insurance?

Speaker 1:

You know I go back to everyone thinks it's a scam or that insurance should pay for you know, x Y Z. Well, you know, even in today's market, you go to five to 10 years ago, if you were getting a preventative colonoscopy which it may not even been a thing that far ago, far long ago, you know, the insurance was to cover it because it was preventative, right. But then these hospital like these charges are five to $7,000. Why is a business going to pay that much money to make sure you don't have X Y Z every single year? It just it blows my mind that when you put it into real numbers, like, why would an insurance company pay out $20,000 a year for you 10 years in a row if you're only paying them $200 a month? There's nowhere in America that that business model works. And so you know, I have someone. She literally just called the other day and said hey, you know I'm getting this bill from. They're telling me that I owe all this money for this colonoscopy. I pay so much money into my insurance every month, correct, and you haven't had to use it. That's a good thing. Like, insurance is a premium you pay for someone to take on your risk if something bad happens.

Speaker 1:

Colonoscopies are preventative. Like I don't know. The whole preventative has just I don't. It just went so many ways and as I've gotten older and more into holistic health, like I don't even take my kids to preventative checkups Like I can weigh them and measure them If I'm their mom. If something's wrong I'm going to know Right. So the preventative thing, like whether it's a myth or not, there's just some serious like confusion there on what people think it should cover and what it actually does.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's this, it's this snowball effect, and I've I've heard the same thing, which just blows my mind. You know they'll talk about the preventative piece of it, like, um, you know, if you have dental insurance, they'll pay for a cleaning, or you know something of that nature. Um, but people with car insurance, and they're like well, my car broke down, why aren't they fixing it? That's not how this works. Well, my car broke down, why aren't they fixing it?

Speaker 1:

That's not how this works.

Speaker 2:

That's like a prevent. You have maintenance that you need to do on your own end.

Speaker 1:

That's exactly right. So it's so weird, it's money.

Speaker 1:

I mean, you know, at the end of the day, there's people profiting millions and billions of dollars off of preventative care every single year. And I compare that all the time, like if your car needs an oil change, does your insurance pay for it, right? No, so why should we expect our health insurance to do that? And we wonder, like insurance, sure it goes up because people have cancer, strokes, heart attacks, but what about those people that are putting those things in their body that are actually they know we're causing that, but they're doing it? Well, what about those people that are putting those things in their body that are actually they know we're causing that, but they're doing it we're going to pay for?

Speaker 2:

it.

Speaker 1:

That's right. Then with preventative like it just, it just blows my mind that there's no common sense around that concept. Like just, it's not something needed.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I hear people say things, just that blows my mind. It's like somebody just the other day said well, if I, if I need it, then my insurance company should pay for it based on what?

Speaker 1:

and I was like.

Speaker 2:

That's not what it's for. It is to take care of you if you ended up in the hospital for you know whether it's a car wreck or what I mean. Whatever bad situation got you there, it is not to take care of everything in your life just because you decided.

Speaker 1:

And you know I'm glad you just said that car wreck. You know that's something that may be a little bit of a myth. So many people think, oh, if I get in a car, like I'll say accidents in the first things, oh, a car wreck Actually, no, let's talk about that. The medical insurance is the last thing that pays because technically the car insurance has bodily injury and things like that and the person that hit you. So even then it's more like you fell off of your roof because you were putting up Christmas lights, you had a hernia, you had cancer, stroke, appendicitis, kidney stones. Those are the things that insurance really pays for. And again, yes, those little things will make claims go up. But if you took I would be very interested if you took preventative just completely out of the equation, where there were some kind of membership you could pay, which those exist for sure now. But where everybody did that, I would guarantee you would hell would freeze over and insurance premiums would go down.

Speaker 2:

Well, I will say I'm a big fan of concierge medicine and that there's no. There's no insurance company involved. I'm paying for a doctor to tell me the truth, not what has been decided, that they can or cannot say um, because of my type of insurance.

Speaker 1:

Right, right.

Speaker 2:

Um, and I would encourage everybody out there. I mean it's you have to be an advocate for your own health, and I know that's important to you guys. So important Um how did and I know this that's it's kind of out of order what we talked about. But how did that kind of unravel for you guys? I mean going from you know, obviously you are in the bar scene, working in that industry, and then now we're starting a family, we're getting into the insurance business, and when did health really become a part of it?

Speaker 1:

Probably in about 2016, about three years into the health insurance. It was because I'm talking to people all the time and they're like, yeah, I'm healthy. Okay, no, you take seven medicines, like you know. So it was then seeing like you know what the vaccine schedules are like. Just there were so many things that just kept like putting up flags like oh my gosh, like, and so I started like I mean, I did a spreadsheet on how many vaccines are recommended, what they cost and the dollar amount per child. It's money, hello, preventative. There you go, so that, and then, like man, I don't want to be like diagnosed with something. I don't want to ever. If I don't have private healthy insurance now, then I don't want to be forced to the government insurance.

Speaker 1:

So there was just so many things like coming at me and I was like you know what I want to feel good.

Speaker 1:

That's when we kind of were ready to like let's, let's maybe talk about having another kid. There were just so many life changes, you know, that said, you know, let's, let's be the best versions of ourself. And so that's when I started I think I was in 16 or 17, making my own oat flour and, you know, roasting my tomatoes and onions and making my own sauces and got us onto smoothies and smart coffee and just trying all these different things, not really based on trend but just basing it on my knowledge and my own, you know, just experience. Yeah, and wisdom to search like um, and that it just became is is, the older I got, the more important it became, because we we really only get one life, one body, and I saw people around me just not taking care of themselves and I just didn't want to look at myself five years from then and say, man, I wish I would have started sooner. So there's no time like now.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and so once we got into that too, it just just like, ok, well, you know, I I feel that it's going to take something to change your mind. You know, like some of my family that are not healthy, I can give them as much information as I want, but they have to make that decision to change. Yes, it's overwhelming, but just quit getting everything off the internet. Follow people that have degrees, that are certified, that know what they're talking about. It's a lot that goes into it, but just make the decision and start with small steps every day. Fasting is kind of what one of the first things we started doing and that's really started to change things. So highly recommend that.

Speaker 2:

And so what is? What is your fasting schedule? Look like.

Speaker 1:

Usually from like eleven thirty to seven thirty is when I try to eat. I will say I fell off the wagon quite a bit in the last three or four months. It was hard to get back after Christmas, the holidays, but when I'm, you know, dialed in and I'm fasting and know what my body needs to eat, um, my body, just it works. It's it's not um rocket science, it's, it's just regular science.

Speaker 2:

Now, do you do any multi-days, or is there anything else that you like Every?

Speaker 1:

quarter. I'll do a three day. It's actually an 86 hour fast. Dana White did that. One man, I could fast for five days. I will say that second day is rough, the third day even, because you know you, you don't eat anything. You can drink like electrolytes. There's a certain brand. You have to be very specific on which kind you take because they could break your fast Sure, and then you can start incorporating like bone broth after 24 hours. I believe it is man. It resets everything in your body and your mind, like it just. Oh, I love doing those. I can't wait for my next one.

Speaker 2:

I'm a big fan of those and, um you know, 2018 is when I started losing weight, and so I had been over 300 pounds for most of my adult life, and, over the course of about 10 months, lost, uh, 85 pounds and, knock on wood, I've kept, you know, the bulk of that off. All but about 10 pounds goes up and down, um, for six years.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's incredible.

Speaker 2:

Almost seven years.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And fasting was a big piece of that. I did a three day every week and I mean, the weight just fell off. It was just. It was crazy.

Speaker 1:

Your body is so incredibly smart. Like the cellular level of what fasting does to it. I mean, think about even in the cave days they didn't eat like three meals a day, plus snacks. Like that's garbage, Like that's. There's no way that that's right for you.

Speaker 2:

We've been sold yeah it's not.

Speaker 1:

And I mean you got all these convenient fast food places. Of course they're going to encourage you to have breakfast, lunch and dinner and late night snacks, like no, I mean, most of the time I just eat. I try to get all of my nutrients and calories in three meals a day. Occasionally I'm like a little protein stick or some you know nuts or whatever it is. But yeah, I mean you know the fasting is the people. I've never looked into that that I highly recommend. If I got cancer tomorrow I would stop eating period for five to seven days instantly your body can go what?

Speaker 1:

40 days?

Speaker 2:

well, the long, actually the longest. Obviously he was grossly overweight, but uh, the longest recorded, fast, I think, was 386 days dear lord.

Speaker 1:

But he, but that's how much he had stored up. That's right over that time it's. We just had this conversation at the baseball park. Me and a couple of the dads and one guy was like I'm going to come over here and just stand by y'all and get some wisdom, you know, and um, it's, fasting is fantastic. Um, there's a lot of people that will say no. Yes, you need to make sure it works for your body and your type. Just, I can probably eat eggs, some people can't. You might can eat chicken, maybe I can't. Everyone is truly different, but there is a way to incorporate fasting somewhere somehow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I truly believe that. I think it's. If it's important enough to you, you'll figure it out.

Speaker 2:

Um and you know, for me it took. It took until I was 40 years old in order for it to be important enough. It was like I had a wake up call that I couldn't ignore, and I think everybody's got to figure that out, and some people are just going to be like, nope, I'm over that, I'm done with that. Yeah, you know, we, we really don't drink alcohol. I mean, if I drink five or six drinks in a year, that's a busy year for me and it's not like last night I cooked some enchiladas and I was craving a corona.

Speaker 1:

Well, I have corona zero in my fridge so I had my corona. Someone said y'all, you know, it was actually brad lee's like man, y'all are partiers, y'all. I said, brad, you went on a cruise with us a year ago when we didn't no one had kids. Like that was the seven days for the year that we part, for the last three years that we've partied Nick's like yeah, she just filled up our fridge with zero alcohol beer. Like agree, I mean mocktails. Like there's, that's becoming such a thing. You know, if you follow some of these doctors, what alcohol does to your brain. I mean it is a true poison. If you're trying to be the best version of yourself, it is a poison. Now you, that's you can handle it and that's you.

Speaker 2:

That's to each their own but not mad at anybody that chooses otherwise.

Speaker 1:

No, and I mean I will admit, if you know me, you know I have a hard time saying no to margaritas. But other than that, like it's just, it's become way less of something I like to do.

Speaker 2:

Now, was that a challenge, or is that why the studio is here Next to a Mexican?

Speaker 1:

restaurant. Pretty much Every time we would come in here, nick's like I'm going to, we're going to have an office in this neighborhood and you know, our house is, our old house, is four minutes away and I'm like, yeah, right, but yeah, I mean that became a problem. Like, yeah, right, but yeah, I mean that became a problem. But, uh, you know, yeah, it's hard for me to say no to a margarita. So, um, most of the time if people ask to go eat Mexican, most of the time I'm like no, cause, you know, I, I know my limits so I'll just make it at home.

Speaker 2:

I totally understand, well, and we can eat so much healthier at home with the things that we know, we're putting on our food or in our food or we're cooking with. We have so much more control.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, and you can eat. It's amazing how much your body can actually take in if it's clean, because it can process it instead of just holding on to everything.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, now, kind of along the way, I mean, obviously you know you're figuring out how you eat and live healthier, but there's kids in the mix. You know you're figuring out how you you eat and live healthier, uh, but there's, there's kids in the mix too. So you've got a teenager Ethan's about to start driving and, um, you know, that looks way different than having a toddler around the house. Yeah, um, so how does how does that kind of play into it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I mean the girl. I mean, you know, I nursed her until she was about, I guess, almost 15 months. She just kind of stopped, but we never I don't think she had processed food until she was almost two. I made everything for her, that girl. Now, you know, we go to the ballpark and someone gives her M&Ms and I'm over there like is it the end of 2026 yet when they take all the food dyes out of all these things? So I don't have to like snarl my nose when someone hands her a bag of Cheetos, I'm like oh, but for the most part we're very conscious on what goes into their bodies and I mean life is life and they're going to be around other kids. But like I don't allow, you know, nick will will buy it, but I do not purchase sodas we don't, we don't, we don't allow sodas big into poppy or ollie pop or alternatives.

Speaker 1:

If that's something they want, you know, I tell you then, like, if you want a dr pepper then you can order it when we got to eat or something, but just I'm not going to have those in the house for you just to drink on all all day long.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Just the amount of sugar, oh it's it's so much.

Speaker 1:

And you know with her she's a big, she loves avocados, that's like her favorite food. Um, and I found applesauce and carrots like mixed together. Trader Joe's has like organic pouches. I used to make all that stuff, um, but it kind of lets that go a little bit. I was like, okay, there's only so many things I can do, but, um, it's, it's very prominent in our, in their life too. Um, I would say they're I'm more like 90, 10, they're more like 80, 20 on.

Speaker 2:

You know what's in and out and what's good and bad. Sure, well, you know I a lot of his own stuff, like when he comes home from from school, uh, before he goes to crossfit it's he makes a steak and so he cooks a steak and has a steak before he goes to crossfit. You know, um and his friends they're like you cook your own food. Hey, he gets up and cooks his own breakfast too, like he's. He can handle that.

Speaker 1:

You know he needs to come show Ethan the ropes. We can do that.

Speaker 2:

Um, but you know again, we, we teach our kids, hopefully, the best that we've learned. And you know, luckily we've both figured out that that health is a critical component to life and, um, uh, just trying to make sure that they make better decisions that we did.

Speaker 1:

You just feel better, you think better, you make better choices if you're clear headed and don't have just junk all the time.

Speaker 2:

Yep. Now how does all that work with kind of balancing the business life as well as the personal life and home and family Team? Is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast as the personal life and home and family Team? Is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast? I just want to tell you I love you. I appreciate you listening, I appreciate you for subscribing and sharing the Charge Forward podcast with people you know and you love, because that's what we're here for. We are here to share the amazing stories, the things that people have been through, the ways that they were able to improve their life, so that you can take little nuggets from theirs and help improve your story and be better tomorrow than you were today. I hope that this is the tool you needed at the right time and that you find value in the amazing guests that we bring each and every week. Thanks so much and don't forget new episodes drop every Thursday.