April Pullins: Chasing Her Dreams, One Mile at a Time

April Pullins: Chasing Her Dreams, One Mile at a Time

Probably Speaking Podcast, SE3, EP3

Published Dec. 7, 2023

Transcript

John:                Hi everybody, it's John Vergara, and welcome to the latest episode of the Probably Speaking podcast. This is the place where we talk about bucket lists. In other words, what you want to accomplish in your lifetime. Big topic. On this show, we speak with some truly inspiring guests from all walks of life. We delve into stories behind their bucket lists, probing into how those goals may have changed, and most importantly, why many of us have never even sat down and thought about what our life goals are. I know I didn't when I was younger, but it's amazing to hear the stories that come out when you sit down and really think about it. As always, I am joined by my sister and partner in podcasting, Paula Ra.

Paula:               Hey. So I was thinking about my own bucket list recently, and a while ago, I had crossed marathon running off my list because I thought, I can't do it. I'm just not built for it. But after learning about today's guest, I'm feeling like I need to get my lazy butt off the couch and start training for that sort of thing. So today we're chatting with a truly inspiring person who has taken a unique and transformative journey towards better mental and physical health. So imagine picking up running shoes for the first time at the age of 43, not just for the physical benefits, but as a way to dig yourself out of a dark mental space. She was, as she described it, emotionally spent, broke, overwhelmed, and depressed. Our guest managed to turn pavement into a personal therapist and discovered the incredible impact that putting one foot in front of the other can have on the mind. Here's a sneak peek: 

April:                I was very ambitious, overly ambitious and almost obsessive when I first started running because I knew it gave me peace. And so I thought, I can't lose this. Let's just keep going. And so my mother, who is now 88 and still doing great, she said, what are you running from? And then I was insulted. I said, excuse me, what am I running from? You should be happy for me. And I didn't hear her intent because I was running from feeling depressed and being depressed, and she coming from the same background, didn't really get it, and she never ran unless somebody was chasing her.

John:                Well, we are so excited to introduce April Pullins to the podcast, April, correct me if I'm wrong in pronunciation, I think I screwed it up. Anyway, she's a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and of course a runner. She owns a compression sock company, and Paula will provide some background on compression socks after the podcast. It is called the Be Light Compression. Some people may know her on social media as the crazy sock lady that is #thecr8zysocklady. April is a former special educator working with deaf children, teaching sign language when she is not growing her sock business. She works as an independent a SL interpreter, originally from Chicago, April lives with her husband and three boys in Atlanta, Georgia. Welcome April.

April:                Thank you, John and Paula. And we have to make an adjustment because we just added a new baby. Oh my God. We got a Labrador. Oh, a Labradoodle.

John:                Oh, I was going to say that was a quick pregnancy. Congratulations. A labradoodle. That's a lot of energy.

April:                Thank you so much.

Paula:               Is it a puppy?

April:                It is a puppy. She's 12 weeks old. Oh boy. And we got her yesterday. That was the emergency.

John:                Oh, okay. Good for you.

Paula:               So let's get right into it, and let's talk about your bucket list from your childhood and how it has evolved over the years.

April:                So as a kid, growing up in Chicago, I actually grew up in a really tough part of town on the south side of Chicago. Anybody that you know is from Chicago, they want to know what side are you from? And I was from the south side, which was really a rough side of town, gangs and drugs. And so I knew that I wanted to go to college. I knew that I wanted to become a teacher in eighth grade. So my bucket list was to become an educator, get myself out of the community. I didn't really have much lofty goals of doing anything, like being a movie star. Well, at five I did, and then I realized that that was going to happen. But at first, my first dream was to become a pediatrician. And then in school I realized I hated science and math. And so I realized let's do teaching because I love people and I love kids. So I didn't have these, how some people at a young age was like, I know I want to do this. The only thing that I knew I wanted to do in eighth grade was become an educator

John:                In eighth grade. That's pretty young. Yeah. And what was it, did you have a particular teacher that was just a mentor for you that you were like, I want to be like that person?

April:                I had a ton of teachers when I was probably about maybe fourth grade. They labeled me learning disabled in math, speaking of not wanting to do math and science. So I had an IE individualized education plan, and they gave me special services. So they would take me out into a co-taught class, or I would go into a safe self-contained class, and I would have a special teacher. And I remember one of them was Ms. Orum, and she was a music teacher, but she also had a degree in special ed. You know how it worked back in the eighties. And she made such an impact on my life. She was the music teacher and I loved to sing. And so she helped me learn how to do vocal things with my voice, but also she gave me some grace and said, Hey, you just got to figure it out a different way for math.

April:                For me. I realized, no, I'm not really, I didn't have this thing where I was learning disabled really, to be honest. She told me, she was like, you just learned different. And so it definitely made an impact. And then as I got older, there were other teachers who were just kind and took the time out and really becoming a special ed teacher. That's what I brought in and thought, all you need to do is listen, take the time out to see where are the gaps, because I don't believe anybody is unable to learn or really learning this.

John:                Sure.

John:                They need to be inspired.

Paula:               I'm sorry. How did you get into teaching deaf students?

April:                So I sang with the Citywide Choir in Chicago when I was, I think I started in eighth grade, actually, seventh or eighth grade. And this is a funny story where in Chicago, it's very segregated. You have people who are polished that live in this part of this town. You have people that's Chinatown, all kinds of different sectors. And I remember around seventh grade, I wanted to be a part of this choir called the Soul Children of Chicago. Now, the soul children of Chicago were mainly African-American kids, and they were jiving and clapping and singing, had rhythm. And there was another choir called the Children's Choir of Chicago, and this was more of the formative opera type. And so they had auditions, and oddly, both of them had auditions the same weekend. So my mom said, okay, let's go on down. And we went down to the University of Chicago, and I went in and I'm looking around, I see all these kids in these jackets, and I thought, oh, I dunno, this is the right place, but what the heck? So I auditioned, I got accepted. They wanted me to sing with them. And then I told the auditioners, I said, you know what? I think I'm in the wrong place. I really want to go with the kids that  Do the dancing, more lively. And so I'd left that audition and went to the Soul Children of Chicago, audition and auditioned there. And I got in and I'm like, okay. So from that point, this choir actually took me all over the world. We sang in the city, but they also had opportunities to go international. And there was one particular young man who had a family member that was deaf. And I remember Christmas time, he was signing something and teaching us a song in sign. And I asked him, I said, Michael, do you mind if you taught me some signs? And he said, absolutely not. He refused to teach me. And because of that experience learning within the choir, he didn't teach me personally, but the choir, we learned a song. I thought, I wonder if I could do this with teaching some kind of way. I didn't know being in eighth grade how that would come together. But then I did some research and saw the community college had sign language and that people were teachers. And I said, okay, I think this is what I want to do.

John:                Amazing. Eighth grade, that's pretty advanced thinking for an eighth grader. I know. I was useless in eighth grade.

Paula:               Amazing. I could barely get out of bed in the eighth grade.

John:                Yeah. Wow. So that was, so going back to bucket lists, that was like, you're like, yep, I'm going to learn ASL and off I go.

Speaker 3:        I think that was definitely one of my first memories of having a bucket list was I want to learn American sign language, and I want to teach. And so I started that process. I went to the community college in eighth grade, the summer going into freshman year. My mom didn't know anything about it. I mean, she didn't know how to go through the process. My mom was a sharecropper actually. And so she was not educated. And so I'm like, I think they have a class here up the street. She goes, okay,

Paula:               Ok, Whatever.

April:                And so I found my way, found my into the community college. I was the youngest person taking the class. They didn't turn me down. And that was the start of it. Incredible.

Paula:               So you're sneaking around behind your mom's back, taking a class,

April:                Taking classes

John:                Bad kid. Bad kid. Wow. Shameful. How many kids were in your family, were you? I

April:                Was seventh.

John:                Seventh. So your mom didn't have any time to really focus on where you were?

April:                Oh, no. My sister was 14 years my senior, so I was kind of like all eyes on me. But yeah, I was raised pretty strict, but I was a pretty good kid.

Paula:               Yeah,

Apri:                 I was. And then I wasn't.

John:                Okay, we'll get into that.

Paula:               I'm the youngest of four, so I know what, being the youngest child is not easy.

April:                It's not

Paula:               Okay. John the oldest would disagree.

April:                So listen, I have an older brother. He's a day, his birthday is a day before mine, October 15th. Mine's the 16th. He's the eldest. I'm the youngest. And we are pals and we argue you quite a bit. That's nice.

John:                That's awesome. How many ultimately were there? You're seventh. Were there more after you? You're the last one.

April:                I was the surprise.

John:                Oh, the baby. Okay.

April:                42 and Oh, I'm pregnant. 42. Boy told me you couldn't get people pregnant. Yeah.

John:                Yeah. That's rough. That's rough.

Paula:               Wow.

John:                Gosh. So here we have you, eighth grade going to community college, all that. How did the A SL go for you? I mean, did you just pick it up right away and had no problem with it? Or tell me about that learning process.

April:                Yeah, I think I did. I was in a class with older folks and I just loved it. I loved learning. And then that transitioned into, okay, I know I want to go into a high school and take some courses on the side. So I was continuing taking those classes after school, and then I knew right away I wanted to go to college and do deaf ed. So there's two routes that you could have taken knowing American Sign Language. You could go the interpreter route or you can become an educator. And I wanted to become an educator. I wanted to be with the kids. And I think it was my junior year, I got accepted.

Paula:               All right then.

April:                So I'm always early. I wasn't the A student though. That wasn't my thing. I was a good student B student, but I just knew.

Paula:               So let's fast forward a little bit to adulthood. So you went into teaching, and I assume you got married, started having kids and all of that. And then when I got to know you, you were at a low point in your life and you were struggling with depression and anxiety, and you turned to social media, Facebook in particular, to just in a really bad state. You said, I want to do a 90 day challenge. And you were pretty upset and wanted to put yourself out there and challenge yourself and be accountable with that and try to start a running journey. So let us know how that went.

April:                Yeah. So before the pandemic, I was working as an educator. We had moved from Arizona, from Chicago to Arizona to Georgia. I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer the year that we moved to Georgia. And he was my superhero.  I wasn't running at the time, but I flirted with it just kind of because my sister-in-law ran marathons. And I thought, oh, if I get outside, I can just…no, that wasn't true. You can't just go start running. Learned the hard way. And I was a part of a network marketing company, surprisingly, and I'm all full of surprises. And it was a travel based company, and it was really a beautiful experience for the past 10 years or eight years before Covid. I loved it. I traveled everywhere. I left teaching because of it. I was making that much money to leave my job. And then Covid happened, shut everything down. We weren't going anywhere. And my marriage was already a little bit, I don't know if I really like you. Got pregnant. My mom, surprise. My two older boys were in high school getting ready to graduate, and now I'm getting ready at 38 to have a baby with somebody who I didn't know if I wanted to be with still. So it was really, really hard for me. I lost my income. I was living in a house that was pushed back in the forest and it was rented, because we had foreclosed before we came to Georgia. And I thought, is this really my life? Thinking back of the ambition and all of the goals that I had as a kid, I was like, is this really my life? And I sat out on my porch that February day, and it was right before Covid had happened right before. So I didn't know. But sitting out there and I said, I got to do something. I knew in network marketing, we always had these challenges. 90 day runs. Let's just go hard for 90 days. And I said, okay. I was telling myself, and I also was telling the audience on Facebook, I'm getting ready to go back in business, but I really inside, I didn't believe that I knew the company was going under, but I just wanted to something if it was my health, if it was my faith, if it was business, something had to give. And I got some raggedy Nike shoes that were no running shoes. I don't even know what kind of shoes they were. And I just started to go outside and walk a little bit. Tried to run, was huffing and puffing, and I didn't have any goals of running any type of races. I just knew I needed to hit a switch in my brain because I was in such a low place. And my faith growing up was people who have faith don't get depressed, which is a lie, but that's what helps condition to believe. You pray about it and you get old. And, it's not really depression, but that was such a lie.

John:                We completely understand. Yeah, Catholics are about the same. So did you have any kind of athletic background or training in the past? I mean, were you like a high school athlete or, I think I know the answer to this, but…

April:                My two weeks spent on volleyball and I could serve a good serve, but the girls were like, No, we don't Really want her on the team. I did drama and concerts and choir.

John:                So for you to pick running is way out there for you.

April:                And the other part of it, John, was that initially I thought, this is the most selfish thing that I could ever do. I thought I was shameful when I started. I knew I needed to do it for me, but coming from a background of being in a community of people, I thought, it's just me. I'm not bringing anybody with me. I'm not helping anybody. I had a battle for a long time of why are you doing this? This is selfish. But knowing I needed to do it for my mental health, I was like, I can't stop. But I felt so guilty and shameful.

Paula:               Interesting.

John:                Yeah. Well, you had spent years raising children, not thinking about yourself, dealing with the marriage, being a teacher, give, give, give, give, give, give, give. Totally understand that.

April:                Yeah. And it wasn't until I got into a Facebook community of runners and they said, are you crazy? Running for your health is the most, it helps so many other people. And then I started to see people message me and inbox me and say, wow, I can't believe that you ran a 5K. How did you start? And then I said, oh, Okay. This isn't selfish. When you work on you, you help so many other people.

Paula:               You ran your first race. What was that, a 5K?

April:                It was a 5K. Yeah, it was during Covid.

April:                I felt like I had run a marathon because I had no experience running. The first one was virtual. It was a local race here called the Race. And it focuses on people in the African-American community. They send you through an area in Atlanta where it's mostly predominantly black people, where typical races don't ever happen. But that race, we did it on a trail out somewhere in Atlanta because it was virtual. So I had my headphones on and my two girlfriends, and I'm like, okay, it's counting down. Here we go. And the night before, I literally felt like I was running the biggest race. I guess it was the biggest race of my life because it was the first time I was doing 3.1 miles, and went out there. My son came reluctantly, my oldest son, and I was taking pictures, and he is like, mom, mom, stop it. I was so proud of myself. My husband later, he was like, will anybody can run a 5K? He's a former police officer. And so I was like, dude, I couldn't until now. And so then of course, I challenged him later and said, okay, come out and run for my birthday. Let's do four miles. He goes, sure. So we got out there and yeah, after the first mile, actually before the first mile, he goes, have we reached a mile yet?

April:                So after that, he's never said anything else about,

Paula:               Well done. Well, I've got my own 5K horror story, if you'll indulge me.

Speaker 3:        Please.

Paula:               Many years ago, I think it was 2002, it was shortly after my dad passed, just two months after he passed, I thought, you know what? I'm just going to join a road race in his memory and work out my grief and work on my emotions and try to get through it through running. So I only gave myself two months to train for this race, and the race was in mid-July. It was 95,000 degrees outside in Massachusetts. And I cried my way through the whole thing, because I just didn't know what the heck I was doing. I wasn't mentally or physically ready for it. At one point, I looked ahead at me ahead and looked behind me, and there was no one around me, and I thought I had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Then I saw the water table up ahead. I was like, oh, God.

Paula:               Turned out I was in last place out of a thousand people, and I looked behind me and I saw the volunteer truck was on my tail, picking up the orange cones in the road. So that's how I knew I was last. And the truck pulled up next to me and they were cheering me on saying, come on, you can do it. We have faith in you. And I looked at them, I said, Hey, can you do me a quick favor? Can you just give me a lift beyond the last two people so that I don't have to finish last?

Paula:               So they said, sure, hop on. So I'm hanging off the back of the volunteer truck, driving past these two 90-year-old people who were in last place. So I finished third to last. The people who I joined the race with, some friends of mine were already sitting at a bar eating every appetizer on the menu, and I'm still struggling in the race. And that was my last road race. And I've just been so hesitant to get back into it. But I know that I just didn't, knowing what I know now, I didn't train properly, I didn't hydrate properly, and it was a nightmare. So I learned a lot from that experience. As painful as it was, I was hard.

April:                Is hard. A wise mentor told me, I had said something after I had run a few 5-ks. I said, oh, I'm just going out here to run a 5K. She says, it's not a just, it's never just respect every mile. And I've held onto that, and I will forever hold onto that because some days running is easy. Some days it's harder. So every mile deserves respect.

John:                So where have you taken it from there? I mean, been, how many races have you done at this point? Are you like an incredible runner now?

April:                I've lost count. So I claim to be, I am a runner. Before it was, I don't know. Right? Very cool. But I don't count as many total races. I do know I've done five halves because I've just completed the fifth one. I did Chicago full marathon last year, which was totally unexpected.

John:                How did that go?

April:                It was a bucket list thing!

Paula:               In your hometown. That's exciting.

April:                And so when the group, I'm a part of a group on Facebook, and I think that's why I decided to go further and do more long distance races because all these people are like, oh, I'm running London, I'm running Chicago, I'm running Berlin. I'm like, what? There's races out outside of the country?? And so when they mentioned Chicago, I said, oh, it's in October. That's my birthday month. And my dad had passed away. I wanted to honor him. It would be great. Oh, my family's there. Okay, let me put my name in to see, because you have to do lottery. You don't just go in and pay for it. Put my name in, and all of my friends who put their name in got accepted every single one. So we were like, yeah, we're doing it. And I'm thinking, what did I sign up for?

April:                Because I think the longest that I had done at that time, I think it was a half, it was one half. But to say, oh, I'm going to do a half, and then another half. It doesn't work that way. So I trained for 20 weeks--20 weeks to be prepared for this race. And I didn't have a time that I wanted to finish. A lot of, once you get into the mix of community, sometimes it makes me mad. Like clique-ish. Right? I run eight miles per… yeah. I'm like, I just want to be home. I want my family to be at different stations. I want to hug my family and kids. And it was everything that I hoped it would be. My immediate family, my sons and my husband, they were at mile 23, and I saw them and they had the signs up, just like you see on social media. And they're like, come on, Mom, come on. I could even tear up right now thinking about it. I got my hugs, and by mile 23, I had blisters. My hip was hurting, but I'm like, alright. They said go faster!

April:                I'm going as fast as I can. And I finished that race and it was such an experience. And I tell people, if you want to have an experience, definitely run a marathon. Because what happens is you have this crowd that you've never experienced before, unless you've run a marathon, the city comes out and it's just for miles. People cheering you music in different parts of the town, and then you have, if your family comes out and cheers you on, and then you have the stories. I told my girlfriends, I said, I just want to collect stories. And so as I'm running, I would see someone and I would say, you got it. Let's go. And then we would have a conversation. I would learn that maybe they were running in somebody's honor, or I would see somebody who was leading a blind person run 26 miles. It was everything

John:                Sounds Spiritual, almost like this whole awakening,

April:                Most incredibly definitely. I saw a dog who ran the entire race. A dog was going faster. Yeah. Wow. Faster than his runner. She goes, oh, he does this all the time. Whoa, whoa. Oh, cool. Yeah. So I definitely want to do some more marathons. That's great.

John:                That's very inspiring.

Paula:               Talk about your business a little bit and how running has helped you to develop and grow your business.

April:                Absolutely. So before we even started running, I knew that I was an entrepreneur. I hated being told what to do. I'm a rebel. When I started running, I wanted to be an ambassador for one particular compression sock company. I bought like 50 socks and I was wearing 'em and styling and profiling, and I applied and they were like, sorry, we don't want you. And I was like, dang, okay. I bought 50 pairs, just started running. I think you want my story. And so I felt like God kind of nudging me to go, okay, maybe you should create your own. And I thought, I have no idea. Where do I even start? Because being in network marketing and interpreting, it's completely different than product sales. And I'm like, where do I get the socks? Do I knit the socks? I dunno. And my best friend, we've been friends for over 40 years, I called her and it was around the end of December of 2021, and I said, I just feel so anxious right now.

April:                I feel like I have to start this business. I don't know how to start it. I'm just so overwhelmed, but I feel like if I don't do something now, I'm going to miss the boat. And she goes, well just do something. And so I went and grabbed some tube socks, I tie-dyed them, and I called her back and I said, I did it. And it was, I think December 30th. And I just wanted to do something moving in that direction before the 2022 year. And they were ugly socks. I mean, the brown mixed with the orange, they looked like poop socks. But I'm like, this is just a testament of like, God, you see that I am moving in that direction. I don't know. I don't know where the money's going to come from. And from that point on, just doors started opening up. I got a manufacturer and ideas came. And so now what we tell people is we encourage the amateur athlete through audacious compression socks, and we are inspiration for your soul. SOLE.

Paula:               I've seen pictures of your socks. They're incredible. They're really inspiring.

April:                Thank you. And through running, what happened was I was accountable to the socks and to social media. We all like posting just so we can get some affirmation. And so initially before the socks, I would grab the tie dye socks, some ugly colored tie dye socks, and I would put them on and I would try to jazz up my outfit, and I would take a picture and I was like, if you do this every other day or three days a week, then people are going to be looking for you. And so for me, that was kind of the boost of, well, I know other people are going through the same experience. Other people are sitting on the couch wishing that they were healthier or, oh, I'm such in a dark place of depression. And knowing that running had provided me a place of solace, it was just something that just kind of came together and was godsend for sure.

Paula:               Awesome. What a great story. So talk about where you are today and your bucket list as it is today. What are your current goals and aspirations, not just as a runner, but in your life?

April:                Oh man, I got so many now from when I was growing up, it's like, yeah, my God. So I definitely want to do, there's a six star marathon community. So you run all six majors and you get the six stars. I think my next one is probably going to run in Berlin. Because that's the next easiest one. I definitely want to do. London, New York, and Boston is last. You really need to be fast. So that'll take me some time.

John:                The Boston marathon's a grueling one.

April:                Business-wise, I want to have my socks into stores and I want to also be able to, today I was just having this thought. Sometimes I feel like I shortchange myself because I go, I'm only going to buy this amount of inventory. And inside I feel like I need to stretch. And this is just for anybody who's listening, who is starting a business, definitely stretch because the growth is in the stretch. And every time I go, the next month, you should have bought more because I always sell more. And so it's fear, it's intimidation, it's okay, well, you've got all these other things that you're doing, how can you possibly do that? So eventually, I think within the next year and a half, I am probably going to not probably, I will be moving from the interpreting and to doing this full-time. Because right now I interpret at a performing art school and I love it.

April:                And I've been with this particular kid since he was a freshman. That whole story came about very interestingly. But he's graduating next year, and I just feel like God is saying, you had that season to get things in order and do all the beginning, formative things with the socks, and now it's time for you to fly. But a lot of people ask me, is it just socks? And I have to say, it's not just socks. The name of the company is Be Light Enterprises, our holding company, be light enterprises. And I just feel that I am a light for so many people. And so if that is speaking engagement, if that is coaching, if that is teaching, you know what I mean? The Sox was just the gateway to get in to business,

John:                Your initial path. This sky's the limit to entrepreneurial life. So tell me about the repercussions of all this on your family. You started off saying, oh, I was down. I was depressed. Nobody really got it. You're supposed to just suck it up because you come from a nice religious family. What's been the result of you taking this path of entrepreneurial activity as well as running?

April:                It's been a rollercoaster. Initially, I was very ambitious, overly ambitious and almost obsessive when I first started running, because I knew it gave me peace. And so I thought, I can't lose this. Let's just keep going. And so my mother, who is now 88 and still doing great, she said, what are you running from? And then I was insulted. I said, excuse me? What am I running from? You should be happy For me.

April:                And I didn't hear her intent because I was running from feeling depressed and being depressed. And she coming from the same background, didn't really get it. And she never ran unless somebody was chasing her, so…

April:                And I eventually learned through the running community. I had one guy tell me, he says, sit your behind down. And I thought, aren't you proud of me? Like I'm doing it. But I gotten injured because I was trying to do too much too fast, and I was looking at the other people and comparing myself. And so it just became something that was like, now you're taking it to a level of obsessiveness. And so, after I came down from that, my immediate family, they started saying, Hey, mom, I want to come run with you. And my son started running. He ran his first 5K with me, and that was one of the most incredible experiences that we've had. My husband, he's a work in progress, but we're working on him to get him out and walking with me. And now I went to Virginia this past summe.  My niece, who's kind of like my sister, we haven't seen each other in 10 years. And she says, Hey, there's a race here in Richmond. I was like, I'm there. And so I flew to Richmond and we ran a 5K together. I'm not as obsessive about it. I just enjoy it and want to share this experience.

Paula:               What a good example you are for your kids too. I mean, running is a lifelong sport that they'll carry with them forever, probably because of you, which is wonderful.

John:                Not to mention the example you're setting, and if they don't, and the inspiration you're providing to not just them, but people on your Facebook groups. I mean, Paula, you've inspired Paula. She's there.

John:                I think she's already practicing. I know that. I know she's training.

Paula:               I've got a 10K on my list, so we'll see how that goes.

April:                You should come to Atlanta and do the biggest one here. They do it on the 4th of July.

April:                It's hot, but it's fun. And Hilly.

John:                That's so cool. So what do you see looking into the future? More of the same, expanding your business success?

April:                Expanding the business for sure. Expanding the business, traveling more for running. We have a girl trip coming up. We're doing Las Vegas half marathon. That's going to be fun. It's at night. So definitely more traveling with the races. I want to walk away from full-time interpreting, but I'll always interpret just because I'm a part of the deaf community, but to be at a school means that I have to be there at a certain time, which I don't like. But because of my student, he's an actor and he's such an incredible actor. He's a deaf young actor, which is pioneering. So I feel like I'm a part of this kid that's going to, you'll see him on a film. Seriously. So I feel like that's one of my biggest purposes right now. But after he graduates, the sky's the limit.

Paula:               So we're going to switch gears for a minute, and we're coming to a close here. So we're going to go through the lightning round bucket list questions.

April:                Yeah, let's go. I'm excited. Okay.

Paula:               So first question, what is a skill or talent you've always wanted to master?

April:                Organization, hahahaa.

Paula:               All right. Have you ever been skydiving?

April:                No, but I want to, yeah,

John:                Take Paula.

Paula:               No, don't take me. Have you ever been bungee jumping? Have you ever wanted to do that?

April:                I have.

Paula:               You have? Yeah. Wow. Okay. Was it fun?

April:                Absolutely terrifying and been fun.

Paula:               Have you ever done karaoke or have you ever wanted to do karaoke?

April:    That was my whole childhood.

Paula:               That's true. That's true, right? You're a singer. Okay.

John:                But some singers don't do the karaoke.

April:                No, I had a home karaoke machine.

Paula:               You had the machine? Okay. Wow. All right. Last question. What celebrity have you always wanted to meet and why?

April:                Whitney Houston. I would be in the basement with a fan and my eighth grade luncheon dress singing her songs.

Paula:               Which song?

April:                All of them.

Paula:               Oh boy.

April:                I believe The Children Future. All of those old songs.

John:                Another incredible mentor

April:                At one point. Okay. Yes. Bucket list two, becoming a singer. But then after sixth grade,

I

Said, that's not going to work.

Paula:               Nice. Okay, so that's the lightning round. Thank you for answering those questions.

John:                April, thank you so much for sharing your journey and insights with our audience. We really appreciate it. You're amazing, inspiring person. I also want to do a little plug for your company. Be Light compression.com. B-E-L-I-G-H-T compression.com. Just so everybody gets the spelling right. Check it out, buy her socks, go out there, help her get it to the next level. I appreciate everybody's help for that and for more information on her business, you can find it all right there. We hope this episode inspires all of you to talk about your own bucket lists. If you have some time, please give us a review@probablyspeaking.com to let us know what you think.

Paula:               Be sure to subscribe and listen for free on Spotify, apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.