What's up next

Join Mel and Mic for an engaging podcast wrap-up! They have all the latest updates and exciting news to share.

What You'll Discover in this Episode:

Mel and Mic give you an inside look into their personal lives, including stories from their summer travels and the rollercoaster of emotions they are experiencing as they prepare to send their kids to college.

You'll also get the scoop on the progress of The Kindling Project over the past six months, including the podcast and Amy's decision to step away.

Mel and Mic also discuss their unwavering dedication and determination to make a difference.

But that's not all! They have big plans for the remainder of 2023 and share a sneak peek into the exciting events they have scheduled for September and October.

So, prepare for an incredible episode filled with updates, stories, and passion. 

Take Action Now!

Learn more about The Kindling Project at our website and join our Facebook group for women looking for that extra kindling to start their next big fire!

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• Transcript

  [00:00:00] Melissa: All right, girls. We're gonna, we're winging it today. It's Melissa and Mick and it's morning and we're just having our coffee and we just wanted to come on and catch up.

  [00:00:09] Monica: Really I feel too, like this is my wake up because I have been on dreamy land for weeks, so

  [00:00:16] Melissa: Yes. Oh my God. Well, first of all, we have both gotten, my daughter Elise and your son Walker graduated from high school?

  [00:00:25] Monica: Yes, they did.

  [00:00:26] Melissa: We have both gone on European vacations. We have been crazy kindling project, business planning, creative planning, attending events. Gosh, it's just so much since the two of us just sat down and checked in.

  [00:00:41] Monica: I know. And I feel like our schedules are so crazy that even our podcast recording where our intent always is to come on together and interview these beautiful guests, it's oftentimes like, you're doing some, I'm doing some, but girl, you know, we can't say no to these guests and we get so excited. We're like, we gotta [00:01:00] keep the conversation going.

  [00:01:01] Melissa: I know, I know. Do you know where halfway through 2023 last year when we started the podcast, we did 20 episodes. We've now done more than 20 episodes at the halfway mark, and I think it's getting, you know, it's hitting its stride.

  [00:01:15] Monica: Yeah. It's definitely been a learning curve. And by the way, it's not as easy as it looks. Not that it looks easy, you know, it's like you either talk too much, you don't ask enough questions, you ask too many questions, you know, trying to find that rhythm. I have a lot more respect for the people who do this for a living. I'm like, okay, there is an art to it. We are still working on ours, and that's okay, but we are getting better.

  [00:01:38] Melissa: Yeah, it's just kind of like singing in the shower. You think when you're singing in the shower, like, Ah! I could be like, I could be a music superstar. And then when you actually hear yourself, you're like, agh! And I think that when you listen to these podcasts that are really well done and where the guests are very natural and talented at it, you think, oh, it looks so easy. I could do it. And then it's, it isn't, [00:02:00] it's like you said, it's like any skill. I, I hope we're getting better. I think we're getting better. We're certainly supported by some kickass women, right? We've had such amazing guests, some of some of whom have their own podcasts with hundreds of episodes. And you know, I think, I think about Kara and just her soothing voice, or Kate and all the amazing women she's talked to. And you know, we're just getting started, right?

  [00:02:25] Monica: We are just getting started, but it's so much fun and learning so much, but we'll talk about that in a minute. Tell me, tell me, okay, how, how are you feeling? I mean, your girl graduated from high school. She's going to college in a few weeks. Where are you at with that?

  [00:02:41] Melissa: It's a lot. So, I know we kind of talked about empty nest a few months back and, and I won't have a completely empty nest cuz Miles is only 14. I got four more years of miles. But it is hitting me. I walk by Elisa's room now and I think, gosh, in a few months she's gonna be living a few hours away and you know, a few hours [00:03:00] away, you've got one who's not too far away. It's, it's not the end of the world, but they don't come back. They don't come back every weekend. From what I hear. It's gonna be an adjustment.

  [00:03:08] Monica: Yeah. Has she ever been gone? Was she a kid that went to camp for weeks at a time? Has she ever been away from home?

  [00:03:15] Melissa: No. No. I mean, maybe stayed with grandma's for a long weekend or, you know, I think she's been up to some friends' cottages or gone on vacation with some friends, but never more than a week.

  [00:03:25] Monica: Okay, so this is gonna be a big change for her too.

  [00:03:28] Melissa: It's gonna be a big change for her now. She and I, and my mom and my mother-in-law got to go on an amazing graduation celebration trip to Paris. So, we spent 10 days in France. I had all these moments of, now I'm hanging out with my adult daughter. I mean, not that 18 is full fledged adult, but you know, the drinking age is different there. We sat in cafes and had a cocktail together, and we talked about life and art, and there wasn't any parenting going on. I'm not sure she needs a lot of [00:04:00] parenting. I mean, I'm sure she will and she'll come back for it when she needs it, but I'm just making that transition to adult relationship with this person who is my baby.

  [00:04:09] Monica: Aren't those the best conversations? Because first of all, you're in a completely different environment and, and you started really seeing each other as individuals, like she is full fledge, has her own opinions is her own person. I mean, you've, you've obviously planted many awesome seeds. She's just gonna bloom to be who she is, and it's gonna be, it's beautiful to watch. So, yeah, I can, I, I know exactly what you mean. How was paris?

  [00:04:35] I

  [00:04:36] Melissa: mean, it's Paris, right? It's. Just it it's gotta be the, it's the best city in the world, or one of the best cities in the world. I mean, the, the art, the architecture, the food. We had beautiful summer weather. I mean, I like hot weather. So it was, it was sunny, it was warm. It was like sundresses and sandals and just wandering around. It's a walking city, right? So that's a lot of what we did. We walked museums and we walked [00:05:00] neighborhoods and walked through cathedrals.

  [00:05:02] Monica: And you did it all, you checked off all the Eiffel Tower. I mean, you checked it all off?

  [00:05:06] Melissa: We did all the things. We took the riverboat cruise, we did the Eiffel Tower, we did soccer core, and we spent days and days in museums. We went to the Dorse and we went to the Louvre and we went to some little smaller museums along the way that at least wanted to check out this or that painting. Like myself, she's you know, she's an artist and both of us said we could have, we could go back for another 10 days and just do museums. Right. And the food. Right. The food is its own level of art, the food and the wine.

  [00:05:37] Monica: Thank God for the walking, huh. To sort of, neutralize all the intake and food and alcohol.

  [00:05:42] Melissa: Exactly. Exactly. Well, Elise is a bean pole, so I mean, she had no issue. But yeah, I'm really, I'm really I'm really grateful that we had that opportunity and it did sort of kick off the summer Now. On a different note, all that high school stuff is gone. And one of the things that we did when she came back from Europe was while we [00:06:00] were unpacking, we were also sort of unpacking her room, like throwing away all the high school notebooks and getting rid of old, you know, clothes and uniforms and dance costumes. And so we really sort of, decluttered and edited her room for when she's gone. Like, what are you actually gonna wear again? Use again. So we're just making those baby steps towards, I guess, independence. Oh, I don't even like to say it.

  [00:06:26] Monica: Wow. So when do you drop her off?

  [00:06:27] Melissa: August 22nd. So, and we're having a big graduation party July 22nd. So there's sort of this, there's sort of this synchronicity to this summer of like, there's these big things in May, June, July, August, and then of course school starts in September. You know, it's moving like a train.

  [00:06:43] Monica: Life happens fast. I was going through some photos yesterday for a friend just needing to dig up some old photos and I came across so many photos of the my babies and it's like, boy, it goes fast. Time does fly.

  [00:06:59] Melissa: It really does. [00:07:00] So how about you? You graduated Walker and Walker's going off to school too. How are you feeling?

  [00:07:04] Monica: Yeah. Walker is gonna go to Arizona, so he's going a little far further away this than Logan. I'm feeling excited for him. He definitely is ready for the next chapter in this life. He's doing great. Excited that he's gonna go to Arizona and start a new chapter of his life. So we are actually leaving early August.

  [00:07:23] Melissa: Oh, a week before Elise.

  [00:07:25] Monica: Mm-hmm. Exactly.

  [00:07:26] Melissa: And he's not your fir, he's not your first one. But you might have a totally different reaction because when you come home, there'll be no boys. It's gonna be you in the Labrador.

  [00:07:37] Monica: I know. And I'm actually feeling that already. I said to Kelly, it's, it feels different with the second one because Walker is my baby. You know, we, we do have our babies. Miles is your baby. And there's something very protective when it comes to my baby and seeing him go, but I, he's so ready, so I have no worries from that perspective. It's more like, okay. I'm just [00:08:00] really glad I have so many projects and so many things to occupy me. Cause I have to tell you, if I didn't, I think I would definitely just lay in bed and, and cry like a lot of moms do. And I get it. I get it.

  [00:08:10] Melissa: I totally get it. I totally get it. I am getting teary now and I, you know, I didn't, I didn't expect it. I mean of course I've had tons of friends who have, who have had the whole range of like, whew, thank God they're gone. I need a break from them too. Weeks of sort of wanting to, you know, lay in their bed and cry and I just didn't know where I was gonna fall on that spectrum. But I definitely have had a lot of big emotions. And you also got to go on a trip, right? With your, so I went on a trip with the girls in my family. But you went on a big family trip. Was that sort of, how did that mark this transition for you guys?

  [00:08:44] Monica: It was incredible. So we went to Spain in France and the reason we went is our Logan is doing a study abroad program, so he's still over there studying. So he's going and he's traveling all over. I think he's going to Prague this weekend. And he was in Paris last weekend and [00:09:00] you know, hes a Madrid, but he's out at Barcelona studying, so he's having an amazing summer. Interesting enough, my niece is also over there who's also 20, so they're getting to experience, although in different institutions, they're getting to be in the same city together. And so we took advantage and took Walker also on a European trip, part of his graduation as well, to recognize like hem and, and celebrate hem and so we went to Marsai, we went to Cons. We went spent a lot of time in Barcelona, which is the most incredible city as well, all the European cities. I mean, they, they're just so special on their own right. So had a fabulous time. We were gone for a very long time, but I loved it. But I also I went ahead of time with Logan and I too had moments with Logan on my own and cafes just having conversations over Sangria, you know, just having these moments like yours, talking about earlier, for those who know me my husband and I have really made [00:10:00] decisions in our parenting to forego certain things. But always make travel a priority for us. And so we like to ping our maps and I think we're up to, I don't know, like 28 states and I think I counted 19 countries with the boys.

  [00:10:16] Melissa: Wow.

  [00:10:17] Monica: Yeah.

  [00:10:17] Melissa: Wow.

  [00:10:17] Monica: So it's really important to us. And I was sitting there talking a walk Logan about this, and I, I just said, you know, it's just really important that for us, that you become citizens of the world. I love the United States. I obviously, people know I'm from Honduras, I'm Latina, but, and I love this country and there's so many beautiful things about this country. It is my opinion that our children, for us to move to a, a world that looks more like the one I wanna see, we need to start thinking less about belonging to a flag and wrapping ourselves around that as everything and on, you know, become citizens of the world. And so [00:11:00] I, I just having this conversation and for the first time my 20 year old was really starting, he's starting to really get it. And now that I've left him there on his own and he's navigating and he's flying on his own and exploring civics by himself, sometimes with groups, but sometimes by himself, he's like, I get it, mom. I get it. I get it. That we are just all humans having this human experience. So I, that was sort of a little win moment for, for me. Like, okay, thank you. One of them gets it. The other one is still like, why are we traveling? Why are we gonna- trust me one day? You'll appreciate it.

  [00:11:31] Melissa: I was at, I was at my neighborhood happy hour a couple days ago, and one of the moms, Melanie, who's also, you may know her, she's a chemistry teacher at our high school. She took her two boys to Germany and France, kind of, same time that you and I were in Europe and she was sort of bemoaning that experience you had with Walker of like, she's got the boys, they're in the back of the car, they're driving on the wrong side of the road in a little European village and the boys are on TikTok on their phones and they're like acting [00:12:00] out some dances and she's like, you guys were in Europe. Like pay attention. I think that that commitment to travel or to being a world citizen, will sink in and I mean, I know it's a privilege and I know travel can be very expensive and it can be inconvenient with your work schedule or you know, your caretaking schedule or whatever else you have going on. We certainly haven't been to 20 countries, but we've been to a handful of countries with our kids, and I agree with you. It's such, it's such a perspective if you can get your kids looking outside of their town, their school, their state, their country, because there's more to the world, right? And it's, it's a complex, layered place that I think that they're gonna need to understand it even more than we had to understand it.

  [00:12:44] Monica: Exactly. I guess the point is, hey, whenever you can travel, see, talk to people that look and feel different and taste different food, you won't regret it.

  [00:12:53] Melissa: You know, I never asked you, do you have a dual citizenship or are you, what's your citizenship? Do you mind sharing with us?

  [00:12:59] Monica: I do [00:13:00] have a dual citizenship. I was born in the United States. I'm one of six kids and my parents came to the states. My older brothers and sisters were born in Honduras. During that time period when my mom got pregnant with me, my dad was finishing his degree in the United States, so she actually gave birth to me here in the United States. Not only me, but my younger sister. And then we moved back to Honduras. So I was maybe a year and a half, two years old and spent my, my childhood in Honduras. So therefore Honduras became my first language and then moved to the States when I was eight or nine, I believe.

  [00:13:36] Melissa: Oh, fantastic. So we got teenagers, we've got politics, we've got the Kindling project. I mean, there's a lot of updates for the Kindling project. We are halfway through 2023. Gosh, did I say this already? We, we did 20 podcasts last year. We're already more than 20 this year, and we're only at the halfway mark. That's one of the places we've been focusing our energy, aside from [00:14:00] raising teenagers and all the other things that we do. Of course, the Kindling project is our passion project, and it's really moving along at a clip, that business plan that we wrote in January. We're checking things off. Are you excited about this?

  [00:14:13] Monica: I'm, listen. I get so giddy and. I start talking really fast because I get so excited when I talk about Kindle project. People are like, slow down, Monica, slow down. But you know, we're doing this and this and this. To me, it feels, first of all, the last six months have been a great learning curve. I'm a big dreamer. You're a big dreamer. We're always like, yes, we can, we can do anything we want, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we start, you know, putting these amazing big ideas out there. How they actually translate into real time, not always in our schedule, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer than we want. So it's learning to be patient, knowing that we're getting ready to get ready to be ready type of thing. Also, just fun that we are throwing so much at our vision board and our dream board and our dream catcher and our dream catcher is actually catching some of [00:15:00] those things and it's just super exciting.

  [00:15:02] Melissa: It so is, I mean, I don't know, I hope this doesn't sound like bragging, but let me just tick off a few things that we have gotten done in six months, right? So, we produced a workbook, a wellbeing workbook. We've had a handful of sort of casual, small get togethers, popup events for the Kindling project you know, at a coffee house, at a pure bar studio, at a therapy office. We're up to 40- some podcast episodes recorded with the most amazing women we could find. And I really just feel like our intention is being answered and the women that we're attracting really are the inspiration that we were looking for. And we developed a wellbeing program that we have presented now to two different organizations and had a very good response. So we might be doing some wellbeing programming. And then our big event, our big, huge announcement is we're gonna have our own [00:16:00] day long sort of TED talk style event for women here in North Mill, Michigan. You wanna tell our listeners a little bit about that?

  [00:16:08] Monica: Sure. Yeah, this is really fun because we've spent the last six months really listening and learning. We've gone to different network events, we've gone to different talks. We've had one-on-one conversations tuning in with our community. I think we we're in the thousands now, Mel, with our Ignite community and really trying to listen to figure out, okay, when we talk about creating spaces, what does that look like and how do do we define that? And so as you mentioned, our podcast is one of those spaces where we bring really inspiring stories to ignite passion projects. But also we thought, we are now realizing, okay, we need an event, so why not create a Ted-like talk event where we curate some of the most brightest and more inspiring voices of female voices to come into a room, can you imagine gathering in a room with a hundred some [00:17:00] women sharing stories and inspiring action? And these we want to really focus on what is that tiny little fire inside all of us? What is it and how can we help you fuel and fan it? Because that ultimately is our mission. So it's really exciting. You and I are now in the planning stage, which is, by the way, it's like playing, give us all, it's like giving you a bunch of paint and a canvas. And I say, okay, Mel, go.

  [00:17:27] Melissa: I think I like the planning almost more than the execution, like the visioning is The energizing part for me, and I think you really hit on it, is that we really wanna curate voices and stories that inspire people to discover their own kindling project or move their own kindling project forward, or give somebody else a hand you know, a leg up. We see over and over again, and I'm so honored by this, that women are sharing. and connecting. Just this week we had two of, two of my favorite, [00:18:00] although they're all my favorite, but two of my favorite podcast guests got introduced to each other and within a couple weeks they were doing a collaborative gift item that was inspired by the Barbie movie and they were on tv. And I just thought to myself watching that, that's the kindling project. That's the essence of it, is that these women find each other, that they collaborate, that they envision, that they dream, that they conspire together. And I just want more sleeping beauties to wake up and, and put their energy out into the world and see their dreams come true. And it seems so sort of, I don't know, optimistic or Pollyanna-ish of like, oh yeah, of course everybody wants their dreams to come true, but it's happening. Right?

  [00:18:42] Monica: I know. I, I. We have these vision boards, and I know for you, you have that number of 10,000 kindling projects. Like we are going to be responsible for 10,000 kindling projects. And I just said to you at some point this week, no, we've gotta add a few zeros to that. I'm sure we can hit a million because again, that's how I go. I [00:19:00] roll and, and you are more, you are like, well, that's okay, great. We'll do a million. Like can, we've gotta start, we gotta hit 10 thousand first. I'm like, fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, we'll start with the 10,000.

  [00:19:08] Melissa: All right, well we're up to at least a hundred right. I'm taking credit.

  [00:19:12] Monica: That's a great example that, of that collaboration this week. It was very cool to see, and to your point, it's like, can we have more of that? Those little campfires that everyone starts putting together, once they come together, we're just lighting it up. It's, it's a ripple effect that makes such a huge impact, and that is what I get so excited about.

  [00:19:32] Melissa: Yeah, and it, it gives me the, it gives me the energy and the motivation to just keep doing this. Right. It's not like, It's not like this is some sort of, you know, million dollar venture for us, this is like a labor of love. You know, I'm up at 8, 9, 10 pm texting you, what about this idea? What about this person? Have you seen this cool fire starter in our Ignite community? Like putting herself out there, doing her coaching sessions? Or this other fire starter [00:20:00] sharing her artwork. And that's what it's all about. And I think, I feel like at the halfway mark of this year that we're onto something and that there's big things to come. And I just want to invite all of you to participate.

  [00:20:13] Monica: I agree, Mel , I love that. What I love most about us is that, of course we're in business. Of course, profit is a good thing. Of course, we wanna monetize. All those things are very important in, in order for us to sustain ourselves as a business and continue this and be able to spark lots of different fires, we need money. But our intention, Is so honorable and of service. I know at our core, if the minimum we do is create a social movement to wake up sleeping beauties of this world, we will feel satisfied. The rest is sprinkles, right? It the, and that is why we wake up and do it every day. And those intentions, cuz we stay true to that, we know our why. We are so devoted to our why, that everything else will fall into [00:21:00] place and everything works out exactly as it should. It's one of service and that is always to me, a great thing.

  [00:21:06] Melissa: And that's really where I feel like I capture people when I talk about our mission. I always get nodding heads and excitement and you know, a big confirmation for me about this idea of a mission driven project was Amy Peterson. Wasn't she great? And don't you feel inspired by her mission and her success? When you look at Rebel Nell and you listen to her podcast episode her commitment to her people and to the people she serves really, really inspired me. It made me feel like you and I are on the right track.

  [00:21:37] Monica: Exactly. She and all women who are out there doing a social enterprise, kudos to them because they are putting people first.

  [00:21:45] Melissa: If we can have a hand in a hundred or a thousand or 10,000 Kindle projects good on us.

  [00:21:51] Monica: Yes. Yes. And speaking of guests, we probably should back up. We, we really need to communicate one of the not so great things about what's happening to the [00:22:00] Kindling project is our awesome third leg partner amy has decided to sort of step back and take a breather from the Kindling project for many reasons. Specifically is because she's has a full-time gig as a therapist is feeling a little overwhelmed. And is feeling like she can't really give everything she wants to the Kindling project. So she's taking a step back to say, Hey, I need a minute. Let me go figure out things I wanna do. And my kids are growing and I, you know, this is such a finite time with her growing boys and we had to say, okay. We hate to see you go.

  [00:22:35] Melissa: I know,

  [00:22:35] Monica: but we understand.

  [00:22:36] Melissa: It's hard for me, but you know, I started the Kindling project, as you know, and I think a lot of people know with Amy. This is Amy Drummond, not Amy Peterson. I know we made that segue kind of quickly there, you know, in my bedroom, you know, we started recording a podcast and we started visioning for the Kindling project it was the two of us, and then of course you joined shortly [00:23:00] after. And the three, and then it was the three of us and. It was exciting and fun and I felt like, you know, I, I called us the, you know, the three-legged stool and I, I I would love for it to still be that, but I also think that an important value that we have here is to, to encourage women to listen to their inner voice. To let them guide them. And if she's out of bandwidth for this, it's not for lack of commitment or love for it. I know that. And you know, I'm working on letting her go with Grace and she's still my friend and she's, you know, she's still my neighbor and she's still just lovely, delicious person, but she's not gonna be the face of the Kindling project, at least for the moment. I mean, I think we're always gonna have a place for her if she decides to come back.

  [00:23:44] Monica: Anytime. Amy, honestly, I mean, it's a found, she's an original founder and with her energy, and she is just to, to your point, she's that yummy, delicious blanket, who doesn't love an Amy Drummond in their lives? Oh my gosh.

  [00:23:57] Melissa: Yeah, me too, me too. [00:24:00] So, So there's that announcement that at least for the foreseeable future, the face of the Kindling project is just myself and Monica. Hopefully that's okay with y'all, M and m and I think we have the same level of energy for it. I mean, I also have a full-time gig. I haven't walked away from the design agency and you're super busy in our community and with your blog, but it's just being at that right moment at the right time where you're energized by it and I feel like you and I are texting each other and just, just finding the time because it's what we wanna do. And that's really what The Kindling Project is about, is, is getting alignment with what you're excited for.

  [00:24:40] Monica: It's so cool. I'm so grateful for you and, and I'm grateful that we're, we're just willing to learn, make mistakes and move on. I, I was just talking with Holly, but she's an emotional intelligence expert, and we were just talking about life, how that happens. We get hiccups, we do fall, we [00:25:00] stumble, but can we get up quick enough to recover? And that's really so important because it, we all fall, we all sort of stumble. We all, we all get disappointed. Life happens that way. But I think you and I have that sort of like okay. Not where we thought we were going. We are gonna pivot, reroute. We're good.

  [00:25:19] Melissa: Put it in the rear view mirror as soon as you can. It's not to say that we haven't had some hiccups, right? But I don't know any enterprise that doesn't. Right. Whether it's your family, whether it's trying to lose 30 pounds.

  [00:25:32] Monica: And, and we're still learning, we're still growing. And by the way, Mel, we are still open to the fact that we're gonna keep trying these things. Who knows where we end up in next year? Maybe next year we become publishers and we are, we just tell people, you know, we're publishing books, other people's kindling projects. Hey, anything goes?

  [00:25:46] Melissa: I don't know either. I have said like from the very beginning, I'm really kind of agnostic about what the spaces are. We're trying the podcast, we're trying the social media Facebook group. We're doing small popup events. We've got a [00:26:00] big daylong event and a retreat on the horizon. We're creating the spaces. Whichever ones take hold. Those were the ones that were meant to be. I don't have I don't have a super strong attachment to one or the other. It's just about creating the spaces and then watching them take off or not.

  [00:26:16] Monica: Right. As long as women show up and, and, and wanna be part of it, then we'll, we'll keep creating the spaces. That's really what it comes down to. Oh, I mean, in our Facebook Ignite group, I just get so excited when I, when I read other people's posts or when they contribute. It doesn't matter if it's with an emoji or with a long post, but whatever's going on in their lives or just encouraging or inspirational quote. I think this is what it's all about, women connecting, and really having a sense of belonging and really wanting to inspire each other and uplift each other. Do you know that there's not, knock on wood Mel, have you ever read a negative, bad comment, a something posted that [00:27:00] wasn't, and and by the way, we don't, we don't filter the, the, the post.

  [00:27:04] Melissa: No, I've never taken anything down.

  [00:27:06] Monica: Right. We don't filter them. Obviously the only thing we mo monitor is that it's only women that are allowed in that's the only time where we get very, you know, yes or no. Otherwise every post is uplifting, is about contributing, helping. We do have a self-promotion day on Wednesdays, which we want, encourage women to self-promote, but otherwise nobody's trying to sell each other things. That's not the point of this. We never created the community to, okay, what are they selling me now? No, no, no, no, no. It's to inspire, ignite, uplift. You know, create, communicate, connect.

  [00:27:47] Melissa: Find a little kindling. You know when your fire is dimmed and you need a little energy, a little excitement, a spark, I want you to be able to find it with us.

  [00:27:56] Monica: Yes, that's exactly right.

  [00:27:57] Melissa: And I think that's happening.

  [00:27:59] Monica: It is [00:28:00] happening. And of course there's some really shining bright stars in our community that we really are so grateful for. There's some of the women that contribute are incredibly special to us, and we so appreciate that. What's been your favorite part about the Kindling Project?

  [00:28:16] Melissa: For me, it always kind of goes back to sort of the creative direction. The curating. I'm super excited about planning this event. I love this new latest version of our website, the photography we had taken of ourselves and our community came out great. I'm looking forward to doing some videography, so I guess it's, it's the making. It's the making. It's the creating, it's the envisioning. That's the part that I'm most excited about. How about you?

  [00:28:44] Monica: I can't tell you how often this happens. I will be at a coffee shop. I'll run into someone on the tennis court. Someone will say to me like, Hey, you know, I love what you guys are doing at the Kindling project. I love it. I love it. I totally get it. I see it and it's [00:29:00] not, and I don't necessarily need people to give me that constant validation, but when it comes so authentic and comes out of nowhere, Where that to me just lights me up. Oh my gosh. You know, some, and you know, we're, we are growing and we have in the thousands, so I sometimes forget who's in our community, who's not. But by the way, we should tell, our listeners, please invite people. It's free. You know what it's all about only a, it's a good place to hang out. So please, please, please invite your friends. It's so easy. And again, it's free. Nobody's being, you know, we're not trying to sell anything but that, to me, those moments were like, Hey the Kindling project a pretty badass. I'm like, yeah, thanks. That gets me excited.

  [00:29:46] Melissa: Especially when it's a stranger. Cause of course we've invited our friends and family, you know, mothers, sisters, daughters, when it's somebody I haven't met before and they're like, wait. Recently the Kindling project was featured in an article in a, our[00:30:00] hometown magazine. Right. The Vil did a feature on women-owned businesses, and of course we're one of them. And we had a little feature in there. And since then I've had a couple people be like, wait, I saw you in the Vil. I love what you girls are doing. And I agree it's, it's not that I'm like affirmation seeking, but it is nice. It does feel good and it keeps us going.

  [00:30:21] Monica: Yeah, that definitely is the fuel for me. That's what keeps me going.

  [00:30:25] Melissa: Okay, so the next big thing for T K P is our event in October, and I kind of wanna end on that. I wanna wrap up with that and I want to give you all sort of a heads up that we're planning a big day long sort of TED Talk style event for women here in the community. Monica and I live in Northville, Michigan at the Tipping Point Theater on October 19th, and we're actively talking to speakers and guests, and we are workshopping themes and we're really trying to put [00:31:00] together an amazing, inspiring event for our community. And as always, I mean, we're gonna have food from women owned businesses and we're gonna put together gift bags from women owned businesses, and of course, We are going to have a slate of inspiring female speakers, and if you're at all interested in participating, whether it's helping with the event, whether it's speaking at the event, whether it's attending the event, or sponsoring the event, please reach out to Mick or myself through the website, through the Ignite Community. Raise your hand.

  [00:31:30] Monica: Yeah, for sure. And that's October 19th. It's gonna be during the day. We're super excited and of course you'll start seeing lots of details and lots of information filtered through all our handles.

  [00:31:41] Melissa: Well, I think that's a good sort of catch up. What do you think, Mick? We kind of ticked off all the topics of kids and family and, and work and summer vacations and kids going off to college and podcast events.

  [00:31:54] Monica: I know. So much going on, so much fun. We're always looking for ideas too. And, and [00:32:00] people, women who want to please provide us the feedback and give us any feedback is always welcomed.

  [00:32:05] Melissa: All right girls, we'll be back next week with an amazing guest and stay tuned. Stay tuned for more information about the event and what's next for the Kindling Project.

  [00:32:15] Monica: Thanks again, Mel. See you later.

  [00:32:17] Melissa: Okay, bye-bye.