Loren Ridinger On Love & Loss, Turning Pain Into Power, & The Mindset Needed For Success

Summary

Podcast Summary: Loren Ridinger on Love & Loss, Turning Pain Into Power, & The Mindset Needed for Success

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast
• Hosts: Lauryn Bosstick & Michael Bosstick
• Episode: Loren Ridinger On Love & Loss, Turning Pain Into Power, & The Mindset Needed For Success
• Release Date: March 6, 2025

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Introduction

In this heartfelt and inspiring episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast, hosts Lauryn Bosstick and Michael Bosstick welcome Loren Ridinger, the dynamic CEO of Market America Worldwide and Shop.com. Loren shares her extraordinary journey as an entrepreneur, the personal challenges she faced with the untimely passing of her husband JR, and how she transformed her grief into a powerful force for personal and professional growth. This episode delves deep into the mindset required for lasting success, the importance of resilience, and the profound impact of love and loss on one's life and career.

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Early Life and Meeting JR

Loren Ridinger begins by recounting her serendipitous meeting with her husband JR when she was just 18 years old. Working as an aerobic instructor and part-time office assistant at a local gym in North Carolina, Loren encountered JR, a consultant from New Jersey, at a company meeting.

[02:10] Loren Ridinger: "He was like, you gotta go down in the floorboard. Cause I can't let anybody know I'm taking a lunch."

Despite the initial age difference and JR's existing commitments, their connection deepened quickly. Loren vividly describes a pivotal moment during their second date at a cemetery where JR shared a profound philosophy:

[03:48] Loren Ridinger: "They all have a birth date and a death date. All that matters is what we do with the dash in between."

This sentiment resonated deeply with Loren, cementing her love for JR and setting the foundation for their lifelong partnership both personally and professionally.

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Building the Business

From modest beginnings with an initial investment of $5,000, Loren and JR embarked on creating a company that envisioned selling products online long before e-commerce became mainstream. Loren emphasizes JR's unwavering belief in their vision, even when others labeled them as "crazy."

[07:27] Loren Ridinger: "He never quit believing. He just put blinders on and went for it."

Their innovative approach focused on building a vast network of customers and supporters rather than traditional advertising. This strategy enabled them to scale rapidly, achieving $10 million in sales within the first year and $100 million by the third year.

[09:12] Loren Ridinger: "We went in there and we'd say we'd take 500. We'll be committed to selling 1,000, but we could only take 500."

Loren credits their success to their ability to maintain strong relationships with manufacturers and their commitment to reinvesting profits back into the business. This dedication not only fueled their growth but also fostered a loyal and enduring team.

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Relationship Dynamics and Success

Loren and JR worked side by side for 36 years, a partnership that extended beyond marriage into the very fabric of their business operations. Loren reflects on their nearly round-the-clock collaboration and the challenges that came with such an intertwined relationship.

[11:21] Loren Ridinger: "JR married not just me, but he married my family. So all four of us were entrepreneurs."

Despite the intense work schedule, they maintained a loving and respectful relationship. Loren highlights the importance of mutual respect and understanding in sustaining both their marriage and their business.

[14:06] Loren Ridinger: "First of all, you have to really like each other. Even before love, you have to like each other, because love is such a word that we throw around."

Their complementary strengths and shared vision enabled them to navigate the complexities of growing a large-scale company while nurturing their personal bond.

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Tragedy and Loss

The heart of the episode revolves around the sudden and unexpected passing of JR due to a pulmonary embolism, which Loren attributes to a vaccine booster shot. Loren describes the profound impact of JR's death on her life and business.

[20:11] Loren Ridinger: "We were on vacation in Croatia. Three days in, he had a pulmonary embolism. Just died instantly."

The loss was not only emotional but also left Loren grappling with the immediate challenge of managing a thriving business without her lifelong partner. She shares the emotional turmoil and the strategies she employed to cope with her grief while maintaining her professional responsibilities.

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Turning Pain into Power

In the wake of JR's passing, Loren demonstrates remarkable resilience and determination. She recounts her journey through grief, highlighting how she turned her pain into a driving force for personal growth and continued business success.

[35:18] Loren Ridinger: "I was learning to fall in love with myself again. And that's taken time."

Loren emphasizes the importance of seeking support from friends and loved ones, which played a crucial role in her healing process. She also discusses the therapeutic benefits of writing, leading to the creation of her book as a means to process her emotions and help others facing similar challenges.

[56:50] Loren Ridinger: "I did. And almost as an homage to your husband."

Her approach to turning grief into power serves as a testament to the human spirit's capacity to overcome adversity and emerge stronger.

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Mindset for Success

Throughout the episode, Loren shares invaluable insights into the mindset that has driven her and her team's success. She underscores the significance of innovation, forward-thinking, and unwavering dedication.

[51:34] Loren Ridinger: "I want people to be innovative. I want people to think outside the box."

Loren discusses the evolving landscape of e-commerce and the strategies her company is adopting to stay ahead of the curve, including the shift towards live shopping and authentic customer engagement.

[49:43] Michael Bostick: "What do you specifically look for at this point in your career when talent either comes to work with you, for you, or when you're looking at opportunities?"

[51:43] Loren Ridinger: "I just want people to be innovative. I want people to think outside the box."

She also touches on the challenges of managing a large team and the importance of maintaining a trusted, close-knit circle of employees who align with the company's vision and values.

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Personal Growth and Moving Forward

Loren candidly discusses her path to rediscovering herself after JR's death. She acknowledges the difficulties of balancing personal grief with professional obligations but highlights the transformative power of self-love and community support.

[82:14] Loren Ridinger: "You have to reinvent yourself. You have to figure out, nobody's gonna come to your rescue. You gotta call 911 on yourself. You gotta, you know, resuscitate yourself again."

Her dedication to personal growth and her commitment to helping others are evident as she outlines her future plans and the legacy she aims to build in honor of JR.

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Conclusion

Loren Ridinger's story is a compelling blend of entrepreneurial spirit, profound love, and unparalleled resilience. Through her candid reflections on love and loss, she offers listeners a blueprint for turning personal tragedy into a source of strength and inspiration. Her insights into building and sustaining a successful business, coupled with her personal journey of healing, provide invaluable lessons for anyone striving to achieve their own version of success.

Key Takeaways:

• Resilience in Adversity: Loren's ability to navigate the profound loss of her husband while maintaining business momentum exemplifies extraordinary resilience.
• Innovative Mindset: Emphasizing forward-thinking and innovation is crucial for long-term business success.
• Importance of Support Systems: Building and relying on a trusted team and supportive community can sustain individuals through personal and professional challenges.
• Personal Growth: Embracing self-love and personal development is essential in overcoming grief and achieving fulfillment.
• Vision Over Wealth: Focusing on a meaningful mission and the positive impact one can have on others leads to enduring success beyond monetary gains.

Loren Ridinger's journey serves as a powerful reminder that even in the face of unimaginable loss, one can find the strength to rebuild, innovate, and continue making a meaningful difference in the world.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• [03:48] Loren Ridinger: "They all have a birth date and a death date. All that matters is what we do with the dash in between."
• [07:27] Loren Ridinger: "He never quit believing. He just put blinders on and went for it."
• [14:06] Loren Ridinger: "First of all, you have to really like each other. Even before love, you have to like each other, because love is such a word that we throw around."
• [20:11] Loren Ridinger: "We were on vacation in Croatia. Three days in, he had a pulmonary embolism. Just died instantly."
• [35:18] Loren Ridinger: "I was learning to fall in love with myself again. And that's taken time."
• [51:34] Loren Ridinger: "I want people to be innovative. I want people to think outside the box."
• [82:14] Loren Ridinger: "You have to reinvent yourself. You have to figure out, nobody's gonna come to your rescue. You gotta call 911 on yourself. You gotta, you know, resuscitate yourself again."

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This episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast offers a profound exploration of Loren Ridinger's life, blending personal anecdotes with business wisdom. Whether you're tuning in for entrepreneurial insights or inspiring personal stories, this episode provides a rich and engaging narrative that resonates on multiple levels.

Transcript

[Michael Bostick]

The following podcast is a Dear Media Production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.

[Lauren Everts]

Fantastic.

[Michael Bostick]

And he's a serial entrepreneur, a very smart cookie. And now, Lauren Everts and Michael Bostick.

[Lauren Everts]

Are bringing you along for the ride.

[Unknown]

Get ready for some major realness.

[Michael Bostick]

Welcome to the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.

[Lauren Everts]

Aha.

[Unknown]

Lauren Ridinger is gracing us with her presence on the show. She is a successful entrepreneur, and I mean very successful. Okay. She's the CEO of Market America Worldwide. Shop.com. you guys have probably used Shop.com. she's also a motivational speaker, a mother, and an influential businesswoman. I have been wanting her to come on the show for so long. She has such an incredible journey as a powerhouse entrepreneur and a brand builder. And in this episode, it's going to hit all the points. Okay? So we'll uncover mindset, business strategies and personal habits that have fueled her success. She also opens up about the death of her late husband JR and she's so vulnerable and real. In this episode, we flew to New York just to interview her. She is that major. Lauren, welcome to the him and her show.

[Michael Bostick]

This is the Skinny Confidential.

[Lauren Everts]

Him and her.

[Unknown]

Lauren, your journey is absolutely extraordinary. It's wild. And one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the show is because there's a couple parallels with working and building with a husband that only you can understand.

[Lauren Everts]

You guys, I love you guys. I just. You remind me so much of myself.

[Unknown]

And jr. What a compliment.

[Lauren Everts]

It's. It's a. I really love watching you guys. I just feel I see so much of ourselves and. And what we did in this journey and the back and forth between the two of you, and I just adore it.

[Unknown]

We try to have fun.

[Lauren Everts]

No, if we're not having fun, it's not worth doing.

[Unknown]

Let's go back to when you're 18 years old.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, gosh, that was amazing.

[Unknown]

Tell me about how you met your husband.

[Lauren Everts]

I was working at. I first met him, I was working as an aerobic instructor at a gym, a local gym in North Carolina. And he was a consultant for like, you know, one of those ab Buster companies seen on TV back then. You know, that was the form of advertising back in 1988 or 1989. I was also working part time as an office assistant as this manager. And he came in and somebody told us, this guy's coming in from New Jersey and he's gonna be a consultant for this marketing firm. And I was like, okay, great. And they were like, he's gonna hold a meeting at 6pm Everybody has to be there. And I saw him, and when he came in, he was like, wow, you look like a little tiger. I was like, this guy's totally trying to hit on me. But I liked him and I was totally intrigued by him. Didn't say two words to me. That was it. After he said that to me, he didn't talk to me at all again. But he wrote me a note the next day, asked me to go to lunch. I did. He picked me up. He's like, you gotta go down in the floorboard. Cause I can't let anybody know I'm taking a lunch. Why not?

[Unknown]

Cause he was 36, right?

[Lauren Everts]

He was 36, I was 18, and he was working for the boss I was working for.

[Unknown]

Got it.

[Lauren Everts]

So I think he just didn't want anybody to see us together. And I was like, I'm not going down on the floorboard. It's not gonna happen. He's like, you gotta do it. And I did. Like an idiot. But that was the beginning of our journey. Second date, he took me to a cemetery. And I was like, this guy's gonna kill me for sure. This guy's gonna kill me. I'm 18. I'm like, what are we doing here? He goes, get out of the car. I get out of the car. He's like, walk up and down, walk with me, follow me. And I was like, I was scared. And he goes, pick any one of them. Any one of them. Tell me what they have in common. He goes, they all have a birth date and a death date. All that matters is what we do with the dash in between.

[Unknown]

Ooh, that's kind of hot.

[Lauren Everts]

It was hot. I fell in love at that moment. Oh, yeah, I was in love. It was over. And I realized it was in a good space. I had no idea anything about him. I didn't know if he had anything, didn't have anything. If he had a house, a car, if he was renting an apartment. I didn't even know where he was from. But I was madly in love, and I was gonna follow him wherever he went. And I did. And I found out he didn't have anything. But we built this incredible journey together for 36 years.

[Unknown]

Did you guys see something in each other? Ambition wise?

[Lauren Everts]

From the beginning, you know, I, I, what I saw was a guy who had a lot of girlfriends on the side. That's what I saw. I saw a guy who had a lot of girlfriends, and I couldn't understand, like, why are you not just focused on me? And he kept Saying to me, I'm just not on your time zone yet. Give me time. Give me time. And my mom would say to me, lauren, not everything happens when you want it to happen. But there's something very special about him. Stay with him. He's gonna be the greatest husband, the greatest father, the greatest. You know, he's gonna make a difference in a community and thousands of people. And I thought, my mom is so smart. How can she be saying this about a guy who has so many girlfriends? And she worked in a dry cleaners for $3.35 an hour. So she would clean his clothes and then find the letters he would write to other girls and hide them. And I was like, what is going on here? But she would not show them to me. And she shortly, not too long after, passed away. And I found all the letters in her bag. She didn't want me to have him for a reason.

[Unknown]

Oh, my God.

[Lauren Everts]

Is that amazing?

[Michael Bostick]

So do you think she just had the perspective to see what it would be?

[Lauren Everts]

Yes, I think she saw something in him. And I think she was realized that I thought everything. You know, I was in high school, I was, you know, the girl that everybody thought was nice and cool. And I think she thought, like, you know what? You can't have it the way you want it right now, but he'll change.

[Unknown]

What did you do when he had all these girlfriends?

Were you stoic or were you lunatic?

Did you go crazy?

[Lauren Everts]

No, no, I was a lunatic. He had. You're way too young to know this, but he had these little Precious Moment statues, and I would go into his house and just destroy everything.

[Michael Bostick]

By the way, the Precious Moments statues.

[Unknown]

The little precious. No, I know. Precious Moments, like the little sad eyes.

[Lauren Everts]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Michael Bostick]

Why did he have a bunch of those?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, he had, like, somebody would give them to him, so I would just smash them all. I was saluting.

[Unknown]

I was 18.

[Lauren Everts]

I was crazy.

[Unknown]

He probably liked your feistiness.

[Lauren Everts]

He loved it. I think he loved that I was feisty. And then I, you know, after the cemetery, I fell in love with him. But I used to tell him all the time, I'm like, you know, I'm in love with you. And he's like, I like you a whole lot. Don't let it go to your head, Lauren. Don't let it go to your head. And, of course, that would get me every time. And, you know, our relationship really kicked off when, you know, he told me, look, one day we're going to start a company. It's going to be like the Mall without walls. And I was like, well, what does that mean? And he was like, you'll be able to buy your shoes, your clothes, your cosmetics online. This is before Amazon or anything. And I was like, okay. And how do you expect that to happen? Because women like to try their things on. We like to play with makeup. We like to go in the store trying lots of clothes. And he's like, you'll see. And he would go travel city to city state, and I'd go with him, and he'd tell everybody about what was coming. And they would look at him like he was crazy. And I would say, you know, he would come out of that meeting like, what a great meeting, right, Lauren? And I was like, I don't think they thought that. I don't think they agree with us. And he was like, it doesn't matter what they think. What matters is, what do you think?

[Unknown]

So he had this idea and this concept, this vision way before. Like, was the Internet around?

[Lauren Everts]

The Internet was around just beginning. It was called the World Wide Web back then.

[Michael Bostick]

How were people using it at the time?

[Lauren Everts]

It was an information. There was no real products on it. Nothing had really started yet. And, you know, there was nobody gonna sell us products. And we were gonna. We were trying to tell them, look, we're gonna sell these products online. But nobody wanted to believe it back then. They thought we were crazy. And we were like. They were like, well, who you gonna sell it to? He's like, well, we don't have customers yet, but one day we will. You know, today we have nearly 6 million customers. But, you know, he never quit believing. He just put blinders on and went for it.

[Unknown]

It's almost. He was like, Jeff Bezos before J.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, Jeff Bezos spent. He's amazing. He spent so much money, you know, advertising and raising money for Amazon. He did such a great job. I love Lauren. She's incredible. But what we did is we didn't pay for advertising. We paid people instead. And so we built this huge network of people, which was incredible, and customers everywhere. And, you know, before we'd know it, we'd convince we didn't have any money to get products from manufacturers. We'd say, you know, would you make us 500 of them? As soon as they sell, we'll give you a little bit more money. You know, you can charge us 10 cents more, 15 cents more. And we did what we could to make it work.

[Unknown]

How much was it to initially make the first investment? Did you buy the website first? Like, how does that work back Then.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, the funny thing is we didn't buy actually shop.com till 2010. You know, we started with nothing. I think we had $5,000. We hadn't started with the website yet. We were buying names back then. We had so many names to choose from. We were going through so many things and. And then we started to go to manufacturers and say, will you sell us products? And that was the more challenging part because, you know, they want big numbers. You know, they want to have, you know, 10,000 units of this, 5,000 units of that. And we didn't have that type of money.

[Unknown]

So what do you do?

[Lauren Everts]

We did it anyway. We went in there and we'd say we'd take 500. We'll be committed to selling 1,000, but we could only take 500. Now, would you hold it for us? And they would. And so we still have long standing relationships with a lot of those people who believed in us 33 years ago, we. Which is really remarkable because when you think about it today, now, you know, buying 10,000 is a small number for us, but back in the day, buying, you know, somebody who would believe in us to do 100 or 200 bags at once was remarkable.

[Unknown]

What was the tumbleweed of it like? Where did you start to see momentum? Is it five years down the road?

[Lauren Everts]

No, believe it or not, it was, you know, back in 92. Today the world is so different. When we really launched, it was 91, 92. And back in the day, you know, nobody was making money from home. So we were able to offer people a home based opportunity. Now you can work at home, anywhere. You can be an influencer, a creator, you know, whatever you want to be. But back then, people who wanted to make money and work from home, especially moms, love the opportunity. So by year two, we saw our first, like 10 million. By year three, we were 100 million in. We worked nonstop.

[Unknown]

So you grew. I mean, for anyone listening, that's a.

[Lauren Everts]

That'S a big number.

[Unknown]

Back then, when you, especially back then, what was. Do you know your first year?

[Lauren Everts]

First year was about $10 million in sales, so. So you went from 10 to 100 to 100.

[Unknown]

How did you scale that and get the property?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, I got to tell you, we did it all. JR Married not just me, but he married my family. So all four of us were entrepreneurs. And so he had my brother, who ultimately is now the president of our company, my sister, who was a vice president, and my mom had passed away. I told you, at 42, right after I found all these Letters of Jer. So young. Massive heart attack. And My brother was 13. My daughter was just born. You know, she was seven months. Our daughter was just born. She was seven months old. And so after school, we'd make Steve come help us pack boxes. And we did it. Us and a handful of the kids I went to school with growing up in high school. And everybody came in, and everybody who came in at the beginning is still there. And we took care of everybody. We've never lost anybody except, by God, taking them in all these years together.

[Michael Bostick]

So how long did you guys work together? In the entirety of working together? Like, how many?

[Lauren Everts]

36 years we were together.

[Unknown]

That is crazy.

[Lauren Everts]

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 365. JR did not like being apart. He really liked being together. I used to tell him, I go skiing. Get out of the house. Let me push you out of here. I need a little space. And he would be, like, so sweet. He would be like, I want you to go with me. But I thought it wasn't healthy for us to spend so much time together. You feel that way.

[Michael Bostick]

People call us codependent.

[Lauren Everts]

Codependent.

[Unknown]

I'm like, can I go downstairs and get a coffee?

[Michael Bostick]

She's lying, though. She's lying.

[Lauren Everts]

No, but I feel that, because every time I would walk down the hallway, J.R. would be like, where are you going?

[Unknown]

I was like, you do do that.

[Lauren Everts]

I'm like, I'm going to the bathroom.

[Unknown]

I know.

[Michael Bostick]

You know what's so funny, though? Like, individually, I'm a bit of a loner. Like, I. You know, like, I can go out. I can be social, and I. You know, I can do a lot with, you know, obviously, the business I run. I'm with people all the time, like, in an extroverted kind of way. But honestly, like, if I wasn't with her, you could put me on the side of a mountain by myself somewhere.

[Lauren Everts]

My husband was the same way. Very quiet, very much a loner. Didn't need to be around a lot of people, but was super dynamic. Could perform on stage for hours. But when he came home, he just wanted to hang with me. And that was a lot, because I love being with him. But, you know, there's also days you want to kill him. There's also days you want to have your own space. There's also days you're like, okay, let me just be me for a little bit.

[Unknown]

Today I was looking in the mirror at myself, and he literally comes in front of the mirror and starts adjusting his outfit. And I'm just Like, go downstairs.

[Lauren Everts]

Go get something done. Do something. Go get busy. And it's like, I love that he lost.

[Michael Bostick]

He ran in there. And you're like, get out of the bathroom.

[Unknown]

What are you doing?

[Lauren Everts]

I know that you guys love each other like that.

[Unknown]

You know what? I think the key to marriage is simple. And you're sort of saying this without saying it. We like each other.

[Lauren Everts]

First of all, you have to really like each other. Even before love, you have to like each other, because love is such a word that we throw around. The second most important thing is respect. Yep. You have to really respect each other. Cause Jerry used to say to me, once you stop loving me, once you stop respecting me, let me know and I'll leave you alone. And I understood that. And that never happened, you know? Never. I used to say, like, there's days I don't like you today. You know, I was really like, you know, if I had a tough day, I would be like, I just don't like you today. Cause I worked for him, you know, I felt like he was my leader and I followed him. So I'd be like, I'm doing all of this. Do you see all I'm doing? And back in the day, and we talked about this before, back in the day, nobody understood what it was like a woman. It was really hard for a woman to have her shine, to be in that space, you know, he was, you know, a gentle giant, and I was just trying to fit in. I wanted to be seen by him. Not because I wanted to be seen by others. I wanted him to see me.

[Unknown]

That's what I think is so unique about you, is everyone's like, a girl boss or an entrepreneur or whatever. Now, you were doing this before anyone was. I don't wanna say anyone, but you were really leaning into the female entrepreneur side.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, I really believed in female empowerment. And he did, too. I have to say, I have to give him a lot of credit. He. He was always one who was pushing me behind the scenes and going, my wife's awesome. She's amazing. And I'd be like, okay, okay. Sweet.

[Unknown]

He was supportive.

[Lauren Everts]

He was very supportive. And you don't realize how important that is until you don't have it. You know what I mean? And that is just a beautiful journey. That's why I love you guys. When I watch you guys, I crack up. I just think your dynamic together is perfect.

[Unknown]

That's a very nice compliment.

[Lauren Everts]

It's incredible. I watch everything you do, you know.

[Michael Bostick]

Like, similar to the relationship you experience. I think, like, the dynamic exists. Cause we've known each other for so long in such an intimate way that it's like. It's not forced. It's not.

[Lauren Everts]

There's nobody else. Well, Jerry used to say, if it doesn't work out, I'm gonna kill you.

[Unknown]

Exactly. Nobody else.

[Lauren Everts]

There is nobody else.

[Unknown]

You could have just go underground.

[Michael Bostick]

That's why we're kind of pot committed.

[Lauren Everts]

Exactly, exactly. You're pot committed no matter what. You're making this work.

[Unknown]

When you did 100 million in sales, how did you guys continue to scale the business exponentially and grow it Or.

[Lauren Everts]

I will tell you what. J.R. never told us what the finances were. He never shared. Nope. He didn't want us to know. It wasn't until much later I found out. And the reason being is he did not want us to stop working hard. He always. Because remember, he had filed bankruptcy. When I first met him, I didn't know he didn't have anything. I didn't know he didn't have a car. I didn't know he didn't have a house to live in. And I used to think, are you just dating me because I had a license? You know what I mean? The first one I took him, when he took me to that cemetery that time and said, get out of the car. He was going like 85 miles an hour down the road. I was like, you understand in North Carolina you can only go 35. Here he was like, well, if I had a license, I'd go faster. And I thought, I'm with a real lunatic here. But those lunatics are the ones that make it happen, right? And I think that, you know, he never wanted me to know how much money we were doing. He didn't want to spend. He didn't want to spend. He wanted to keep reinvesting in the business. And it wasn't until 99, we had started officially 91, 92. Wasn't until 99 he said, we're going to go buy a house. And I was like, really? Okay, how much money do we have? And back then it was like $5 million in Miami, which was a ton of money to buy a house. And we bought, you know, I think it's the biggest waterfront still in Miami Beach.

[Michael Bostick]

Still own it?

[Lauren Everts]

Yes. Yeah, we've lived there for 26 years.

[Unknown]

That's a good piece of property today.

[Michael Bostick]

I'm sure it's appreciated nicely.

[Lauren Everts]

It's a. Well, I turned down a three digit number.

[Unknown]

I can imagine. Yeah, I'll use my imagination.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, it's a big one. And it was by a big person, so I turned it down. But where are you going to go? I've lived in that house my whole life, and my kids grew up there. My grandkids have lived there. And so I feel like it's our legacy property. You know, he always used to say, when we came Back in 2021, we lived in that house for so many years. And he was like, we need a new look. I was like, what do you mean, a new look? He's like, we're going to get a new apartment this weekend, and we're going to refit this house and do it one more time. I was like, really? Because I'm okay staying in an apartment. I'm good with it. I didn't need all the extra work. It was a lot of headache on me, because managing the business and managing a house is a lot. But he wanted that property for our kids, you know, and for his grandkids. He said, do me a favor. I'm going to get us this apartment. And we moved in the same building with our friends that, you know, Isabella, you know, and we all lived in this building, which was incredible. But we renovated our home, and it's almost done. He never got to see it.

[Unknown]

When you think back, he never got to see the renovation.

[Lauren Everts]

We never. We're just finishing up. But he never got to see it. But I'm gonna move on.

[Unknown]

But he knew you were doing it.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, he got to design it, so we're doing what he designed, but he never got to see it first.

[Michael Bostick]

When you think back on your time with him, from a business perspective, what do you think the biggest lessons he left you with were?

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, I think he never give up. Do the hardest things first. I mean, he was really tough when it came to work. He'd be like, lauren, let's get the hardest things done every day before I get out of bed. He said, before you get out, give me all your time, because I'm gonna lose you as soon as you leave this bedroom. And he would. But he knew it was because I was going in hard at what we wanted to do. But he used to say, you know, give it all. You got the hardest things first, because by noon, you'll own the day yourself. And he was right. And so I would always make my list before. And he would walk by, you know, like, he would come by you behind you in the mirror. He would walk by me at my computer, and he would say, let me see your list. I said, really? Let me look at it. And he'd Take things off the list. He goes, you don't need to spend your time doing that. Do these things. He knew how to time management well, and I learned that well. He used to say, don't give your time freely. Let people have a little piece of you and walk away.

[Michael Bostick]

And how did he figure this out?

[Lauren Everts]

He just innately knew it. I got to tell you, I don't know. He's special. I think my mom saw that in him because so many times I was like, I don't know if I'm going to stay with this guy. He's got girlfriends, this and that. And by the time we'd started the business, he ended up being this incredible leader and somebody who I looked up to and my mentor, my coach. He wasn't just now my husband. I think he just knew. He used to monitor everything I would do, how I would spend my time, wanted to see what I'd do. And at first, it drove me nuts. I mean, does that ever drive you guys nuts?

[Unknown]

I think things he does drive me nuts. But if he was. If he had. If he was dead right now, like.

[Lauren Everts]

I would be able to attack.

[Unknown]

I would be able to get on a mic and be like, oh, that was cute how he did that.

[Michael Bostick]

That's nice. That's nice. If I drop dead, you'd be able to reflect.

[Unknown]

He's alive right now. So I don't have those little sentences.

[Michael Bostick]

She tries to put on a tough facade here. If I was gone, she would be devastated. Devastated, crushed.

[Lauren Everts]

It was. It's.

[Unknown]

No, it's horrible.

[Lauren Everts]

It's horrible.

[Unknown]

It's losing your teammate.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, you know, you lose your partner in life, you lose everything. And I didn't expect it, you know, I just. I wasn't prepared for it. I really. I had no idea. I always thought that, you know, it would be me to go first. I was working like an animal. I was happy to do it. You know, his family lived to. All of them lived till 100. And I was like, this guy should outlive us all. It was kind of a joke around all of us.

[Michael Bostick]

What were the circumstances around his death? That was.

[Lauren Everts]

We were on vacation in Croatia. He had written me in October of 21, and he said, We've done a lot over 36 years together. Let's go take some time to mean you. And I said, can you wait till August of 2022? It's our 30th company convention, and I want to just make it the best thing we've ever seen. He said, you're right. I don't know if we'll ever see one again. And he went on that stage. He performed for four days. I performed for four days. We went to Ben and Jennifer's wedding in Savannah. The two days later. And two days later, he got on the plane to Croatia. I charted a gorgeous, you know, beautiful boat in the Med. And three days in, he had a pulmonary embolism. Just died instantly. From the vaccine? Yeah, from the booster.

[Michael Bostick]

Oh, my God.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah. Lost him. No. No notice, no plan. Woke up that morning, he had been quiet for a couple of days. I'm like, are you okay? He's like, yeah, babe. I'm just. I can't believe you made this happen after all we've done. We're going away. I said, well, when are we going back? He said, it doesn't matter. We'll figure it out. I was like, okay. And we got on that boat, and that morning, he was. We were going to. I was going to take him to see the falls in Croatia. Croatia. The odd thing is, Croatia was always on his bucket list. We had never been there. And I kept saying, why do you want to go to Croatia? Not that I had anything against it. Why not Paris again? Why not, you know, Europe? Why not Italy? Why not do some of the things we like doing? And he was like, I want to go to Croatia. I was like, okay. He was quiet, and I could tell his knee had stiffened up. And he had a sports injury from playing sports his whole life. And he was going to have it looked at by the Real Madrid coach. The doctor was going to look at it for us two days later. We never made it. He woke up that morning and said, I love you, and you have made me the happiest man in the world. And I just want you to know that. I said, why are you saying that to me? Why would you tell me something like that? That's crazy, because saying I love you is very easy. Like, you flipped me over all times of the night. Turn over, baby I want to hold you this way Turn over this way I want to hold you this way I love you was easy, but, you know, when somebody's super successful, you never really know how to satisfy the appetite. So you don't know what really makes them happy or if they're completely content or if they're full. And I needed to hear that in that moment, but I didn't know why he was saying it to me in that moment. And I said, well, don't say that. Of course you make me happy. Why are you saying it like that? He said, I just want you to know you've made me the happiest person. I don't need to go walk the falls because I won't be able to. My knee is stiffened up. I want you to go. And I was like, no, no, I'm not going to go. And we didn't. And, you know, within hours, he took a deep breath and that was his last breath, and that was the end of it.

[Unknown]

Do you think he knew?

[Lauren Everts]

I think I'll tell you what I think I'll tell you. I would have never thought that anyone could know. I think God has it written for us. And I would have never believed it till now. I think that he had some innate sense something was very wrong in the last 24 hours. That somebody. I don't know if it's a spiritual guide. I don't know what it is because I didn't. Would have never thought those things beforehand. I think that somebody comes to you after and says, wrap it up. You know, I think that's what happens because we found a beautiful letter that's in the book about that he had written that we found in his draft folder. I said, thank you for this beautiful journey and all the people we've touched. But our miraculous, turbulent, beautiful love story will be one that will live with me forever. You can be me now. I love you.

[Unknown]

So he had. There was something.

[Lauren Everts]

There was something there. Had no idea he was sick. And he wasn't sick. That's the funny thing. It was just a clot. And we had tested his blood right before he did the second booster, tested it right after. And we did see something on the test. On the second test, I said, why is his platelets up? And they were like, it's nothing. It's probably drank coffee, had a meal before he took the blood test. They were like, go on your journey. We'll see you when you're back.

[Unknown]

When you talk about a vaccine injury, it's something that I've only heard about off air.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, people don't. They don't wanna talk about it.

[Unknown]

They don't come on air and they don't talk about it. And I can tell you I've heard a lot of vaccine injuries off air from doctors and scientists.

[Lauren Everts]

And we knew.

[Unknown]

And I think it's commendable that you're actually coming out and talking about this. How did you find out that that's what it was?

[Lauren Everts]

You know, I'll be honest with you. It's a really good question. I didn't realize it at first, even Though I knew his blood work was off, and I showed it to him. I said, jerry, your blood work is off. Do you want to get on that boat? Do you want to go to Jen and Ben's? I don't know if we should. And he's like, of course we're going. I'm an animal. We're fine. We're good. Everything's fine. We're going. The blood must be off, because I ate in the morning. You know, he made excuses for it. But when we came home, you know, to bring Jarrah home, it took David and Victoria. Beckham got involved. They had to call people who spoke the language, you know, who would speak English and help translate for me to.

[Unknown]

Get his body back.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, they weren't gonna let me take him.

[Unknown]

He was in Croatia.

[Lauren Everts]

We were in Croatia. And they were like, you can't bring him home. I was like, you don't understand. I'm not leaving here without him. He's my husband. He's meaningless to you. He's everything to me. They were like, well, it's not going to happen. It could take a month. And I had so many friends from Alejandro, sons David and Victoria, David and Isabella. Everybody was getting involved, trying to find people to help me. Sure enough, six days later, we were able to bring them home, get a plane, bring him home. And when we got there, they tried to tell me he wasn't going to fit on the plane. I said, listen, we're going to take him out, and he's going to lay right beside me. We're going to take that journey together. And I did that to bring him home, because I wasn't going to leave him there. When we landed, it was like 4 in the morning, and I didn't want. I knew that the press was at a different airport. And I said, I'm not gonna get him. I'm gonna reroute. Took him off the plane. The next morning, I heard people in the kitchen. I had not slept. It's like two hours. I got in rest, hadn't slept this whole week. And I went downstairs and I heard everybody whispering. I said, why are you guys whispering? What is going on? Said the funeral home called and said that JR was deteriorating. I said, well, that's impossible. The ambassador made sure that I embalmed JR because they weren't going to. It's the law to bring a body into the United States. You have to embalm them to bring them home. And I did. I paid for it. And they did it. Said, well, they want to speak to You. I went there, and he said, well, there was entry points, but they were not able to embalm him. So I called immediately Croatia. And little did I know that they did me a favor. They signed those papers, and he told me we had never seen a clot that big. It was so long and stringy that the fluid wouldn't flow through his body. And we've only seen that from the United States vaccine. And so at that moment, everything came together, and I realized. I was like, oh, my God, this just happened. I can't believe this was it. Because I had Covid four times, and I didn't get the booster. And he kept saying, why aren't you getting it? I said, I had Covid four times. He goes, well, I didn't get it. And when I had Covid, Darryl was like, you come behind me, Wouldn't leave me alone. He was like, I'm gonna sleep with you. I was like, you can't. I have Covid. I'm going to sleep in the guest house. And I'd wake up, and he'd be in the bed. You know what I mean? And I was like, what are you doing?

[Unknown]

Oh, my God.

[Lauren Everts]

So it was like, whack a mole. Yeah. It's, like, crazy. Yeah. But he never got it. So he thought the booster worked, or.

[Michael Bostick]

Maybe he got it and it's never had any symptoms or who knows? But, yeah, I mean, it's frustrating that so many people are finding out about these things after the fact. And it's even more infuriating and frustrating that there was this pressure during that time to not raise hands and ask questions and speak. I mean, like, doing this show.

[Lauren Everts]

That's it.

[Unknown]

We can't ask a question.

[Michael Bostick]

We got pushed back all the time during that time for talking.

[Unknown]

If someone wants to inject something in your body and you can't ask a question, the weirdest. I feel like I'm on Mars. No, you can't ask the question.

[Lauren Everts]

We're aliens.

[Unknown]

And by the way, not only can you not ask a question, Maybe I have 20 questions.

[Lauren Everts]

That's it. Maybe you have 20. Exactly. And why are you forcing me to take it right now without me even knowing about it?

[Unknown]

Also, let me think about it.

[Lauren Everts]

Like, let me think about it. Let me see how much testing.

[Unknown]

When you make a business decision, you sit and settle with it.

[Lauren Everts]

No, I settle with it. I don't make if I don't know what to do. Let me tell what my rule is.

[Michael Bostick]

Don't do it.

[Lauren Everts]

Do nothing.

[Unknown]

It's the best. That's the best thing ever.

[Lauren Everts]

Do nothing. Jerry used to say, if you don't know what to do, Lauren, do nothing.

[Unknown]

It's my favorite thing ever. But yet there was like, get it right now. Like you didn't have time to think.

[Lauren Everts]

It didn't. He really believed. And at any other time, honestly, he would listen to the government. But he took it. You know, he was 18 years older. He thought, maybe I need it. And she was.

[Michael Bostick]

How old was he when he passed?

[Lauren Everts]

Almost 70.

[Michael Bostick]

Okay.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

So when you start talking about this, you obviously have a lot of high profile friends. Are you getting pushback or are people like, thank God.

[Lauren Everts]

I think that people, you know, who are okay with me talking about it. I haven't gotten any pushback from anyone.

[Unknown]

So, like there's not like weird government, high up people contacting you?

[Lauren Everts]

I've had people contact me to talk about it for sure or to stop me from talking about it.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[Lauren Everts]

And I think that's won't do.

[Michael Bostick]

Your experience. Imagine not being able to talk about your experience. I think that's the pressure that I'm talking about. People had a specific experience and there's like, okay, even if you had that experience, like, don't question or talk about like, that's not, it's not fair to those individuals.

[Lauren Everts]

Don't. I mean, it's so unfair. It's so unfair. And it's a story that's going to be told. It's going to. It's happening too much. We're hearing about it now.

[Unknown]

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I am all about a good Netflix series. So is Michael. Popcorn, little candy, snacks on the couch. Let me tell you about a specific one that we just watched. Kate Hudson is in it. Kate Hudson, she's obviously a comedy gold. And she's in Netflix hilarious new series Running Point from Mindy Kaling, the genius behind Never have I Ever and the Mindy Project. I'm sure you guys know her. She's fabulous. So here is the background. When a scandal rocks, the Los Angeles waves. One of the most iconic pro basketball teams, Isla Gordon, steps up to run the family business. Sure, her brothers in the board aren't thrilled and the sports world is raising eyebrows, but Isla, she's about to show everyone she can run the game better than anyone expected. She's calling the shots. Like it or not, we love her. This sharp, edgy and hilarious comedy serves up the perfect mix of dysfunctional family drama. And trust me, you'll want to catch every minute of Kate Hudson proving the haters wrong while everyone tries to block her shot. Running Point is now streaming only on Netflix. Get ready to binge your new favorite comedy. I'm telling you, this is one that I put my kids to bed early, I dim the lights, I got my snacks, I got my blanket and I was ready to watch. You'll love it. Running Point is now streaming only on Netflix. Get ready to binge your new favorite comedy.

So I just wonder because you have such a voice and a platform and, you know, all the things that I just wonder if there's people who want you to basically shut up.

[Lauren Everts]

I'm sure, yeah, I'm really sure that there is. And I just, for me, I just will only share it with people. And that's, I think, a big part of the message.

[Michael Bostick]

Just us two and a couple listeners.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, us two and a couple listeners. But, you know, I feel like it's a story that has to be told at some point. It's one that we have to see. It's like you said, I want to make that decision. It should be my choice. You Know, there was a time you couldn't even be in New York and you couldn't go anywhere unless you took the vaccine.

[Michael Bostick]

Yep.

[Lauren Everts]

Remember that? It's kind of crazy, you know? At least Florida, you know, we could get away with not taking the vaccine. But he just, you know, was told, okay, this is the age. This is the age. I gotta take it. She had Covid four times. I didn't. And so he believed it. Never once did we say, what are we doing? Until he took the booster, and he said, why aren't you taking it? I said, this ain't done shit for me. I've had Covid so many times, you know, and so I didn't.

[Unknown]

So looking back, you obviously wished.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, I'm mad at myself. I even had him let him do it. I'm mad at myself for letting him do it.

[Unknown]

Well, you didn't. I mean, you.

[Lauren Everts]

I know, but, you know, you go through that. You go. The journey of grief is one I cannot ever. I don't wish on anybody. I had. I lost my mom. She was young. I lost my dad when he was young. I knew grief. I didn't know anything like this, you know? It's like, I know how much you guys love each other. I see it all over you guys. I didn't know how I was gonna survive it. I really didn't. I didn't know how I was gonna come out of it. I didn't know if I could come out of it as strong as I was. It wasn't until Serena Williams, you know, had sent me a passage one day. And in that passage, she was sending me passages every day. She's such a great friend of mine. And in that was this advertisement from Miami for, like, a small grief group that was going on on Mondays. And I decided, you know what? I'm gonna go. I had fired, like, four therapists. Cause everybody's like, are you gonna date again? Are you gonna this again? I was like, damn, I'm just trying to survive, man. I'm trying to find, like, myself again. I was trying to find me again. You know, I was in charge of my house. I was the boss of us. I was. You know what I mean? He liked that. He liked that I took care of our family. And so now I was all that confidence he had instilled in me. I'd lost it all. And that was, like, starting over again was the most painful experience of my life.

[Unknown]

And how do you replace such a presence that is a partner like that?

[Lauren Everts]

It just was the worst, worst feeling. You cannot When I lost Jar, it was like a hundred times worse than losing my own parents. I knew him longer. I loved him with my life. The guy who believed in me, the guy who saw things in me, the guy who would have entrusted me with anything. And the things he even wrote to me at the end, even in his will, about how I changed his life to things that, you know. He wrote me 5,000 love letters, by the way.

[Michael Bostick]

Oh, okay.

[Unknown]

You better fucking get started.

[Lauren Everts]

Where is my 5,000 love letters?

[Unknown]

How do you know how he wrote 4,000?

[Lauren Everts]

Because I, as the psychopath that I was. After he passed away and I was a lunatic, you know, mad angry, I searched our homes. I found everything he had. I'd saved them all.

[Unknown]

You got.

[Lauren Everts]

You.

[Unknown]

You got about 4,500 to go.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, you got a lot to go, babe. Here's the thing.

[Michael Bostick]

Until 70.

[Lauren Everts]

So you got time.

[Michael Bostick]

I got time.

[Lauren Everts]

You can do it, but do a lot. But here's the thing. I used to say to him, like, he could be sitting where you guys are and write me, and I'd say, why are you writing me when I'm right here? He's like, cause I don't want you to misunderstand anything I have to say about you, because I love you and I want you to know it always.

[Unknown]

He sounds like a very special.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, he was very special. He was a pain in the ass, too. Don't get me wrong. Those days that there's pain in the ass days. But when I say love, he knew how to express it. When I look back at some of the letters, like, early day letters are funny because they would go like, I like you so much. Don't let it go to your head. Don't try to control everything. I'm just trying to be a good guy. And then the next letter would be like, I love you so much. But our journey was, as he said in the end, very turbulent and very, very much full of love and adventure. And I think that, you know, when I think about the journey of that relationship, working it out no matter what, you know, I used to be pissed off. At the end of the day. I'd be like, I'm done. You know, we're gonna get a divorce. He's like, why do you throw that word out so easy?

[Unknown]

He says whenever I say that word, he gets so mad.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, he would, like, be.

[Unknown]

Michael gets mad, too.

[Lauren Everts]

James would get mad.

[Unknown]

Why put that in the ether?

[Lauren Everts]

And why put that out there? And he would go to our daughter. He's like, your mother's so Mean, she throws that word out so easily. And I was like, I'm done. And then he'd be like, you, you can't leave me. I'll kill you. You can't. And, you know, it took me a while to really understand that he didn't want to use words like that.

[Michael Bostick]

Yeah, I, I get that. I don't. I think, like, you know, words have power.

[Lauren Everts]

They do. And he didn't like it.

[Unknown]

Sometimes women just want, like a period effect.

[Lauren Everts]

That's it.

[Unknown]

And that word, like, really, like, drives it home.

[Lauren Everts]

God, it's like, wake up.

[Michael Bostick]

I know some people can throw a word around, you know, they throw it around flippantly. But if you throw it around enough, like, and it actually becomes a reality. I think that's when people.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, he used to say, Lauren, your words are powerful. Every time he used to say, like, if I could think something, he's like, be careful what you think, Lauren. It always happens. And then after we've, you know, been super successful, had lots of homes in our life, he's like, stop thinking about houses. Stop thinking about that. Stop. You guys, I don't want anymore. We can't have anymore. You don't need anymore. We don't need anything. I was like, okay, what was that.

[Unknown]

Like for you guys as a couple who, as you said, came from sort of nothing and making all of this money together? How and when you did realize how much money the company was doing, what was that like? Did you start going on a buying spree?

[Lauren Everts]

No. It was funny because he never saw money as a scoreboard. He didn't want me to see it. He didn't want us to have actually put it away, reinvest it in the company.

[Unknown]

He kept you humble.

[Lauren Everts]

He kept us humble. He used to say, don't forget where we came from. We'll never find our way back, Lauren. And so we had grown to. By the time we were doing six, $800 million a year, it was the time I was like, you know, what's gonna happen now? He's like, nothing. All we can do is help more people, help more people to become entrepreneurs. That's all I care about. And that's where he would spend his time, is helping these people have their own home based business, their own, you know, marketamericashop.com store. And that meant so much to him. And, you know, I never really asked. I made my own money. I never really asked me. He paid me well. I never asked him for anything. You know, I live by a real strict budget. He made me Go through the budgets every month, house budgets every month. He made me understand him. If something was $25 over on a light bill, he'd say, why do you think it's over on this? I was like, I don't know, but I'll pitch in the 25 if it'll help. You know what I mean? The conversation from stopping, that's amazing. I would just be like, are you serious? But that's what made him great.

[Michael Bostick]

How did you guys manage the people around you when you start having that kind of success? Because I imagine that that can be a challenge.

[Lauren Everts]

It was a challenge. That's always the hardest challenge. I don't know that we have the solution for that still. I still think that you have to build a solid team around you. But one thing I've realized is, instead of me having a lot of people, I keep a very little circle around me, and I make sure those people have a lot more people than me. And the reason why I do that is I'm better off with a small group I have to deal with that I can trust.

[Unknown]

How do you do that with your employees?

[Lauren Everts]

I gotta tell you, I am really conscious of it. I just. You can ask anybody in my house. The manager, the house manager, they'll all have assistance, but I won't. I'm like, you know what? Cause you guys get what you need to help support my needs, But I just want to deal with the three of you. And it has worked for me. And Jarrah was very private. He did not want a whole lot of people in the house. If he wanted eggs, he wanted me to go get them. You know what I mean? If he wanted cereal at night, he's like, can you get me some cereal?

[Unknown]

He didn't want a bunch of help.

[Lauren Everts]

He didn't. He really liked having his own little world with me. And I think in many ways, I used to think, you do realize how much I do all day, right? Like, he's like, yeah, I love it. I love how much you do. It means so much to me that.

[Unknown]

You feel like, how were you guys able to have antennas for people who were around you both for the wrong reasons?

[Lauren Everts]

I think I just became so guarded. Yeah, I became so guarded. I became, you know, you become very protective and very conscious of what's around you. You guys know you have to do that. You have to do that. It's very important that we're aware that we don't put too many people in the circle that you've checked. Every time somebody would say, hey, can we Come over the boat tonight. Bring our new friends. I was like, do you have a resume for them? Cause, you know, you're conscious. You're aware. You wanna be sure of who's in that circle. Jer had this really strict rule. If they had a negative attitude, he did not want them around him.

[Unknown]

I don't blame him.

[Lauren Everts]

He did not want that.

[Michael Bostick]

I think, like, you wanna be. You wanna help people, and you wanna bring people up, but then at the same time, you wanna make sure people are there for the right reasons.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, you wanna make sure people want the same thing you want. Or, you know, even if it were like my dad, when I first, you know, started dating my dad, I mean, my. My husband Junior, my dad was very, very not happy with that. He wasn't approving of that. He didn't like it because of who.

[Michael Bostick]

He was or because the age difference.

[Lauren Everts]

He didn't like that he didn't have any money, and he didn't like there was an age difference.

[Unknown]

He made up for it.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, he made up for it much later.

[Michael Bostick]

It's like what dad does, you know?

[Lauren Everts]

But my dad was a pain in the ass, and he wasn't. Didn't really care about what I wanted. What he cared about was what he wanted. And no offense, I love my dad, God bless him up there. But, you know, at 19 years old, he was like, you're going to go be a flight attendant. I was like, I don't want to be a flight attendant. He's like, well, you're living in my house. You're going to go get a job. I was like, no, we are. I'm with this new boyfriend of mine, and we're going to have the mall without walls, and one day, people are going to buy whatever they want, need, right online. He's like, well, that's nonsense. It won't happen. They got me in the car, drove me, and made me stand in line in North Carolina with 300 people waiting in line, okay. Who all wanted to be a job as a flight attendant. Not that there's anything wrong with being a flight attendant. I'm afraid to fly, so I didn't want to do it. So by the time they called my name up, they're like, what makes you want to fly the friendly skies? It was Eastern Airlines, which is way before your time. And they were like, what makes you want to fly? I said, I don't. I don't even like your airlines. I like American. I don't like anything about your airlines. I don't want to do this, and I did. Said all the things not to get the job. I got the job. One week later, I had to go to report to Atlanta and train for four weeks. JR Picked me up at the airport and said, listen, Lauren, after I got back from training, he said, if you don't go home right now and tell your father that you don't want to do this, you're going to become a version of yourself you don't recognize. You're going to become a person you never meant to be. You got to tell him right now. I went home. I told him, dad, this is the end of my days of flying the friendly skies. I packed my bag and showed up at his house. That was the only part I didn't tell jr. I didn't tell him I was going to move in with him at that moment, but I did. And that was really the beginning of our journey. And when I think about all of those lessons along my lifetime and all the things that we did, you know, he must have thought I was crazy. This girl's 18, 19 years old, showing up in my doorway with her bags. Her dad basically told her, get out of the house. And he did.

[Unknown]

One thing I find so impressive about your whole journey is you guys, it's a 30 year build of a company.

[Lauren Everts]

Correct. I'm 33 today.

[Unknown]

33 today.

Today.

[Lauren Everts]

And this month coming up, we're coming up. One more month will be 33 years.

[Unknown]

When you guys set out to do this, did you have a strategic plan? Did, did you and JR talk about selling it? Was there, like, what was the, the longevity?

[Lauren Everts]

He wanted to stay with it forever. Okay, Is that what you want? That was his thing. I don't know what I'll do. I think this, that's where I want to go. That's what I want to do. Right now I'm in this phase of, I love, you know, seeing the future way ahead. And so I'm thinking about where the Internet will be. And I think it will move forward into live shopping. I think it will do, you know, we don't need TVs anymore. They're not a necessity. Right. They're an accessory today. So I have to see things differently. I think more products will sell on podcast than anywhere. I think more, more products will sell on live tv through a phone. I think I have to think about outside of the box, moving people out of just realizing they're not going to be on their computer. I think they'll become a, a very, a time very soon where people can, you know, pick the Water. Customize the water just the way they want it and have it sent to them. I think, you know, we're moving into a different phase and I'm really preparing my team. And you know, my, my brother, who, Mark, who's the president of our company, is right there with me, like right now. We've been full strategy how we're going to prep our team. And it's hard for them to grasp that sometimes, but that's where I'm going. I'm five to ten years ahead right now. And I think if you're not thinking that way, you're going to have a problem. We have to be prepared for that. And I never did that before. I think it's happening from upstairs. Yeah, I think he's sending that messages to me. So I think I know what to do. He was a visionary. He'd always see things before they'd happen. And I feel like he's sending that to me now. And that's why I'm working on it now.

[Unknown]

How are you in the boardroom with a bunch of guys?

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, I'm tough.

[Unknown]

I wanna know exactly set the scene.

[Lauren Everts]

I'm not gonna lie.

[Unknown]

Yeah, what is it look like?

[Lauren Everts]

If I said I was nice and sweet, they would be laughing behind my back right now. I'm tough. J.R. used to tell me, you're a person who doesn't produces a non producing person's nightmare. Lauren, I'm tough. I like to get it done. I want people to think logically. I didn't get to go to college. You know, we didn't have the money. I had to do everything from, you know, hard work. I had a blood, sweat and tears. I had to prove myself. My brothers had college educations. I didn't. I needed to work harder. Everybody on my team, I wanted to work harder than everybody. All of the vice, we have 10 vice presidents. I wanted to work harder than all of them. I wanted JR to see me instead of seeing them. And so I worked to show off for him. Not. I didn't care what other people think. I wanted to know what he thought. And because of it, I think he was blown away. And because of it, you know, I would make sure it would work. And, you know, I got to the point where he'd be like, okay, how do you know this is going to work, what you're going to do? I was like, because we're going to make it work. And I'd learned that from him when we first started. So, you know, I think it's a whole new World today, I don't think it's about E commerce. I do think that right now, even you guys, I think you sit. You know, I know you have your mouth tape, right, which I love. I got you something. I love it. I can't wait to use that tonight. But I think, like, this is where products are going to move. And I think people need to understand it's about authentic conversation, which is why I love you guys. That authentic, real and more than authentic. I prefer the word transparent. I like the word transparent because that's what conversations really move product.

[Michael Bostick]

It's funny, like, doing it. Obviously I run like front facing. People say, oh, he's in a podcast business. But I just look at it as an aggregator of attention.

[Lauren Everts]

First of all, you guys are an aggregator of great people, great products. That's very nice. It's way more than attention. It's way more than that. What you guys are doing is highlighting great people because you're great people.

[Michael Bostick]

Well, thank you.

[Lauren Everts]

You're getting people. When I watch you guys, I'm watching you guys. Cause I actually love you guys. I feel like you've invited us in your living room, your family. That's how I see it. And that's what will move more product than anything that moves the needle. Not just not. And that's where I'm trying to get my team to understand it's not about just what's happening online anymore. We can't think that way. If we want to be innovators and move with the times, we got to be able to think much bigger.

[Michael Bostick]

Yeah, well, I appreciate you saying that. So nice. But selfishly, what I tell people all the time is like, Lauren and I get the benefit of sitting with people like yourself all the time. Right. And so for us, like, you're right. You have to. You kind of have to like, move with it. But also like you, you learn things and you see things maybe before they start to happen on a mainstream level.

[Lauren Everts]

You guys are seeing things before they happen.

[Michael Bostick]

But that's what I'm saying is you see it because of the.

[Lauren Everts]

Of course.

[Michael Bostick]

It's like, it's just like a pattern.

[Lauren Everts]

You couldn't see it if you weren't you weren't it. You just couldn't see it if you weren't it. Trust me.

[Unknown]

Well, you can all take that from the queen entrepreneur.

[Lauren Everts]

I'm telling you.

[Unknown]

I'll take that compliment.

[Lauren Everts]

What? The fact that you guys can see it means you have it. And the reason why I know it is that, you know, Jerry used to tell it to me all the time when I was unsure of myself. You know, the first time that he told me, do you believe in this? And he said, you have to speak. I was like, I can't. I'm afraid to speak in front of people. I'm 18. I don't speak. And I passed out in front of, like, 10 people. I was so embarrassed. And he was like, get up, get up. You were amazing. I was like, I was awful. I wanted to break up with him. I just wanted to go back to North Carolina at that time. And I was from Florida, but I'd met him in North Carolina, Carolina, and I was like, I just don't want to do this thing again. And he goes, lauren, you're going to be the greatest female speaker one day. You just don't know it.

[Unknown]

And now you speak everywhere.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, it's just now I speak in front of 20,000 people, you know, 15,000 people. I do it all the time, but it's part of who I am. It's my DNA. But it never was in the beginning. It took me time, and I just kept trying. And it's when you can see that in somebody, like, he saw it in me, or I can see it in you guys, you know, that's because you have it in you. It's like when I watch you guys, when I saw her mouth tape, I was like, I'm getting that. I'd already bought a whole bunch. Don't you worry. But my point is, I'll take it anyway. That. Leave it here. But my point is this. There's so much more. This is just the beginning.

[Michael Bostick]

Yep. What do you specifically look for at this point in your career when talent either comes to work with you, for you, or when you're looking at opportunities?

[Lauren Everts]

I just want people to be innovative. I want people to think outside the box. I want people to come with opinions, ideas. I don't believe in the time where people should go into a boardroom and not have a thought, not have an opinion, not have a, you know, you want to go make it happen attitude. Just don't be like, rah, rah, and yes, me. I want you to tell me what we're going to do. Tell me what excites you. Tell me what moves you. Tell me what's going to move people, what will move the needle. I think that people stop thinking, and that drives me nuts because there's so much up here and we don't share it. And so, so often, like, I'm always promoting people to a different level. Cause I look for them. I'm like, I don't care if you started at nothing, you know, I want you to be the biggest thing ever. But you gotta think. You gotta think. You gotta tell me, how are you gonna do it? How are we gonna get there? You know, Christian, who I brought here with me today, had been working with JR for years behind the scene. You know, backstage, walking with us, taking care of us on the stage. As soon as JR passed away, he saw me trying to become two people. I was now two people who had not replaced myself. Cause remember, I worked for jr. I was one of his, you know, as the senior vice president, I was one of his people. And then I had to figure out a way, how was I gonna do that job and my job. And he stepped right in. He started pick up saying, I'm gonna help you do this. I'll help you do this. He would help my brother Mark do that. Before you know it, I was like, okay, guess what? You're gonna become an executive vice president. He was like, really? I was like, yeah. See, you can change someone's life if they start to help you change others.

[Unknown]

I also think what you said, that's so important too. It's like if you're working for someone or you're on a team, always give extra added value.

[Lauren Everts]

You do.

[Unknown]

When you're like, that's not my job, oh, God, I tune out.

[Lauren Everts]

I'm not that. That's not a good thing around me.

[Unknown]

It's like, how can you add more value, which then adds more salary, which then adds more title?

[Lauren Everts]

And by the way, isn't it better than mine? I'd rather have fewer people with a lot bigger salaries than a lot of people who are not thinking outside the box.

[Unknown]

How big is the company now?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, right now we're about 980 employees. There's 180,000, you know. Marketamericashop.com Salespeople sell little entrepreneurs who sell our products all over the world. And, you know, we're doing about $700 million a year right now. We took a dive when J.R. passed away. And then I got right back to work. And at first I let it happen for a moment. I wanted people to know that he had such a big contribution to who.

[Unknown]

We were, what a wife.

[Lauren Everts]

And I was like, you know what?

[Michael Bostick]

Let everything crash and burn when I'm going to let it go.

[Unknown]

And then you get what you're saying.

[Lauren Everts]

You know what I'm saying for a moment. Because here's what happens. And they know this. I Wrote this in the book. I was very transparent. I was angry. You know, there's an angry Lauren in chapter one. And by the end, I start to find myself again. But I wanted people to understand. See, there was this beautiful team that we had built, but some of them always think they know more than others. And they were like, well, we should do it this way, Jer. And, you know, do it that way. And it's not that some of them didn't have great ideas or all of them at some point, but some things Jer just knew. And Jer used to say to me, maybe I'm not needed anymore. I said, stop saying that. You're our leader. Of course you are. Don't ever say that, by the way, till you're ready to really mean it. Because they say that once you say it.

[Unknown]

Yeah, you gotta be careful of that.

[Lauren Everts]

They say once you. I didn't hear that till later. It says, until once you start to say that, then, you know, God can call for you.

[Michael Bostick]

But that's what I'm talking about with language. I'm very careful, actually, about, like, these serious things that I say about that.

[Unknown]

That's interesting that he started to say that.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, he would say a couple times towards the very end, he would say, you know, maybe I'm not needing anymore. It's like, that's not true. He's like, no, I know you need me. Maybe I'm not need anymore. And by the way, don't you ever worry you can always do this without me. You will always make it. But I think when people's, you know, their egos get in the way, right? And when that happens, it gets messy. And when he passed away, those egos couldn't save anything. And I wasn't in a rush. I needed to go through what I needed to go through. And it wasn't until I called Mark and I said, mark, let's get in there and go back to work. I'm going to leave next week on a tour. I'm going to go back out in the field. I'm going to go back out to our leaders, and I'm going to travel to 32 cities, and I'm going to show up because. Are you crazy? I said, no, just let's get a plane and let's go next week. And we did, and things started to escalate back up again. And now, you know, we're back to doing where almost where we were when Jared passed away. But it's been a journey. And for me, it's more about. I Only want to do it if I can change somebody's life. Because there's no amount of money that can change my life or my kids life anymore. But there are many more people we can help. And that's why I only want to work around innovators. That's the reason why I only care about working around the best of the best. You know what I mean?

[Unknown]

I think that's what's so interesting about you, too. Another reason I wanted you on the podcast is you don't need to write this book for money, for fame, for a business card. Like, it seems to me that you wrote this book to help other people and also at the same time, heal yourself.

[Lauren Everts]

I did.

[Unknown]

And almost as an homage to your husband.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah, to him. I wanted the story to be told about him, but I also, I was mad at myself. I didn't see how important. When he would say, words have meaning, Lauren, you know, and I would be like, oh, don't be ridiculous. You know, I love you. I'm just kidding with you when I say things or, you know, or he was incredibly sensitive to words and I didn't see it at the time. You know, I would be like, it's okay. Get over it. Don't be a baby. And we got really good in the last 10 years of life, of sitting down and saying, you guys should do this sitting down. And he would say, every six months, I want us to sit down and say what we don't like about each other so we can work on it. And I say, really? How do we do that? And he's like, well, during that hour or two, we can't be mad at each other for whatever we say. And we have to take it and walk away and say, you know what? I'm going to accept that. I understand how you feel, and I don't want you to feel that way. It's hard and it's hard to do.

[Michael Bostick]

How do you. What was the exercise? To not be defensive?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, it was hard. We just had to really practice discipline. And he was disciplined. I wasn't. I'm the loose cannon, you know, I'm the loud one, the boisterous one, the one who was in charge.

[Michael Bostick]

Let's do an exercise. Who's the loose cannon in this relationship?

[Unknown]

Me.

[Lauren Everts]

It's Lauren and Lauren. It's Lauren and Lauren.

[Michael Bostick]

I just want to see where we're at with the self awareness.

[Lauren Everts]

I love it. Yes. Thank God she's bringing the color to your life. But he would say things like, I don't like when you Always take your brother's side in the middle of a business meeting. And I would say, don't be a baby, Derek. Come on. Are you kidding me? It's ridiculous. You're the leader of this company. It's my brother. What do you expect? He's like, it really hurts me because I want to know, do you agree with me? I was like, yeah. He's like, well, then can't you show it to me? So I started to change the way I spoke to him. And I would say things like, I understand how you feel. I don't want you to feel that way. Let's work on that. And he felt seen. Even if I didn't agree with him, I changed the way I spoke to him. And people around me saw that, and it changed our relationship even better than what it was.

[Unknown]

He sounds like really effective with how he's like, let's sit down and say what we don't like about each other in this hour and let's fix it.

[Lauren Everts]

And that was hard for me.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Lauren Everts]

Cause I just wanted to throw things or be pissed off, you know?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Michael Bostick]

Throw a tantrum and.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah. You know, it's childish.

[Unknown]

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[Michael Bostick]

I feel like when you're in. I hope we have this. And it sounds like for sure you guys have this. When you're in such a close relationship and you love each other so much, you can start to be liberal with words because you're in such a safe space. You say things to people that like you would never say to another ever colleague or friend because you, because if you said it, it's almost absurd. If you, if you know, if you said it to somebody else, even if they're a close friend of yours, it would potentially tarnish the relationship. But when you're in intimate relationships, you'll say things. So I always tell her all the time, I'm like, whenever we're having this right? So I'm like, talk to me as if you're talking to so and so person or someone you respect because you.

[Lauren Everts]

Would never say something like that. I love that you. Yes, I know exactly what you're saying. And you're very much like J.R. and she's very much like me. And I love you for saying it because he's right. At the end of the day, I've learned it the hard way. I've learned it the hard way because I was the, you know, and not by the way, J.R. loved me because I brought the color.

[Michael Bostick]

She knows I'm not going anywhere. And so she feels, you know, you can take. And I'm not. Listen, I'm not complaining, but I think again, if you enough of that for a long enough period of time can.

[Lauren Everts]

Be harmful, of course. And you know what's so great about it is that you understand that. That you say that because it's true. And when you would think about the kind of conversations when, you know, you can have such a safe space and you can say things that you would never think to say to in a million years to anybody but this person. Which, by the way, doesn't happen when people are married for 10 years. Sometimes they're not the one. You know what I mean?

[Unknown]

Sometimes you're not saying the real stuff.

[Lauren Everts]

Sometimes it's you, right? There's not. Everybody's gonna be like, you guys. They could be. How long have you guys been married?

[Unknown]

We've known each other since we were 12.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, my God.

[Unknown]

We've been married for, I don't know, a long time.

[Michael Bostick]

Well, we got married in 2016, but we got together.

[Lauren Everts]

You've been together your whole life? Practically.

[Unknown]

Practically. But we had other liaisons.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, my God.

[Michael Bostick]

We've officially been together since I was 20 years old. I'm turning 38 in March.

[Lauren Everts]

I love that.

[Michael Bostick]

But then, you know, when we were kids, we date. We've known each. I mean, so I guess, like, I've known her since.

[Lauren Everts]

You've been in love with her your whole life?

[Unknown]

Well, listen, I was his first blowjob, so what's not to love? He got a blow job from me and he was like, damn, I don't need a blow job from anyone else.

[Lauren Everts]

He's like, that's it. You have what? I'm done. Glad and sick girl, done.

[Michael Bostick]

I don't know what it is, but she showed up at school in the sixth grade. And listen, I was.

[Lauren Everts]

She looked so hot.

[Michael Bostick]

I was like 4 foot 2. I hadn't even gone, you know, I wasn't even grown up yet. She came in fully developed, so I had my little girlfriend at the time. I was like, listen, I gotta go. I gotta go.

[Lauren Everts]

There.

[Michael Bostick]

It must have stuck. It must have just stuck.

[Lauren Everts]

That's her. And you remember loving her that much then I think it. Well, yes, but I think I love that.

[Michael Bostick]

I think it was also a bit of a lust situation going on.

[Lauren Everts]

First of all, it's not a lust. Cause you're still with her, but still lust. Cause right now, don't forget, she's pregnant. Oh.

[Michael Bostick]

Her dad caught us in the closet when we were 12 years old together, naked.

[Lauren Everts]

Stop.

[Michael Bostick]

It was.

[Lauren Everts]

Stop. That was messy.

[Michael Bostick]

It was messy.

[Lauren Everts]

You were messy.

[Unknown]

We got in trouble.

[Lauren Everts]

We got in big trouble. Thank God you Ended up marrying her.

[Michael Bostick]

Dad, pulling her out. And I called my dad. I was like, I'm in real trouble. And all I heard on the other end of the phone was just laughter.

[Lauren Everts]

I just think this story is just everything. That's why I love you guys.

[Unknown]

Well, you guys are an inspiration with how you've worked together for so long. And I can say I know this. He would be so proud of what you're doing.

[Lauren Everts]

Thank you.

[Unknown]

At this moment, with everything, to talk about it like, this is incredible.

[Lauren Everts]

I think this. It's just the journey of. Of healing. It's the journey of figuring out. Because I really didn't think I could get through it. I thought, if I could do this, you know, I'll try my best to give it my best shot. You know, I've done it my whole life with him for 30 years, but let's see how it goes. But then I just heard him say, lauren, come on. You've been doing this with me. It's not about the money. It's about who we can help get up and do it. And I did. And the more I did it, the more I built my confidence back up. And now I get in the mirror and I'm like, okay, Lauren, you're great. Let's go to work today. Okay, let's do it. You gotta show up for yourself. And, you know, you have to reinvent yourself. You have to figure out, like, nobody's gonna come to your rescue. You gotta call 911 on yourself. You gotta, you know, resuscitate yourself again. You gotta bring yourself back to life. And I think I've really done a good job doing that, and I'm proud of myself. But I do know that the book is more about finding yourself again. Cause you can't write a book about grief. Because I can't fix that for somebody. I can't fix it for me. It's going to be there forever. You will always want that Lauren and J.R. back. You will always want the old days of Lauren and JR but you have to realize that Lauren has this new journey, and she's gonna go on it. She's gonna make it the best she can. And I think it's. When my grandson wrote to Santa for Christmas, he wrote, dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is the new Darth Vader helmet. And for my Mimi to be okay again without my baba. Oh, my gosh, that messed me up. And I said, I'm gonna do my best to show up for these kids and put a smile on my face. And I saw an interview where Amber, my daughter, had done an interview. And I think, you know, one of my friends, like Alicia Keys or somebody, sent it to me, and it said, how are you doing since you lost her dad? And she said, I didn't just lose my dad, I lost my mom, too. And I realized at that moment I had not been really present for their grief, because I was Dear Abby. I was always there for everybody. The person that everybody called if they needed somebody back could not be fixed. I was unfixable for a long time.

[Unknown]

What were the things that pulled you out of that?

[Lauren Everts]

Those two moments, Those two moments of Aiden writing that letter and Amber hearing that story that Amber said that she had lost her mom to. And I got back up, and I wrote a chapter about her in there about how sorry I am. I didn't see your grief, and I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge it, you know? And she was, like, organizing babysitting schedules and shit and calling all my friends. Alicia Keys was coming and spending the night on nights. Serena was coming. Everybody was coming. I was like, my friend's Mary, you know, everybody was coming. And I was like, I don't need a babysitter. I'm okay. I can manage this. And I was miserable. I didn't want my whole life, everybody. I fixed everything. So I didn't want to ask for help, but I needed it. And I couldn't get it from therapists because they were telling me, oh, just, you know, I couldn't find any tools from them. Not that they weren't good. I don't want to give that impression. I just needed resources, and I couldn't find any. And it wasn't until I said, you know what? I'm going to write this book, and I'm going to start keeping a journal. And I started to realize by the end of that journal, I had written a book. And I figured it would help me, it helped me, maybe it would help others. And I just now have leaned on people, and it's okay to ask for help. And I wasn't used to that. And I was used to keeping my circle so small, but afraid to ask. And now I started to ask. And, you know, I was always the friend that, you know, did things for everybody. And right after JR died, I'll never forget, Alicia Keys called me, said, listen to me. I'm going to organize JR's celebration of life. You're not going to do a thing. You're not going to fly anybody in. You're not going to send any airplanes out for people. We're going to do it for you. Whoever wants to come will come. And it will be the most beautiful celebration of life. And I'm going to orchestrate it. You won't pay for it. And it will be the most beautiful thing because he has been so giving. You have been so giving. And I walked in there, and it was a moment that I will never forget because I needed it at the time. I needed that support, and I didn't know how to ask for it. And they gave it to me, and it made the journey that much easier for me.

[Unknown]

So your first reaction would have been to, like, fly everyone in and organize it for everybody and make sure everyone.

[Lauren Everts]

Was comfortable, spectacular for him, and make.

[Unknown]

Sure it was great. But what she said is, if they're friends, if they love you, they'll be there.

[Lauren Everts]

Yes, they'll be there anyway. You don't need to do a thing. And everybody was like. She was tough. She was telling us, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do this. And everybody was calming, going, you know, like, she's only given us, like, two minutes to speak and stuff. And I was like, I don't want to get involved. I was already overwhelmed. I was already dealing with so much. And she took it on. And I will never, ever forget it. At a time I really needed it. And Serena, too. You know, I had reached out to Serena when I asked her to do. Serena came a lot. She would come a lot. She suffered a pulmonary embolism. She was one of the few who survived. She discovered hers by working out. She was in her gym with her physical trainer.

[Unknown]

What does it feel like?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, you don't know because we don't talk about it. But it's like you take, you know, lose breath, you struggle with your breath. Circulation, out of breath, tightness, redness around the skin. But we didn't think for one moment, because he had this knee injury, this is where the blood clot was hiding. So we couldn't see it. She was working out. The physical trainer looked at her and said, you need to go.

[Michael Bostick]

That's scary because he just.

[Lauren Everts]

You don't know it. You just die. And she was in the gym. She's lifting a weight. Physical trainer, she tells the story. So amazing. Physical trainer looked her and said, you need to go to the emergency room right now. You're not gonna make it. Otherwise, you have a pulmonary embolism. You gotta go right now. She waited.

[Michael Bostick]

She was such a high performer with such a high performing team. They likely wouldn't have caught It.

[Lauren Everts]

Can you believe it?

[Unknown]

What did they do for it?

[Lauren Everts]

Well, by the way, there's a way to treat it. They give you aspirin. They can wait for it to dissolve, but you have to be under medical care. She was four months, I think, Serena. I can't remember exactly how long four months it took for it to totally dissolve. You have to have.

[Michael Bostick]

More than likely it would have been done, huh?

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, no. She had not have gone to the hospital that day. She said she would have. And she was supposed to go the day before to London. She said. She said she canceled that flight. She said, had I not have, I would have come back home, like, in a body bag, like jr. And so, you know, she was one of the lucky ones, you know, but she had. She had Solomon go through it. She had lost her sister in a drive by. She had no. She knew what grief was like. And she really helped me on the journey of just reminding me that we always will be together again.

[Unknown]

You have a beautiful story.

[Michael Bostick]

There's a lot of people that I'm sure follow you and admire you, that look at the success you guys have had and, you know, put it on a pedestal and emulate it and want to follow on a similar path. What's something that maybe people misconceive about success and what comes with it?

[Lauren Everts]

I think that they don't realize that it can be very lonely at the top. And I think that they also don't realize that there's so much more that goes into being successful. It's being an innovator. It's thinking ahead, it's being smarter, because you can have something today. But how many times or how many times do you hear about a company that's still around after 33 years? It's really hard to do that. And that takes real effort, real thought, real teamwork. You need to have the right team around you. And we talked about this already. And I think that people don't understand that it can't be about money. It can never be the scoreboard. What it really has to be about is what the vision is. Where do I hope to go? What's the mission behind this? How many people can I help? Because if you're not helping people, what difference does it make? At the end of the day, what difference does it make? When I fell in love with JR had nothing to do with money. I fell in love with him because I felt like he made a difference in my life. And I feel like that's all that really matters. And when you do it for the Right reason. It will happen automatically. That's why you guys have, in front of all of us, have grown up and become what you are. Because when you do it for the right reasons, it's gonna happen. It's inevitable. You can't stop it.

[Michael Bostick]

What I tell people is like, that's.

[Lauren Everts]

Big, by the way. Don't forget that.

[Michael Bostick]

Listen, everyone wants to do well financially, but it's great. But I almost feel like if that's.

[Lauren Everts]

Your soul focus, you're never going to make it when you get there.

[Unknown]

It's also boring.

[Lauren Everts]

First of all, if you're only focused on the figures, forget about it. It's not ever going to last. It should be a byproduct. If you're only focused on the figures, forget about it. If your goal is to let me be a billionaire, what does that mean? Let me be a multimillionaire. What does that mean? How many people can we impact on the way? You know, Jerry used to say to me, and in his will, it said it, he wrote it, he said, I don't care about having the most money. I don't care about having the most things. I care about affecting the most people. That's all I care about. He said, lauren, remember this for the rest of your journey when I'm not here. Some people collect cars, some people collect art. We collect people. Let's just collect people. And isn't that what you do? Really, at the end of the day.

[Unknown]

That'S why we do the show.

[Lauren Everts]

Don't you just collect people? When you look at your collection, it's pretty amazing.

[Unknown]

It's. It's amazing to be able to talk to people like you and share all of the knowledge that you have with so many people. That's the best part of doing the show.

[Lauren Everts]

No, you're. The guys are the best part about doing the show.

[Unknown]

I just want to be the facilitator.

[Lauren Everts]

I love that. But it's so much more.

[Michael Bostick]

I think, like, you know, we've been fortunate to have some financial success. And at some point to your point, like, how many things can you have that continue to be interesting? And I know, listen, like, you know, there's a great quote that says, like, money only solves money problems, right? There's so many, so much more to life. But, you know, I hope that everybody reaches their financial dreams and realizes, like, there's so much more. And actually, over time, it becomes so much less interesting.

[Lauren Everts]

It does.

[Michael Bostick]

To impact people, to talk to people, to expand your life becomes so much more fulfilling.

[Lauren Everts]

I think the funny thing about money is that when you have it, you realize how. Also, it's a beautiful thing to be able to have the things you want. But life is really simple when you don't have to deal with all the big things. So, you know, like, even now in my life, I've really learned to try to simplify because I try to tell my kids, like, we don't need so many places. I'm not gonna go by myself. I'm not gonna go. You're not going. You know, there's places that we don't go we shouldn't keep. Why? Why, Mom? You don't need the money. And I'm like, because it's my peace of mind. I want to have my peace of mind. I want to spend my life not worrying about those things and spend my time with you.

[Unknown]

I totally get what you're saying.

[Lauren Everts]

You know what I'm saying?

[Unknown]

The more, like, I'm sure the more houses that you have, the more things you have, the more problems, the more.

[Lauren Everts]

Employees, the more people, the more things that at some point you get to a place and, you know, J.R. used to say this. I'm going to find a way to simplify for us. I'm going to find a way to simplify. And it wasn't so much about the. The things. It was the extra things that took our space and time. He wanted to have more time, he used to say. That's why he used to say to me, don't jump out of bed once you leave. I won't get you back till nighttime. And I didn't understand. And the thing I think I miss the most is the pillow talk. You know? How much pillow talk do you guys have? I'm so curious, because.

[Unknown]

A lot. A lot.

[Lauren Everts]

All night, isn't it? It's like for as late as you.

[Michael Bostick]

Can do it, we chat it up a lot.

[Lauren Everts]

It's a beautiful thing we chatted so.

[Unknown]

Much of to put mouth tape on.

[Lauren Everts]

Right? But I love that. That's why she made mouth shake.

[Michael Bostick]

The thing is, I could kind of.

[Unknown]

Tell her I was talking. You could have just put it on.

[Lauren Everts]

Exactly how I love the mouth.

[Michael Bostick]

I can carry the whole conversation and just watch for the eye reaction.

[Unknown]

Yesterday, I was talking like this.

[Lauren Everts]

Hilarious. I can't, like, but think about it for a moment. Isn't it sometimes the best part of your day you get in the bed?

[Unknown]

It better be the best part of yours.

[Lauren Everts]

Is it your best part of your day?

[Michael Bostick]

Well, I think that. So for couples that can figure out how to work together, which, as you.

[Lauren Everts]

Know, it's not easy, and very few of us do.

[Michael Bostick]

But then later, it's so rewarding because there's actual. I mean, not to say couples don't talk, but there's a lot to talk about.

[Lauren Everts]

There's a whole lot to talk about.

[Michael Bostick]

You know what I mean?

[Lauren Everts]

That's when we talk the most.

[Unknown]

We got on a plane last night to come to New York. And I was sitting there thinking, it's late at night, it's one in the morning on a plane. I'm tired, I'm dehydrated, et cetera, et cetera. And I thought, there's no one else that I would rather do this with. And I would never want to do this just alone as I'm building. Like, it's fun to do it with your partner.

[Lauren Everts]

Of course it is. That's rewarding. That's what makes it worth the while. It's not about the journey so much as who you become on it.

[Unknown]

I feel like, who is gonna be able to date you after all this? I don't know.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, I say to myself, I asked my daughter and my granddaughter recently. I was like, you know, everybody always asks me, you know, when do you think you'll ever date again? And I'm like, right now, I'm learning to fall in love with myself again. And that's taken time. But my granddaughter said to me recently, she said, you know me, if you did that, Papa would just hate you. He would hate you. He would come and haunt you. And Amber, I said, amber, would you be okay? She said, I'd be traumatized. I'm not gonna lie. I want you to do what you want to do. But I would be traumatized. And I think, like. I mean, people like Rutman and Fat Joe and Jamie Foxx and all these guys would just never, ever go for it. You know, have all these big brothers who are like, turn off your DMs. Do not put your DMs in.

[Unknown]

I get DMs from a lot of guys.

[Lauren Everts]

Yeah. I get strange DMs, you know, but I just turn them off. Believe me, these guys will pick up my phone and they're like, Turn off the DMs, Lauren. And I've learned to realize that. You know, what I find so special about my life now is when I pick up new people, pick up new friends.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Lauren Everts]

And I feel like that's the greatest gift I have. And so I've fallen in love with me and my friends again and being there for them. And I tell everybody in my circle, that this is. Is the journey I want to go on with you. Now.

[Unknown]

It's gonna take a very, very, very special person. You have such a. I don't.

[Lauren Everts]

I mean, he'd have to be so smart. I'm really turned on by intelligence.

[Unknown]

Same.

[Lauren Everts]

Anything less wouldn't work for me.

[Michael Bostick]

Sounds just like a lot of checkpoints. He's got to go through with some.

[Lauren Everts]

Of these people in your life now. Her.

[Unknown]

Yeah, I mean.

I mean, I know.

[Lauren Everts]

I got my question, Lauren. No one's gonna.

[Unknown]

I don't think so.

[Lauren Everts]

I just think you guys are just everything. But I just don't know. I don't know what the future holds. That's the hard part. You know, what I do daily now, and this is something Angie Martinez and I were talking about the other day. I learned to rate myself two ways. And I always did this with JR JR Was very good at it. I told you I could go at the end of the day, and I say, like, I want a divorce today. I want to kill you today or today was a great day, and I love you, but I've learned to keep them separate. And I didn't know how to do that before.

[Unknown]

What do you mean?

[Lauren Everts]

Meaning every day at the end of the day. And I do this with my team. I say, rate yourself professionally. Today. Were you an 8? Were you a 9? Were you a 10? Were you a 4? And then I rate myself personally. And, you know, the other day, I was at a two or three. I was down. I was feeling sad. And today it's like an eight again.

[Unknown]

Good.

[Lauren Everts]

And you can see growth that way. You can physically see growth. And here's the other good news. When you don't commingle them, you don't let one affect the other, so. Cause sometimes if you have a shit day personally, and your day at work is fantastic, and you had a great, phenomenal, successful day, and you can see yourself on the journey. You're moving in the right direction, but it gets all screwed up by what happened to you personally. And then you punish yourself, and you're like, okay, I feel like I got nowhere. When you're going through this place that I've been. The only way I know how to do it is to separate the two, because then I can really see the growth.

[Unknown]

It's a personal inventory, too.

[Lauren Everts]

It really is a checkpoint. It's a check system. It's like a list. And so today I was like. I was coming up the elevator, and I was thinking, today I'm an eight. And I told Christian and my team, when I was walking, I was like, I cannot wait to see them. I actually look forward to seeing you guys more than everybody I've talked to on this tour because I just think you guys are so much like us and so fun and so full of life that this is just the beginning for you.

[Unknown]

What a compliment.

[Michael Bostick]

I gotta keep you around.

[Lauren Everts]

No, I just feel like it's a 10. No, I just. You feel like a 10.

[Unknown]

Michael loves strong women. He just had two of the strongest women on the podcast. I don't think you could get stronger.

[Lauren Everts]

Well, yeah, Bethany. Incredibly strong.

[Unknown]

You and Bethany are like.

[Lauren Everts]

She's great. She's so much fun. I love Bethany. I saw her outside and I was so happy to see her, and she's great. And I think that's why you love Lauren. You're Lauren.

[Michael Bostick]

I like dynamic women. I like, you know, like Frank Sinatra.

[Lauren Everts]

They're not afraid.

[Michael Bostick]

Yeah. Frank Sinatra said it shouldn't be a staring contest, right?

[Lauren Everts]

That's right. It shouldn't be. And you know what? You have such a beautiful wife. Oh, my. And she's so sweet and intelligent. She keeps showing your toes.

[Michael Bostick]

That's true. Yeah.

[Lauren Everts]

You couldn't live without her.

[Michael Bostick]

My hair's going great.

[Lauren Everts]

She's looking at you, and I love that.

[Unknown]

I can't wait for my love note tonight. You better get busy writing.

[Lauren Everts]

You better get busy writing.

[Unknown]

I'll never let you in this.

[Lauren Everts]

I might need to incorporate ChatGPT. You know, I wish I write more, but now Amber and I do this thing that we send each other voice notes all the time and save them, and. And, you know, she'll send me a video, you know, when she's getting on a plane to come see me, or.

[Unknown]

Does she work within your company?

[Lauren Everts]

She does. She does. She has her own brand. She's super successful on her own. She makes her own money. And I always tell her, like, I'm always here for you, but she's.

[Unknown]

We gotta interview her once.

[Lauren Everts]

She's incredible. You know, she's a little dynamo, powerhouse. And I'm so proud of who she is and what she's become. And it's funny how the roles have had a reverse for a minute, because, you know, I was always the caregiver for everybody. And, you know, she had to come in and be like, no, Mom, I'm gonna do this for you. You're not gonna be alone. I need to have peace of mind, too.

[Unknown]

I'm sure she's dynamic with both your personalities mixed together.

[Lauren Everts]

The two of us together can be, you know, fire.

[Unknown]

Where can everyone find your books? Support what you're doing. Pimp yourself out.

[Lauren Everts]

I love you. Barnes and Nobles, Amazon Target, you know, most everywhere where books are sold. And you can follow me on Lauren Reidinger at Instagram, Facebook. You'll watch this Journey.

[Unknown]

We're coming in April.

[Lauren Everts]

Oh, I can't. We're coming to Miami, by the way. I can't wait for you to come. We're gonna come because I've got plenty of places there. Come. Everybody stays with me right now. Jamie Foxx is there. Everybody's there.

[Michael Bostick]

Everybody's so hospitable over there. Every time we talk to somebody new that we meet, they're like, it's big staying here.

[Lauren Everts]

I know. Ask Isabella. There's always somebody between one of our houses, so I get super nervous.

[Michael Bostick]

I'm like, I'm a.

[Unknown]

Well, you were sensitive to that. Like people.

[Lauren Everts]

Like people who have kids around me, you know? I love kids.

[Unknown]

Be careful what you.

[Lauren Everts]

I have three grandkids, so we love it. It. But I have a guest house. And I have a house and an apartment. We're in good shape.

[Unknown]

Okay.

All right.

[Lauren Everts]

We're in good shape. I can't wait to see you guys.

[Unknown]

You're amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I can't wait to see what's in store for you in this next chapter.

[Lauren Everts]

I can't wait either. Well, you guys are going to be around. I can't wait for you to move to Florida.