S1E23: She Said, HE Said. Family, Footwear Fails, & Surprising Stories: This Week with Deb & Francis

Squeaky sneakers, guilty pleasures, and puppy chaos—Francis joins Deb for laughs, truths, and a few lies.

Transcript

0:00

My trainer had me walking upstairs on my hands backwards. Okay. Second, when I was young, I raised two hamsters. That quickly became seven hamsters. Okay. The third, my first airplane ride was to Indianapolis to see the Indy 500. Interesting. So right away, I think the last one is true, because I know that. I think we've talked about how you've been in a pit car or something along those lines before. Yeah. So that is leading me to think that that one's true. Hey, welcome back to she Said, she Said. Only today, Pam isn't here yet again. So today is going to be a little bit of he said, she said, she said, he said, she said, he said. Yeah, okay. We can do it that way. I'm Deb Reinhard, corporate executive by day, coach and meditation teacher by night. And today I am joined by Francis Plata. Francis is Pam's digital marketing guru. I don't even know what else to call you, like, the guru. He's also a part of the family. Also part of the family has been, thankfully, has been with us since. Since this little guy was born and brought to us because Francis started his career here with us as our puppy nanny. I know. Isn't that so crazy? That's wild, right? Yeah. And now look at where we are. I know, I know. It's fabulous. Did you think that that's kind of the trajectory that this would all take? I had no idea what kind of trajectory. All I can say is, from very early on, Pam and I were like, we've got to find a way to keep this kid working with us. Because you were obviously someone who was driven and excited and, like, really oriented. Like, you were smart. You were just, like, the kind of person we wanted to keep in our sphere. So then it just became, how do we keep him here without chaining him to the table? Well, I'm grateful that you guys, you know, inviting me into the house and the family and have kind of opened everybody's arms to allowing me to be present in this, because you guys have such an amazing circle, such an amazing group of people in this, you know, in this family, and it's really, really amazing to be a part of it. Yeah, we're lucky. We're really, really lucky. So. Yeah. So Frances has been just a little bit doing just a little bit of everything here behind the scenes at.@pampryor.com. Yeah. Or priorities group, whatever we've been named at any point in time. We've gone through a bunch of evolutions. We have. But I feel like right now, things are on A good groove. Yeah, we're hitting our stride. It's definitely picked up the past couple of months with a lot of different things happening. But I was thinking about it the other day how long I've actually been working with you guys in kind of any space. And how old's Murphy now? I know, right? Murphy. I thought Murphy was, like, 3. 3. 3. So it's been three years. That's crazy to me. But it feels like. It feels like longer. It does feel like longer. But it was, like, mid co. It was mid Covid. That's exactly right. Yeah. Because we were masking. Yes, we decided. Yeah, we decided. Like, we. Because, like all the other crazy people, we decided, let's just get another dog during COVID That's brilliant. And let's get. We were both working loudest dog that we can. He didn't start that way. Right? Wasn't he so teeny? And he was so cute? He was. He was always loud, though. I do remember that. I remember the day that his bark came fully in, and I was like, oh, no, this is gonna be interesting. And now I. I don't know. I would like if we ever got another dog. And I'm not saying we're gonna get another dog, Pam, so just don't even think this, but if we ever got another dog, I would want, like, a quiet dog. Like, a dog that didn't like either a dog that doesn't have a voice or a dog that doesn't, like. Doesn't really bark a lot. Like one that's known for not barking a lot. Because the barking part of dogs is really, really hard. Yeah. Especially with the yip. His isn't really a bark. His actually hurt your head. His hurt your head. These guys are just loud. The big guys are just loud. Yeah, but they're so cuddly, and they all are just. You know, it's so cool watching all their different personalities. I remember when I was sitting here, Diego would be, you know, at my. On my side, kind of like guard watching. Tally's like, over on your. And then you have Murphy on your lap, and it's like, you got your whole pack with you. What else do you need? Yeah. And this is exactly it. Like, so y'all can't see this, but Diego, the big fluffy one, like, he likes to be close to you. So he's sitting here getting nice and warm, and then he gets too warm, and now he's lying on the concrete. So he's gotta cool off, chill down, Cool down. But, yeah, I mean, I enjoy Having the dogs. I will say I enjoy having the dogs, but it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. They're a whole set of kids again. It's worse than kids. They go out, they get muddy, they get wet, they get stinky like kids. You can just throw them into the bathtub. They're easy to scrub up. And, you know, you can make them smell good. This is true. These dogs are not. They'll never smell good. They smell good for like a day. Yeah. They come back from the groomer smelling good for maybe a day and then not good anymore. So out of your three, I mean, you normally never choose a favorite kid. Do you have a favorite dog? Oh, so hard. I, I there. I have favorite things that I like about all of them. I think probably, maybe, Maybe Tally. Talia. Yeah, Tally is my favorite too. Tally is like, she is very. Like, when she's with you, she's very. With you, she's very, very present. And she does not, she doesn't need. She's not as needy like Diego. He's needy. The little one, he's very needy. He's very needy. And sometimes his neediness, like, times it's cute. And sometimes his neediness is just freaking annoying. And same with Diego. But Tally's just never. She's just never really. She's the oldest, though, right? She is the oldest. So that's maybe her maturity into play. Yeah. Yeah. Truthfully, when she was young, I could never have imagined her mellowing to the point that she is now. Really. She was insane. So I guess it looks the outlook is potentially good for the other two. If they just learn how to, like, not bark. Not be. Honestly, not bark. Yeah, like, that's the only thing I would ask. That's the one thing, is just the barking. Diego's brain. Diego's brain is. Is. Is a struggle. Is a struggle. So what else is new with you? I see you got some. I got sneakers. So, yeah, for those of you who don't know, like, I don't know, spending money is really hard. Really hard for me. Like, super hard. Like, buying sneakers. Like, agony. It was an agony to, like, think about spending a lot of money on a pair of sneakers. And yet I love to walk. And so I had gotten a pair of name brand sneakers. I don't know if I should say. Were you happy with them or not? Huh? Were you happy with them or. They're comfortable to wear, but they squeaked like crazy. Squeaked. Not like. And not like the kind of squeak like, oh, I'm on the basketball court. And it goes, no, it's like every step you took was like, E, E. E, E. And then it's like almost as bad as the teacher heel noise, but it's just, oh, it was worse. So, like, so imagine going for, you know, know a two hour walk and all you hear is everywhere. Wow. Everywhere. It was the worst sound. I actually wrote to the company and said, my shoes, my shoes are squeaking. Like, they started squeaking a week after I got them and they just. And so then I spent a small fortune for them. So I couldn't, like, not wear them because I felt like you were in it. You committed. I committed. So I'm wearing the stupid thing. I started calling them my squeakers instead of my sneakers. And then I was like, it is embarrassing. It's embarrassing to go out with my friends and have my shoes be squeaky. So then I'm like, I need to get new sneakers. But then I couldn't do it for the longest time this past weekend, I was like, I am going to get a new pair of sneakers. Awesome. And so I went up to Fleet Feet in Princeton, which is like the place to be, and I got these Altras. So this is my new shoe. Are they the Hokas or are they different? No, I tried the Hokas and. Because I'd had them before and they were good. Yeah. No, but these, these are called Torin eights. They look cool. They are the most comfortable sneakers I've ever put on my. Really? So. Because they have like, they have like a wider, like a wider toe. Wider, higher toe box. So, like, your toes can spread out, which is really healthy for your feet. Yeah. These are like wearing slippers. Wow. I'll have to check those out. I really love them. Yeah. Yeah. So Lindsay got him, Eric who got them? Everybody. Now you got the whole family. No, they started. Oh, they started it. So I decided I was going to try it. And then, and then, like, bonus, right? So I was like, okay, I'm going to go spend money on sneakers. And I'm driving myself up. I tried to get my friend Maria to come, but she was. She was at a funeral, so I couldn't get her. So I'm like driving by myself. I'm like, I can do this, I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I get into Princeton. I don't know what the freak was happening. Princeton last week. And. But like, everybody and their mother was there. Literally, there were. There were people. There were like tour groups of people. Everyone was out. Everyone. Everyone. Everyone in New Jersey was in Princeton, New Jersey. And so I got. I got up there. I parked, like, way far away, almost as far as Westminster. I almost parked as far as Westminster. And then I hiked my butt into. Into. Into the place, got and found the sneakers. I said, here's what I want to try. I want to try a parafocus. Because I knew that I'd had them before, but they didn't have my size. So then I said, and I want to try these ultras. And they didn't have the same exact model that Lindsay had, but they had a different one. I'm like, I'm taking these. They're wonderful. And then he said to me, and you have a $15 credit. I was like, yay. It was meant to be a$15. Credit, because the last time I had bought sneakers before the squeaker sneakers was at the Fleet Feet in Atlanta. I still have my pictures. You still have those? Yeah. Like, how many years ago was that? Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. And you're like, you should buy your sneakers more often. I probably should. I bought new sneakers yesterday or two days ago. They're very white. These were 20 bucks. Really? Where did you get them? Nike. They're Nikes. Did you go to, like, an outlet store? So at our office, like, we're in the Fashion District in Philadelphia, and the Fashion District is like this out outlet mall, basically, and they have a Nike outlet in there, and every once in a while, pop in just to see if they have any decent deals. And I've been looking for another pair of white sneakers because it's kind of like my go to. Yeah, yeah. It's easy. You know, they go with everything. And they had these, and they were extra 30% off or 40% off of, like, 35 bucks. So I got them, and it was like, 25 bucks for one pair. That's a great deal. Yeah. So I recommend, if you are ever looking for again, to check out that. Check out. Check out the outlet. Yeah, I may try it, because these are comfy. I was. I was gonna. Like, I had. They had the black, and they had white, but the white had, like, I don't know, like, teal blue or something. Yeah. Yeah. You want it to be. Yeah, but I love the shoes. I love the. You're taking. I know. I did. I did a little take care of myself, which was also good. I know. It's just. It is. It's just really hard for me to do it. Yeah. It's, you know, it's one of those things. But I grew up. I grew up where we only, like. Like, you know, you got new things on, like your birthday and Christmas. Like that, you know. There had to be a reason. There had to be a reason. Yeah. Yeah. So it. So like, even now, as an adult who's almost at a decade mark, it feels weird to. Weird to go outside of that. But it's all right. It's all good. All right. Are we ready to play. Are we ready to play a game? I think we are. This will be interesting. So we're playing Two Truths and a Lie today. You've played that a bit. And we know you hate this game. I hate this game. But it should be theoretically a little bit easier for you because I don't. Because I don't know as much about you as when and Pam do, but it might be a little bit harder for you too, because you don't know as much about me. I don't know. I know there's a lot I know about you, but I love learning about you. So this is going to be fun. It'll be a fun one. Do you want to go first? You want. Should I go first? No, you go first. Okay. So the first one will be, I once dated somebody who was, like, 11 years older than me when I was 18. So they were like 29ish. Right. The second one is, I once met the president on a field trip to Washington for school. And then the third one will be when I was in elementary school. I set the record for books read in the year for the whole school. So, like, I read the most books ever read in the entire school. Okay. So I could totally see that book thing. I could see. I could totally see that for you. Like, I could totally see that for you. What president did you meet? It was Bush. Yeah. It was elementary school, so we were a little bit younger. This was when he was in. And we had taken a field trip with the school. It was like the gifted program through school. They would take us on all these different kind of adventures. We would go to, like, a museum maybe. We would go to a court and, like, watch a case be told or something along those lines. But the one for this one, we were in DC for the Chiary Blossom Festival, and they, like, had some small thing. They brought us into the White House. We met him, we were able to talk just like he talked to us for, like, five seconds, and then that was it. But I did meet him. Okay. What was the name of the woman that you dated? I don't Know if I should put her on blast, we'll go with her full name. But it was okay. Yeah. You did not date a woman. But I believe that you did see the President. I believe you read the books. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. Is that. You're locking in. I'm locking in on that. I never met the President. I knew it. Oh, no. You dated a woman named. Yeah, I was. I was working at. I was still at the coffee shop at the time, and she, like, came in. She wasn't a regular. She only came in once, left me her number, and then I, like, reached out to her, and we just started dating for a little bit there. No, no, no. But I got. I knew the book thing was spot on. It was. I had you egged on the books. Yeah, I had you pegged on the books. So I gotcha. You did? I never met the President. I would like to. Did you go on field trips? Yeah, we did go on field trips. We all went on. That was true. Everything except for Washington and the President and the Cherry Blossom Festival. I just threw the Cherry Blossom Festival in because the Cherry Blossom Festival in Philadelphia is this weekend. Yeah. That's how you knew that that was going on. Yeah. Darn it. All right, well, I gotcha. You did. Okay, so what's yours? Okay, ready? Here we go. I'm checking my time. I know we're on. We're on a clock. We're on a clock. First, my trainer had me walking upstairs on my hands backwards. Okay. Second, when I was young, I raised two hamsters that quickly became seven hamsters. Okay. The third, my first airplane ride was to Indianapolis to see the Indy 500. Interesting. So right away, I think the last one is true. Because I know that. I think we've talked about how you've been in a pit car or something along those lines before. Yeah. So that is leading me to think that that one's true with the hamsters. Did one of them. Were they a male and female and one of them was pregnant? We didn't know. Oh, no. It was a freaking nightmare. But thankfully, like, I had a bunch of friends. I had friends that, you know, much to their parents dismay. You gave hamsters, too? I gave hamsters away. Yeah. Gotcha. And I did have to give away one of my hamsters. Cause my mom was the. Like, we're not doing this. We're not doing this. One more time, what were your hamsters names? Yeah. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Did you name them or. I did. Did they both die, like, peaceful deaths eventually? Yes, eventually. Yes. How old were they when they died? Like three. Like, three. That's not a long life. It's not a long life. Hamsters don't live real long. No. How long. How old were you when you. When that happened? I was seven. When the hamsters had. When they had their kids. Okay. Why were you going up the stairs backwards? Was this for a specific reason? Were you rehabilitating something? No, she. She. She liked to give me, like. Like, weird training activities, so we would, like. I pushed. I pushed, like, football sleds with tons of weight on them. I flipped massive tires. This was just one she thought would be fun. Like, let's, like, put in a plank backwards with your feet on the stairs up and your hands on the stairs down. Walk up two flights of stairs. Two flights of stairs. Two flights of stairs. At the gym. At the gym, yeah. Like, so you imagine the gym height. Yeah, all the way up, and then the stairs turned and then went up the other stairs. It was a. That was a crazy hard thing to do. When was that? I was with Kelly. So how long ago was that? Might have been, like, 2016, 2017. I think that's the lie. I think going upstairs backwards is the lie. Are you locking in? I am locking in. It was not a lie. Damn it. Yes. Is it the Indy 500 or. No, the hamsters. There is no way in God's earth that I would raise rodents. I think, yes, they're cute, but they're like little rat things. They are. Do that, but do that. I don't know. In my head, I was like, maybe, you know, as a kid. Kids have different kids every. I will tell you, I was probably, like, the only kid in my friend group that didn't have hamsters. Really. Like, that was, like, a thing. You know what I mean? A lot of kids had hamsters. Like, they had the habit trails. You know what I'm talking about? Like. Like, it was. It was. It was really big when I was growing up. That's crazy. Did not have a hamster. But I. That I. The most fun I ever, ever had, and I. I miss her dearly, was when I was working out with Kelly because she just. She made the gym, and she made exercise something totally fun. Yeah. Like, I did box jump. I loved box jumping. Sounds like kind of like crossfitting. It was very crossfitty. It was very, very crossfitty. But the day that I was walking upstairs backwards, you know, I'm like. It was hard. It was really, really hard, if you can imagine, because the stairs Are kind of steep. So you're almost in a. You're almost in a. In a handstand, but not handstand. Right. Because your hands. But you have to, like, coordinate yourself to be going backwards. And there were people, like, coming constantly. The gym is busy, so the people are coming down the stairs. As she's like. That's the only reason why she's like, you know, she's at my. At my face going, let's keep moving, Keep moving, keep moving. I'm like, oh, my God. I was just picturing. But I felt like such a winner when I got to the top of the stairs. Like, you have to do the rocky jump. Absolutely. Like, you're like a crazy fitness guy. Try that. So some time. Try going up a flight of stairs. Like, it. And it was. It was. It was up and then turn and then up. It was a. It was. I was in such great shape back then, so that was a whole different era, but I was in great shape back then. I think give that a shot. It sounds like a good thing to mix into. Into the training and keep it fun. Yeah. But be. Have somebody around, because in case I fall. In case you fall. Okay. Do not try this without help. Yeah. This is not fitness advice. We are not. We are not medical. We are not training professionals. Do not follow our advice. We both. Okay, so we both learned something new about each other today. It's awesome. I appreciate that. Then if you'd like to continue to learn more about who we are, join the she said, she said podcast. Subscribe. There you go. Right? Like, comment, subscribe, share all the things, all the fun things, do all the things, get us out there. And hopefully next week we'll have Pam back. Yeah. At least for a little while. Yeah, I think we should. Right? Yeah, I think we have her back. And then I think we actually go to. We go to the Outer Banks, so we may actually try to shoot something, you know, just the two of us while we're out there. At least some fun things. You can meet. You can meet all my siblings. Yeah, that's like, they're the best. That sounds like a lot of fun. Well, I'm excited for that one. I'm looking forward to it. And I guess we'll see everybody next week. All right, see you next week. Thanks for joining us today. See you.