Show Open And Sponsor

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Check us out to get the latest online in the volunteer today. Yavonka and her guests discuss everything from life, love, and business with a Tennessee player. Always relatable, always relevant, and always a good time. This is Talkin Tennessee, and now your host, Yavonka.

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This episode is brought to you by the Landis Team, your go-to real estate family in East Tennessee. If you are looking to buy or sell, we are the ones you should call. Give us a call at 865-660-1186 or check out our website at yavonka salesrealestate.com. That's yavonka y v-o-n-n-c-a salesrealestate.com.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Welcome back to Talking Tennessee with Yavonka. I'm your host, and this is the season opener of season eight. And guess who is on my show? My dear friend Liz Dower. Welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Thank you. It's such a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Thank you so much for answering the call to share your journey and your life and just to uplift other people. For the people that don't know, Liz Dower is a force to be reckoned with in this community. Why? Because Liz looks every day into the glass of hope of what can I do to make a difference in my community? And that's what stuck out to me. Liz, you I met you, let me go back some uh viewers. I met Liz at Leadership Knoxville class. She came and taught our class in 2025, best class ever. But we just connected from the first time we met, we just started talking to each other, and I just fell in love with your spirit. You just have that spirit of you want to make a difference. Uh, you want to show love to other people, and I commend you for that. So welcome.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Thank you.

Growing Up With Service Over Self

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Most definitely. So who is Liz Stour? Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Um I guess Liz Stowers, I'm proud of my background and my upbringing. I think it made it made me who I am. My father was Career Air Force. Uh, he served in Vietnam. I'm the oldest of seven. I have five younger brothers. I have a sister. Uh grew up on the grounds of the Air Force Academy. That was my father's last assignment, five minutes from the cadet area. So I think I I've just always grown up with people who valued service over self. Uh very, very smart people. The Air Force can.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Say that one more time. They value what?

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Service over self.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

That's big. Service over self. In this world, a lot of people need to be that way. Keep going.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

So I was just surrounded by that spirit of community. Um people always willing to give, putting themselves. Um probably not at the bottom of the list, but you know, one of the things I kind of grew up with was uh Marine officers, the the commanding officer eats last. So everyone before him gets to eat and he eats last. Now, typically what happens if the food runs out, others will share and take care of that commanding officer. But a good officer always listens. He's he's he's the last one to speak. So I just grew up with that. Um, it's just a part, big part of my life being five minutes from the cadet area area of 4,000 young men at the time. There were no women, but 4,000 young men who are dedicating themselves to service to their country. Where are you from? Uh yeah, my father was career Air Force. Okay. I've lived in 31 houses. Wow. Uh before coming to Knoxville, uh, we spent eight years in Europe. Okay. Uh, two years in Spain, and five years in Germany, um, multiple places in the United States. What sent you to Knoxville? We have a family business here. Okay. So we was my husband was a fighter pilot, and he was getting ready probably to have what he calls flying a desk at the Pentagon.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Um he said, I don't think I want to be in the Air Force if I can't fly a fighter jet, uh, which I think was a wise decision. And we were trying to make the decision uh whether we um should come to Knoxville or not. And I said, you know, if you want our two daughters to have what you have where you can hug somebody you went to kindergarten with, you need to get out of the Air Force. But if you want them to experience all kinds of things and feel comfortable in any kind of situation, then go ahead and stay in. I think there are pros and cons to both.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

I agree.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

But um I'm just gonna say Knoxville is the best place in the world to live.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

I totally agree. You know, uh when I was younger, I would hear people talk about, you know, Knoxville doesn't have this and Knoxville doesn't have that. And I tell people, you have to go out there and find what your city has. And Knoxville has so much it it's popular now to be in Knoxville and great to be in Knoxville now. But I remember a time that people didn't think so. Right and I think it was because people didn't search to find what Knoxville really offered. And so I I agree with you. I don't I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. No, you know, uh you can go in the grocery store, everybody speaks. You know, you can go to church, people pray for each other. I mean, there's so many different things of East Tennessee that just makes families grow. Right. So I'll go back some. What is your family business?

SPEAKER_03 5:44

We have the Caterpillar dealerships in East Tennessee.

The Unexpected Road Into Theater

SPEAKER_02 5:47

She she is the proud owner of the Caterpillar that has serviced uh so many families uh over the years, and but she's so much more. You know, Caterpillar is a very successful business, but Liz Dowers is more than that. Let's talk about it. So you love theater.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

I do.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Tell me where did you get that eye for theater?

SPEAKER_03 6:15

Well, that is a really crazy story, and it has to do with sort of my philosophy in life is if a pr opportunity presents itself to you to go ahead and take it, even though it's really out of the box for you, and you never saw yourself doing that. So in school, I took French and Spanish. Uh, when I got to college, I wanted to be a romance language major, so it'd be I had Italian and Portuguese. Um, I got married, so that's kind of derailed that plan. Um, we uh my husband's first assignment was in Enid, Oklahoma, Advanced Air Force Base. So I wound up graduating from Oklahoma State with a degree, degrees in both French and Spanish and teaching certificates in both of those. So I had this career path of just being a foreign language teacher and moved to Europe and lived in Spain and got to use my Spanish and then moved to Germany and learned German. So I just was kind of set in that path. My daughters decided they wanted to be in theater. Okay. And because I knew how to sew, I took home in eighth grade, loved the creative process of putting something together from nothing. And I did their costumes. And then um my younger daughter You made their costumes? I would either make them or alter them, goodwill, and kind of put things together for the whole cast. Um, I made all their kids' clothes. But then uh my younger daughter was starring in a play, and I had done all the props and the costumes, and we were going through a house renovation, and the set wasn't getting finished for the play because the teacher was overwhelmed with other things he had to be doing. So I said, Well, you want me to finish that set? And they're like, Well, you can. I go, Well, I've been kind of watching carpenters, and I know how to use miter saws and drills and how to frame a wall. So yeah, I think I can. So that led that led into of all things, but it's sort of the same creative process with clothing. You're taking fabric, you're taking a pattern, you're taking raw materials, you're seeing what the vision's gonna be. You kind of break it down into steps to see how to get that final vision. It's the same thing with theatrical scenic construction. I'm taking lumber and screws and paint and just seeing what the vision's gonna look like at the end, and how do I break that down to get to that?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

She makes me want to go home and build something so much fun. So, what is your joy about teaching students in theater?

SPEAKER_03 8:42

I really believe that theater is one of the most important skill sets that any young person can have. Okay. We were talking earlier about being able to present your idea and be confident and take on a role. Yes. Um, the great thing about theater is you've got people with different skill sets. You've got the computer nerd guy on the lightboard, and you've got the sound person, and then you have, like I had most of the athletes wanting to take fine arts with power tools. So now you've got these athletes who maybe never been to a play before. You've got the crew backstage who does as much as the actors do, but they don't get to be on stage, you know, with the person. So they're in, you know, in black in the back. So you're working with the related. Yeah, everybody's got that part. And uh just having a wide diverse set of people who have different skills, all working together towards a common goal. I just think it's so important for young people. It's like athletics, but more diverse. There's no understudy, you don't show up, there's gonna be a big problem. Yes.

Theater Tech And Student Growth

SPEAKER_02 9:48

So you you've got to show up. The demand for you to show up is probably the biggest thing. Exactly. You have to show up. The show must go on. The show must go on. How has theater uh educated and evolved uh throughout your career? What do you think that has changed in theater from the beginning to now in theater? Like when I started?

SPEAKER_03 10:09

When you started. Um, well, certainly the technology part of theater has really been a game changer. Yes. When I was uh building scenery early on, I would have to think of, you know, I've got to build this. So it's more engineering, it's engineering and creativity. Like how can I build this where it's lightweight? I'm not spending a lot of money. It's this big balancing act of I've got a budget, I've got to figure out how to do this with the volunteers that I have, or not professionals. How am I gonna do 27 different scene changes in a matter of 10 seconds? Every scene change you can't lose the audience. So that would require things on casters, moving them around, having the crew move the scenery. Now it's projections. There's a lot with projectors. Um, it's made it so much easier, so much more affordable. You can do more elaborate things. And I think it's also a little bit more creative. Um, there are more blank stages where the projection is in the back. So it allows more of the storytelling, I think, instead of the theatricality of moving scenery.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Gotcha. So let me ask you this. When it comes to students, you really get to work one-on-one with them in theater. You get to um see what's in them. What have what can you say that was your takeaway, your big takeaway with students on on the back end? What did you see behind the scenes that you think that that can help other students in theater now?

SPEAKER_03 11:39

So again, getting back to service before self. The people that I would nominate for the drama award were not the stars of the show. They were the people that maybe maybe were in the show as an actor or an actress, or maybe crew. When everyone else is going to Waffle House to have a good time, these people are staying behind and vacuuming the floor and picking up the other cast trash.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

So it's basically their their drive and their push and and willingness to get the job done.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

And I also kind of emphasize when I was teaching that there's a difference between finished and complete. Okay. Are you finished with whatever you need to do and you're just gonna take off? Are you gonna see it completed? And that means seeing it till the end until the very last thing is done and we turn off the lights.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Do you think that theater has helped you to become the leader that you are now?

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Um yes. Okay. Again, that was one of those things I just didn't see it in myself. Okay. I I think I'd use theater more as empowering people, and like we talked about seeing something in somebody that they don't see in themselves. That brings me great joy. I I think a theater is more of a life skills training program than the actual theatrical production. Um, I I see people grow, I see people at their most vulnerable. Some of our students had their first kiss on stage with an audience. Can you imagine that?

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

So, you know, just to see the courage. Yeah, and the courage that it took to put yourself out there.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Truly.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Um, I just I love I love being in the background. I love like you can do this. I'm gonna push you forward. Yes, because I see this in you. And to see the growth, uh, we got asked all the time, you know, where do the where do these actors come from? I said, oh, there is freshmen. They're little sponges, yeah. And they're watching what the everybody's doing and they're internalizing it. And then when it's they're growing. When it's their turn to shine, there they step up.

Inside UT Clarence Brown Theater

SPEAKER_02 13:40

They step up. They step up. So let's talk about. You were board chair of the Clarence Brown Theater at the University of Tennessee. Yes. Tell me your experience.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

You know, just taking theater at another level. I I think a lot of people don't understand our MFA program in theater is globally ranked as number 11 in the world.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:02

Uh they audition 1,600 people for eight slots. Eight acts. 1,600 people for eight slots. Eight slots. Oh wow. And then it's equally competitive for the design aspects, scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design. And we have people from all over the world. One of our MFA students right now is from Poland. Um, we've had scenic designer from from Mexico, Japan. I mean, it's unbelievable the diff what they bring to the program looking at things from another perspective, another point of view. And it's just so interesting. I remember uh we had a costume designer from Japan, and we were doing Sweeney Tod, and she wanted to make, well, she wanted to do like a stamp kind of costume. So she wanted the front to be like stamp, gothic, and then the back be Victorian. And the director who's the theater department head said, no, we're not doing that. And then he said, She kind of slept on it for a couple days. He goes, Okay, I'm really intrigued by that idea. Let's just go with it. It was so incredibly stunning. I bet. That she kind of mixed these two different periods of costume into one outfit.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

So he changed his mind a few days later and said she could do it. That she could do it.

SPEAKER_03 15:21

And that's one of the things I love about the University of Tennessee. They are willing to listen to a lot of different perspectives and invent and innovate something new. And I'm currently working on a project with them that's doing that very thing.

Building The New Jenny Boyd Theater

SPEAKER_02 15:33

That's that's amazing. And I do agree. University of Tennessee um allows young people to grow, find their way, help them find their way, and then celebrate them once they found their way and they bring them back. That's the best part about it. If you look at every different department, every different uh sport, they always are bringing back people to celebrate them. And I love that about University of Tennessee. Okay, so on the campaign for the new Jenny Boy uh theater, let's talk about it. Yes. Let's talk about it. Tell me all about it from your perspective.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Well, I was I didn't know why I was picked to be um one of the Capitol campaign chairs. I was co-chair with Model Irish. Um You're the band. Well, I'm not I'm not from Tennessee. I'm not a theater grad. I'm not a UT alum. I would I didn't check any of those boxes. Um so I've been telling people, also part of young people, find your brand. What makes you you? Correct. What makes you intriguing to other people? So I have this coffee mug that I was looking at and I thought, well, why am I being chosen? Then I kind of looked at the mug, which sort of is my brand, I think. And the mug says, on the outside I may appear to be harmless, but on the inside, I'm a total badass. There you go. Uh I think that I think having five younger brothers and just watching hockey and all kinds of collegiate sports, just you just you just get in there and you fight. Yes. Get in there and fight. So I think I do harmless, but I think people don't realize when when somebody tells me no, and there are people that said this will never be done, they're thrown uh closing theaters all over the country. Uh that is so me, Liz.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

When people tell me no, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna show you how you're gonna say yes. Well, we're gonna show you how you're gonna say.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

So I'm gonna get you one of my magnets that said, Go ahead and underestimate me. This is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

I need that. Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

And uh one other uh one of my catchphrase when things start getting tough or you're in a chaotic moment. Um when somebody wants to tell me no or it can't be done or over my dead body, literally, um, I now call that jet fuel. That motivates me, and I'm like, if things aren't gives you the fuel, I don't enjoy it as much.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

I agree. I agree. You know, when you're younger, you feel like, why is it why is it so hard for me? Why does it take so long? But the older you get, you realize that's what really builds you. If it was easy, you would just brush it, you know, under the rug and move on. But when you have to really work for it, I think that's where the appreciation comes. Right. Do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Totally. And so I'm I'm a huge fan of Simon Senek. Okay. Um, he has a thing about his frustration with um certain young people is he thinks they think that you start down here at the bottom, and your goal is the top of the summit. Okay. Like he said, the joy in life is a struggle getting there, falling down a few steps, getting back up. You don't want to go from the bottom to the top immediately. You want that struggle because in that struggle Are you going to appreciate it? Or sometimes in that struggle, you find yourself.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

You really do. And I do, I'm glad you're bringing that up. I think I see more and more women that are really getting to understand that we find ourselves several times in life, if you think about it. I know in our 20s we're trying to figure out our way, what are we going to do in our life? But I think once you have children, you know, that type of thing, I'm seeing more 40 and up women that are like truly they're starting now. Right. You know, it feels like they're starting now, that they are building and creating things. Age, I tell people on my podcast all the time, age is what you make it. Absolutely. I started turning knocks, a company that most people would never think I would do um three years ago. I was 51 years old. Most people in their 50s would be like, oh, well, I should have done it. You know, well, no, that's not when God wanted me to do it. He wanted me to do it at 51. And I'm so proud um that I didn't allow my insecurities, because we all have insecurities, my insecurities to hold me back. So if there's any women out there, I would say Liz Stowers is a person that she goes out there and she reaches. And she reaches to the highest regard. And you can read about her and see how many times that she reached and she won and keeps winning. So I I just want to say that because I think a lot of women need to hear you, Liz, and other women that says keep reaching, keep thriving, and you know, never give up on yourself. And I believe a delay is not a deny. Do you believe that? Yeah, I think a lot of times people think if they fail at something or if it doesn't come exactly when they want it, it's failure. No, it could be just a delay and not a deny. So for whoever needs to hear that, keep going. What impact do you believe that Jenny Boy's theater will make on the next generation?

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Well, that was our whole reason for being. Um, you know, there was a lot of sentimentality attached to the carousel theater. Um, a lot of people said, that's where I saw my first play, that's where I had my first date, that's where I met my spouse. Um the pushback was please don't take that away from us. Okay. Um my emphasis is, and part of this is probably my Air Force background, moving all the time. I live for change. I don't understand staying and having that. I think that was the biggest culture shock for me moving to Knoxville. I was so used to, okay, well, how can we better be better? How can we move forward? Yes. Um, this is fine, but I don't. To stay here, I want to keep innovating. And I was shocked at how much people love, and now I appreciate it now, that love tradition, repetition. But sometimes that can be a detriment. Uh so I think what we try to do with with the new theater is listen, we're building new memories. This this theater right now is falling apart. It was not even structurally sound. They were told by a theater association, you need to take this down to get accreditation. It was that bad. Wow. So what we try to do with the new theater is incorporate the legacy of the old theater in little hidden spots here and there. So and one of the things I thought was so the architects were so fantastic about they they got that message loud and clear that we need to keep some tradition there. So the stage of the current uh Jenny Boyd Theater is on the exact same spot and size as the old carousel theater.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Really?

SPEAKER_03 23:00

So you've got that intimacy, you feel like you're still there, but it's a new structurally sound space. I have to go. That has all the greatest technology with lighting, sound. You still feel the intimacy. I was at Cavere, which was the opening show, and to see the joy in people's faces, because you're not all facing the stage. It was what's called three-quarter thrusts. So the audiences around the stage, to see the joy in someone sitting across from you, or or the sadness, or the tears. We need, I think in this day and age with screens and isolation, we need to be together with strangers. I agree. And feel those emotions.

Community Service And Finding Your Voice

SPEAKER_02 23:41

I was just about to say that, and allow each other to have an emotional connection. And I truly believe this generation um where they are really missing the mark is texting, that's not relationship driven. That's not engagement. You know, I think speaking to someone on the phone, the way we grew up, speaking to someone, meeting someone, you know, face to face, that's true connection. I think that with the text message, and I do understand, you know, life is busy and shooting a text sometimes is more convenient, but I think it just takes away a lot of building a relationship. You know, I even down to dating, you know, Adrian went through that. I I had to tell my daughter, I said, Adrian, how are you gonna get to know someone through a text message? There's no way to do that. And I know your generation, y'all are more comfortable with that, but then you can't complain about not knowing who you're dating, you know, that type thing. So I I'm glad that you brought that up, is that um we need more engagement and to show emotion. So let's talk about community service. Wow. What you've done for this community. I hands down, um, I'm inspired. Uh, when I started reading about you and just seeing all the different things that you have done for community service, it's an unselfish act to me because you don't have to do that. You could do one-third of what you've done, and it's still more than most. Um, what made you just want to just go all in for your community?

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Again, part of who I am is my upbringing. Uh, not having outside of a military community, not having that sense of my my neighbor's gonna be there to help me. You get that with a military base, but I didn't know my cousins. I didn't know my my grand my one grandparent was in Florida. We moved around.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

I was about to say 31 houses. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

You really just uprooted all the time. And I was really bad about, you know, if someone's really annoying to me, I'm just gonna wait it out because I'm gonna be gone in about a year and a half. And here I had to learn, no, um, I'm gonna stand up for myself. I'm gonna say this is who I am. But just this profound sense of gratitude for being here in Knoxville in East Tennessee, it's my way of giving back to be because I'm so grateful to be here.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yes. So, what made you, how did you find your voice in the community? How did you tell us that part, that journey? And was it hard to find a voice?

SPEAKER_03 26:47

Yeah, definitely hard. I think when I first got here over 35 years ago, there was a real push for women to have certain roles. I agree. Um, I was used to being a fighter pilot's wife among many fighter pilots' wives. We spoke other languages. We knew how to fix sinks, we knew how to um navigate on our own, we knew how to have a baby on our own if it need be, and you know, our husband's deployed somewhere. I was just used to, you know, mo you mowed your grass. I was just used to really strong women who had to be super independent. I wasn't used to, when I got here, multi-generations of family and women. I'm like, what do you mean you still have to ask your parents permission and you're 45? I just it was totally foreign to me. I I totally agree. I I just didn't understand it. So it just took a while to kind of one thing you learn when you're in the Air Force, and I tell people who are new to this area, you've got to sit and watch and listen and understand this culture. I agree. You have to listen because if you come in here demanding what you want, that's not gonna work in East Tennessee. It is not gonna this is a relationship area, and you have to be respectful.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Um, so it's a relationship area. It's a we're called the volunteers, but we really are volunteers if you think about it totally. And I think that you have to understand your East Tennessee is like no other place. No other place. You know, nobody can give you a book and say, okay, this is how you act at East Tennessee. Right. You have to learn how to build relationships in East Tennessee, and it might be in the grocery store. Right. It might be, you know, wherever, laundromat, wherever you want to, wherever you went, you have to understand that it's all up to you, you know, and how you present yourself. Right. So tell me, as a woman, you talked about independence. Let's talk about it. What is your definition of a woman that is needing that push to find their independence, you know, especially in marriage? Because there's so many times that women don't have that in marriage. Can you speak on that?

SPEAKER_03 29:15

So I m another new catchphrase I have that I've been using a lot is um the opposite of fear is not courage, it's action. Okay. So when I was trying to break out of the I'm a stay-at-home mom and I do all these school volunteer things, and I was always there for my daughters, and now I'm an empty nester. You know, what does that look like? Um I knew I had certain things I wanted to do and were inside of me. And because I've been put in so many bizarre situations living in Europe, and just I have enough confidence in myself that I've gotten out of these situations before. Okay. And I know I have it in me to keep moving even though people are telling me no.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Or did you ever have times that when you were a stay-at-home mom that you felt like you had no identity? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. How did how did you deal with it?

SPEAKER_03 30:17

Um I think sort of that phrase, such a time as this. I knew I wanted to put, because I have six younger siblings. Okay. I was like the third parent when my dad was gone, like he was gone in Vietnam for a year. My mom had seven children. I was 10. The youngest was a newborn, and she's in Montgomery, Alabama, and she's from Pennsylvania. I watched my mom just power through. Okay. And I just I just think when you when you can find your own voice by just doing. Yes. Just taking those baby steps and just try a little thing, like that scenic construction. I go, I'm just gonna try that. I may fail. I I love to embrace failure. Failure doesn't mean you you've done a bad job. It means this just didn't work out. I love Thomas Edison's line. I love Thomas Edison's line. People say, Well, how do you handle failure? Because you deal with that all the time. He said, I've never failed. I just know 10,000 ways it won't work. Oh, okay. So that's clear. Never heard those approach things. I just haven't been afraid to try something and just discover something about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

So what made you want to come out of the house? I was tired of being She said I was tired of being in the house. I see I see more and more women that choose to stay home and take care of their children when they're young. And now they're saying, I need something for me. And community service is the best thing. I tell people this sometimes, you know, you may not need the money. You may not need a job, you may not need, you know, to provide, but you need to provide a service within you to me. Right. And that service is identity and knowing who you are and knowing that you're making a difference. And I think with community servers, I love community service. I love to see people happy. I love to create something that maybe 10 minutes ago you felt miserable, but 10 minutes later, something that I created for you that you can find joy, that you can forget about whatever you're unhappy about. And I think that's the best part about community service is that you find your way. So I want to talk about, because you're the perfect person to talk about this, community service. So many people think that you have to do it big.

unknown 32:52

No.

Purpose In Your 50s Plus Social Media

SPEAKER_02 32:54

And I remember when I first got in community service, I told my husband, I said, I want to make a difference, but I don't know how. And he goes, What do you mean? And I said, I just feel like I need to do some charity. This years ago, some kind of charity work, but I don't even know how. And so David got sick years ago, and that's where I found my why, how, and drive. Okay. And I tell women when I speak, I'm like, look inside yourself and say, what are you passionate about? And if you're passionate about that certain thing, go find that in your community, that certain thing, and pour time into it. Do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yes. And I also, I also think my reading A Purpose-Driven Life a while ago really helped when I'm I'm like, okay, what is this next phase of my life gonna be? And I I hear so many women say, Oh my gosh, it's my 50th birthday. I go, yay! Yes, to me, my 50s were my best decade. Yeah, it's like the responsibility of raising children is over. Your kids are always gonna need you. But but that day-to-day responsibility, and now you have the freedom to explore those kind of things. I I think some of the saddest people have no idea what what their purpose is.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Liz, I'll tell you this. I truly believe, and I know this may sound crazy to my viewers, I don't think I started living, like truly living till I got in my 50s. Absolutely. 50s, I tell everybody this. I told my husband this because I'm 54 and David is 51, okay? And I told him two years before he turned 50, I said, there's gonna be a shift in your life. And you're gonna things that you that matter right now will not matter when you hit 50. And I said, and you'll look at life so different. Things will be so simple, you know, to think out, you know, what you want to do. And I said, and you truly start living, and you you don't dissect yourself as much.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Do you agree with that? Yeah, and another sad thing I I've seen is just this obsession with social media. Now, I'm not on any of it.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

She says she's not on any of it.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

I'm not any of it.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

I know I looked you up.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Um, very uh So she's not lying to you, viewers.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

She's not.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

I just um so when I was had high school students there, oh Miss Dowers, you need to be on Facebook. And I go, you do not need to know what I'm doing in my private life. She said, You don't need to know. You don't need to know, and it's not anything bad, it's just that setting that professional boundary. Um, I just see so many people just get wrapped up, especially these young moms, like so hard on Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

And to create. I now I'll tell you, I use social media for my businesses. I do use it to inspire, to inspire people, but the one thing I don't do, like if somebody wants me to see something, my daughter and and and David will tell you this. I don't read news feeds. The reason uh like Facebook news feeds because I don't like some of the things that people say. Yeah, but I will say this is some of the things that people stress out on social media. I'm like, you do realize that you're stressing out about people's opinions that you have never met in your life. They have never met you, and you really value their opinion. You have to ask yourself, what is lacking in you that you a stranger can tell you you're nothing when you see what I'm saying? Right. I'm just like, I don't get that.

SPEAKER_03 36:57

I'm like why why are you giving that kind of control over your emotions, totally, your blood pressure, whatever, over to somebody else? Why are you handing that over to them?

Part Two Tease And Closing

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Exactly. When you can go out and get out in your community, do community service, meet some people that truly build will help build you up and not tear you down. That's the difference between parts of social media versus being out in your community. I think that the biggest thing that people can do is to find a place in their community and just go all in. You know, and it doesn't have to be a big thing. I yes, me and you sit on boards, but think about all the different things that we do outside of these boards that we sit on that is just as big, if not bigger. You know, that type thing. And I think that people need to get over the social media um opinion and get out and let their hands get dirty in their community. Guys, we are really enjoying this conversation with Liz, and I think she has so many nuggets that she is dropping. We're gonna do a part two. Tune in next Friday with Liz Stowers.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Thanks for listening to Talk in Tennessee with Yavonka. Watch out for our weekly episodes from the first family of real estate and check us out on the web www.yavonka stylesrealestate.com. See our videos on Yavonka's YouTube channel or find us on Facebook under Yavonka Landed and Twitter at YavonkaLandon. And don't forget to tell a friend about us. Until next time, Yavonka Standing Up.