Explore Purpose Podcast
Whitney Hahn
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, purpose, people, scorecard, friends, life, whitney, conrad, podcast, year, busy, world, conversation, thinking, work, hahn, explore, opportunity, pirate ship, talk
SPEAKERS
Conrad Weaver, Whitney Hahn
Conrad Weaver 00:05
Welcome to explore purpose. My goal is to inspire you to live a life of meaning and purpose so that you can make a greater impact on the world around you. Hi, my name is Conrad Weaver. I’m your host and excited to be relaunching my podcast, formerly called the My Story podcast. And now I’ve renamed and rebranded the show to be called the Explore purpose podcast. And so whether you are a longtime listener or brand new to the channel, welcome. I also want to say Happy New Year, it’s certainly been an interesting 2021, to say the least. And I’m really excited to get the new year going and explore what the new year will bring. Who knows. So I’m starting the Explore purpose podcast with an interview I had a few weeks ago with my friend Whitney Hahn. And her bio Whitney says that she loves asking the hard questions that solve bigger problems. As a resourceful Coach and Trainer, Whitney prepares growth stage b2b companies to think it better, say it better and launch it better. She is a business coach, a trainer, and a consultant and a very active member of our local community here. And she’s a council member for the leadership Frederick County and she has a master’s degree in business management and leadership. Plus, this exciting to me especially, she’s a certified story brand guide and a business made simple coach. And if you’ve spent any time listening to this podcast, you know, I’m a fan of story brand and what the folks over there in Nashville are doing. In her previous life, Whitney co founded digital Bard video, she was a radio DJ and a TV show host and a ton of other things that you’ll hear about. While she’s focused on helping businesses succeed. Our interview really focuses on her personal journey to exploring and discovering her life purpose. So without further ado, here’s my interview with Whitney Hahn. Well, Whitney Hahn, welcome to the Explore purpose podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Whitney Hahn 02:16
It is my great pleasure to be here. Conrad. Thanks for asking.
Conrad Weaver 02:19
Yeah. So how are you? Well,
Whitney Hahn 02:21
you know, 2020 was kind of a kick in the pants. But what happened? 2020? Yeah, so so many things. Oddly, and I didn’t think about this when we scheduled our call today. Today is the one year anniversary of my sister passing away from FOMO. So that was a big part of my 2020 as well and kind of sets up I think a large part of the conversation we’re about to get into.
Conrad Weaver 02:45
Yeah, well, you know, again, my deepest condolences to you and your family for that loss. I know that’s got to really weigh on your mind in many different ways. So
Whitney Hahn 02:54
it’s getting a little bit better every day. But yeah, I miss her every day. Sure.
Conrad Weaver 02:58
Well, thank you, again, so much for being willing to be on the show and talk about purpose. But I want to get into first of all, before we dive into what your purpose is and how you discovered it, we want to find out a little bit more about you. Who are you and what do you do?
Whitney Hahn 03:14
Well, I’m a Capricorn and a Steelers football fan. And
Conrad Weaver 03:19
well, podcast is done soon. Great. I’m a Browns fan. So you know,
Whitney Hahn 03:27
I don’t even know why we’re friends Conrad.
Conrad Weaver 03:28
I know, right?
Whitney Hahn 03:33
I am, by trade. I’m a communications expert. I’ve been telling stories since I was about 13 years old, working as part of my family’s business. I love to teach people how to do it better. I love to work in the community as you do as well. You know, services, the rent we pay for living here. And so I’m all about that. And I just I just love exploring the deep topics as part of the reason that I was so grateful to get your invitation like Oh, talking about purpose. Yay. Yes, that’s, I don’t think we talk about that enough.
Conrad Weaver 04:03
Yeah, you’re right. Yeah. And that’s one of the reasons I’m diving into this thing is to talk about it and to get other people to talk about it.
Whitney Hahn 04:11
We all want to talk about you know, what do you binging on Netflix, and everybody’s very comfortable with that. But what’s your purpose? What lights you up? What gets you to jump out of bed in the morning? Do you feel like you’re moving towards that? Those are questions people are often uncomfortable with, and I’m right. I’m not really sure why that is maybe because many people don’t have what they what they feel is a good answer.
Conrad Weaver 04:31
Yeah. Well, you know, and I’m so happy that you’re very comfortable talking about it. So this will make our conversation really fun and entertaining, I believe. So, you’ve been in communication for a long time. You’ve been on television, you’ve produced television, you’ve done all these fantastic things in our community. What’s been one of the things that you’ve done that really, you look back at your journey so far, and say, Wow, I don’t believe I had the chance to opportunity to do this. Or what’s one of those things that like you really is kind of the creme de la creme of what you’ve done and your favorite thing you’ve done.
Whitney Hahn 05:06
There are I think the typical answers that people will point to like, I’ve met these celebrities. When I was a radio DJ, for example, I had the chance to meet a lot of celebrities. I met Melissa Etheridge. And I was backstage with Kenny Loggins and I met chastity, Bono, Sonny and Cher’s daughter when she was still chastity and hadn’t transitioned to Chaz. I’ve been able to ride an elephant and ride a camel and be around all sorts of amazing exotic animals. Because my parents owned a zoo. That’s probably a topic for a whole other podcast. It’s a whole nother story. We could really run that down for a little while, but, but that’s given me some amazing opportunities, including being on Late Night with Conan O’Brien twice when I took animals to be on there. Yeah, he is on Conan, I love the whole list palest man you’ve ever I’ve ever met. He’s like six foot five and nearly translucent, I swear, I swear, if it weren’t for the stage makeup, you could see right through him. And so there’s a really amazing experiences and I and I cherish all of them at the same time. I love experiences, like the chance to just have a random lunch date with my parents when they call. My parents are almost 80 I feel very blessed to have both of them still in my life and, and still very good, you know, for being almost 80 They’re, they’re in great shape. And they’re still running the business, the zoo that that I mentioned a moment ago. And so part of what I love part of the scorecard that I’m building for my life includes accepting spontaneous lead stages for mom and dad because you haven’t overbooked yourself.
Conrad Weaver 06:41
Yeah. And those, you know, there’s gonna come a time when you don’t you don’t have those opportunities. Right.
Whitney Hahn 06:48
I do know that. I do know that. And again, the loss of my sister to cancer last year, put a really sharp focus on things like that and started me on the path of figuring out what’s your scorecard Whitney? And and that, for me is I think, think about the questions that you shared with me prior to the interview about purpose. And what’s your mission? What am I willing to stand on a soapbox and rail about for 30 minutes? It’s building a better scorecard for our lives.
Conrad Weaver 07:18
Wow. You know, that’s one thing that that reminds me of something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. And I was with my dad on Sunday. And we were having this deep conversations and and, and he and I often get into he’s kind of, uh, would you say a conspiracy theorist. So I don’t adhere to all of his conspiracies that he theorizes about. But we did really connect on a lot of different things. And one thing I’ve told him a long time ago, I said one of these days, I’m going to call you up. And I’m going to send you a plane ticket, and we’re going to meet for lunch in London. And then we’re gonna fly home. Yes. And so I asked him on Sunday said, Do you have a passport? And he goes, No, I don’t get a passport.
Whitney Hahn 08:05
Dad we can’t have lunch in London, and they won’t let you into London.
Conrad Weaver 08:11
So you reminded me of that, and I’m going to really get onto him to get his passport so that we can we can have that?
Whitney Hahn 08:19
Yeah, because it’s it’s the time it’s his. It’s his availability and yours. It’s the time for each of you to do it. It’s the physical wherewithal to be able to make a trip like that. And finally, it’s the financial aspects of being able to support that plane ticket and that lunch in London, it’s all of those things. But I think so often, people will focus on the financials. I mean, in in business, you run your business, I run my business. What’s the ubiquitous greeting? Hey, Conrad, how’s business? Yeah. And what do you say? What’s the typical response?
Conrad Weaver 08:51
Oh, man, it’s, you know, it’s bad. It’s COVID. Right. And businesses down just haven’t had as much income this year.
Whitney Hahn 08:59
Sure. It could be all about income. Right? If it’s not about income, if you didn’t just get out of a pandemic and had a squeeze, then what’s the typical response? Hey, how’s business?
Conrad Weaver 09:08
Hey, we’re, we’re killing it. Sure. We’re making money we’re, you know, I’m busy. I’m so busy. I don’t have time for anything
Whitney Hahn 09:17
busy is the other one. So the top two things that we talk about our finances and how busy we are like this, the celebration of busy and I’ll tell you what, again, I keep going back to it the last year was a huge eye opener. I’ve stopped celebrating busy. Like I can’t I just can’t live that way. That is not my scorecard anymore. And I don’t want to have those conversations. I don’t want to celebrate busy I want to celebrate spontaneous trips to London with your dad.
Conrad Weaver 09:45
Wow. Yeah, that that is really interesting because that ties into just a little aside here ties into exactly what this new business opportunity I’m working on. And it speaks exactly to what what you just said. So, let me back up just a little bit. So in all of your business world, and you recently had had a turn and you’re busy and you renamed your company and you refocus your company, what motivates you to do what you do?
Whitney Hahn 10:16
I had to forget a lot of what had been layered on top of me. Like, when you’re busy, you must be being successful. Busy equals success. Busy equals, okay, you’re doing it, you’re killing it. The financials are strong, whatever that is. I had to unlearn that. I had to unlearn. Oh, if your agency isn’t growing to be 50 people on Madison Avenue, then you’re not a good agency owner. You’re not thinking big enough. I had to unlearn a lot of other people’s contrivances which may work really well for them. Right? Somebody is out there building an amazing agency, leading a nonprofit, hopefully curing cancer, you know, lots of things that require huge expenditures, large workforces, and lots of square footage. For me, I finally got a light bulb that said, that really isn’t you. You’re You’re I was building towards something. That wasn’t really me. Because I felt like it was expected. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. I mean, you can think about all these business idioms that we buy into, which again, for some people may be absolutely appropriate. And if that is where your purpose lies, go for it. Do it with integrity, God bless. For me, I had to unlearn that and say, Well, wait a minute, when are you really your happiest? When? What is that thing that you can’t not do? Have you ever had that question posed to you before? Yeah, what’s the thing that you can’t not do, which I’m sure grammatically like, like my third grade English teacher is just rolling in her grave right now. But that’s the only way and I had to put it in the thing that I can’t not do is teach. Now, not in a formal setting, I have no desire to go be in a in a typical school setting. But in every interaction that I have casual interactions, business interactions with adults, with children with dogs, I’m teaching, because I feel like my purpose includes sharing something that helps make this other person’s life better. And I teach not, because I think I have all the answers. Oh, my gosh, I don’t have all the answers. Are you kidding me? I’m still learning, I invest a lot of time and money every year into continuing to build my professional skills, to continue to build my personal knowledge to continue to, to just expand what it is I know, because I love learning. But if I only learned for me and just hoarded it, that that wouldn’t feel right for me either. So I want to know it just for the purpose of helping you that is my that is the way that I express love is through acts of service. So I can be more service if I know more stuff,
Conrad Weaver 13:06
what was it in your life that led you to begin thinking about that, and that led you to make that decision.
Whitney Hahn 13:13
It’s been a process. It probably started in earnest about two and a half years ago, I had been doing my previous company in focusing in video production for for almost 15 years at that point. And 15 years is kind of a long time to be doing one thing. Now there were evolutions within the business. Of course, we started right before youtube.com was registered as a domain name. So just the impact of broadband and cell phone technology and all of those things rapidly changed the video production industry, I’m sure you’re well aware of that. So it wasn’t a stagnant field. But it was still all around this one hub. And I, I hit a point where I felt like I was at a certain saturation of expertise, I really didn’t see a path forward for me that there was going to light me up every day and started thinking about well, what would you do if you weren’t doing this? So I talked to a friend of mine, who is a recruiter, and so he has a great bird’s eye view of a lot of different career thoughts and activities and how you decide upon things and, and I was kind of complaining to him, he owns this business as well. And I said, Austin, I just, I feel like I’m stuck. Like my employees come in and they’re here three years, five years, seven years. They’re learning great things, they’re producing great things, and then they leave and they go off to try something else maybe with a different company or, or different field altogether. And that’s fine. This is the natural ebb and flow of having employees I don’t begrudge them that we left on very good terms with all of them. I was happy to have been a teacher for a small portion of their career development. bless and release them off they go. So I see them come and go and when they I find out that maybe they don’t like what they’re doing here. They can give two weeks notice and go do something else. But as the agency owner, I can’t. And he said, Well, Whitney, it’s cuz you are the captain of the ship. Like, yeah, I know that he’s like, Yes, but what you don’t realize is, you’re the captain of a pirate ship. Your pirates are happy. As long as the wind is warm, the rum kegs are full. And the women are relatively pretty. But as soon as the storms come, and the ROM is out, and the dregs are there, they’re off on the next port looking for that you’re still on the ship, you can’t leave the ship. You’re the captain of a pirate ship that you can’t leave. It’s like, oh, my gosh, I never really thought about it. He said, Yeah, they’re reaching for their knives the moment they are not happy. But you can’t do that. It was at that point that I really started thinking, Okay, this isn’t the path I see myself on. If I don’t want to be the captain of a pirate ship, what do I want to do? How do I become something else? How do I get off this ship? And so that that was probably the turning point in the serious consideration of Alright, how do I how do I transition this business? Or wind it down? Or something with integrity? And then go find something else you want to do?
Conrad Weaver 16:27
That’s, that’s a scary moment, isn’t it? Or is it?
Whitney Hahn 16:31
Um, I don’t know that I describe it as scared. Just unchartered for me. Because I’d been on that path for so long. Because so much of the societal expectation is, you get this business, you grow this business. And either you sell it off for a million bucks, or whatever that number is, or it’s a failure, you know, all the statistics about how many small businesses fail within the first five years? And then how many fail after that? I always felt that was unfair. Like if you if you do something for a period of time, and then you decide you want to go do something else. And so you close it, is that a quote unquote, failure? Or was that an amazing learning opportunity? And maybe you did some good and you learn some things, but you just decided that wasn’t your forever thing. I mean, you know, it’s out of a marriage or a tattoo, you really shouldn’t have too many, forever things, right? I think you should be able to reinvent yourself, and not just have that opportunity. But perhaps that responsibility to continue to reinvent yourself over time.
Conrad Weaver 17:36
So my thoughts on being scared in a situation like that is you’ve had this stream of income that was coming, you know, I’m assuming regularly or semi regularly, I know, in my business, it’s kind of up and down. But you have this income that you have, you have clients, you have people that you serve you, you are helping the community producing videos and marketing content. But now you don’t have that guaranteed, or that that necessarily that stream that you were used to? Yeah. Is that a scary thing?
Whitney Hahn 18:09
Um, no, it’s still not scary. Not scary. I think I think the thing that I was scared of most or the thing that worried me the most worrisome, maybe I’ll agree to worrisome. I won’t I won’t agree to scary, but I will agree to worrisome. Probably the thing that worried me the most was that how do I how do I close it down with integrity. I didn’t want to fire any employees that were still there, and not be able to give them a soft landing as possible. I didn’t want to have clients who had been counting on me for several years, in some cases to do annual work and so forth, not have someone else that was well qualified, that I could at least refer them to, you know, I wanted a transition that made sense that wasn’t abrupt. Like, you know, I remember this restaurant in our town here. Several years ago, the employee showed up for work, and there was a sign on the door that said, we’re closed in forever. Like they hadn’t didn’t have the decency to call their waitstaff and say, hey, yeah, and I thought that’s what a jerk. So, so that’s an extreme example, but I didn’t want to come anywhere close to that in the in the role down of my initial business. And at the same time, I didn’t want to disrupt the client base that I could transition into the new communications firm that I’m that I’ve just reopened. Because a lot of them actually had been using me for that. Those services. It was just under a different banner. It’s like, okay, it’s still me, we’re still doing a lot of the same stuff. You just write the check out to somebody new now, it’s now written out to provoke better okay. So I just had to do that in a way that made as much sense as possible. That’s what I worried about. Did it make sense to other people? Like it would make sense to me? I’ll tell you that what I found is, no one else is really as worried about this as I have Then
Conrad Weaver 20:03
Whitney is doing something different?
Whitney Hahn 20:05
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, and so I think I over processed it way more than I needed to.
Conrad Weaver 20:16
So when you look at that is what you do? How does that relate to who you are? Tell me more. So you do a thing, okay. And that thing, may or may not bring income. So oftentimes, I think too many of us get wrapped up into I am this, I do this thing, and that’s who I am. This, this thing identifies me, I identify myself, as you know, for example, myself, you know, I’m a documentary filmmaker that’s identify myself as that that’s who I am. Yeah. So how is that different than who you are? And what you do is that, is there a separation there? Or is that one of the same?
Whitney Hahn 21:01
I think for a lot of people there isn’t. And again, I’ll go back to the kind of tried and true conversations that so many of us have, what’s the first thing you ask when you meet someone new?
Conrad Weaver 21:12
What do you do?
Whitney Hahn 21:12
Yes? Yeah. What do you do? Like the like the nine to five, or whatever it is, we have is all that we are? Right? So when you ask me, tell me a little bit about yourself? Well, there was a reason I started with I’m a Capricorn and a Steelers fan. And, and we laughed, because that’s not the answer. People expect, right? But that’s also me. I’m a I’m the person who can’t not teach. I’m the person who can’t not try to find something humorous. I will start many a conversation with Look, I’m just here for Comic Relief. And maybe, a lot. So I do. Try to Yeah, it’s not always there. But what that is, that is my intent. So for I agree with you, a lot of people will inextricably link what they do for a living with who they are. Yeah. And for some people, that’s right. And maybe for me, now, it’s right to that, that when I say hey, I’m a strategic communicator, or I’m a message master, or however else I might introduce myself, in terms of my line of work. For people who know me out of work, that’s what I do, too. I mean, I’m the nerd who takes business books on vacation, because I like reading them. I like learning about that stuff. And I’ll go to, I’ll go to the local ballpark. And I’ll look at all the billboards out there in the outfield, and I’ll critique them, which ones can I read at this distance? Who’s got a clear message? Who forgot to put their URL on their for their website address? Like I’m critiquing all this stuff? And my friends are like, did you want a hot dog or not? Because that’s where I’m going. That’s what I can’t not do. So in many ways, what I do and who I am, are the same. And over time, I’m working to make that more true. without me having to say, Oh, here’s my business card, read my title on the business card. That’s who I am. Because I think honestly, every one of us who is being truthful, to their purpose, to their strengths, to their unique skills to that thing that only they can do that the world needs so much of, to everyone who is who is being that whole 100% person. We’re not going to need the label on the business card. They’re just going to be doing our thing.
Conrad Weaver 23:28
Yeah. You know, that reminds me of a business friend of mine, that he’s more than a business friend. He’s just he’s a friend of mine. And when you get his business card, his name’s on the front, and his phone numbers on the back. There you go. That’s it. That’s it? Yes. Right. Like, this is me. And does does how you can contact me. You know, it doesn’t matter doesn’t you know, you don’t need to know my title or that doesn’t matter it this is me. Yeah. And he’s comfortable in that in that place.
Whitney Hahn 24:04
That’s so so simple. Yeah, I love that.
Conrad Weaver 24:07
And it, it’s, you know, like, like, Donald Miller often says, you know, you got to simplify the message, right. And so this is who I am, sometimes, you know, I have a business card, and it’s kind of cluttered up with some stuff, and I need to change it because it’s been the same for now. I don’t know. I’m gonna wait too long. So I guess I need to simplify that just to identify myself. And here’s how you can here’s how you can communicate with me. Yeah, and I think once we can get to that point in our life, I know for me. I think it’s, it makes the future so much more clear. It does. And have you found that?
Whitney Hahn 24:49
Yeah, I am finding that it’s continuous journey for me. I don’t think I’ll ever be done on that. But I am finding that to be true. More and more. Yeah, absolutely. People so often Talk about having work life balance. Like they’re two separate things. Like there’s a work, Conrad. Right. And a life, Conrad. No, there’s Conrad. Right? There’s one whole person who is Conrad, who happens to go to work as part of his life. So again, I think our terminology is wrong and our scorecard is wrong. We have to build a better scorecard. Our scorecards cannot be defined by what you bring home this year. How many vacation days did you have this year? Do you have good work life balance, or you just have a good life? Or scorecard for me, I mean, I’m, look, I recognize that I am blessed to be born in this country, in this time and age, not someplace else. And some other time when I would be fighting just for basic theme, you know, rights as a woman or things like that. I am very fortunate that I don’t worry about whether or not my mortgage is going to get paid this month. Because I’ve got that steady, I don’t I have healthcare, I have a full pantry of food, there are more snacks in there than I probably should have. But, you know, unfortunate that way, and I get that. So I don’t take that for granted. But I realized that for me, when I keep focusing on that, then I’m limiting the rest of the good that I can do in the world, the rest of the service that I can pay for rent. So the scorecard for me includes spontaneous states with mom and dad, which we’ve talked about, it includes volunteer time, it includes things like this is gonna sound so basic, can I go on vacation? And not take work with me? I mean, really have it No. 100%? Vacation? Yeah. I mean, I’ll joke that, look, I’m really not that important. I don’t, I am not the person who needs to have my cell phone on all the time. And yet, I have my cell phone on all the time, with our emails and our, the Twitter and this and that. I mean, we have, I don’t know, 18 different ways we can get messages from people now. So when I’m on vacation, it’s like, no, no, no timeout. I’m really not that important. I’m not this special surgeon who needs to be called into the emergency room right now to save someone’s life. Like, I talk for a living. Essentially. Let me go to Maine and eat lobster with my friends and not be the jerk with my face in the phone. Yeah, answering emails. That’s part of my scorecard.
Conrad Weaver 27:35
Have you ever been someplace where cell reception didn’t work? And when you were there, how did it feel?
Whitney Hahn 27:44
I, man, I shouldn’t even admit this. Sometimes. Sometimes I pick vacation spots, based on no cell phone location. Yeah. And I have been known to delete the email accounts, from my cell phone. Like the apps prior to leaving for vacation, then on my desktop, I changed my passwords, so I can’t even easily sneak in. Check it. Like I have to trick myself to get out of this habit of, of always checking emails. Why is that? Because busy?
Conrad Weaver 28:20
Do we think success find our self worth by Whoa, I gotta answer this email. I got, you know, respond to this tweet. I gotta, you know, post this Instagram thing. We find our self worth in those things.
Whitney Hahn 28:36
Yes. Yeah, it’s another indicator of busy. Air quotes again, and busy equals success. No, not not for me. Again, I can’t speak for everyone. But for me, I want to be less busy. Not because I’m lazy. But because I want more whitespace in my life, to be able to just be in the flow. And follow that thing until I’m finished with it. Whether that’s lunch dates with mom, or donate my time, or talk to the neighbor a little bit because she’s having a really hard day. And that’s what’s important right now. No.
Conrad Weaver 29:16
So when your new gig gets, you know, when you get busy, you have work, you have clients and you’re serving them and you’re making a difference in their lives. How will you keep that focus? To stay? unbusy
Whitney Hahn 29:33
it’s a great question. I think I’ll just call you like once a week and you will slap me around a little bit and say Whitney, really?
Conrad Weaver 29:45
Please do. You have my number.
Whitney Hahn 29:47
Be my accountability, buddy. Yeah,
Conrad Weaver 29:50
you know that we need that accountability, right?
Whitney Hahn 29:52
No joke we do we do because so much of all the other messages are about busy equal success, right. So The unbusy the better scorecard is different. And I do have a few friends who helped me with the unbusy, who helped me with my different scorecard. Who, who will ask me not Hey, how’s work? Or what projects are cool that you’re working on? They’ll say when’s the last time you had lunch with mom and dad? How are you folks doing? How’s it? How’s that old? You know, 11 year old dog of yours doing? Okay, good. What have you learned recently, that you love, because that’s part of me, too. I’m always learning something. So it is about setting up a few accountability partners who are talking the new language you want to talk, instead of the one that’s so often American business culture tells us we should be talking. And it’s about setting up new habits. I don’t fill my calendar every week, on purpose. And again, it’s not because I’m lazy. It’s because I know when I’m over scheduled, I’m actually not producing as much value. I met with a coach, again, this is a few years ago, around the time that I talked with my friend Austin, who told me the captain of a pirate ship analogy, I talked with another friend of mine, who is a executive coach. And I said, So are you doing this full time? And he said, do you mean, am I doing this? As much as I want to be doing this? Am I working as many hours as I want to be working? And I was like sat off up? That is what I mean. Because I think like me he long ago, he got that memo a few years ago that working 4050 6080 hour weeks is not when we’re actually being of best service, our bodies in behind the plow is not always where we need to be. Sometimes you just have to sit there and think don’t just do something sit there.
Conrad Weaver 31:49
Right. Why do you think we as Americans, and I think it’s a it’s a global problem, but it’s more pronounced in the US? Why do you think that we have this problem?
Whitney Hahn 32:01
You’re you’re gonna have to ask someone smarter than me about why that is? I really I don’t I’m not sure. Maybe, you know, starts back with the Industrial Revolution and the the glamour of success in air quotes, whatever that means.
Conrad Weaver 32:21
I’ll have to reach out to Malcolm Gladwell. See if you can research
Whitney Hahn 32:25
he’d be a good one to ask about that. Daniel Pink is also really interesting to read about that.
Conrad Weaver 32:32
Not that they’re any smarter than you. But they know
Whitney Hahn 32:35
they’ve studied it stuff. So yeah, they’ve studied it more. I think maybe we chase this because we have been willing to trade financial wealth for almost anything else. When you don’t have money, you have to get money. I mean, when you when you seriously have none when you’re at the poverty level. That is what is required to have a safe home that is required to get medicine when you need it that is required to have reliable transportation to get to a job to help you get a better life. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is is valid. And I’m not disputing that. I’ve been fortunate enough to not be at that lowest sustenance level for a little while. Do I need to make Oprah Winfrey money to make a difference in my community? I don’t. She’s making huge differences. And I love what she’s doing. But I don’t need to do that to make a difference in my community. Yesterday, I made a donation of items to the local hospice house because they have a wish list on Amazon and they said, hey, here are a few things that we need. And I was like, Yeah, I have 10 minutes and 150 bucks. I’m going to go make a donation. Why? Because I could. Earlier this year, I donated about $5,000 to a local theatre group who has been dark for a year and a half because they can’t do any performances because of COVID. Not to show off, but because I could, why do we work so hard to get the money? If we can’t pour it into things? Activities, experiences, communities, people that we value? That’s why I do it. I have enough. I have enough.
Conrad Weaver 34:28
That’s a great perspective. Because every one of us can make an impact where we are sometimes I I think many people like myself. We see things that are happening around the world, like the tragedy in Louisiana and all the flooding and the stuff that I mean even stuff that happened over in Europe this past summer and China and the fires in California, I’m like, I want to do something. But it’s just me. I you know, I want to make an impact. When we forget that there are people right in our own neighborhood. Yeah, who we can impact? Yep. Who we can just, you know, hey, give them a call, how are you doing? What do you need? Can i Is there something I can bring you? Yeah. And, you know, some of the greatest pleasures that we have had recently is our neighbor across the street, there is a first responder and they have a brand new baby. And they have three little girls like all under the age of seven, I think they’re just they have their hands full. And it’s just brings us a lot of joy to my wife bake some cookies and take some over there. And they did a lot of it. And it just gives them a little smile, you know, for the day to to enjoy these chocolate chip cookies. And we just, you know, we have these conversations with them to say, hey, what do you need? What, how can we help you and it brings us it’s nothing, it’s literally just just being us. Sure. But the joy that it brings myself and my wife is, um, you can’t buy that kind of joy.
Whitney Hahn 36:10
Yeah, and it’s cookies. And it’s cookies, right. But more than cookies, I think it’s the it’s the thought and the time and the care that you’re showing, by taking those cookies over to them. Last year, again, I go back to a year, my sister was living with me for about the last 100 days of her life. Because I was working from home, I had time hit the scorecard. And I was close to her medical care and was easy for me to take her when she needs to. And in the last month or so of my sister’s life, it was it was hard. My friends and my sisters friends rallied around us, they would drop off food, they would make sure that, that we had extra drivers for something if if she needed it, I had, I had friends who came over and mowed my yard for me, because I just didn’t have the time and the energy to do it. And they bought all their own tools. And they mowed it. And like I didn’t even realize that they had done it until I got home and it was done. Those are the type of people that you want to have around you. Those are the type of people that I want to be for others. And then sounds like you and your wife are doing that. It’s just yeah, if you don’t, if you can reach around the world, like Oprah does reach around the world. Sure. There’s a lot of need. Yeah. But just reaching next door or across the street is every bit as valuable. Talk to the person in line at the grocery store and say, hey, those are really cute shoes. Because I know Conrad, you’re noticing people’s shoes all the time.
Conrad Weaver 37:48
That’s on my bucket. It’s my thing. It’s a Conrad thing.
Whitney Hahn 37:52
These are cute shoes, what what pretty eyes you have your classes are great, hey, tell me about how was school today, you say to the kid, whatever. We just we’re missing so much connection. And I
Conrad Weaver 38:04
think this past year has really shed light on that. Because, you know, we’ve been so disconnected. And now when we’re able to get back together again, it it’s we missed those interactions in those relationships that we’ve not had for so long. And I think that’s important too, to have those kinds of that kind of mentality. Even this morning, I, you know, got up early to go to the grocery store to get some milk. And the clerk, you know, was like, Hey, how are you doing? You know, just that simple little thing was like, I’m doing great, how are you? You just had this short, little exchange, but it was just cheap. I mean, it was early, and she’s probably just a sleepy as I was, you know, it is like she didn’t have to have that kind of cheerful, how are you doing? thing, you know, but just that little interaction just, you know, made a difference in my day.
Whitney Hahn 38:54
And we can choose that. And we can choose to do that with every interaction. Right? Exactly. Choose to bring the the light and the lift to every interaction that’s on my scorecard. If you were to see it, it’s bring the light and the lift to every conversation.
Conrad Weaver 39:08
Wow. So what are the principles that drive you? And where do those come from?
Whitney Hahn 39:15
Haven’t we been talking about that for like, a half an hour to take some notes?
Conrad Weaver 39:20
Oh, is that what I’m supposed to do here? I’m new at this podcasting. You know, I’m not sure what I’m doing.
Whitney Hahn 39:29
What are the principles? What are the what are the,
Conrad Weaver 39:31
the those things that maybe things you’ve learned in your life from the past? Maybe it’s I know, you know, in my life experience, you know, my dad taught me hard work. You know, always work hard, always show up on time. You know, give it all give it your best. And I think those things have have been some of the principles that have, you know, led me to where I’m at today. What are some of those principles that have led you to Were you are all all
Whitney Hahn 40:01
the ones you just mentioned. And, and, and others, I’m not sure that I have anything new to bring to the conversation, I think we’ve all absorbed some things that maybe we had modeled by great parents, great mentors, great. former bosses, sometimes former employees in our, in our worlds, all of those things are the same. I think at its core, it’s just, and again, I’ve been really, really trying to focus on this for the last few years. It’s just being the you that this world so desperately needs, and we all have an us. That is only us, that this world so desperately needs, I think, I think Oscar Wilder said it best, you might as well be yourself. Everyone else has already taken. So being your intentional best self, at every possible opportunity is what drives me. Now that said, Sometimes my best self is prickly. Sometimes my best self is depressed. Sometimes my best self is short tempered. I try to limit those, you know, I try not to dwell in that place and not be that person all the time. But the honest thing is, His truth is that I am not the happiest smiley as person 100% of the time. That’s not authentic to me. So when I am Prickly, or depressed, or short tempered, usually means something’s up, you know, and I need to take some time away. I need to go walk the dog or sweat it out on the elliptical or get back in touch with my two friends Ben and Jerry. You know, whatever it is right? You do you? So it’s not. I don’t want I don’t want to I don’t want to give the impression that it’s always Yeah, you just you just think awesome thoughts and you will be awesome all the time. I don’t think that’s realistic, either. I think that’s a that’s a terrible standard to try to set. But when I try for is light and lift in every conversation.
Conrad Weaver 42:12
I like that. So a question that I’ve asked many of my podcast guests. And as you know, you and I are both filmmakers in a way and when you’re working on a film, you often write a logline. Yeah, so when the movie about your life is made, what will the logline be?
Whitney Hahn 42:33
I was just here for Comic Relief.
Conrad Weaver 42:38
You made me laugh. Good. Works.
Whitney Hahn 42:46
That wouldn’t be a bad one. Honestly. I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t if that’s what people remembered about me that I could because I think that’s I think laughter is the evidence of light and lift. So if that’s the way that I’m remembered this pretty good.
Conrad Weaver 42:59
Yeah, I like it. I really like it. So what’s the future look like for you?
Whitney Hahn 43:05
The future continues to be one of recalibration. And that will never end. It will never end. I’m really excited about the next chapter of my business. I’m excited about the next chapter of my life. You know, I have I have, I hope a lot of living to do. You know, here, middle age. Oh, I turned the word. Yeah. I turned 52 this year. So yeah, you’re just you’re young. Thank you. Thank you, sir. But definitely in the middle of age and you you do get a different perspective on purpose, I think and life, when statistically speaking, you’re pretty sure that there’s more life behind you than is still in front of you. And that causes you to look at some things. somebody close to you passing away. My sister was 55 causes you to look at things and to read her obituary look up Kelly Hahn Johnson. That girl traveled. She was an adventurer. She was a servant. She was a photo journalist. She was always light in the room. Even the nurses at the hospital at Johns Hopkins during her final days, told us how much they enjoyed visiting with her. That’s who that’s who I want to be more of.
Conrad Weaver 44:27
Wow. Whitney, thank you so much for sharing. And thank you for the life you are are leading and the life you’re living and the difference you’re making in the world and bringing joy, light and lift to the world. I know you’ve done that. For me, it’s just always a pleasure to talk to you and to hang around and and to hear your your laughter and to to hear your your jokes and your fun. So I appreciate that very much.
Whitney Hahn 44:59
Thank you Conrad, I think having more of these conversations is important helps normalize it helps people stop thinking about just the bottom line. And think about what their their log line is. Instead, stop thinking about the bottom line, think about the log line. There you go. I won’t use that.
Conrad Weaver 45:15
So one more, one more thing. I have didn’t put this on the list of questions, but this kind of popped in my mind. So what’s something practical that someone can do? If they’re kind of stuck in this thing? You know, this is who I you know, this is what I do. I’m a I’m a, I’m a, you know, I’m a plumber. And I, I plumb can they do?
Whitney Hahn 45:40
Seems to say it sounds like we’re starting to see Shanti. But
Conrad Weaver 45:44
so what’s a practical tip or a word of advice that someone can do when they’re really wanting to change their focus of their purpose? Or something practical that someone can do?
Whitney Hahn 45:59
If you are looking to recapture your purpose, I’m not even sure it’s about changing your purpose, but rather, maybe remembering your purpose, that thing that you can’t not do? I think it could be helpful to ask other people. What’s the thing you always see me do? What’s the and I don’t mean the task, but rather the habit? How do I make decisions? How do you see me lean into or step away from certain situations? If you were to describe me to someone else, how would you describe me? We can’t see ourselves the way that other people see us. But we can ask how they see us. And through that, I think that you can maybe find some patterns. Your purpose doesn’t necessarily have to be tied to your vocation either. It’s great one it is. But I think that’s another aspect that trips so many people up well, I can’t be blank, because that requires 16 more years of university, and I just don’t have it in me. So that can’t possibly be my purpose. Well, now, wait a minute, maybe there’s an aspect of it that you can contribute to? Can you volunteer with an organization that does that? Can you bring more of that type of habit or behavior or knowledge or skill set into what you do every day in a different way. But asking other people to reflect on you and super candid ways, can give you an opportunity to find those patterns and say, Wow, I never really thought about that. Because to me, it’s just natural. Like, in my own discovery of ham, I’m a strategic communications expert. That’s the fancy title. But the like fifth grade explanation is, I help people communicate in ways that make sense in ways that fit a particular goal or objective. And I teach them how to do that. As as my business slogan says, To think it better say it better and Majid better. That’s the thing I can’t not do. And it actually took a whole lot of hard work to boil it down to just that simple thing, because I was over complicating it, because I was seeing that the thing that is natural and quote unquote easy to me, is not natural and easy to everyone. So I was undervaluing it. I was like, Oh, that that can’t be it. Because that’s too easy. Like purpose has to be hard one. Maybe the purpose is the thing that’s easy for you when you’re in the flow.
Conrad Weaver 48:40
Wow. That’s great advice. Thank you. Thank you for that. I’m going to find some people and ask them about me.
Whitney Hahn 48:50
I think you’ll find it illuminating.
Conrad Weaver 48:52
I’m sure I will. I might. Yeah, it’ll it’ll bring some clarity. As I’m even in my journey, exploring my purpose and exploring, you know what the future holds for me. So speaking of the future, what’s the next big thing for you?
Whitney Hahn 49:11
The next big thing for me actually is about a vacation in Maine in about five days.
Conrad Weaver 49:18
Where are you going in Maine?
Whitney Hahn 49:19
I’m going to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Beautiful. I’m going to eat some lobster and maybe find some whales and hike a few nature trails.
Conrad Weaver 49:29
I love Maine it’s one of my favorite places to go
Whitney Hahn 49:30
I’ve never been so this will be a new adventure for me. Yeah,
Conrad Weaver 49:34
wow. Yeah, make sure there’s some amazing places along the coast I’ve never been to Acadia I’ve been to Bar Harbor I’ve been there’s another village south of there between Portland and Bar Harbor. I forget the name of it. But it’s a fishing village like many are most are. But yeah, it’s yeah, in the lobster. You can’t get any fresher than what it is there.
Whitney Hahn 49:59
Yeah. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So that’s the short term thing, and I’m not taking my work computer.
Conrad Weaver 50:07
That’s good. I will ask you when you come back. Well, it’s been a real pleasure talking to you windy, and to have you on the Explore purpose podcast. Thank you very much for your insight into this. And thank you for your journey for sharing your journey. I think that I know you’ve been through some difficult times this past year, and I really appreciate you kind of sharing that in your journey with us with our audience.
Whitney Hahn 50:35
Oh, part of all just part of this, it’d be the adventure.
Conrad Weaver 50:39
And with that, we’ll leave it there. Hey, if you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast, please subscribe and leave a review. I’d love to hear what you thought about the show and I’d love to hear how you are living out your purpose. And be sure to follow us on all socials, check out the links in the show notes. Until next time, go out and make an impact by living life with purpose and meaning. And I’ll talk to you again next time on The Explore purpose podcast.