Transcript

Celebrating Episode 200 with the Mason Family

[0:00] Hello friends, welcome to another episode of tell us a good story.
I’m Elle Mason and today you get to celebrate episode, 200 with my parents today mom and dad share things have that have Surprised them about the show the worst moments they have had on the show Dad tells his favorite story and you will hear voicemail messages recorded by listeners including a very, very, very special voicemail at the end of the episode.
Folks, hope you enjoy episode 200 with my mom and dad, Kevin and Steph Mason.
I’m Kevin and I’m Stephanie and during our marriage we have dealt with an electrocution, a brain tumor, brain surgery, then doctors telling us that children were not in our future, followed by miscarriage, and then Kevin’s cancer diagnosis.
However, today we live a life completely healed and restored with three healthy children who doctors said were not possible.
And we’re here to tell stories that inspire, give hope, and brighten your day.
Welcome to, Tells a Good Story.

Importance of Subscribing and Sharing on Social Media

[1:08] Okay, friends, before we get to this episode, just a friendly reminder to please hit the subscribe button on YouTube and Apple Podcasts, or give us a review. Five stars, please.
In our world, this is super, super important because it will help with the algorithm to make it easier for people to find us.
And thank you for sharing our post across your social media, that really helps with engagement and with us getting guests.
Yes. So hey, if you want us to keep working our way up to talking to Chip and Joanna, please share us with your friends.
But regardless, thank you for listening to Tell Us A Good Story.

[1:41] All right, Steph. Welcome to episode 200.
200 episodes. Did you think that we would ever get here? I didn’t think I’d be here.
Like I didn’t think you would actually have me as a co-host still.
So miracles still happen, people.
And we are here with the man who’s been with us this entire journey.
Mr. Craig Coulson. He’s here with us.
Hey guys. We’re so excited for doing this with us. Thank you for being on this journey with us. Oh, it’s been my pleasure. Yeah. Yes. Four years now.
All right, Craig. So this is a big deal. Episode 200. The average podcast goes about seven. That’s you know, episodes.
So for us to get here is…
Monumental. And we are very close, Steph. I looked at this earlier this morning.
We are very close to being within the top 1% of all podcasts. No!
So you got a listen score of 42.
I don’t know what everything that goes into that score, but we have a score of 42.
43 is when you go into the elite tier of 1%. Shut up!
Shut up! Yeah, we’re real close to it. Real close.
So we’re very close to being in that elite 1% class. Oh my gosh! That’s amazing!
Why is no one else freaking out like I’m freaking out? You guys need to be freaking out, both of you. I am freaking out. This is me freaking out.
Can’t you tell? I just freak out. Like, why is she running around the house right now, Craig?

[3:08] Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. That’s pretty awesome. Yes. I’m so excited.

Listeners’ Voicemail Messages and Stories

[3:14] Okay, so with this being episode 200, Craig cut an ad, a call to action, and we asked listeners to send in a voicemail message.
Okay, so we’ve got a handful of messages stuff that I want to air here. Okay.
And we’ll respond to them. Perfect. The first is going to be actually the voicemail that we have on our business account.
Very cute. It’s Emmy and Al. And then the first is from our daughter, Emmy, our 12 year old, she wanted to leave us a message and actually share a story with you. Okay.
Hello, thank you for calling. Tell us a good story. Leave a message after the beep beep. Hi mom and dad, it’s Emmy.
Congratulations on getting to episode 200.
Dad said I could leave a voicemail and tell mom a story. Both Elle and I think it’s absolutely hilarious how people react to dad when you’re not with them.
Like for example, this morning at church, this lady literally ran up to us and she was like, where’s Steph? Is she with you?
And Dad was like, sorry, she’s not feeling well, and she literally was like, okay, tell her I said hi, like, she was so sad.

[4:28] And then a few weeks ago at Kate’s soccer team party at Dairy Queen, we walked in and there was this mom and she was like, oh, hi, nice to meet you. Where’s Steph?
And dad was like, I’m sorry, she couldn’t make it. She had work or like something.

[4:49] The expression on her face was like, are you kidding me? That’s the only reason why I came here. Like she was so disappointed.
And me and dad were just like laughing at Dairy Queen. It’s like literally nobody cares about dad.
So mom. I love you Congratulations on 200 episodes. Bye All right stuff.
That is a thousand percent true what you just heard Yeah, I’ve told you this in the past like but I totally get it I totally get it if I show up to the party and you’re not there Women are gonna be like, oh you showed up like where’s the fun at? No, not at all.
It is so funny because, of course, before we started doing this podcast, I’d always joked, like when we go to church, people didn’t know my name.
Like my name was Steph’s husband, right? And I always joked about that.
I’m totally fine with that.
But I think it’s hilarious that our kids are even seeing it now that when I show up and you’re not with me, everyone’s so disappointed.
But see, that’s partly your problem, because you will even say, I don’t want to say you’re antisocial, but you’re kind of antisocial, where you just kind of keep to yourself, like you’re totally fine being in a corner, no one talking to you.

[6:03] And I’m just like, no, we gotta get ourselves out there. I’m totally hugging everyone, even when people are not hugging me in their stiffed arms, I’m still hugging them.
Okay, so when people do this to me in the future, do I just need to be like, no, Steph’s not here, but I am, what do you need? Do you need a hug?

[6:20] Do you want a hug? You hug them. Do you need to get some words out?
100%. Go ahead. Start talking to me. I’ll tell stuff later. Go ahead.
No, but you hug them and they’re like, but I’m here, so what do you want to talk about? It’s perfect.

Reflections on Starting the Podcast with Craig Clawson

[6:35] So four years ago, we met Craig Clawson. He came over to our house, did a 10 minute pilot, recorded it, and I had no idea how it was going to sound.
Well, I remember he came to the house and you kept bringing in more and more equipment into the house and I’m like, Kevin, we can’t do this.
Brought in this mixing board as if you were mixing Imagine Dragons at Nationwide Arena.
I was like, oh my gosh, that’s what this entails. And you’re like, oh, it’s just a little overkill here. And I’m like, this whole thing is taking up a table.
Yeah, I was like, babe, you can’t do this. I don’t think this is for us.
Yeah, we had the mixing board. And then we had a bunch of mics and headphones and all that gear.
And yeah, it’s a little much for a podcast.
But I mean, that was just my gear that I do for doing sound and stuff like that.
I didn’t have at the time a smaller set to bring and not overwhelm you guys.

[7:28] So we listened to it and I was like, okay, if that’s the worst, this is going to be. That’s not too bad.
So, we got through it, then, Steph, we decided to buy a little bit of equipment and then work with Craig here to move forward.
I want to know something from you, Craig. When we started four years ago, would you have ever thought you’d be sitting with us four years later and doing the 200th episode with us?
No. Uh-huh. No, I didn’t.

[7:55] Now that I think back about it, with all the clients that I work with, I think you guys have the most enthusiasm towards the project.
And I, and I think that’s because you’re not doing it to promote yourselves.
Correct. You’re in, it comes across, do you guys promote your guests?
I think a lot of podcasts, a lot of people buy a microphone, sit down and they talk about themselves.

[8:18] And I think that that comes across as disingenuous, but you don’t get that with you guys, because you guys aren’t that way, this isn’t about you.
It’s always been about your guests, your family, and your community.
And I think that’s one of the things that really separates you from a lot of shows out there.
Oh, thanks, Craig. I think you do bring up a great point.
Like it’s really hard. Like on sometimes our fifth episodes, when we do talk about ourselves, I’m like, Oh, like, you know, he wants to talk about some of the stuff that’s happened. And I just get, I just cringe.
Cause I don’t want it to come up. cross that we’re bragging or I don’t want that. But apparently you two feel like people need to know this stuff.
I don’t know if it’s necessary that they need to know it, but what you’re doing is you’re sharing your success with the audience.
I mean, they are part of the show as well, your audience.
And so they’ve become very invested in you as co-hosts and you as people.
And so you’re sharing good news with them. I think because of that, a lot of your listeners see you as almost like extended family.
Oh, I love that. I think a lot of people think they know us.

[9:29] Just from listening to us on a weekly basis. That’s awesome.
I hope they, I hope y’all do feel that way.
All right, Steph, let’s share a couple more phone calls. Okay.

Heartwarming Messages from Listeners

[9:39] I love the message from the kids. The kids are great.
This has been the most amazing podcast I’ve ever listened to.
It has made my day every single week.
I binge watched it when I first heard about it and now I listen all the time.
You all are amazing. I love your story, all the stuff with the kids, your family, your sister, father-in-law, all your family.
I am so proud of you guys and excited that you made 200. This is Stacey and I really appreciate you all.

[10:12] Hi Stephanie and Kevin, it’s Danielle Conrad-Michael and we’re calling to congratulate you on your 200th episode.
We are faithful listeners that tell us a good story and we are so proud of you guys for making it to 200 and we can’t wait to hear the next 200 and even the one with Joanna.
So congratulations and onward to bigger and better.
Hey, Kevin and Steph, it’s Amy Groff. Congratulations on 200 episodes.
Absolutely amazing. Super proud of you guys. Love you both.
Oh my gosh.
Stacy, Danielle and Miss Amy. That just blew my mind. If you guys She could have had a video of me.
I have the biggest smile. My mouth has been opened.
Tears in the eyes, like y’all, thank you, thank you. And that last one, Amy, she was your roommate in college.
Nope, she was my best friend in college. But weren’t you roommates at some point?
No, never roommates. I thought she was roommates at Savista when I met you. Oh yes, she was.

[11:23] I was thinking the Nazz. I was thinking the NAS, babe. Oh, that’s so funny.
Yes, we were. Yes, we were.
All right. All right, Steph, I’m gonna test you again here. What is your favorite book of all time? Obviously, it’s the Bible, Kevin.

Steph’s Favorite Book and Promotion of “You Met Her Where”

[11:39] Yes. Nailed it. Very good. This time you didn’t say the book we wrote called You Met Her Where.
But it’s still a really good book. That is true. And it would make a great gift for friends or relatives on their birthday or for Christmas.
Friends, you can order your copy of our book titled You met her where at Kevin and Steph calm and we will make sure to personally sign a copy for you or whoever you want And as always thank you for listening to tell us a good story, Since she started working with us have you gotten any other projects through tell us because we were your first client, right?
You were my first podcast client. Okay. Yeah, so my company does information technology and podcasting and video work So you were my first podcast client and so yes from your referrals, I got working with MD coaches, Rhonda Crowe, and then you’ve also sent several other people.
Your way, yes. My way, and we’ve had conversations, and maybe a small project here or there, but at one point I was doing seven different medical podcasts.
Seven alone, really? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. How many podcasts in total?
So, at its peak over the summer, we were doing 26 releases a week.

[12:51] What? Yeah. Yeah. So on your pitch to new clients, do you use, tell us a good story and be like, listen, if these guys can do this, these guys are garbage behind the scene and look what they sound like, right?
Can you imagine what you’re going to sound like with a microphone if I can make them sound like this, right?
Is that, is that how you guys are in my pitch deck?
Absolutely. Yeah. Um, and in fact, uh, your, your, you had given me a quote at one point about I’m a stickler to detail, but Craig is professional and can get it done.
And so that’s actually in my pitch deck to new and potential clients. Oh, that’s good.

A Proud Message from Katie

[13:35] Stephanie and Kevin, it’s Katie.
I just wanted to leave you guys a message and tell you how proud I am of you.
You guys freaking did it.
You made it to 200 episodes. I can’t wait until you reach the next milestone 500 coming baby.
I’m so proud of you. I love you so much.

Sister’s Phenomenal Contributions to the Show

[14:00] All right, how much fun is your sister she’s been phenomenal when we’ve had her on fifth episode She’s one of she’s one of the listeners favorites.
Yeah. Yeah, she’s the best. I love my sister more than y’all could even and understand, like if we’re in a pinch, we call her.
She not eagerly says yes to us because she doesn’t think anybody wants to hear her.
So we always have to encourage her like, sis, no, people do love you.
They love listening to you, but she’s just the best.
She is, her and Adam, my buddy, Adam Bennett.
Yeah, they’re both fantastic. They are. Two of the funniest people we know.
Katie’s amazing. Her energy is just like you. Uh-huh. And a lot of folks can’t tell the difference between your voices, which is surprising.
But then Adam, Adam cracks me up because of course we edit this.
Yeah. And last time he was on, I told him, Hey, I’ll send you an edited version and let you know what we cut out.
And he’s like, listen, I’m just happy whenever you include something that I say, because it seems like you edit a whole lot of what I say out of these conversations, which is very true.
There’s so many things he says guys behind the scenes that is inappropriate that Craig and I have to cut out. There’s been multiple times where Craig will send me an email.
Hey, you cannot, you cannot include.
It’s very funny. I laughed out loud. I ha ha’d.
You cannot include this on Tell Us Good Stories. There’s a lot of families that are listening to this.

[15:25] And so he always has the understanding of, okay, hopefully a few things I say actually get included.
And that’s a great reason why we don’t do this live as well.

[15:35] His wit is very acerbic and sharp. And he’s just like, all of a sudden, he’ll just pop out something real quick.
And you’re like, Whoa, where did that come from? And you’re laughing hysterically because of him.
Yes. But he’s amazing. He and Katie are amazing.
She actually shared probably my favorite story of 200. And of course, every, every fifth episodes us sharing our stories.
And we include Adam and Katie and some other friends on the fifth episodes.

Funny High School Basketball Mishap with Brother

[16:00] But I want to share this because this is my favorite of 200 episodes.
When she was in high school and stuff. Keep me honest here. When she was in high school, you girls moved to a new a new school because your dad took the superintendent’s job at Parkway High School, okay?
So she’s a sophomore, and your brother had already graduated from a different high school. He was in college at the time.
So Katie’s playing high school basketball. I think she’s on the JV team at the time.
On the JV team, new school, your brother, Steven, comes to watch you play, and he doesn’t know anybody.
He doesn’t know the school, right? Because he went to a different high school.
Katie gets injured, hurts her ankle. She’s going for a layup or something, gets fouled, Hurts her ankle laying on the ground your brother Stephen tries to be the hero.
He’s got a big heart Runs out on the court, scoops up to your sister and runs out the side door. Yes. Here’s the thing.
He’s not familiar with this high school. So he doesn’t realize the doors he just went out are the exterior doors.
It is not the doors to the hallway.

[17:05] So he runs up the exterior doors, the door shuts behind him and locks.
And all of a sudden he realizes, okay, I’m now standing out here in the parking lot. It is snowing and I’m holding my sister.
It’s freezing. It’s in the middle of winter. her and he’s just holding her out in the middle of parking lot.
Now right like what am I gonna do? Okay, here’s what’s even crazier.
Craig inside the gym. Nobody knows that’s her brother.
He didn’t go to this high school, just some random dude running as a middle street.
Yes, so it is like people are looking like who is this guy? Is that a relative?
Do we just witness human on trafficking right now.

[17:44] He scoops up this girl runs outside. Someone needs to check on it right and the referees are like coach. We just lost a player.
Who are you going to have shoot free throws like everybody’s confused because nobody knows nobody knows who that was.
This random guy just runs out in the court, grabs a girl, goes out the side door on the parking lot.
So Stephen is holding Katie walks around the whole entire gymnasium, goes through the front door of the school where they’re taking money admission.

[18:12] She’s still carrying. Yes. He’s still carrying her walks in the front door and everyone’s like, what in the world?
And so your mom, she goes out to the front door because she knows they’re going to be walking through there.
And Katie, your mom’s like, how are you? Okay. Cause at this point we don’t know, or she doesn’t know if it’s a sprained ankle and she like walk it off or is it like something serious?
Okay. And Katie’s like, mom, just take me to the hospital. I cannot go back in the gym.
Yeah, you can’t I mean this is a new school.
Yeah, it’s a new team She just exited stage left, She can’t come in like a magic trick now from the right side of the door and like run in like, okay I’m ready to shoot my free throws You can’t do all that drama. You better have something wrong with you.
Yeah, so she’s like mom just take me the hospital I like I’m hoping Michael’s broken or something like this is serious because I can’t because I can’t go back in there I can’t go back in there. And so was it just a sprained ankle?

Chaos Ensues as Brother Takes Injured Sister to Parking Lot

[19:10] Do you remember it was a severe sprain where she had had like air cast on crutches?
So it was serious. It was serious.
Okay, so she’s a couple games then. Mm-hmm, okay But that is one of my favorite stories because I can envision your brother big heart I’m going to save your sister hate to see her in pain Yeah, yeah, but the chaos that it caused it caused because nobody knows that’s her brother And he didn’t realize he just took her out the parking lot.

Listener Recommendations: How We Find Incredible Guests

[19:38] Steph what is one of the most asked questions we get about tell us a good story Uh, do I really get that excited besides that one? Oh, how do we get all these incredible guests?
Correct. And some of our best conversations have been with guests who are listeners have reached out to us and said, you should talk to this person to name just a few.
Nick Vujicic, Coach Tom Ryan, Carol Motyka were all recommendations from our listeners.
So if there’s someone you would like us to interview and think they might be a great fit for tell us a good story, please let us know at Kevin and Steph.com.
You don’t even have to personally know them. True.
But do me a favor, before you submit their names, please make sure they are still alive.
That has actually happened. And it is super hard for me to find their contact information. But regardless, thank you for listening to tell us a good story.

[20:25] All right, Steph. So thinking about what’s transpired the last four years, what are some things that have surprised us?
I’m still surprised that I’m at the end of this table with you right now.
That you’re a co-host? that I’m still co-hosting with you. Because you were not the first person who came to my mind when I thought of Tell Us a Good Story.
I was the fifth choice, but hands down the best fact I had a shirt made that says fifth choice I almost wore it today in honor of the 200th episode Well in that what’s funny about that is that you’ve been nominated for best podcast host.
I Have been nominated for best podcast.
No, but I think this guy No, I think it was because Kevin told people like please vote for my wife If so, I have a better standing in the house if she gets up there. Not at all.

[21:18] Not at all. That was another thing that blew us away when we were up for those awards. Oh, that’s right. I forgot about that.
A year ago. For the National Podcast of the Year and then Host of the Year. Yes. So that was crazy.
The thing that surprised me was us getting a message this past summer from a listener saying, Hey, I’m reading about you in my women’s, what is it?
Women’s World. Women’s World Magazine, which is a national magazine on a weekly basis.
And so send us a picture and there we were so yeah so I was at work and I had a listener reach out and she’s like, um, I’m reading women’s world magazine and Tell us a good stories in it.
I mean my co-workers in the break room with me and I started.

Surprise Magazine Feature and Celebrity Company

[22:04] And I immediately sent it to you Kevin sent it to Craig like freaking out with no clue. I had no idea.
No. Craig bought two magazine covers for us and sent it to us, which was nice. And here’s what’s wild.
We had no idea that this was taking place. We didn’t have a PR agent.
We still don’t know how we got in that magazine.
Well, they didn’t even contact you to ask or say anything. They just said, well, we’re just gonna put you out there.
Yes, and they had a nice section in the magazine of you’ve gotta check out this amazing podcast.
And it was Tell Us a Good Story. And then right beside of it was Tom Hanks.
And then who’s the guy on Thor?
Chris Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth on the page of a side of it.
And it’s like, we’re right in the middle of that.
And it was amazing. So cool. That surprised me.
That might have been one of the coolest experiences ever with Tell Us a Good Story. Just because we had no clue.
Right. So that was pretty special.
I’ve been surprised from the messages we get from guests about how they look forward to every Friday morning when each new episode drops.
Yeah. And it’s part of their weekly routine.

[23:08] It’s their Friday routine and they look forward to it. That surprised me.
That’s like part of their weekly thing.
Well, it was so cute because there was a couple of listeners that even reached out on Facebook like, Oh, two days away from Friday for the podcast drop.
And I’m like, Oh, like, just amazing. So cool. Yes, that people actually look forward to it, which is nice.
Another thing that surprised me that happened just maybe two months ago.
So I reached out to Diamond Dallas pages PR guy. Yeah. Right.
And he sent me an email and said, Here’s my phone number, give me a call.
So I called him, and I’m starting to pitch us to him. And immediately he cuts me off and says, No, no, no, Kevin.
No, I’m already sold on you guys. We’ve looked at your website.
We’ve looked at your podcast, what you guys do, we love tell us a good story.
We want to be part of it. He’s like, the only question is, when do you want to talk to Dallas?
And so we scheduled it for the next week and had a hour and a half conversation with Diamond Dallas Page.
And then he asked if he could come back, right, which we’ll gladly talk to him again.
But I reached out to this PR agent, maybe the day later, and said, Hey, we had a fantastic conversation.
Thank you for setting that up. And he’s like, Hey, I meant to call you.
I’m like, Oh, what’s wrong? He said, when you go off the phone with Dallas, he reached out to me in typically when Dallas reaches out to me is because an interview went wrong.
However, he reached out to me to say, those two people were fantastic.
That might be the nicest couple I’ve ever seen.

[24:37] And his PR guys response was, Hey, I’ve been trying to get you on the show for months.

[24:45] He’s like, I knew it was gonna be a great episode. So, he thanked me for interviewing his client, Diamond Ellis Page, who blew me away.
He literally like, yeah, I’ve been trying to get you on this show.
I’ve been working really hard and we’re able to get you in here before the year end, which is hilarious. That’s awesome.

Guests enjoy the time spent on the show.

[25:03] Oh, and that’s one of the things too that you’ve heard so much from your guests is that they enjoy the time that they spend with you.

[25:11] That’s true. I mean, the listeners don’t get to hear that as often as you and I get to hear it, right? where once you guys are done recording, they say it. They’re like, this was fantastic.
This is the best interview I’ve ever had and blah, blah, blah.
Like a couple weeks ago, John Cooper of Skillet, when we got off, he said, Hey, I love this because you’re asking me about good stuff.
You didn’t ask about politics. You didn’t ask about what’s going on the world and everything.
He’s like, there’s a lot of stories that he shared that he hasn’t shared in a long time, because I didn’t care about all the negative stuff.
I don’t want to talk about that. And so he actually appreciated us giving an opportunity to talk about something that’s fun.
Well, and it’s really cool because so many guests, we always want to respect our guest’s time.
And we always, before we have you guys listen, we’re like, how much time do you have?
Typically, you know, 20, 30 minutes.
So we’re like, okay, so we try to gear the conversation to that so we can try to get as much in as we can.
And then once we hit that mark, we’re like, okay, and they’re like, no, no, no, no, let’s keep going. Let’s keep going.
And we’ll get an hour, hour and a half with these people, which is just unbelievable that they would spend that much time with us.
All right, Steph, let’s share a couple more phone calls here.

[26:20] Hi, my name is Nicole Kibler. Kevin and Steph were introduced to me as friends of our pastors at our church.
They came and spoke with us and spoke about their book. And ever since then, And I’ve listened to every single episode of their podcast, sometimes multiple times.
They’re such an inspiration, they’re such good people. I don’t know them personally, but I know that they’ve come to our town carnivals, our church halls, and they’ve helped me personally in more ways than one.
And I just want to thank them for everything that they do and encourage them to keep doing what they’re doing, because they’re such a blessing.
Thank you, Kevin and Steph, you’re doing amazing. Love you guys.

Listeners call in to express their gratitude and support.

[27:00] Hey, Kevin and Steph, it’s your buddy Dr. John, just calling to say congratulations on so many episodes.
That is absolutely incredible. I’m so proud of what you guys are doing there.
And my favorite part is just hearing your story, your life, and getting to hear what’s going on with you guys, because you guys are such special people.
And I’ve always known that, but now everyone else is finding that out, too, so I think that is so cool.
And I am excited for you guys to come down and go python hunting with me soon.
So we gotta go on some adventures. Love you guys, bye.
Oh, Nikki, that was so sweet. Nikki, I just love, like she said, we met her in Pennsylvania, and she literally has been one of our biggest fans ever since we started this episode.
Like, she’ll send us amazing, encouraging words, or she’ll share our episodes.
I just love her. And then Dr.
John, you guys, so you know that Kevin went and hung out with Dr.
John with the one episode, but our next goal is to go python hunting.
That’s his goal. That’s his goal, but I am a huge advocate of going python hunting down in the Everglades.
So it’d be Kevin, Dr. John, and I. And I think it could be like a business expense if we do this. Oh yeah, it’s a write-off. Right? Yeah, absolutely, totally.

[28:19] So I do agree with Dr. John, we need to make that happen. You should get Amy Sewey involved. That’s who we were doing it.
Actually, we’ve had conversations about making that happen. If you guys go python hunting, you need to find somebody to be taking video of you doing this. Oh, 100%.
I’ll be the one taking the video. Kevin’s going to be the one videoing.
Dr. John and I are going to be the one catching the pythons.
I’ll be in a truck with a spotlight and a video camera and watch you guys.

[28:45] I would not want to do that stuff. Oh, I absolutely want to do that.
I 100% want to do this. Her excursions are like 46 hours. At night.
Night and you’re you’re catching pythons that are the size of telephone poles.
Yes Oh gosh, I’d be hard to video actually if it’s a night man, but it’s the oh, that’s true Well, they have the spotlight though.

Surprised by the variety of guests who say yes.

[29:03] You can still see it, but I think we can make it happen All right stuff anything else that has surprised you as we’ve done this I, Think I say this every time when you ask me this question It’s the guests that say yes every time every time time, it blows me away.
And you start telling me every person that we had on, or every year, you’re like, let’s look back at the last 50 guests.
And it blows my mind the people we’ve talked to in just the last year alone.
I’m shocked. I mean, if you look at our website, we have featured guests, and it’s anybody from Jim Trestle, to Nick Boyachich, to Dog the Bounty Hunter, Ice from American Gladiators, the voice of Siri, Andy Irwin, who’s a big film producer, to all the Dave Ramsey personalities.
I’m just blown away, Steph, that the people are saying yes to us.
So yeah, that surprised me every time. Yeah.
The other thing that surprised me is we were at your father’s funeral two weeks ago.
And while we’re there, Steph, I was shocked by the number of people who came through the line at the viewing, or pulled us aside at the funeral and told us how much they love tell us a good story.

[30:12] No less than ten people, I would say, actually went out of the way to come find us and tell us that.
And one thing that I thought was hysterically funny, Mr.
Hartman, our kid’s gym teacher and athletic director at school, he’s been on a few episodes with us. Tell us a good story.
The last episode he was on, he had some questions for us. One of the questions was, have you ever been recognized out in public? Yes.
Now that tells a good story is getting a little bit more popular.
Well, at the viewing of your father’s funeral.
He was in line at the viewing and the kids saw him.
So the kids ran over to him, said hello, hugged him, and once the kids walked away, the person in line in front of him, Craig, turned around and said, Are you Mr Hartman from Tell Us a Good Story?
And his world just changed. He’s like, Why? Yes, I am.
They recognized him, his voice, and then the kids saying, Hi, Mr Hartman. Yeah, and the people in front of him listen to us, apparently on a weekly basis.
And it was hilarious. So he got up to the line to say hello to us.
And he’s like, you’re not gonna believe what just happened.

[31:19] He was so proud, so excited. And then the next day I texted him and said, did you tell your wife what happened at the viewing? He’s like, did I tell my wife?
I told everybody who would listen what happened. Like he’s telling his pastor, he’s telling his neighbors, he’s telling his wife, like you’re not gonna believe I got recognized at this funeral for telling us a good story.
And he was so excited, like made his week. It was hilarious.
It made my week. I’m like, that’s pretty awesome.

[31:45] All right. So let’s talk about stuff.

Reflecting on worst moments in the show’s history.

[31:48] Some of the worst moments that we’ve had in the past four years of tell us a story.
Okay, well, this is tame compared to what’s happened. But episode like six, we had your sister come over.
And I didn’t record the first 30 minutes.

[32:03] We’re recording awful. And I realized like, okay, Katie, we’re gonna have to do this all over again. I didn’t record one thing. You just said and she was so sweet.
She was worried about it was so sweet I was not very sweet about it cuz I was so far.
I’m still trying to figure out though I know you stop that was yes, it was so mistake, but she was so great.
That’s okay. Let’s do it again You know second times could be even better.
So she was so well What was first episodes to we had put our headsets on and our microphones and I had it on the wrong setting You know on the computer and you reached out to me and said hey You got to figure out the setting because it was going through your laptop Versus through your microphone.
Oh, yeah In two rooms away.
Yeah, and we’re like we got to redo it So you and I had to redo it one of those first ten episodes where it was just us.
Yep the other one Kevin that just Broke my heart when Yolanda Harris was on Anchor for 10 TV news.
Yes, and she is such a dear friend of mine I’m so blessed to know her, but she graciously accepted our offer.
And we had such an amazing conversation with her.
And then she, you know, went away into the conversation. She ended the conversation.
And then Kevin went to hit stop. And it says, recording now. And I’m like, Oh, no.
And I said, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.

[33:25] And you tried so hard to figure it out. And unfortunately, it was because the… Here’s what happened.
I did a software update.
Zoom changed things slightly. And so previously, I was familiar with when you hit record, the clock would start.
They updated Zoom where as soon as you log in, the clock starts.
And so it threw me off where now it says recording dot dot dot and a number.
Right, that number does not relate to the recording relates to how long you’ve been on video Yeah, how long you’ve been in that chat room?
So that threw me off where I thought we were recording and we hadn’t because of that update and so you and I had a nice constructed conversation, Of yours is doing a favor. I didn’t record anything of hers.
It was only our conversation.
I think even reach out to you like, Hey, is there any way zoom would have recorded this to the cloud temporarily or something to my desktop?
We dug around for a good bit of time. Nothing.
Yeah. So it took me till the next afternoon to build up the courage to call her and let her know. I am so sorry.

[34:35] But I didn’t record any of you. She was so graceful. Incredible.
Yeah, I mean, Incredible, you know, she works in broadcast.
She understands exactly How this happens and she said it happened to her before.
Yeah where at 10 tv She hadn’t saved a file or transferred it to the wrong inbox and it got deleted and it happened to her So she was very understanding versus any other guest that it could have been so that’s hands down one of the worst moments We’ve had one other issue.

Microphone Malfunction and Last-Minute Heroics

[35:04] We had was just like two weeks ago. We were recording episode 195 a fifth episode and we had Mr. Hartman and my buddy Adam here.
Yeah, and one of our microphones did not work. I could not get it to work.
And so We had scheduled this well in advance.
We’re all here and we only have three microphones working So at close to around eight o’clock at night, I called the Craig Clawson helpdesk call center And you walk me through this and you’re like, you know what, I’ll just bring in a microphone. And thankfully, you live 10 minutes away.
And it was able to rush over here really fast and give us a new microphone headset and save the day, which was amazing.

[35:40] But that’s the stuff that drives me nuts. This checklist of Okay, is this recording? Is this recording? Does this sound good?
I want to focus on just having the conversation, but there’s like 10 different things like, that sound good.
Oh, hey, on zoom, can you move the camera a little bit, because you’re not in the middle of the frame, like there’s so many little things that I’ve got to think about pinning the video on their end to whatever, make sure it’s recording.
Well, I think that’s the big thing when people reach out to you, like, how do you start a podcast?
There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes, than just having the conversation that I don’t think people understand.
I think most people think, okay, you just hit record on your phone and start talking. Uh huh. It is a whole lot more than that. I mean, you can do it that way.
And that’s perfectly fine. There’s a lot of podcasts out there that do it that way right and probably a lot of pockets don’t edit anything as well Yeah, but that’s not how we do it.
Yeah, that’s not our process But Steph do you want to talk about how many times we’ve gotten to constructive conversations right before?
Right before an episode with a guest. It’s okay. Here’s the thing you guys, It’s gonna be set up and I’m he’s like, okay, are we gonna talk I’m like, yeah, just let me know when you’re ready He’s like, well, I’m going to be ready in like five minutes.
Well, in that five minutes, y’all, I am loading the dishwasher.
I’m starting to load a laundry. I’m cleaning the kid’s toy room.
Like I have so much that I need to cram in in that five minutes and he doesn’t.

[37:07] Like I have a certain amount of time that I can get all of my stuff done, so I’m going to take advantage of every minute I can. And here’s what Steph doesn’t understand, Craig.
I don’t want a washing machine on, a dryer on, the dishwasher, and you’re gonna hear the err, like right in the middle of the conversation.
Like, Steph, can you come in here and focus? Can you please focus, and let me tell you about this guest that you’re about to talk to.
It’s John Cooper of Skillet. It’s not John Cooper from Ohio State football coach.
It was an important piece There’s so many things like stuff Can I at least down you load you on a few things of this guest and you’re folding laundry you’re doing this.

[37:47] Asking that stuff can wait like I could not care less about the laundry right now I don’t want the laundry buzzer going off in the middle of our conversation. You’re gonna hear that.
Here’s the thing people He acts like I have not been doing this with him for 200 episodes I put the dryer on mute, so the buzzers don’t go off.
We close the doors so you can’t hear anything.
I have this down, but he acts like it’s my first rodeo. I’m like, I got this. I need your undivided attention.
And I have it, that’s the thing, women multitask. We can do it all, and I’ve never failed you.
Well here’s one time you didn’t multitask. Don’t say it when I, was it when I didn’t talk? Yes. Okay, here’s the thing. Here’s one of the worst moments, folks.
I’ll tell us a good story. We are talking to Isabella Lundberg.
This one was a refugee back in Yugoslavia back in the 90s. Amazing story.
Stephanie here decides she wants to just watch and just sit there and listen.

[38:43] And so of course, our audio file, when you download it, it’s like a wavelength.
When you look at that episode, Stephanie’s wavelength, there’s nothing on it until 35 minutes into the conversation yeah during that I am tapping stuff on her leg on her arm and I’m giving her a look like, Are you planning on talking during this conversation or are you just going to sit here and watch me have a conversation with someone we just met?

[39:08] She was telling her story. Yes.
So I’m not going to interrupt her telling her story until there’s a good break where I had a question to follow up.
I was listening to her story.
For 35 minutes? I was. It was a long story.
Here’s the thing. You were like, you would interrupt like, shh, she’s telling her story.
You just wanted me to say something, But I didn’t want to interrupt when she was telling her story because she just kept going so I didn’t want to interrupt her Oh, yeah, we had words when we got off that call.
We did have words But you know what? I listened and you asked a stupid question during that conversation because you weren’t paying attention.
I was If you like what you hear Please tell someone about us as soon as this episode is over Go tell your spouse your closest friend a parent a co-worker or share one of our posts on social media However, if you don’t like what you’re hearing, please do not don’t tell anyone don’t tell anybody just disregard this message Don’t worry about it about us.
Yeah, go on with your merry day and to get more information about us or our entire catalog of Episodes be sure to check us out at Kevin and Steph comm.
Thank you for listening to tell us a good story So I have a question then have you guys been surprised about how you’ve been invited into.

[40:27] Different scenarios like you went to Colorado Springs not too long ago to hang out and do some martial arts training Yes, and then you were down in Texas for life today the the broadcast of life today with James Robinson.
Yes, James Robinson I mean, have you guys been surprised by and then just recently you’ve been invited to become extras in a movie.

Surprising Experiences and Connections with Guests

[40:51] I never thought of that stuff. All of the above. Yes.
Yes. There’s been many times where we get off the phone and they’re like, hey, when you’re in Franklin, Tennessee, come visit us.
Or if you’re in Scottsdale, please call us.
There has been a lot of that with guests, which all of it surprises me.
All of it. The fact that people say yes to us, it’s literally, I never even thought about the experiences we have gotten because of Tell Us a Good Story.
And it is mind-blowing that people want to hang out with us post their interview, which is really cool.
That is very surprising. While you’re having the conversation, you just think they’re being nice.
Like, oh, I wish we could get together. Like, oh, yeah, that sounds great.
Right? But then you get off the phone and then you get an email from their assistant like, hey, we want to set you up.
We want to set you up. When can you fly out here to Colorado Springs? You’re like, oh.
He’s serious. He’s being serious. He wasn’t just saying that to be nice. Uh-huh.
Like, no, he legitimately wants to meet us in person. And yeah, all of it. I’m blown away.
Yeah, so I got an email the other day from Dwayne Abel saying, Hey, well, keep in touch with you guys. We’re still planning to start in January on this Christmas movie.
Yeah, who knows what what that could entail?
And just seeing that process would be hilarious. And we’d be so much fun just to be an extra in a couple scenes of a Christmas movie.
It’d be hilarious. It’d be fun. Hilarious that we’re actually doing it. That makes sense. Yeah.
All right, Steph, some more phone calls? Yes. It’s like my favorite part of this whole thing.

[42:18] Well, hello. Tell us a good story. Kevin and Steph. This is Dee Chapelier and my wife, Joy, we’d love to be here as well.
Congratulations. I could not even imagine 200 episodes of Tell Us a Good Story.
We greatly appreciate all you do. I love being able to turn on something that’s not just positive and good to hear, but also something that is uplifting and something that does tell us a good story no matter what the story might be. God bless you guys. You’re amazing.
We love you and we hope to see you soon.

[42:51] Hi, my name is Tim Swanson, and Tell Us a Good Story has become a very special podcast to me.
I read your book, You Met Her Where, and just really could not help but to start listening to the podcast.
I’ve had several very special and kind of favorite episodes, some of them bittersweet.
Episode 197, a tribute to Steve Keller, Steph’s dad, who just recently passed away, and I I had the privilege of helping to officiate his memorial service, and I just can’t say enough about Steve and learn so much more in that episode as I had not heard that when it was originally aired.
Just so thankful for Steve and Brenda and the whole family, and so appreciate your podcast.
God bless and look forward to hearing more and more great stories.
Oh, wow. So the first one was Steve Chapelier.
We’ve been on his radio show. Yes, fight or flight with Terry does more than the last phone call was Pastor Tim Swanson, who did your father’s funeral.
Yeah, and was incredible.
Absolutely incredible and help manage the viewing and everything.
Two weeks ago for your father, Steve.
I remember I asked you, Pastor Tim, what is his last name?
And you’re like, Swanson Swanson Samsonite. That’s that’s what it is.

[44:12] Do you know what that’s awful? Do you remember the movie? No, it’s off of dumb and dumber.
Okay, where he’s like what’s the last name? He looks at this briefcase and briefcase is Samsonite.
He’s like swans and it was Swanson was a name. He’s like swans Samsonite.
That’s the name of it. It’s right here on the briefcase.

[44:29] So Pastor Tim’s amazing. So last thing on the list here next steps.
What what is the next step for tell us a good story?
I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.
As you both know, as all the listeners know, we are literally walking this out, like God, what do you want? What do you want us to do?
And our goal right now is just to get guests to say yes to us, and I am so thankful to say that we have guests booked into January, so y’all know that makes me so happy.
But I don’t know what is in store for Tell Us a Good Story, but I’m super excited to just keep saying yes and see what happens.
I guess here’s the thing with me, with me being a finance accounting guy, I measure everything. Everything’s like a scoreboard for me.

[45:16] But with this, when people ask me, hey, where do you see this three years, five years? I’m like, I don’t know. I didn’t see this four years from now, right?
We started this because it was a way to promote our book, You Met Her Where.
And then it’s turned into not only us sharing our own stories, but other people as well. And it’s turned into even higher and higher profile people.
But I never saw this happening, Craig. Yeah. So it’s literally like you said, Seth, just we’re saying yes, and these doors keep opening.
Yeah. So who knows? Like, we’re literally just trusting God for the next step because I never saw this.
But I do know there are some pretty awesome people that we’re getting ready to talk to. Oh, I’m so excited!
We’ve got a couple scheduled for next week that will drop in January. That’s pretty cool.
And so this will actually be the final new episode of this season.
Yes. And then we’ll keep recording though.
And so we’ll have a lot banged for 2024. So that’s exciting.

[46:10] So Steph, I have been waiting on this last call here and I want to end with this because, we have a voicemail from your mom and dad before he passed away.
And so incredibly special that he took the time out probably three weeks ago before he passed to leave this message for us.

Celebrating 200 Episodes of Tell Us a Good Story

[46:37] Congratulations on your 200th episode of Tell Us a Good Story.
Yay, Stephen, Kevin, Emiel, Kate, good job, you guys.
No doubt about it. You guys are the best. We love you.
Friends, we want to encourage you to please follow us wherever you listen to this, whether whether it’s on the Apple Podcasts app, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or one of the other platforms.
You guys, it’s completely free, and while you’re there, feel free to give us a rating or a nice review. Thank you for listening to Tells a Good Story.