Busy Bee Baking Company, Jodi Jefferson 21 USAF Veteran, Part 1

Busy Bee Baking Company, Jodi Jefferson 21 USAF Veteran

Listen to Jodi Jefferson as she explains her WHY.  Listen to the connection.  She will be participating in the 50 Mile March in 2023!

https://www.facebook.com/busybeebakingcompanyt

Transcript

Jay Miralles: 0:00

Hello I want to say thank you for joining us here on the connection number one, subscribe, follow, like, share, share the energy, right? Let's jump right into this. I'm so excited because I have a special guest on today. And they're all special because if they're not, they're not on the show. When we talk about the connection, we don't always notice all the connections around us. And I want to introduce you to Jody Jefferson. I met Jody at a wedding, right? No, not a wedding that we attended a wedding that we worked at. But as busy as we are, I approached her because her work was amazing. Um, she owns Zb bakery. And I just saw her creation. I was like, Oh my gosh, everyone else was like, Oh, my God, this is amazing. So I approached her. And when I approached her, we had a short conversation, Jodi, I want you to pick up from there. How did that conversation go? Take Take us back slowly and take your time, no rush. What do you remember from that day.

Jodi Jefferson: 1:11

Um, so I was so excited to meet you. It was at a wedding at the Bennington bar. And it was my first time doing an event at that venue. And it was such a beautiful venue. And I just absolutely love how my clients can bring me into these relationships with other people. No matter what, what they're doing. And that's exactly what happened that day. With you and I, I was setting up this beautiful desert charcuterie table for 300 people I had never done before. And so I was methodically, like taking my time with every piece and every detail table. And you just came by and just commented on the table, as I remember. And obviously, it just calmed me and made me feel like, you know, what I was doing was right. And it looked good. Because again, it was my first time doing a charcuterie dessert table, which was what for the bride's vision for that for her special day, obviously. And we just struck up a quick conversation. And it just went in a whole different direction from what I would have ever anticipated. From what I recall, we talked about how my mom and I, in the in the last three years have done a mother daughter Thanksgiving bake sale for charity is how this next year in 2022. We are looking we were currently looking for our charity partner for this year. And this was I think back in March, April May timeframe. Yes, yes. So yeah, just trying to prepare and set our hearts on what was going to be best for our mission this year. And me being a veteran myself, I knew this year, it needed to be something that dealt with veterans. In the previous years, we had done something that touched the hearts of our church in 2017. Or no, I'm sorry, 20. Our first year was 2017, I believe 2018. We touched the hearts of the folks at the Rainbow House. And then in the next year, we did the mustaches for kids, which touches the lives of many children in the Omaha area. And so this year, I knew as a veteran myself, we needed to do something to help the veterans that struggle. I myself struggle with severe anxiety and have have seen seen many fellow servicemen and women that have struggled themselves, and also a very close friend, who had unfortunately taken her own life because of mental illness due to her time in the service and prior things that she struggled with. And so it's very important that we take care of those veterans and so, again, Jay and I just got to talking that night as I was at this table and he just I was briefly You explaining like that we were looking for a charity and I wanted it specifically to be for veterans. And he said, I think I've got what you're looking for. And just a couple short days later, he sent me this this amazing video of what the 50 mile mark is all about. And immediately, like, as soon as I watched the video, I was like, yes, yes, absolutely. We are all in 100% with this. And since that day, I follow their journey. I follow their preparation for their, their march in August. And I mean, like, it was just amazing. Like I followed up until the day that they march, I vividly remember the day before sending Jay a message saying we're thinking about you. I remember going to church with my children on Sunday that the day that they were marching, and saying when we get out of church, we're going to find this group of people because I know they're going to be in our area. And we've found them at near 100/32 and Prairie Queen Lake and we, my my kids flew flags outside of the car and we cheered you on. And then we ran home and we package up some cookies. And we ran them up to the brewery and we dropped them off. And then as we were coming back home, we you guys were just crossing 100/20 and Giles, and we we rate waved you want some more. And we told you about the incredible crowd that was waiting for you at Nebraska Brewing Company. And if it weren't for my son's football game that afternoon, we would have absolutely been there. Just cheering you on. Because what an amazing thing that you guys did that day. Immediately that day I went home and I signed up to walk for 2023 I'm proud to say that since that day, I have walked four miles every day. Wow. I have made time. Before meeting Jay and learning about the 50 mile march I I didn't have time, you know a and recently, I listened to a church sermon that talked about time, and how we make time for what's important for us. Yes, and we all have 24 hours a day. And before this. It was easy to say I don't have time. But now I make time I make time for that one hour a day. And not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about Amy. Amy is the reason that I will walk 50 miles in August of 2023. And Amy is behind my right left shoulder.

Jay Miralles: 8:25

Make sure that we put a picture up as well.

Jodi Jefferson: 8:27

She's a beautiful soul. And Amy cannot let go of the demons that followed her. And I will make I will make time we often say that we will never forget when someone passes and it's easy to forget. It's easy to not think about those people every day. But not a day has gone past in the last 30 days would I have walked for one hour that I have not thought about Amy Gilliland. And not a day will go by until August of 2023 When I walk that 50 miles, you Gilliland.

Jay Miralles: 9:12

Amen. You will let's I want to back up and honor your entire story. You set a great framework. I want to bring perspective because I love your heart, your energy and what your I can. When I met you, I'll take us back when I met you. There are people that you converse with. And then there are people you connect with. There's a difference. I praised your work because it was impeccable. People were gawking. They were like, Oh, wow. And you know, let's be honest. There's a lot of people in the space God. But I remember with grace as people were almost overstepping, like, oh, you know, like almost wanting to touch the table. You handled it with grace. I'll be honest, I was like everyone get back. You know, I didn't say that. But the time you took to prepare, I thought that was your 100 40th time. Let's be honest, I didn't know is your first time? It's not amateur when your hearts in it right? It's never amateur when your hearts and if so I want to praise you for that. Number two is I heard what you said, you know, I'm so glad we connected you know and with the veteran background and when you meet people you detect energy. That's all I care about when someone says oh, do you do like Jodie, do you like, you know, Matt, do you like Dave? I don't like people, Jodi, I am attracted to energy. So when somebody says, Oh, would you like to work with these people on this project, it's not a matter of like is I'm attracted to the energy. So yes, I will work on that project. I can tell when someone is all the way in and all the way out or semi. You know, I don't have time. I don't have time for semi lukewarm. So I want to go back and let's talk about your business for a minute, because I want to celebrate that and I'm going to put that here on the screen. But while you talk about it, tell me we were busy be started and where it's grown. And just tell the viewers that story. And I'm gonna bring that up on the screen right now.

Jodi Jefferson: 11:08

Wow, so I can't really put a date or time on when busy bees started. So I was stationed in Washington DC, from 2003 until 2013. During that time, I flew from from 2003 to 2005. I flew with Secretaries Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Vice President Cheney, Mrs. Bush, a lot of dignitaries, and then five, I was very fortunately, hand selected to become a part of the presidential Airlift Group where I flew with Presidents Bush and Presidents Obama, their staff, their families, and during that time, I baked for them I cooked for them, women, their staff. And so just such a fortunate event. And during that time, I this was before I had children, of course, and so I I built up a clientele there and I was able during my downtime to bake and cook for those individuals. So it was very difficult as you know, when you when you're in the military and you move from one duty location to another, it's just like a hairdresser or anyone else who really relies on their clientele. To build that back up,

Jay Miralles: 12:47

yes. You got to start over tell the story over again. Absolutely. So

Jodi Jefferson: 12:51

when I I moved. Fortunately, on a humanitarian assignment in 2015, I was able to get stationed back home to Nebraska, basically, because of due to the unfortunate circumstances of my mom having terminal cancer, and my husband, also dual military PCs into Korea. At the time, we had six month old twins, and three and a half year old. So I decided that the best route forward was for me to put in a humanitarian assignment. Yes, closest to my family. And fortunately enough often did have flight attendant positions at the time. So let's come to off it or come home as a flight attendant. So there I became, I flew on the e4

Jay Miralles: 13:54

e4 B's is that right? Am I ready for B? Is that

Jodi Jefferson: 13:57

flying on the ark? Are they flying with the Secretary of Defense when he flew abroad, and so I was able to fly with them be at home helping my mom but also also her helping us while my husband was in Korea. And I fully believe that God has a plan and that my mom is still with us today. Because he retired from her job and Kearney she moved she lived with me and based housing and took care of my kids while I was flying. And she was a full time grandma and she knew that her grandkids needed her. Yes that her own kids needed her and I fully believe that 10 years later, she is still fighting cancer but she's still are with us. And so we praise for that every day and we pray. We thank him every day for that. During that time I flew for five years on the e4. It was probably the most difficult time of my career. When I was at the Presidential Airlift Squadron, flying on Air Force One, I was in my comfort zone. I was a technical expert, I loved what I did. I was behind the scenes, and I made the magic happen. Yes, when I came to off it. And I was very quickly taken out of my comfort zone, I was put in a leadership role, which I had never really been groomed for. I didn't really know how to take care of people. So it was very difficult for me. I'm a people pleaser. And so it was hard to make 20 to 25 flight attendants happy because I was used to being behind the scenes making the magic happen and making people are happy that way. All while my husband was gone. Mom was sick. And I had three little, little babies. So it was difficult. It was by far the most difficult time of my career. And probably what caused my severe anxiety? I would imagine.

Jay Miralles: 16:40

Yes, I want to I want to I want to unpack something. Jody, you said people pleaser? Okay, first of all, thank you for being brave enough to say that, because there are people that will not admit it. And that's a real thing. I love to please people as well. Can I ask you a question? How do you use that for your superpower? Instead of just a weakness, though? Do you? Do you see that as a weakness? Or do you see it as a superpower? Or both?

Jodi Jefferson: 17:10

That's tough. Um, I think. I think in my current role, I can use it as a superpower. Because I can be honest with people and I can really tell them if I'm comfortable creating or recreating their vision. If I'm not, I can easily decline. I'm very particular myself when it comes to how I want something to look. If if a client comes to me with a certain design, and I don't feel again, I'm I'm completely self taught. So if, if it's something that I don't feel comfortable making or creating for them, I will gladly tell them that because I'm not here to fake the funk.

Jay Miralles: 18:02

Right? When I knew that

Jodi Jefferson: 18:06

I didn't have a choice but to fake the funk if I didn't know what I was doing, honestly. And that that was hard for me, because I couldn't I couldn't make 20 or 25 flight attendants happy there was no way. Because I might have made 15 Happy, I've might have made 24 happy and one wasn't happy. And that that would just weigh on me and instead such an unhealthy way. There was there was a very low point where, again, my husband was gone. And I drove myself to the hospital. And I mean, I was in at such a low point and just stress induced I thought I was dying because I didn't know what was happening. I have never I had never been that stressed before. One of my twins was at home that day because she was already sick. And I thought you know what, there's no way I can go home and take care of these three children in the condition that I'm in and later did I find out that it was it was all stress induced? Yes. And so stress is a real thing. And see consume our bodies in physical in physical ways and not just not just mentally and emotionally weight but emotional ways. And so educating people you know, on the signs to look for and that it really can take control of you and your life even when you least expect.

Jay Miralles: 19:55

Think about this god hand selected, decorated, you know and hence selected amongst your peers to be at the elite service of, you know, the nation's leadership, and probably crisp in the uniform as well and just really focused on people and making sure she did her job. Well that describes Jody. But what they don't see is the brave Jodi here, unfolding in front of us telling us the truth. There's someone listening right now, Jodi saying, oh my gosh, me to Jodi, there's someone listening. If they were listening to you right now, what's the best bit of advice if they can identify with what you're talking about? There's somebody struggling right now. And they're listening. And they're saying, Oh, my gosh, I need help. But talk to that person.

Jodi Jefferson: 20:49

Yeah, so unfortunately, when you're in uniform, holding the the most top secret of top secret security clearances, you're told, you know, just figure it out, handle it, you know, if you go to mental health, you'll have there's a stigma that comes with that. And so, unfortunately, we're just trained to carry that. And for 21 years, you know, I carried that. And I remember that day that I went to the hospital thinking I was dying, calling my husband later while he was in Korea, and him basically talking me off the ledge saying it's gonna be okay. Even that next day, it was like, Don't go to mental health. Do you have a top secret security clearance? You have?

Jay Miralles: 21:45

Are you crazy, you're gonna lose it all. Yeah, right.

Jodi Jefferson: 21:48

Now CI, you have a iqi, you don't want to put it on the line. You know, and now that I'm retired, I do go to the VA. And I do see a provider of mental health. And we talk about ways that I can cope with that. And sometimes, you know, things that she tells me, as simple as the amount of caffeine that I intake, or the amount of sleep that I get, or the 10 minutes of relaxation exercises that I can find on a YouTube VA site. I mean, those are simple little things that can can really change your day.

Jay Miralles: 22:33

They sound very simple, but they're not practiced.

Jodi Jefferson: 22:37

They sound very simple. And even to this day, I struggle with putting that 10 minutes 15 minutes in my calendar, and making it a priority. I do feel like the hour that I take to walk every day now for 30 plus days. That is something that I look forward to. I've made it a priority before it was so easy to just say, I don't have time. But now it's where am I going to fit it in? I'm not a morning person. But there's been days where the only time to do it is that five. I have caterings I have cakes, I have this, I have that. And so I've I've made it a point those days that might be slower. Those days. I haven't had my caffeine yet. But I've I've gotten it done. And so I think making that change is huge. And today, I knew I was coming on here. And I often pass the L Street corridor near the Home Depot and the Sam's where if you're familiar with that area, you know that there's often several homeless people that you'll

Jay Miralles: 23:58

absolutely, because it's a hub of a big intersection and easy access and high traffic.

Jodi Jefferson: 24:05

It is and during the summer months. I made it a point that if I was in that area with my children, and I felt compelled. There was a couple times where we saw the same gentleman. And my children pointed about and I said yeah, we're going to help them. We're not going to give him money. Because I don't I don't think that that's appropriate. But what we believe is we will go into Walmart and we will buy him a meal and I'm going to pick out that meal. That meal when we get to the stop sign, and so we did that a couple times over the summer. Today I encountered a different gentleman And obviously, it wasn't the same man. But I'm always intrigued by what their sign says. And this gentleman sign said that he was a veteran, and that he was just recovering from a nine month illness and that he was looking for work. And as I sat at that stop sign, I did have money in my purse, I had nothing else to give him. I refuse to give him money, because I felt that if he had an addiction, it would only fuel that addiction. Yes. But I did wonder to myself, why, as a veteran, is this man sitting at a stop sign? If all this man needs his work? Why has someone not picked him up and taken him to the appropriate place, and given him the work that he's asking for? And so I feel that's why I feel so compelled to help with the 50 mile march, because there's just so many, there's so many veterans, no matter what their struggle, whether it be addiction, whether it be mental health, whether it be they just fell on a bad time. Mr. Hernandez was that rod Hernandez? Yes. That spoke at the dinner, about the family that worked at the restroom. They literally were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. And they were worse hard to provide for their family. They were just in the wrong industry at the time, and it happened to just take them out. So what how can we hope to get veterans the help that they need?

Jay Miralles: 27:02

Number one, Jodi's we have to you and I, together with the whole army, the whole squadron, we have to walk the walk by educating people who don't know, right, and we don't know everything, either. We're learning as we go on this journey. And God, the reason why there's a gap is because the people who are able are not well equipped enough by organizations to learn how to engage like God. You know, when friends tell you, Oh, my gosh, I'm having a hard time. Isn't that hard enough? When a friend tells you, they're having a hard time, you know them, you trust them, you like them, and then you carry this burden? And then you're like, Oh, my God, I don't know what to do with my hands. But I can tell you that if you and I are this close to the issue, you and I are this close? We are in the face of that demon, right. We know what we know what he looks like. But how many people are? Here's my donation. Thanks. I don't want to engage. I don't want to look, I don't even know what where to drop them. Press press this for one, dial eight. There's so many billboards, and I know I'm going on and on God. But what I'm saying is, you and I, our job is to wake up the general population who is on autopilot right now in their comfort zone. And I'm not asking them, how dare they not, I'm saying please, help. Please, please share the word.

Jodi Jefferson: 28:35

It's as simple as this is. Think of tunnels, tunnels to towers. You know, I donate to them. That's a national organization. Think of the 50 mile march as the tunnels to towers of Omaha? Yes. I mean, this is Touching Lives. This is touching those lives that you see on those street corners at those stoplights. Yeah, so we have to make this relatable to the people that are right here in our community. I donate to tunnels to towers, and I think it's an amazing organization and the things that they do are incredible. And I think we can do that. I know that we can do that right here in Omaha.

Jay Miralles: 29:27

And, you know, again, I agree,

Jodi Jefferson: 29:30

an entire list of things that I can't wait to talk to you about of ideas. Because when I when I get something, I'm like shoot for the stars. And if we get turned down, we get turned down, but you're never gonna go back and say I wish I would rather say so and so told me no, then I wish I would have

Jay Miralles: 29:52

absolutely so. So Jodi, let's talk about that. So you know, you said hey, I go to the VA. Jodi one When people see you, when I saw you, oh, successful caterer or successful chef, successful Baker, the label, the label, oh my gosh, she must have her stuff together. You know, and and now you're saying, wait a minute, I go to the VA for help. I want people to pay attention to that. Here's a fully capable person who's being authentic and being vulnerable, and saying, I'm getting help. But Jodi, here's what we hear. VA is terrible. And sounds listen, here's what's terrible. The connection is the conduit is because if we can get the gentleman you're talking about to the center, there's a system for them to vet him why he doesn't go. That's, that's a whole nother issue. But what programs are there to say you're a veteran? Alright, let's verify because there's a verification process that you can do with them. Did you know that it's an app, and I need to get that if they tell you enough information, you can verify them that they were either active duty or served out or served at one time, I should say, it's a it's a database, but we're not doing that. Plus, I don't want to talk to the crazy person. Oh, they're dangerous. I get it. I'm not condoning jump out of your car and start praying the rosary. I'm not saying that. I'm saying, Okay, how do we get this? How do we equip the right people, and I believe the 50 mile march aren't our mission is to, is to bridge that gap. I don't want to go into the details of the 50 mile march because that's not important. What's important is God story. So now I want to relate, you know, to your mission, and how your bakery, your your busy bakery connects with your mission and your heart. You said something very profound to me. And you said it, you know, like, Hey, I've, I've been blessed beyond my grateful cup. I need to give back. Can you tell me what that's like, when you do that? And you're playing in your gift? Like, you're just in your gift? What does that feel like to you?

Jodi Jefferson: 32:04

Yeah, so I was raised in a church home, and I just, it was instilled into me and my sister at a young age that we were to give back, we already give back to our church and give back to our community. And we always give back to our church, you know, our 10%. And then I can remember small things giving back to our community as kids. I grew up in Hampton, Nebraska, which is about two hours west of Omaha, a tiny little town. Join the military shortly after high school. And but I just have vivid memories of raking leaves for the elderly. singing Christmas carols to the elderly. doing little things like that not not huge things not like, you know, you know, we weren't moving mountains, we were these were just little things that made people happy. And were expected us, of us as children of our community.

Jay Miralles: 33:15

You said, you know, you said you're not moving mountains. I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt you. But this is so good. Okay. I love your modesty and your humbleness and your gratitude, right? I can feel it. But okay, we're not moving mountains, okay. But your mom did. And here's how she moved mountains. Your mom set the example. The ripple effect is so strong, that even in a body of water, the smallest pebble can go from one wave from one end to the other. So let's talk about the mountain for a second, your mom, or your mom and dad or your family. When you're kids. There's three things you can give time, talent and treasure, time, talent and treasure. Those are the three things every human can give, right? Some choose time. Some say here's my check, take my treasure. And some people say here's my talent. God, don't ever say you didn't move mountains. I get it right. Maybe it wasn't writing a check for 147,000. At the time you were raking leaves, but your mom moved mountains with her actions because it's going to you and guess what you're going to do? Your ripple effect plays into the 50 mile march it plays into honoring, you know, your friend, it goes into honoring all these veterans and it goes to someone listening to this podcast going I can be Jody, I can be her right now. So sorry, I just needed to lean into that for a second.

Jodi Jefferson: 34:37

Yeah. I love it. So. So yeah, that's just how I was raised and then being in the military, there was plenty of times where, you know, you're just grinding it out as an airman you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, you know, plenty of community service along the way. But I felt when I was a flight attendant at Air Force One. I actually looked it up earlier. And I want to say it was 2009. So I got hired there in 2005. And then, a few years after I decided to start a Thanksgiving bake sale there, which seemed kind of crazy, but I sold it on my own. And basically, the first few years was to raise money for our annual Christmas party. It was very in house, we had a couple of 100 people that work there. And I had a set menu, same thing, and I would bake a bunch of stuff, and I would sell it. And then I would basically turn that money over to the front office, and they would use that money to help kick off our Christmas party. Well, after about three years of doing that, it was like, Okay, I want to see, I want to, I want to reap some, some benefits. And I want to see where these dividends are going. Right. And so I said, Okay, this year, I think it was in 2009. I said, we're going to do the same big sale, but all of the money that we raised, we're going to take it and we're going to go up to Bethesda, Walter Reed. And we're going to, we're going to talk to some wounded warriors, and we're going to find out what they need. We're going to purchase magazine subscriptions, we're going to purchase tablets, we're going to purchase gift cards. We're going to we're going to make make a difference in more than just the lives of people at the Presidential Airlift Group. Yes. And tonight, as I was preparing for this, I scrolled way back in my phone. And, and I found those pictures and I found pictures who have about 10 flight attendants standing around the bedside of a few men that you know, I don't know why they were there. I don't know what limbs were missing. Um, but what I do know is that we made a difference that day. We may not have made a difference that year, that month. But that day, and it might have been a CD at the time, it might have been a tablet that gave them independence or something to take their mind off of what they were going through and in those pictures was my friend Avi it it just made it all the more real as to why I'm doing this because I'm sorry.

Jay Miralles: 38:20

No, do not apologize

Jodi Jefferson: 38:25

that she is what she would have wanted. That's how we were raised presidential. That's how I was raised. We were raised to care about people. Not ourselves. But those that needed something. And so it was just it was nice to look back on those pictures and be able to know that we made a difference that year. And so after I left there, obviously with my family, my husband going to Korea, my mom's health having three small children moving to Nebraska, you know, it was hard to just immediately jumped back into another bake sale. So it took a couple of years. And then in 20

Jay Miralles: 39:21

You went dormant. You went dormant on baking you left your gift for a while

Jodi Jefferson: 39:26

I was doing it the for the for the crew. It wasn't it wasn't Air Force One. It wasn't a clientele you know on the side it was I was trying to keep my head above water with three babies in a full time career. Wow.

Jay Miralles: 39:50

Jodi, I feel your passion and your and I hear some of your pain come out you know which is which is healthy right and Blessed are the people who watch this because they will see who you are and whose work you're doing