But this got hit me on emotional cord and first time it happened in almost 500 interviews. It was, it, it [00:01:00] is just a fantastic, fantastic. Chat with my really good friend Teri. So without further ado maybe get the tissues ready. Sit back, relax, and maybe take some notes on this. And if you like it, please hit the like button, smash the subscribe button.

My sponsors and affiliates absolutely love that. So here comes my really good friend, Teri M. Brown. Let’s level up.

Time to Shine today. Podcast Varsity Squad. This is Scott Ferguson and I have some that might have a little bit of a sore butt, even though it’s been five years ago. A good friend here, Teri M. Brown, she’s a fantastic author. She’s authored some fictional books which are just fantastic reads, some historical stuff, some medicinal stuff that are just actually absolutely fun, which I’ll put those in the show notes and pick ’em up.

But today we’re kind of gonna talk about her little boot scoop, like dual bike ride with her husband. Back in 2020, my good friend Teri here is, was born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat. Now calls North Carolina, coast her home, and again in 2020 [00:02:00] she and her husband Bruce, rode a Tand bicycle across the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Washington DC successfully raising money for Toys for Tots.

Thank you very much for that. Her latest work, 10. Little rules for a double Butted Adventure launches February, 2025. I know this will probably drop in March but tomorrow it actually drops. So I’m actually get to talk to her right before her awesome sauce book drops and I will be having a, a two book giveaway.

So listen to the End Squad. And Teri, thank you so much for coming on. Please introduce yourself The Time to Shine Today Podcast Varsity Squad. But first. What’s your favorite color and why?

Teri M. Brown: Yellow.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yellow.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah. Yellow. And I think it’s because it just reminds me of summer. Okay. And, and I really don’t like winter and, and I love daffodils and so they, they, they pop up first, , they’re the first flower that pretty much says, Hey, screw you winter.

And so there’s just something about the yellow that really love it. I really love it. So,

L. Scott Ferguson: and it’s built into this latest book. There’s some yellow in that book as well. There is. I love it. And

Teri M. Brown: there’s, there’s yellow in my [00:03:00] office and Yes. Yeah. I just, I love yellow. Yeah. I

L. Scott Ferguson: love it. So. Like, let’s get kind of a little bit to the roots.

, you’re born an Air Force brat, which is pretty awesome. I’m, I, I’m not an Air Force brat ’cause my dad was in the Air Force, but he got out before I was really even born and I, I’m a Navy guy, so him and I kind of like go back and forth a little bit about it, but, , just kind of jokingly, affectionately, but tell us a little bit about your roots and how you really.

Started kind of developing the, the book writing. And the reason why I’m saying this, Teri, is that I’m authoring my first book in that imposter syndrome and I’m trying to lean into my, oh, it’s huge. Isn’t tensions and stuff like that. And I’m pooping my pants, , kind of thing. , putting it out there.

But like, let’s kind of get to the roots start and then kind of bring us forward a little bit, please.

Teri M. Brown: Okay, so I was born in Athens, Greece. My dad was on a joint air force base. I was actually born in a Greek hospital. So growing up I had a dual citizenship, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. It was the thing that kind of stand out among my peers.

Right, right. And growing up I said I wanted to be an [00:04:00] author. I also said I wanted to be an Olympic ice skater and I wanted to be a brain surgeon, so I’m not really sure that I understood. You can do what I wanted. That’s easy. Yeah. I was just gonna, and, and given that I’m klutzy and don’t like this, this sight of blood, I’m not real sure I understood.

You know what I was saying? As I grew up, I mean, I did some writing, I did, , all of the bad poetry that teenagers do, that kind of thing. But once it was time to go to college, my parents were never going to pay for something like a creative writing degree. Mm-hmm.

L. Scott Ferguson: I mean,

Teri M. Brown: their, their thought was, is you need to go and, and like do something with your life.

And so kinda like, just put it on the back burner. Got married, had children divorced. Got remarried. That was a horrible marriage emotionally abusive, sorry. But while I was in that marriage, I started writing for small businesses. You figure this was around 2000 and there a lot of websites popping up when people who had zero idea what they needed to put on them.

And so they would write something and it was horrible. [00:05:00] I mean, just terrible. And I think really, there’s no Chad TPT

L. Scott Ferguson: then, right?

Teri M. Brown: No. No. And you, you definitely didn’t want that representing who you were, right. So, right. I, I kind of found this little niche and I did that for yeah, about 20 years where I was just really working this system that whole time.

I really wanted to write, like, to be a, an author

L. Scott Ferguson: mm-hmm.

Teri M. Brown: To have books. I was terrified because you figure I’m living in this abusive relationship. I don’t have a soft place to land. You’re putting yourself out there to the world if someone doesn’t like it, oh my gosh. I couldn’t stand to be heard again.

But in 2017, out of that really bad relationship and word. Oh, just

L. Scott Ferguson: recently then kind of, yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Word started falling out of me and so I wrote my first manuscript, which was horrible, but. It was 50,000 words long and had a beginning, a middle, and an end. And I, and I just realized, you know what? I can do it

L. Scott Ferguson: right

Teri M. Brown: now.

It’s a matter of learning the craft. , I’ve got it now. Just let’s, [00:06:00] let’s refine it. In the meantime, I met Bruce and he tells everyone that he chased me until I caught him. Which essentially means he didn’t go away and he just kept sticking around and he had this incredible idea to ride across the United States on a bicycle.

Okay. He’s wanted to do it since 76. Group of college kids did it during the bicentennial. He was in the military at the time and he really wanted to do it, but , you can’t. Months, which was like almost 50 years

L. Scott Ferguson: ago. Right,

Teri M. Brown: right. Yeah. Right. So he’s wanted to do this and I looked at him and I said like, is this one of those things you’ll think about until the day you die?

Or are you really gonna do it?

L. Scott Ferguson: And

Teri M. Brown: he said, no, I really wanna do it.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, girl, you go

Teri M. Brown: want an adventure? We’re gonna do something big and bold, because here, I’ve been in this horrible relationship for a long time and I’m thinking I don’t have a lot of worth and all of this other stuff. I felt other people believed that too.

So we decided we’re gonna ride across the United States and in the summer of 2020, despite COVID and all of the other crap going on, [00:07:00] we started in Astoria, rode the whole way across to Washington DC. 3,102 miles. I always add the two. I know exactly where they were. And the very end of that trip I realized, just rode across the United States on a tandem bicycle.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. And do

Teri M. Brown: anything.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s right, girl. That’s right. And what is

Teri M. Brown: it I wanna do? Yeah. And I wanted to be an author. And so my first book came out 14 months later.

L. Scott Ferguson: Wow. So it hasn’t really been that long, but it’s such an awesome read. Like, let me ask you something, like you gotta have an abusive relationship a lot of times, identities, and again, being a coach, I have to ask this, right?

So a lot of identities are like. Beat down feel like shit, , just kind of like this. Okay. So what do you feel maybe sparked your reticular activating system or something that brought Bruce in? Like what was it, do you feel? Did you change thinking or was he just, you were going about life and Bruce was a gift or was like, did something [00:08:00] change within your mind that maybe Bruce showed up?

Teri M. Brown: I think, I think Bruce was a gift. Partially.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

Teri M. Brown: I think, I think also that. How sometimes you just do something and, and you don’t really know why. Yeah. I joined a dating site Okay. With no intention of dating. Okay. Okay. But I joined it because I was, I was really feeling lonely. Mm-hmm. And I thought that I could have these flirty conversations, but I wasn’t ever really planning to like meet people.

I just figured it can be like a computer thing. Right. And that I would be nice and safe, , because if anything ever didn’t feel good, you could just like stop responding.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. Right.

Teri M. Brown: I, I kind of got over that and, and my membership was about to fall off and one week before my membership fell off, Bruce joined.

L. Scott Ferguson: Oh, okay. And

Teri M. Brown: he reached out to me and he was the worst computer dating person you’ve ever met in your life. He did not know the rules. He hadn’t dated in years. And, and so the first thing he said was, is, hi, my name’s Bruce Brown. Here’s my [00:09:00] phone number. Can I have yours? And, and so being protocol Bruce, I am.

Yeah. Being who I am, I wrote back and I said, no. The reason women join these sites is to not give their phone number out immediately. For all I know you’re some creep. Right,

L. Scott Ferguson: right,

Teri M. Brown: right. And he writes back and says, that’s very prudent of you. And I’m thinking, who the hell is this guy? Right? This guy. And before long we’re talking, he asked me out on a date.

I reluctantly went. I had a friend who kind of convinced me I needed to do this. Okay. And. A year, a little over a year later, we were married.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s fantastic. It’s just, you kind of know, right? Yeah. It’s like that, that has that. I mean, I’ve been through a couple marriages. When I met my Susan six years ago in 2019, it was just kind of the same thing where it’s just like, eh, I’ll meet you for coffee, and then coffee is, , almost 72 months later, ?

Right. So, right. , that’s, that’s amazing. So, okay. Character development in books. [00:10:00] Okay. I, I get you on mic here. Okay. So, which, , you have people like Maggie, Carrie Ann Josie. Right? Right. You have different characters. I, I believe Maggie was kind of the older, holistic person she was.

Yeah. , then you had Carrie Ann and Josie. What do you do? To really, ’cause I have authors out there that want me to ask you this kind of stuff. Like what do you do to really kind of build characters? Do you like put it on a separate piece of paper or, , or like, what do you do? Or do you just kind of fly by the seat of your pants?

I’m just very curious about that.

Teri M. Brown: I, I am definitely a fly by my seat of the pants kind of person. I have tried the on paper thing. Sure. My characters live in my head. And I know that makes me sound like nutty. No, I’m, I’m not. But they’re, they’re there. And when I try to write things out on paper, I’m using this logical brain of mine and my logical brain isn’t nearly as fun and creative.

And so if I’ll let my characters talk to me, they’re really just my, my creative part, right? Mm-hmm. And so sometimes I’ll, I’ll try to, to write everything out. I [00:11:00] know where this story is going and my characters are lined up along the wall with their arms crossed looking at me.

L. Scott Ferguson: Dude, what are you doing?

Teri M. Brown: Yeah, we’re not gonna do that. We would, we would never do that. Sure. And it’s like, no, no, no. Come along. We’re doing this. And they’re like, mm-hmm. You let us know when you’re done with that stupid little experiment of yours. And then we’ll. We’ll get started again.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

Teri M. Brown: And, and I’ve had my characters become silent for six weeks waiting for me to finally give up on my stupid little outline and go back to doing what I do, which is just, I don’t know.

I feel like I have a real connection with people. I’m really good at discerning people. Well, all but one. And I’m really good at. Conversation and knowing what dialogue really feels like, like when you’re in a good conversation. Yeah. The difference between that, and it’s still one, kinda like a

L. Scott Ferguson: soft mic before this.

Like we were just flowing with it, right? Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah. And so I think that what I do is I just kind of like handle that. Mm-hmm. And I say, okay, I’m, [00:12:00] I’m Maggie, and I always put myself in the character’s place always. Mm-hmm. And I’ll say, I’m Maggie. What do I do here in this situation? Given who I am. And then I just start writing it.

Love it. And it just, it just comes out. And then I switch characters. And now I’m Carrie Ann, and I know that Carrie Ann thinks everything her mother does is hogwash.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Teri M. Brown: And, and then I, I put myself into a situation. Have I ever been around someone where I think everything they do is hogwash? Well, yes, I have.

Well, let’s see. How did I feel like that, how would Carrie Ann respond at this point? Sure. And that’s what I do. I just kind of stick myself in that position and if I really, really don’t know

L. Scott Ferguson: mm-hmm.

Teri M. Brown: Then I do a little research, ? Okay. There, there’s nothing better. And some of the best research for finding out how people interact with one another.

Social media a

L. Scott Ferguson: hundred percent. Like

Teri M. Brown: get on there and just start looking at how are people responding. And you find

L. Scott Ferguson: like as a third person, like not emotionally. Yeah. Just kind of like curious. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. [00:13:00] When did they start kind of like unfolding their arms and trust in you?

Teri M. Brown: I think that as soon as they realize that I’m not going to force whatever my logical brain think should come next in the story.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Okay.

Teri M. Brown: , because books though logical really for me, aren’t, they’re emotional and they, they have been. Even when I’m a reader, I like to get invested. I want to become part of the book. I wanna become the character. Mm-hmm. I want to feel their feelings. I want to see what they’re seeing. And yeah, there’s maybe a logical flow to it, but I’ve read enough books that I think I naturally know what that logical flow is.

So when I’m trying to be Teri, the list maker, it just doesn’t go over well. Doesn’t fly. Yeah. And, and my characters say, well, you stop making the lists and then we’ll play the game.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. But until then.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah,

L. Scott Ferguson: know. What I found work for me, Teri, is that I, I use, what I actually a, something I use with even my coaching clients [00:14:00] is I tell them when they’re, they’re stuck.

I tell ’em, throw up on your keyboard. I go, I don’t want you to check pronunciation. I don’t want want you to read a fricking word. You just keep typing. And if you don’t know how to type, call it word vomit, right? Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Let’s throw up on the keyboard. Right? Right. And then give it 24 to 48 hours.

Absolutely revisit it. And if there’s a structure there, listen, I finally listen to my own coaching, right? And I built characters for my business. Parable, harmonic hustle. It’s kind of like. A real estate broker that is losing a big deal, wants to quit the business, goes and talks to his millennium cocky broker, and he’s like, listen, my dad, who’s a legend in the business, said, if I ever want to quit, , like the millennial cocky broker grew a heart and said, here, talk to these five people.

So there’s five characters that they meet for being present, discipline, , and on and on. Right. And it was, that’s how it actually worked for me, is I just was like, okay, this is a Navy seal, a guy I served with in Iraq, like guy I worked [00:15:00] for, right? Right. In real life. But then I just threw up on there and said, this is who he is, ?

And then all of a sudden I think he started unfolding his arms too. And you just got that, got in my fricking head now. Right. That that’s what I’m gonna do. Like, yes man, that’s awesome. Like you have no idea. Like, and if you’re an aspiring author out there, folks, like one, get outta your own way and just get it done.

But two, like thi this metaphor of having the character standing there almost looking over your shoulder disapproving, but then getting them to trust you really brings them into character. That’s awesome. Thank you. Like that lesson right there. You should be on stage teaching that and I’m not even kidding.

Teri M. Brown: Okay, well you can book me tomorrow. No, you know what

L. Scott Ferguson: I’m saying? Like for reals, Teri. That is like something that is amazing that just unlocks something in my head. That I, I’m, I just wrote down a note and remember after we’re done to get back into the book and change some stuff, okay. About you now. Okay.

This isn’t about my therapy [00:16:00] session and learning how to write, okay. A coaching session. So what happens when you don’t have anything to write? But you do have something to write, like, you know what I’m saying? You kind of have that, like what is your exercise to overcome, I don’t wanna call it writer’s block ’cause it gets labeled too much, but like you just Yeah, it’s labeled in.

Like

Teri M. Brown: what? So to me, let, let’s just talk about that word writer’s block really quickly. Sure. Please. Writer’s block to me doesn’t exist per se. What it means is that there’s too much going on in your brain to let your creative side out. Your creativity has to have space to exercise. It has to have place to come out and play, because creativity is a very playful thing.

It it, it requires you to say, what if? And I wonder and, and, and try things that are different. And if your whole brain is crammed with a thousand to-do lists and three things that you’ve got to fix and haven’t fixed yet, [00:17:00] there’s no space for your creativity. So for me, when I’m feeling that way, I know I need to fix something.

And maybe it’s, I need to look seriously at whatever problem it is that has me all bound up. Can I fix it? Can I put it in a box and put it away for later? Can I give it a date? I’m going to speak with so-and-so on Wednesday about this, and then I can put it in away in a box until Wednesday. That sometimes helps.

And then the other thing for me is getting out. I get out in nature. I love walking on the beach. I live very close to the beach, and so I’m looking myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll get out on the beach and I’ll walk, and the first part of my walk is what I call storming, and I’m just, I’m walking. I’m, I’m not even, I’m not enjoying it.

I’m not, I’m just, and all of the ugly is like falling off of me, and I, I warn people probably don’t walk too close behind me. Who knows what you’re gonna pick up back there. There’s a lot of junk. By the end of the walk.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: I feel like I’m [00:18:00] kind of walking with the waves. I have a calmer found harmony. I, I, yeah.

And at the end of that walk, the number of times where I, this is awesome. I’ve come up with three or four really cool ideas. Yeah. And I quick, , talk ’em into my phone, in my, , so that, because I, ’cause I’ll get home and, and , my crazy mind will have forgotten ’em by then. Yeah. But then, then now it’s like.

There it is right now. I can write.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: But it, it’s, it’s finding a way to like clear the clutter Sure. So that your creativity has that place to play.

L. Scott Ferguson: That man, you’re good. And the reason why I’m saying this is that I think balance is junk. You put 10 pounds, 10 pounds, it’s even, there’s you, you, when you’re born and you die.

That’s balance, right? Like that’s it. Like I’m believe big believer, hence the name of my book, harmonic Cuss that’s coming out is like about harmony, right? It’s like you could, and I love jazz. That’s my jam. I love going to see a jazz band and I believe that like let’s say God or your creator is the drums, right?

Personal [00:19:00] growth might be the piano, the horns might be family, community, might be the keyboard and on and on through instruments. Right.

Teri M. Brown: Don’t forget the saxophone

L. Scott Ferguson: that That’s right. Got the saxophone will call, , living environment, ? Right. There’s like eight different pillars. Right. Eight different instruments that I believe and I coach around and I live by, if one of them’s out of tune.

It sounds like junk, but you don’t have to be Beethoven. You don’t have to be Jimi Hendrix. You don’t have to be, , a great sax player. you don’t have to be them to tune it up. Right. And I’m thinking like, okay, you can just walk, storm, let it go, get in rhythm with the waves and then tune it up, right?

Yeah. That’s, that’s amazing that, that’s so good. Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: , it isn’t. It isn’t any big thing. It’s just a matter of, I think it’s like just getting back in touch with yourself again. Yeah. Yeah. ’cause the world problems, your own personal problems, things that happen in life, even just busyness. I have 82 things to do on my to-do list today.

Can [00:20:00] all really cram your mind up. Yeah. And then you sit down and try to be creative and your creativity’s like, I don’t have space for this.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. Right. , even hop on dual biking ride across the United States. Yeah. You can ride

Teri M. Brown: across and, and that, that’ll do it. Lemme tell you, lemme tell you.

Several hours every day sitting and pedaling with nothing else going on really does open in your mind.

L. Scott Ferguson: You ride in the front or the back.

Teri M. Brown: The back.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay. And tell me like I gotta ask you with you and Bruce. Yeah. Are you guys pretty compatible for 3,102 miles or, yeah. So every, is there any like, damn it, Bruce, what the, ah, , I mean, come on.

Let’s be honest here, team.

Teri M. Brown: Okay. We I’ll And, and I was very honest in my book and I was also very honest on the blog that I kept the whole way across the United States, which you can find on my website. That was, that was my next

L. Scott Ferguson: question, woman. Yeah. Okay. That’s cool. Awesome.

Teri M. Brown: So, we actually did not fight very much.

We learned very, very quickly that riding a tandem bicycle pissed is not fun. Like who wants to do that? It’s horrible. So did you say fist? We [00:21:00] learned. We learned really quickly to fix the problem. Gotcha. Okay. What is the problem? Let’s fix the problem. We tell everyone that that three months of a bicycle ride was like 20 years of marriage, and we call it tandem time.

So, , Bruce and I at the time had been married for one year and by the time we were done, we had been married 21.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love that dude.

Teri M. Brown: And, and it’s, and it was in a good way. We figured one, we figured one another out. We didn’t have to go through all of those years of, of that back and forth tension crap and burying it under rugs and everything else.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: We learned very quickly that you look at the other person as soon as you can do it. Calmly and nicely. Sure. You look at the other person and say, so that thing you said, I didn’t care for it, here’s why.

L. Scott Ferguson: Gotcha.

Teri M. Brown: And then he would have the opportunity to say, never thought about it like that. Or, you’re right.

I was being, , sarcastic, I shouldn shouldn’t have [00:22:00] or, or just deal with it. Yeah. And, and then, and, and that’s okay too because No. Then you can say, well, there’s communication. Yes. Yeah. But then you can say, well, . You want me to deal with it, but it reminds me way too much of a crappy marriage I was once in and I would prefer not to deal with it.

So how are we gonna work with this?

L. Scott Ferguson: Since you opened the door on this a little bit like Yeah. Did you hold him to like rules, you know what I’m saying? Like were you kind of like rules, expectations, conditions because of what happened in that rear view mirror of your life? And if you don’t want to answer it, you don’t have

Teri M. Brown: to.

No, no, no, no, no. That’s a really good question. I did not, but part of the reason that I did not was because I didn’t agree to marry him until I knew that we didn’t need those rules.

L. Scott Ferguson: Oh, wow. That’s amazing. So

Teri M. Brown: he told me who he was.

L. Scott Ferguson: Sure.

Teri M. Brown: Of course. I did not believe it. Okay. ’cause I didn’t believe anybody

L. Scott Ferguson: would tell the truth.

A hundred percent. Yeah. And,

Teri M. Brown: and I waited. And I waited and I waited for him to do something. [00:23:00] Opposite of what he said about himself. And he didn’t, he pretty, he told me from the beginning, Teri, I am who I am. You, were

L. Scott Ferguson: you trying to

Teri M. Brown: manifest it? Oh, I, I tried really hard. I wanted the other shoe to drop so I could get out of the relationship because I didn’t wanna be married again.

I feel you. Right. I was You’ve

L. Scott Ferguson: there, honey? Been there. I was terrified, right? Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: But he told me in the beginning, he said, I am who I am. I’m not more. Mm-hmm. If you want more than this, you’re gonna be disappointed. But I’m also not less.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right. I love that. , it’s transparent. I gotta meet through this.

Tell me I’m gonna do something,

Teri M. Brown: I’m gonna do it. Does

L. Scott Ferguson: he play golf? I was

Teri M. Brown: like, no, he doesn’t. And, and unfortunately he passed. He passed away a month ago.

L. Scott Ferguson: Oh my gosh, Teri.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah. Yeah. He in 20 June of 2022, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma. And he was given eight months. He lived for 31 because he’s a Marine and Marines do not give up.

That’s right.

L. Scott Ferguson: They don’t die. Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: And he finally realized [00:24:00] that this battle wasn’t one that he was going to win. He chose to stop taking chemo in November, and he passed away on January 10th.

L. Scott Ferguson: I’m sorry. I, I’m so sorry. Wow. That’s,

Teri M. Brown: I’m sorry. I, I probably should have warned you of that in our, in our pre-show.

Yeah,

L. Scott Ferguson: no, I feel you. I, I, I get it. I’m sorry. I’m really No, no, no. That’s all right. Because you’re, you’re, you’re getting busy living. Okay. Yeah. And like, are you, and the

Teri M. Brown: best thing really is I think that how sometimes you’re given more gifts than what to do with this book that I wrote. Is the perfect gift because the, the very end of, of a cancer journey is never pretty and never is.

I, I had a lot of memories that I wished that I didn’t have, things I didn’t want to focus on, but were like. Our most recent interactions. Right. And as soon as I felt able, I started pushing the book again because the book launch was set for February 14th, and I’ve been on podcasts and I get to talk about these wonderful [00:25:00] things Yeah.

That he and I did together. And it, it doesn’t mean that the medical memories are erased.

L. Scott Ferguson: But

Teri M. Brown: it means that they’re no longer at the top of mind. And what’s top of mind is this amazing trip that we took. Yeah. That gave us 20 years of marriage in just three months.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yes. And, and with Susan, , she, she’s seven years older.

She’s, she’s 68. I’ll be 53 next week. And we always talk, , about our time, , and that’s what we have. And that. We met on July 13th, 2019, and I, when we kind of get into an an A situation, we’re not agreeing. I take myself back to July 19th, which was six, seven days later when I knew this was the one, right.

And so it’s like I fall in love. So that’s an exercise that we kind of do, and it’s just seems like you and Bruce kind of were consistently even in the short, valuable time you had, you were given that gift, but you were doing a lot with it. Yeah. , ’cause you, you [00:26:00] mentioned you’re given a gift, you don’t know what to do with, and so I have to ask you then, Teri, like, how do you want, like your dash remembered that little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date, which this world needs you.

I hope you’re not going anywhere soon.

Teri M. Brown: No, I’m not. I’m not. But on the tombstone,

L. Scott Ferguson: , the dash, like how does Teri want her dash remembered?

Teri M. Brown: I think I want people to remember me as someone who I want to give, I want to give of myself. I don’t wanna be afraid. I want very much to live life. I saw a, a meme where this, they said, , you don’t wanna to, to be the old lady sitting on the front porch knitting.

You wanna come in screaming with, , your hair on fire. Oh yeah. I think, I think that’s, I want people to say she lived life to the fullest. She gave everything she had. She loved as hard as she could. She was, she was kind and giving and loving and adventurous and, , willing to try new things and was able to take bad things and put them in the rear [00:27:00] view mirror and, and keep going despite what life threw at her.

That’s beautiful. That’s kind of what,

L. Scott Ferguson: yeah, that’s beautiful. It. So there’s a movie that you and I kind of grew up with a little bit. It’s gonna be 40 years old this year, back to the Future. Heard of it?

Teri M. Brown: Oh yeah. Okay. Let’s

L. Scott Ferguson: get that Delo with Marty.

Teri M. Brown: It’s a 40 years old.

L. Scott Ferguson: 85. Yeah. Let’s get that DeLorean with Marty McFly.

Let’s go back to the double deuce, the 22-year-old Teri. Okay. Like you, you’ve had quite a journey, but what kind of knowledge nuggets might you drop on her? Not so much to change anything, ’cause everything, there’s a lesson that you learned and you got to meet Bruce and, and stuff like that, but like what would you tell her, the 22-year-old Teri, maybe to help her shorten a learning curve a little bit?

Teri M. Brown: I think, I think there’s two big things that I’d want her to know. Okay. The first thing is, is you’re enough. , there will be people, there will be experiences, there will be things that that. Push you to believe that you are not enough.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: And that is not [00:28:00] true. Very good. Yeah. You are enough. Just the way you are.

It’s good to keep learning. It’s good to keep growing, but you are enough. Love it. And then I think the second thing is you have inside of you everything you need. You just have to tap into it.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: And maybe, maybe you need to learn to tap into it.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: It, it may be that you have it and you don’t know where it’s It’s residing.

Yeah. But it’s there in you. Yeah. That we have in us. , you wanna ride across the United States on a tandem bicycle. I hadn’t been on a bicycle in 40 years when Bruce and I met. Goodness,

L. Scott Ferguson: dude. I would love to have seen it. Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Okay. Like I hadn’t, I was, I was overweight, significantly overweight. I, I, I wasn’t, I wasn’t in shape in, well, unless Round is a shape, I really wasn’t a shape.

Right. , I, I couldn’t, the idea of being on a bicycle seat as a woman

L. Scott Ferguson: Sure.

Teri M. Brown: Unfit like this is crazy talk. Right. Except I wanted it right. [00:29:00] And because I wanted it, I overcame the obstacles.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yes. Yeah. And that all came

Teri M. Brown: from inside of me.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: And, and it, that isn’t, I’m not unique.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Anybody who wants it.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah,

Teri M. Brown: we’ll work to overcome the obstacles and so it’s just a matter of how do you tap into that. I love that. That’s what I would tell my 22-year-old.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love that And, and like if you don’t know something, like my good friend Leah Woodford says, get your asking gear. Like there’s people there that will share it with you.

Absolutely. But you also had a desire. Whether you’re round or whatever it was, but you had a desire and then obviously it was backed by teamwork and faith with, with Bruce and a persistence that kind of didn’t recognize failure for 3,102 miles, ? That’s beautiful. That’s beautiful. So gotta ask you, what do you think people might misunderstand the most about Teri?

Teri M. Brown: I don’t know. I think, I think that if me. But only know me like [00:30:00] from church. Sure. Or you only know me from that. You don’t get the whole, you don’t get the whole picture. Okay. And you might know me I don’t know, as old or sad or, or afraid because I am all of those things. Sure.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, absolutely.

Teri M. Brown: But, but I’m not just that thing.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Teri M. Brown: I think I want people to, to that maybe they misunderstand that or, or see me as an abused woman. Sure. That’s underst understandable.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. That’s

Teri M. Brown: not what I am.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: It’s, it’s something that happened to me. Sure. Yeah. But it isn’t what Not happening

L. Scott Ferguson: to you.

Teri M. Brown: Right, right.

Well, and not only that, it’s not what I am and it isn’t even what I was.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

Teri M. Brown: It was a situation that I was in, but it wasn’t who I was.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Teri M. Brown: It’s who he was. I didn’t know how to get out of that situation. Mm-hmm. But it wasn’t who I was. And I think maybe that would be it, is that people tend to look at you from whatever lens they’re looking at you.

Sure. And they see what they [00:31:00] want to see. Right. Or need to see.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Teri M. Brown: Currently right now, what I am is a widow. And so what I get a lot are people who come up real close and look sideways and say, how are you?

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Because that’s what they’re focusing on. Sure. And although there is that I am a widow and I, I am sad and I am grieving and I am trying to figure out what life’s going to be, I’m also an author and a podcaster and hey, as woman

L. Scott Ferguson: sorry, but you are, , and,

Teri M. Brown: and all of those things too.

Yeah. And so there’s more to me than tilt the head and ask me how I’m doing. That’s awesome.

L. Scott Ferguson: That, that’s so transparent. That is so awesome. That’s beautiful. Yeah. How about what, what is your, I think I know the answer to this. Well, what is your definition of a life well lived?

Teri M. Brown: Yeah. Given it what you have,

L. Scott Ferguson: so I can you say give it all, like

Teri M. Brown: it, all that like, just leave it all on the table.

I don’t, [00:32:00] I don’t want to die regretting. What I might have, could have, should have, would’ve. Yeah. I mean, we’re we, we all have those things. Can can’t, we

L. Scott Ferguson: can shoot all over ourselves.

Teri M. Brown: Right. , I, I can’t look back on my life and say, oh, there isn’t anything I wish I had done differently. I don’t mean that, but I mean, I don’t want, I don’t wanna die with a bucket list with 82 things on

L. Scott Ferguson: it.

Thank you. Yeah. I

Teri M. Brown: hate bucket list. Let’s do it.

L. Scott Ferguson: Do stuff like,

Teri M. Brown: like do it. In fact, if there’s something on your bucket list, take a look at it. Do you really want it? If so, today, right now, do it. Figure out what’s the first step you’re going to make toward making it happen. Love it. Like, like I couldn’t go on a tandem bicycle ride the day after I made that decision, right?

Like I had things I had to do that had to get done, but you have to start somewhere. So what is that?

L. Scott Ferguson: Right? Get in ink or on paper or something so you can see it and plan it. That’s another thing with people. Yeah. And start doing

Teri M. Brown: it. And, and if it isn’t worth that to you Yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Take it off the bucket list.

It is not worth it. Yep. You, you do not get promise that that [00:33:00] time that you think that you’re gonna get is gonna happen. It may or may not. You may not get it. Do it now. If it is something that means enough to you to put on a list, then go start doing it. And if you’re not gonna start doing it, get it off your list.

You do not wanna die with that. It becomes an anchor over your head.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it.

Teri M. Brown: Yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Time to Shine today, podcast Varsity Squad. We are back.

And Teri, like next time I, I am in the Carolinas a lot. I speak a lot in the Carolinas. Awesome. So visit, we’re in Myrtle Beach. We have a coffee session set up, and don’t be surprised if you have no brain left for me picking it for some fictional characters. Okay, fantastic. Absolutely. But I’ll buy the coffee.

Okay, wonderful, wonderful. So we will probably talk about a few of these questions and we’ll talk around maybe 10, 15, 20 minutes each. But today you have five seconds today. You have five seconds, no explanations, and I promise they can all be answered that way. Okay. You ready to level up?

Teri M. Brown: I am gonna, yeah, you.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah, you are girl. Here we go. Teri, what is the best leveling up advice you [00:34:00] feel you’ve ever received?

Teri M. Brown: Don’t quit on a bad day.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yes. That’s amazing. That’s killer dude. Share one of your personal habits that contributes to your success.

Teri M. Brown: I make lists and then I cross out what I’ve done violently because it feels good.

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s beautiful. So other than your stack of books, what other, if you were to see me kind of walking down the street, I look like I’m in my doldrums a little bit. Right? For Fergie, read this. What book might you hand me that maybe lifted you up other than the good book? The Bible,

Teri M. Brown: the War of Art.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay, very good.

I know that book. I’ve read it. I actually think it’s over there, but thank you. Yeah. Your most commonly used emoji, if any, when you text.

Teri M. Brown: The big smiley face with the hard eyes.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Nicknames growing up.

Teri M. Brown: Buffy.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay. Love it. Okay. Headline for your life.

Teri M. Brown: Watch out. Here she comes.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. What is any, do you, okay.

Do you have any hidden talent or superpower that nobody knows about until [00:35:00] now?

Teri M. Brown: I have a mom glare that can really scare people, like, into just stopping.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Wanna share it? It’s, it’s, it’s YouTube. My Vimeo on my YouTube. There you go. Yeah. That would, that would give to me if I was a child, that’s for sure.

Chess checkers a monopoly. I hate Monopoly. Probably chess, but I’m not super good at it. Yeah. Okay. Lean into any superstitions at all.

Teri M. Brown: , there, there are, yes and no. I don’t really believe me neither. , I don’t like

L. Scott Ferguson: the number 13, but it Yeah, but I mean, there’s, there’s the number

Teri M. Brown: that it’s Friday the 13th.

Am I a little more careful on that day? Or I might just be a little, , yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Go to ice cream flavor.

Teri M. Brown: Oh, mint chocolate chip.

L. Scott Ferguson: Awesome. There’s a sandwich called the Buffy Boo. Build that sandwich for me. What are we eating?

Teri M. Brown: Oh so it’s gonna have all the meats on it. Two or three different cheeses, couple of different mustards, and then as many vegetables as you can stick on top of it, except for onions.

L. Scott Ferguson: How about about some man candy? Any bacon on it?

Teri M. Brown: Oh, sure. That’s part of the, that isn’t, [00:36:00] that, isn’t that part of the meat?

L. Scott Ferguson: That’s absolutely right. That’s awesome. We are busies now. Favorite charity and organization like to give your time and or money to.

Teri M. Brown: For Tots. Absolutely.

L. Scott Ferguson: I was, , you were gonna say that.

Last question, we can elaborate on this one a little bit. Best decade of music. Sixties, seventies, eighties, or nineties. Oh my gosh, that’s really hard for me to say. It’s a loaded one, right? No, but I love music and so we could go back to forties and fifties music as well, so I love it all, but right now I’m gonna say sixties.

Teri M. Brown: Okay. It’s what my husband loved the most, and so we listened to a lot of the sixties music whenever he was just needing music in the house. Yeah. So it’s great storytelling. Yeah. Sixties and seventies. Are great storytelling. Yeah, absolutely. Now the eighties. Absolutely. Because I graduated high school in 1990, it’s like the eighties.

L. Scott Ferguson: There’s a lot of invasions from re and with U2 or , Ireland and Men at Work. So there’s a lot that happened in that. So I’m probably in eighties, but if I’m, I. Editing a podcast or I’m writing, I listen to the seventies because [00:37:00] just, , and I lean into kinda like the Gordon Lightfoot and the Yes.

people that are storytellers, croy, and, , stuff like that. Yeah. The sixties is, is the jam too. I mean, just so much happened, . Yeah. In those three decades. So,

Teri M. Brown: but I also, but I also really love forties music because I love the idea of the ballroom dancing, and you listen to that big band stuff and, and all of the romantic stuff that comes into my mind as you’re whirling around on a dance floor.

So, yeah, I’m.

L. Scott Ferguson: You

Teri M. Brown: know, I love music.

L. Scott Ferguson: Well, I will edit this out if you do not feel comfortable, but do you feel that you’ll love again?

Teri M. Brown: I don’t have an answer to that at this time. Okay. That’s no problem. Thank for even answering

L. Scott Ferguson: my, ,

Teri M. Brown: no, my, in my initial, my initial response is, no, I will, I’ll, I’ll never get married again.

Okay. My mother, my mother who’s in her eighties said, please don’t say that.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay. No. Thank you for even answering. I really appreciate it. And again, if you wanted it off mic, you told me to edit it out. Lemme know. No, it’s fine. It’s fine. Can you tell us where we can find you?

Teri M. Brown: Yeah, my website is the best place to go.

So it’s my name Teri M. Brown, [00:38:00] that’s Teri with one r There. You’ll be able to find my books. You’ll be able to find my, my podcast. Okay. All my social media. I have a contact page, I have a newsletter. So definitely reach right out on any of that and I would love to chat with you.

L. Scott Ferguson: Very good.

And squat, if you’re watching, I kind of put it on the, on the screen there where you can find her as well. And I am going to do a, actually, let’s make it a three. Is it gonna come out in Kindle as well? Yes. Okay. I’m gonna do a three physical book giveaway and a two Kindle book giveaway. The first three people that put in, or five people, I guess it would be, we’ll call it sore butt. Put in Soar butt into, I don’t care if it’s Pinterest, Instagram, text it to 5 6 1 4 4 0 3 8 3 0. Put in so butt and I will make sure that you, and tell me what you’d like the Kindle or the the actual physical book and I will get it mailed out on time to shine today’s dime.[00:39:00]

And Ms. Teri, do me one last solid please. And leave us with one last knowledge nugget that we can take with us, internalize and take action on.

Teri M. Brown: I. Yeah, I think I’ve, I’ve kind of like, given the, the big one that I usually tell people is like, don’t have a bucket list. Mm-hmm. So I just want to end it with,

L. Scott Ferguson: don’t quit on a bad day.

I think that is the most like,

Teri M. Brown: yeah. Fantastic. Okay. So, yeah. So don’t quit on a bad day was something that was told to me when I was riding.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay. It

Teri M. Brown: was a horrible day. It was 70 miles. We had a flat tire three times. There were mosquitoes, the size of your fist. The wind was blowing the wrong way, and I was done.

We got to the end of the day and it was like, we’ve made it over the Rockies, we’ve done the hard part. I’m done. I wanna go home. This isn’t fun anymore. And I put that on my blog and I had a friend reach out and say, Hey, what you’ve done is amazing. And if you quit today, you’ve still done an amazing thing.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah.

Teri M. Brown: But don’t quit on a bad day. Wow. You’ll always wonder if you could have gone on. [00:40:00] I recommend that you stop. Take a little break. See, , give yourself time to like get over this big emotional upheaval. And then if you still want to quit, it’s probably the right thing to do.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love it. Give it to decompress.

And we of

Teri M. Brown: course went on and finished the ride.

L. Scott Ferguson: Love this. And squad, I have I just interviewed an author. Usually I’m bringing on coaches, consultants, but this woman, which I’m gonna talk to her off mic, needs to be a coach. I mean, there’s just. Absolutely no ifs, ands, or, but buts about it. She, , she was terrified of being an author, but she leaned into her passion, and especially coming out him an abusive relationship.

She never really had a voice. To be able to put the voice on paper is something that just it, it astounds me. He’s just amazing that she’s able to do that. She was married to a fantastic man, Bruce, who chased her until she caught him. Which I think that that’s just beautiful, stuck around. He’s a, he was a lucky man, 3,102.

What a great number. And she knew that she did that. She [00:41:00] could do anything, , she characters were living in her head that she knew she had to get out and remember that metaphor of them standing in the corner with their arms folded, kind of judging her in a sense, but trusting her as well. And she reminded us that, , logical is not as fun as creative.

Great books are emotional. Get vested. See what your characters are seeing. Get out. Writer’s block is a junk word. Both her and I, , and let your creative side out. Go walking, start storming, find harmony in the waves or even nature, and listen and find that, I mean, this woman is planting trees.

She’s never gonna sit in the shade of that’s, and I respect people like that. She’s doing it for the intention, not the attention she could be on. Listen to me, dude, I rode 3,102 miles, but she’s not, she’s putting it out there as part of the story of time and bonding and great memories with, with her man, Bruce, that you are given more of a gift than what to do with everything kind of is a gift.

Lean into those, , she’s gonna be remembered as somebody that [00:42:00] kinda slid across. I’m gonna use sports metaphor, slid across home plate, bumped and bruised. That, but not afraid anymore. And she loved hard. And those are again, the people that squad we want to surround ourselves with. Remind yourself that you are enough.

You have everything you need, and if you don’t, you need to learn something. Get your asking gear and go out and find somebody. And if you wanna be put in touch with Teri, I’m sure she allowed me to make a warm introduction to you and that. She had the desire and a persistence that didn’t recognize failure and the desire to bond with Bruce and just know that she didn’t quit on a bad day.

’cause you’ll always wonder you didn’t. And she has that memory that she gets to hold close to her heart. And I absolutely love this woman’s gut. She’s leveled up her health, she’s leveled up her wealth. You’ve got your Varsity squad letter here. Time to shine today. Thank you so much for coming on Teri, and I can’t wait for having me keep this friendship going.

Having

Teri M. Brown: absolutely.

L. Scott Ferguson: Have a great day.Teri M. Brown: Thank you.

This is a placeholder tab content. It is important to have the necessary information in the block, but at this stage, it is just a placeholder to help you visualise how the content is displayed. Feel free to edit this with your actual content.