Episode 125: A Live Celebration of 10 Years Podcasting!

Transcript

This podcast contains explicit language and content and is for mature audiences only. Hey you teenagers out there, if you're under 18, this show is more for your parents. So now that you have that mental picture stuck in your head, put some music on and get back to doing your homework. We are a long-time married couple who's decided to chronicle our personal adventures and share our sex-positive discussions as we navigate our way through the swinging lifestyle. Care to join us?

Well, hello everybody um welcome to uh the we got a thing podcast and if you're listening now you're probably wondering who the f is talking right now because it's not the joneses so don't worry my name is joe and barb 2.0 uh and the joneses are right here so welcome mr mrs jones to your own podcast all right well thanks for having us thanks and uh and we are not being AND HEL welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, to your own podcast. All right. Well, thanks for having us. Thanks. And we are not being held hostage. We're safe, everyone. It's okay. And Joe and Barb were with us for episode 105? 105.

That's right. 105, right. So he's legit. Yeah.

So before we get started, I brought a few artifacts to commemorateate you know the journey 10 years now this one only goes back about four years so just just a few artifacts we'll get start um yummy putting out um and you know i wish i could take credit for the pyrotechnics but um i really can't that was a great idea to commemorate what we're doing today and just a great accomplishment of 10 years in the podcasting industry and specifically for what you've done to the community but we have another little memento to start the pot this was a Bible screwball for those at home who can't see and I guess we'll get into that story a little bit later yeah so um so to get things started we have another memento and you know how like we like to do you know gags and yes gadgets right so we're gonna present you with the golden all right that's gonna have to go on my new mantle if uh if you could read the inscription oh so the inscription says presented to mr mrs jones we got a thing 10 years of podcasting yeah thanks that's pretty cool very sweet there's an on off switch does that mean it actually does something if you unscrew it, you could actually use it.

It's a real Sennheiser microphone. That's really cool. So, yeah, here we are. I mean, 10 years later, where it all started. Literally a few miles down the road, right? Yeah. Who'd have thanked it? And in front of a live audience of some of our closest friends here.

So mean what a what a tremendous uh occasion to have yes so um i i wanted to uh talk about really why the origin of this podcast came about and and mr jones you you did say it was about i don't know 10 or 11 months ago we were talking about what you brought up like how how you're going to try to commemorate the the 10-year anniversary of podcasting for we got a thing and we were at dinner and we had other friends that were there with us and you know once you started talking about it you know kind of thing clicked in my head and said you know we this really needs to be a celebration about you two guys what you two have done for the community and for the thousands of people that are out there is just an amazing feat and we we just couldn't let it pass in the night with some fanfare and you guys really need to come up on the stage and take a bow that kind of thing and you're not going to throw your own party so we all got together we're throwing this party for you.

We hope you enjoy it. Thank you. All right. I want to say, also, personally, I'm so honored to be able to do this. You know, I've known you guys now for four years, Barb and Joe 2.0. We both have really enjoyed the friendship. And to be able to have this opportunity to kind of guide us through the conversation it's just a huge a huge uh thing for me i mean it's kind of like like if you were me if i were a musician and i'm not a musician but uh let's say i played guitar and uh i was a amateur and i got to meet one of my idol guitar players and not only meet them, but get to play with them.

I mean, guitar. Don't give away all of our secrets. That's kind of what the moment is for me today. So I really appreciate you giving me that opportunity. And there's plenty, so many more people that would have done much a better job at this that are much more worthy to do it. I'm just honored to have the opportunity to do it for you guys today. So thank you. Well, I beg to differ with that because we're very honored to have you here with us. Well, thanks. And for some reason, I trust you. I'm not sure you should, but...

All right, so I wanted to try to keep this episode kind of in the same vein as all your previous episodes. And you guys normally have a beginning segment, which is the welcome, and then keeping up with the Joneses. And then we have a body, and then we kind of have a snapshot moment, some closing things. Is there anything that we need to talk about keeping up with the Joneses wise? Well, I mean, we're here at Desire with like a hundred of our closest friends and just having an amazing week. So I don't know. What do you think, babe? Anything come to mind? Anything that we need to argue about?

Is that what you're asking? I guess what I really want to know is, have you received any more pink letters in the mail? I don't know, but my mail is being held, so maybe it's waiting for me when I get back to the house. So are we allowed to talk about this? Absolutely. All right. All right.

So we have other friends that I'm just going to call out in the front row that live near us and um they're really gullible and no no so they we live in the same neighborhood and of course we are always out and about looking for that vibe in other people and other couples, and we went over to their house one night and they were just giddy that they had received this letter in the mail, and it was addressed to neighbor at their address, and they opened it up and it was a pink piece of paper with an upside down pineapple on it, and it said, we have noticed you in the neighborhood and there is going to be on the first Friday of the month a gathering at this certain location spot in the neighborhood and we would invite you all to come along and if you don't show up that's fine but we think you're the type of people that would enjoy this party well it was it was actually a series of two letters the first letter was we we think that you have this vibe and you're going to be hearing from us again and if you hear from us again and you're not interested that's fine but you know if if you are then more details will follow and it really pains me to say this but it was really a brilliant letter so then so then the second letter comes and it has the specifics like the date and the time and the location no you forget one thing after they got the first letter and they showed it to us we fell hook line and sinker into like oh my gosh oh my gosh yeah we were immediately trying to figure out who in the neighborhood it would have been that sent this letter and and um because the postmark was a local postmark where we live so there was no evidence that somebody could be playing us right right so a second letter comes and it was very specific where you know wear pineapple clothes and meet at this location at the town center and blah, right.

So a second letter comes, and it was very specific where, you know, wear pineapple clothes and meet at this location at the town center and blah. And someone said, I am not going to go to that thing. And that would have been me. Like, it was three against one. And I actually got angry at Mr. Jones because he's like, there's no way we're going to miss this. And I'm like, there's no way we're going to go. And we like, I was angry because there was no way I was going to go to this thing. Well, of course our friends talked us into it or we wouldn't be bringing it up now.

Well, Joe and Barb 2.0 were coincidentally, you can't see my air quotes in the podcast land, but they're here. Coincidentally, they were coming into town that weekend of this first meetup. So, oh, we already have people figuring it out. We were not that smart. So we decided we would talk them into going with us. And strategically, we would go to the other side of the location and just watch to see who showed up. That was our plan. So the six of us were eating dinner. And Joe, do you want to say how you kind of spilled the beans as to what was going on?

Well, there were these people coming through the door, going over to the location. And my friend and I, the one that lives here, we were like, oh, my God, they're really hot. That could work out well. And then, no lie, this lady walks by with a pineapple dress on. You can't make this stuff up. And we were like, oh my God, there's more. And I mean, this went on for like 30 minutes, because we had gotten there way early. Oh, the hook was in. All he had to do was set it. And then... So we're feeling really guilty at this point. Because we are not this devious. Oh, bullshit.

So, Barb and I figured the operation had a 50-50 chance of success. We thought we'd be sniffed out, and you guys would counter-prank us. Let us think it was happening, but then get us get us so we were preparing for that the entire time but once we got to dinner and everything that you guys just explained was happening and you guys were so adamant and animated about what we can just move ahead I don't want to make everyone know how far deep you had sucked all this in. Barb nudges me under the table and says, I think you need to let him off the hook.

30 minutes had passed, as she said, and no one was showing up other than this random woman with a pineapple dress, which we were like, we didn't pay her, but she's coming in playing right into our prank.

And so I was like, okay, we need you let him off the hook i i turn and i and i look to the the main the main target target of the attack which was not us which was not you but you guys were we were collateral collateral damage that needed to happen i looked at her and i said did you ever consider that that prank that you played on me two months ago where you duped me in front of the entire community live on the internet would not get paid back somehow? I mean, how many seconds did it take for all of our brains to process that? Not me.

Obviously, I've completely misunderstood why we're here today. Because now we're, now we're just, it's uncut, although I can edit all of this. There's a live stream that says you can. All right. Oops. Yeah, I think it would be fair to the entire community, Mr. Jones, if you left this part of the record. Okay, I'll leave it at. All right, well, look, that was a really great catch-up with what's happening with the Joneses. All right. I think, you know, when we get into our next segment, we're going to talk about the serious stuff, where the hard questions are. Oh, uh-oh.

And, yeah, we'll go pay a little homage to the Joneses. So I hope everybody sticks around. We'll be right back, and we're going to talk a little bit about the accomplishments and the vision and everything else. Listen to the segue. That's very good. Where's the music?

Where's the music all right welcome back everybody um so we are here it's the 10-year anniversary of the we got a thing podcast and uh we're honoring our guests of honor the joneses for uh in a strange way um yeah it's going to get stranger so thanks for bringing that up um but no we really won't talk seriously about the accomplishments and 10 years of podcasting and then we're going to get into really what all that has transpired into with really transforming people's lives and and i know you guys sometimes take that uh not as I don't want to say not as too lightly, but you guys are so humble, you're so grounded, you're so down to earth.

If you, the listeners out there, if you've never met the Joneses in person at one of the meet and greets or one of the events or one of the other lifestyle things in the industry, if you hadn't met them, they're the most unassuming people out there. They're so kind and so visionary that you would pass them over if you thought that they were really Mr. and Mrs. Joneses who put on this We Got a Thing podcast. So that's why they are not going to throw this party for themselves. They look at this really as a service to us as members of the community. And for that, we are deeply appreciative.

And we really want to talk about kind of the genesis of this and kind of what your thoughts have been along the way and um kind of where things might go all right so the first question mrs james is i want to take you back to june 2021 um it's las vegas uh there was an event It was like a weekend. And it was for the community. But it really wasn't something you guys had organized. It was something you guys endorsed. But you really didn't organize it. And other people were kind of taking charge in doing this.

And I remember you recounting a story on an earlier podcast where you went to the main event, which was a party in a penthouse on top of a very fancy hotel and you and you and mr jones were were in the uh the theme uh dress which was uh speakeasy cabaret right you recounted a story where you got off the elevator you walked into the penthouse you started to look around you saw a bunch of stuff and you were hit with a little bit of an emotion and i was wondering if you could kind of recount that for us well i mean first of all our our friends that put this party on it was top notch like the decoration first of all we were in the what was it the lenny kravitz suite or something that like we were in this amazing space and then the decorations were incredible but then we walked in and there was this incredible lighting that had been added added to the penthouse and there was like a bat signal like our we got a thing logo was like shining on the it was on the floor right it was circling around or was on the ceiling i it felt like it was everywhere and um it was just it was just amazing to see all of our friends in this amazing space.

And then like, who are we to like actually have our logo like in lights in Vegas? Yeah. And I think you also said that, you know, it wasn't just the lighting. There was branded elements. There were giveaways with the, we got a thing logo on them. I mean, the whole thing was this, we got a thing.

And what i take away from the first time you recounted this was that you're exactly like we're just and and it looks like we're some kind of celebrity rock stars walking into our event yes um but you kind of guys you guys are kind of rock stars and um as i've talked to many many people in the community we all kind of share a very similar story where we're like, yeah, we want to meet the Joneses, but we're not sure how, and we're not sure, you know, when we're going to run into them, and oh my God, I'm just so starstruck, and you guys, you guys basically negate all of that. You don't want that.

You don't want to have anything to do with that. You've always said it's not about fame and fortune.

It's about doing this thing and helping other people that are in the same kind of thing get through it right and and that's what's so extraordinary and so astounding about you two and you know one of the things uh i remember from a few years ago is we were having a conversation about we got a thing podcast relative to other podcasts because we know there's's dozens of other podcasts out there, and we were talking specifically about what made yours different, and I used the word brand, and you didn't like the word brand, Mr.

Jones, you used the word mission, and I was wondering if you guys could explain a little bit about when do you feel, how long into the effort of recording podcasts did you start to think hmm maybe this is kind of a mission and not just a bunch of podcasts where we're helping people think through things well we we planned for four to five months before we released our first podcast episode because in my in my day job i a strategic planner.

And so we wanted our mission, our vision, our goals, the title of the podcast, the equipment, practicing it, the segments, how it was going to be formatted, all of that we wanted to think through prior to starting. So to answer your question, every decision that we've made from that time forward, we've always gone back to why are we doing this? What is our mission? And is what we're about to embark on or people are requesting, does it fit with that?

Because we want to stay true to that original mission mission and there have been a lot of things that have been offered to us and it's tempting uh you know to to fall for that but we always would go back to wait a minute that's really gonna that's not why we're doing this it's distracting us from what our mission is and so it's a good way for us to make decisions as the years have gone on and other opportunities have kind of crept up well and as far as the mission itself um that like our philosophy came around because when we were brand new to this when we were planning this first trip to desire 11 years ago we were trying to find resources because you know i was an educator and and mr jones was you know analytics so we have to like research everything and the podcasts that were out then because you know in in you know the mid well it was what 2013 like podcasts were just getting up and running and they were just becoming mainstream where you know you you could actually find that resource on the internet.

So there were a limited number of lifestyle podcasts, and the people that were hosting them were doing quality work, but they seemed to all be very experienced. So when they were telling their stories, they were intimidating to me because I was really unsure about, you know, stepping into this arena, and we would be eating dinner because we were listening to lifestyle I'll pass it about, you know, stepping into this arena, and we would be eating dinner, because we were listening to Lifestyle Podcast during dinner, and we had our daughter and granddaughter living with us at the time.

We'd have to hide in our bedroom and eat dinner, so we had this little, like, cafe table, and we would go up there and hide, and we're sitting across this little table from each other, and I would get my fork halfway to my mouth, and they would say something really crazy about some crazy they had done that sounded really fun but i i would like stop and i'm hitting the stop button i'm trying to hit the stop button and i would stop and i would shake my head no i'm like honey there's no way i'm ever going to be able to do something like that you know and he'd be like i'll find another podcast it was never oh're right.

It was like, I'll just find a better resource. And so then after a few months, well, after we came here and we found out like, this is the, you know, Disneyland for grownups. And we decided we wanted to move forward in our journey. You know, then we were starting to have the conversations where Mr.

Jones, not me, would say know someday when we have our podcast we're going to tell our story from the beginning to help people like us figure out how to do this right from the get-go so that they don't make the mistakes that we made on our first trip to desire and have to kind of come home and do a whole lot of processing well and and i don't yes that's true but the word right really you came up with the slogan we are a what if podcast not a how to podcast so the the idea of us sharing ourselves was not to tell people how to do it it was more for people to listen and say is that something that we're interested in and what would we do in that situation and how would we work through something like that has the mission evolved any since that first conversation and decision to kind of lay it out the way you did i think that main foundation of of helping people be thoughtful about stepping into this lifestyle I don't't think that's changed.

Maybe how we approach it. Because, I mean, now, you know, we don't necessarily know what we're doing, but at least we have more experiences. And we talk to so many people that have, you know, different origin stories and entry points. So I think we have a broader perspective now, but hopefully the same mission. Does that make sense?

Yeah, sure sense yeah sure sure well i think it's expanded as we have grown because you all are a part of that you know you you i'll i'll never forget when the whole idea of a community came up when i think it was our second year at naughty in new orleans and we knew that was a crazy crazy place and so we decided to do a meet and greet at the house of blues before the event started and like 100 people showed up and the feedback we got afterwards were your the people that came to your meet and greet were the people we hung out with the whole weekend don't stop hosting the meet and greets and then I did some math in my head is this the associative or the commutative property that it was a transitive transitive property if people share our philosophy and they all come together you're going to better connect with each other because you're probably like-minded as well and that was where the impetus for you know maybe we need to try to build a place where we can help people connect but it was the same philosophy was to still an outreach of our podcast that led to the establishment of the community and it's huge i want to share a few numbers now i found out that you're so big you guys have people because my people called your people and we got we got a bunch of numbers now these are your numbers but you know for the sake of our listeners um just to kind of put some scale around this so you have 25 000 average monthly listeners Twenty 000 yeah yeah uh 60 000 social media followers right i mean this is these are big numbers um lifetime downloads this is a number to flirt me 3.6 million that's crazy yeah lifetime 3.6 million people have listened to me talk about me having sex wow and that's that's very important because look i mean if they follow kind of what i do i don't i don't download the same podcast twice so i've got to believe these are 3.6 million discrete uh downloads discrete people oh boy that's a lot of people uh and and we're just that we're not talking about the community yet right so that's the podcast you know you talk about the community you've got 1200 members in the community right and a lot of them are right in front of us right now um you've done uh gosh uh over 250 live streams and we're well 251 now because we're doing fun uh over 300 uh chats with the men in the women's group uh over and i think this number is wrong you might want to get with your people but over 100 virtual meet and greets that sounds low it sounds like we've done much more than that oh yeah and you got an app i mean this is like a big enterprise so we couldn't do it without y'all so there's a there's a formula in uh in the entertainment business about how you attract and keep an audience, and it kind of goes like this.

It basically says if 90% or more of the people in the audience believe that what they're watching on stage they can't do, you will attract and keep that audience. What is your secret sauce for attracting and keeping the audience? It's providing a space for people to connect. I mean, it's as simple as that, you know, and we're not trying to make the rules. We're putting an infrastructure in place and some guidelines around that and inviting people in and then allowing that, because really community is, our culture is, it takes everyone to be involved in this.

We want the community to be less and less about Mr. and Mrs. Jones and more and more about the community itself. And I think what makes that successful, both the podcast and the community, is our awareness that we need to be relatable. People have to people have to have that. Oh, my gosh, they sound just like us. I used to use the word normal, but, I mean, what is normal? You know, especially, like, when you're in the lifestyle. Like, our new normal is very different than our old normal. Yeah, relevant.

Yeah, so I think staying relatable so that people have that connection is there one particular accomplishment out of all the things that we just talked about listed is there one that kind of stands out as maybe the one that you didn't expect to happen yet it did or the one that you're most proud of could you can you piece out one of the many things that you've built and say this one thing never thought this could happen but boy are we proud of that it did well i have to say if i i picked one thing i would say the community because and i have to this 100 goes to mr jones because one morning um he came downstairs and said i think we need a community.

I'm like, what are you talking about? I didn't even really understand the concept. And he had been thinking about this for like weeks and had this like all mapped out in his mind on what this vision was going to be.

And because like he said, you know, when we get together with people and and then like we have friends that live here and we have friends that live here and when we get them together then they become friends um like case in point right here like we introduced you guys and now you guys are great friends um that i think is really uh our biggest accomplishment think, is helping people connect with each other. And then the gratification for me is weeks like this where I get to, well, first of all, I'll see you all right now. And then, like, in the hot tub. The hot tub is so loud in the afternoon.

It's crazy. It's just like a roar. And it's just all of y'all just having fun and and just you know connecting mr jones you have one it's just when when we observe that we were able to make a difference in somebody's life and it sounds kind of corny but um it's really fulfilling for us to make that happen. And when we invite people that we don't know to spend a lot of money and get on a plane and fly to this place that we talk about and just hope that they get some sort of return on that investment.

And then when we see somebody pulled up in a stripper show on night number one, and I'm going, oh my gosh, this is a make or break situation right here. And then to hear people say, we used to come down here a day early to help prep, but we don't do that anymore because they know us so well. We didn't get here until the Saturday afternoon. And we had people coming up to us right then saying, this is the best group. We have made so many connections. I'm like, it's only three o'clock. So I don't think that there's any one particular thing. It's just very meaningful.

That's the payment that we receive because we like to reinvest whatever we make into the community and the app and everything else but when we see that we're making a difference in someone's life I don't know how anything more meaningful can be experienced and we get to see that over and over and over again yeah it's very evident I mean when you talk to everybody and they give us the same story that their lives and I said this earlier I don't know. I don. Yeah, it's very evident.

I mean, when you talk to everybody and they give us the same story that their lives, and I said this earlier, they're transformed. And a lot of people put it right back to the We Got a Thing podcast. So if there is a cosmic thing that happens, if you take out the We Got a Thing podcast, then somebody's life transformation for the better, they don't happen.

And you guys are the result and the the reason for that so i mean it is funny because we do have a lot you know a lot of people come up to us and say you know we wouldn't be where we are right now or you know we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and and we wouldn't be in the lifestyle if it wasn't for you and i'm always like thank you is that is that that's good right so so this is always a dangerous question um is there is there anything now that the horse is out of the barn that you would have done differently but it's it's out there and you're just going to kind of let it go is there anything if you had the chance to go back and say you know what we're not going to do that is there anything that comes to mind you know starting a podcast and putting it out on the internet with your voices um is kind of a permanent thing and i think you can be a little naive when you're starting that up you know especially 10 years ago like i said earlier podcasts weren't hugely you know prevalent in daily life like they are now.

So I think we were a little naive about how much we were going to be out there. I mean, our first episode, the first month got 37 downloads. And I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, 37 people listen to me like have sex. And and obviously that grows and and it stays out there forever so i think um not that we would have done anything differently but just to have that mental preparation of the long-term impact right i i think that we we miss estimated, underestimated what would happen if it took off. I think we were a little bit, no one's going to recognize our voice and this will be safe.

But when we were outed, I don't regret that now looking back, but what that did for us is it made us stop and say do we really want to live what we've been talking you know if we stop doing this now then everything that we've said really just loses a lot of energy and credibility because then it was like oh yeah well they said all those things but then when it came down to it they went and hid you know back into vanilla world so we very quickly decided that that couldn't happen and we didn't want that to happen and then whatever we were going to face as we went through that we would face it together so even when things didn't go the way that we wanted them to go, we together were able to kind of use that for us to become closer and to continue to share with, we got so much support.

I think that's when we first realized that there were more people out there than what we thought. And there were faces and lives behind the download numbers because people started reaching out to us and saying, I'm a counselor, I'm a pastor, here's my phone number, give me a call, I'm a counselor, I'd love to help you guys. And so at that point in time, we realized we weren't in this alone because when we sat in our basement with the lights low, sipping our drinks and podcasting, there's nobody else around that.

The concept of even you all being here and the number of people that are out there, it's abstract. And once we went through that, it became real. And there were faces and there were names and there were people being vulnerable with us.

And that's when we realized that, wow, maybe what we're doing is worthwhile because people seem to be responding more than we had imagined yeah and that that leads me into another point i wanted to ask you about you know um when people like embark on a fitness journey that's tough or maybe they have some kind of traumatic experience or they go through some other life thing and they they figure out something about themselves that they would not have known or not have appreciated had they not gone through that is there anything about yourself personally that you believe you've grown from or have discovered like oh gee i because of what you've done and how you've created the community and what has it has evolved into well i think um it you you have to do a lot of self-reflection to to do this podcast um especially because we really are committed to being authentic you know so that i think um i wouldn't i wouldn't know myself as well as i know myself now.

You know, the good, the bad, and the ugly. You know, in the lifestyle, like your strengths really get you through, but your weaknesses are really magnified.

And then as far as like our relationship, when we were outed, obviously that was a horrible but it was also amazing because it it it magnified how strong our relationship was we never blamed each other we never one night mr jones said i feel like the worst husband in the world because it had just happened and we were in shock and really didn't know what our path forward was going to be and i was like how can you even say that you did not drag me by the back of the hair into this journey with you i was right there side by side right and we still are i i think two things for me as an individual uh and for those of you who have known me for a long time might know this but i'm a wallflower like one of the biggest fights we had in the uh when we first were joined a lifestyle was we went to a big meet and greet and i stood in the corner and she wanted to go meet people and i i was just taking everything in and analyzing the room and trying to figure people out and she was wanting to move forward and so i was i i've always been very shy and very much a wallflower.

And then when I put myself out there and I saw people responding to me differently, I wasn't a different person. What I realized was people know me. That's all. They know me. And so this whole flirting thing and this whole having sex with other people, the key is just get to know people, because people were treating me so much differently than I had imagined people would if they knew something about me, so a lot of self-confidence, you know, just from doing that. The other thing is, what I learned is that I didn't really understand how many built-in biases I had as human being.

And, you know, because initially when you're on a dating site and you're looking for a partner or a date or somebody that you're attracted to, it's all based on physical attraction. And everything after that gets lost because if they aren't above a certain line, then you're not going to reach out to them. And what I learned is everybody has a story. If you take the time to talk to people and get to know them, they become a more beautiful person altogether. And then the physical part of it really subsides. Well, and that approach wasn't working for us.

You know, like if you're just like looking at people's pictures and and deciding to set up a date with them you know the likelihood that there's going to be a connection there is so much lower than if you're really like interested in their profile and then you and you reach out based on some sort of common interest or or something so i think you know we we learned a lot about you, what we're really attracted to. You think, you know, but then, but then as you, you go through this, you find out, you know, really kind of what makes your brain tick and what turns you on. Yeah.

I mean, the whole idea of this self-reflection or this, you know, being more aware of certain weaknesses and strength, as you pointed out, Ms. Jones, you know, I think nothing kind of caps that off more resoundingly than, you know, the issues that Mr. Jones and his health have been shared with on the podcast.

I mean, by all hands down, I mean, the fact that you guys decided to be as transparent with those issues as you have been um the vulnerability the courage all of that and it's still going on you still update us um has been a tremendous benefit to a lot of people who you'll never know and you'll never realize that they hear that from mr jones and they hear your side of it and they're able to internalize that and help them with whatever there got going on yeah and and what i think is interesting is to is to understand that was a decision and they're able to internalize that and help them with whatever they've got going on.

And what I think is interesting is to understand that was a decision you both made to do that. You could have just, look, it's going to be what it's going to be. Things are going to happen the way they're going to happen. It's science, it's health, whatever. You guys made the conscious decision. We're going to share this. We're going to share it in as much intimate detail as we can so that people get the full understanding of what it is.

The fact that you did that, you could not have had, you didn't have understanding of what it is the fact that you did that you could not have had you didn't have to do that but the fact that you did it was it a net positive to the relationship was it neutral to the relationship or did it add overhead that now you have to manage the mere fact that you shared it not that you're going through it because you're going to go through it regardless the fact that you decided to share it and that's out there and people are asking about it and you're updating people is that fact did that add a net positive or did it add additional overhead burden to the relationship the fact that you actually so many things to say sorry hon um we were sharing it and we were doing our best to share our journey through his recovery authentically, but we really weren't.

We were either leaving parts out, or we were sugarcoating it, and we knew we were doing that. And I resented that, because then I felt like that was our mindset. And because we were, um, we were struggling and we, and we were talking about how hard it was, but not really getting into it. I kind of think that made Mr.

Jones and I let that carry into our private relationship and and then once you start like really not you know just kind of waiting let's just be patient and let's wait and let's not really you know try to figure out a path forward but then trying to be like positive on the podcast I found very frustrating because I I do need to be authentic and I and I felt a little inauthentic at times Thank you. positive on the podcast, I found very frustrating because I do need to be authentic. And I felt a little inauthentic at times throughout the past two years, not all the time.

Yeah, we learned from a guy in the film industry that we had an experience with, a professional experience with. And he was explaining that when you go to the movie theater your relationship with the characters is many to one all of you in the theater to one when you are watching television in your home it's a little bit more intimate because it's one to two or one to four and it it's in your own home, so it's a lot more intimate. He said, when somebody puts earbuds in their ears, you are talking directly to that person. And it's a very intimate relationship.

And so what we learned is we couldn't fake it because people saw right through it. Like, people know us so well from what we have shared that people were asking is everything okay you didn't she didn't seem to sound herself on that episode and then that was kind of a wake-up call that look we're kind of getting away from what we originally said we were going to do here. And I think once we started talking about it a little bit more honestly, then it allowed us to talk about it more honestly. I'll tell you. No, I mean, that's why we did that episode on vulnerability a few months ago.

I mean, it's like that was our true confessions that we were struggling. If you want to try to get some through something that you're struggling with together go buy yourself two microphones you don't have to publish it on the internet you know you could just like and a recorder because when you think other people are listening you stay in the adult chair and people say oh you're so mature when you're talking about this. You don't hear us when the microphones are off. But that was kind of our thought process through that, that we had to stay true to being vulnerable.

And then as soon as we were, then the email started coming in. One in particular, this guy said, I've been putting off and putting off and putting off my PSA test. I'm in the middle of listening to your podcast. I turned back around, went to the doctor's office, got tested, I have elevated PSA, and it looks like I've got to go in for further results. Just that one message really helps you understand the power that you have if you're just a little bit authentic and you don't try to BS your way through this.

Because people would see through it if we tried to do something other than just be ourselves. So I got to ask Mrs. Jones, we're 43 minutes in and I got Mr. Jones choked up and I'm doing an okay job now. No, seriously, Mr. Jones, there's no outline in front of you. There's no notes are you okay down there uh yeah yeah i am as a matter of fact um part of my issue was believing my own press uh because i remember i remember i mean i don't really believe in karma but i remember specifically one podcast when we were talking about somebody taken a blue pill.

And I said, I don't need no damn blue pill. Well, when I went through this, all of a sudden, the shoe was on the other foot. And I was like, oh, I'll bounce back. You know, I'll be fine. We were very overconfident. We. Well, no. No, me too.

Because, you know, I'm like, we'll find other ways to have fun and and we were trying but yeah we were we were struggling you know and then when physically your body has changed and then how it responds changes uh to wrap your head around that and then to um get through that was it took some time but what it back to is, if I would have just listened to myself in earlier podcasts, when we talk about full swap and soft swap, you know, when you have a limitation, it's not the end of the world, and it really causes you to stop and be a little bit more creative, and thoughtful, and enjoy the the experience and understand that the whole universe doesn't revolve around my penis.

Jason and Sarah, that might have to be a t-shirt. You know, and then as we had experiences with people that we knew before and that we know now and ladies didn't kick me out of bed. You know, they invited us back. You know, it was just rebuilding that confidence that maybe the ladies are right. Maybe size doesn't matter. And maybe that's not the center of the world. And I had to kind of re-listen to that because I just disregarded that in the past because I never had any reason, you know, not to. So yeah, that's where I am now.

So everything is much better, at least from my, when we finish having sex, I'll go, oh one time, so we were at the urologist's office and we were both there together and he said, so, when you get your erections now, what percentage of 100% do you think it is and I said, oh, 80, and she said 40 I know I felt so guilty See you next time.

eighty and she said forty I felt so guilty about that coming out of my mouth but I'm happy to report that just the other day she reported seventy-five yeah can we assure people to put one of those little tickers on the bottom of the app where we can get updates on the percentage? You want my number or her number? Her number. All right, so you guys are 10 years in.

Let's say it's 50 year anniversary now maybe we're here i don't know um we got a thing still around but can you describe what you think that looks like yeah um we're not going to pull the plug uh you know we we decided that from the start um we intend to build something that will outlive us or why do it um you know so what that looks like uh the community has really helped because with renee and with our some of our regional group leaders and and some of the people are helping us host events we are distributing that the control and the responsibility throughout the community so it's less and less more about about us and more about the community itself so you know we just think through that mindset and and you know strategically making that an effort to distribute that control that we got a thing is not attached to the joneses it's we got a thing it's a thing you have your thing this thing can evolve the community can can evolve so uh it will carry on uh we don't have any immediate plans to stop anything as a matter of fact now we're doing two podcasts month after 10 years, so I'm not sure how smart that is, but we still have the energy to do it.

The opportunities are presenting themselves, and at some point in time, we'll gracefully turn the keys over to someone else who can, you know, continue what we've started, what we've all started. Well, it's quite a legacy. And I think I speak for everyone in the room and everyone who's listening that it's got to continue well beyond, you know, our bodies. It has to continue. It's such a positive message. It's been such an incredible beacon, you know, a lighthouse for those of us navigating the lifestyle situation at Hull to find your podcast.

And, you know, and I think I'm going to get that, where's Sarah? I'm going to have her ask to put this on a t-shirt. You know, it's like, oh, I was looking through all these podcasts, but it wasn't until I found We Got a Thing that we started to really settle in and know what we should do and find our group. It's quite a testament. Okay, we're at the point now where we have speed round. Speed round. You guys can consult together on these answers if you like, but we don't want you to think too long about them. Title of your autobiography. What's your thing? Pretty clever. Authenticity.

If you were going to be presented the keys to a city, which city? I thought you were going to say Corvette. I'm not that good. Where is it? Ha ha ha a real city. It's your podcast. Okay, so the plan is for us to buy a private island and start a WGT compound. I mean, that's not our plan, that's what people keep telling us that we need to do. You know, along with the private jet to get there, or the private yacht to get there. Can I say Oz? Okay.

You know, it's not about the man behind the curtain uh you know it's a it's a journey of discovery um you know you each make your own yellow brick road you know so i would say you know create your create your own oz uh and and not try to uh live in and live and don't live in someone else's city but o Oz was a shy little guy, and you're like a tall, outgoing, hot guy. So, yeah, you're like Oz 2.0. All right, the last speed round question. And this has to be a real place. Now, it can be a generic place, like park. It would be nice to have a proper noun park.

Or it could be a real name of a real place. So, a bunch of us are going to get together. We're going to bronze you into a statue. Where do we put it? I think you're right. The lobby of desire. Yeah, we were just talking with Alessio. He's the manager of all of their resorts. And we were asking him about future plans and things like that. And I said, I don't think this whole welcome home thing.

I know it's a marketing thing, but that's what what it feels like and I said what what is here is intangible and it's not easy to plan for or replicate and so don't tweak too many things you know I hope you all understand that you have that and you don't want to lose that because the owner of the of the whole shebang had just passed away you know and and you know they're talking about you know the future as well so it would be more along the lines of this place is just kind of i'll go back to a quote from our friend in a previous podcast and it applies to our community and it applies to the lifestyle the way that we see it and that is if you've never been here no explanation is possible but once you have been here no explanation is necessary and the delta between those two uh is really hard to describe you just kind of have to feel it and it's just like the community and it's just like friends in the lifestyle that you meet and you don't anticipate how important they're going to be to you so it's all of that but it comes down to that leap of faith to begin with, to start to see that there's something beyond this that I don't quite understand that's intriguing to me.

Do I have the courage, you know, to kind of step out of my comfort zone and see what that is for me? Well, I think, you know, again, speaking for all of us in the room and listening to all these insights, and you guys guys you know you said you didn't want the questions in advance so you had no clue what was coming and the way that you were able to come up with these incredibly insightful answers just like that was truly remarkable and again for us to hear it's like it's like again listening to those 120 some podcasts of all the wisdom that kind of spews out that we're able to make use of.

So we really appreciate that. But we've got plenty of podcasts yet to go. We're going to end up coming into our third segment in a little bit. So more fun, more celebratory stuff for the 10-year anniversary. Stick around. We'll be right back. All right.

all right welcome back to uh to our third segment um now normally you know as a as a true aficionado of the we got a thing podcast you guys would would talk about snapshots and um which is where more of the i won't want to say well more of the salacious stuff um so in that vein we're not going to talk about snapshots here but we're going to try to do some fun things that are um kind of reminiscent of what we're trying to celebrate um so the first thing uh we're going to propose is i think the 10-year anniversary demands a special challenge to the community.

And I think this one's right up your alley, Mrs. Jones. Okay. So, and we'll have to get your people to kind of like get this to go. So we were thinking, wouldn't it be cool if we asked the community members at large to submit recipes for cocktails that they like? Now, they can't be like, you know, a Manhattan or anything like that. It's got to be something kind of unique. Original. Original, yep. They would submit these. You wouldn't know who submitted them. You would be the judge. Both of you would judge those. And you'll pick one, and you're going to name it the 1411. 1411 Yes, 14-11.

Sorry, I'm a little slow this morning. Right, right. So, and then what we'll do is we'll really socialize. 14-11. So, so Mr. Jones just asked me what 14-11 is in my ear. It's the room number at Desire RM that we stayed in when we came up with our podcast name. Of course I knew that. I just didn't think you knew what it was. And the hope would be that once we pick a winner and we socialize the recipe, that we'll challenge everybody to when they're out, wherever, vanilla, lifestyle, whatever, ask the bartender for a 1411. Now, obviously, he's going to ask, what is that? How do I make it?

Well, if we do this enough times over many, many years, it will become synonymous with a regular recipe that people will ask for and have no idea how it originated. That's right. You know, like on liquor.com, when you find recipes on there, they always give the origin of the recipe.

Like it was developed at this bar, you know, by this liquor.com when you find recipes on there they always give the origin of the recipe like it was developed at this bar you know by this bartender or whatever so is this isn't this the point where the door flings open and they bring in the cocktails no we hadn't started it all right so so if it's okay with you guys when we get back we'll we'll talk to your management and see if they can put some kind of event around this and see how it goes that's a great idea i think management is listening right now on the go live so she's probably like oh boy put that on my to-do list all right so um so now we're at the point where we're going to play a little uh little game uh it's called uh we got a thing dictionary oh yeah now you know you know You you know when Webster's every year, they publish new words that are going to be added to the dictionary, words that are now part of the vernacular of everyday life.

And with We Got a Thing and the lifestyle, there are words that have come into use that are probably going to get added to the We Got a Thing Dictionary. So the way the game works is I'm going to give you the word and you two have to decide what it means. So if you get it right, you get a point. If I stump you, I get a point. Okay. So I'll give you an example and we'll go through the example so you kind of understand. So this word kind of came into use a few years ago. It was more prevalent when we were on the MeWe platform. It's called emojibation.

And that's when you put a post up, and then you emoji yourself. Yes. So you get the idea, right? Not that you ever did that. I never did that. I never did that. All right, so we'll start with easier ones, and then they're going to get progressively harder. All right. All right. So, the first word that you have to guess what it means is playticipation. Well, do we have to consult or can we individually answer? No, you can do whatever you want. You guys are a team. Playticipation. Playticipation. Well, it's when you're horny and you're anticipating hopefully playing with somebody.

That's very close. I would say that it's being present when you play and having fun. Yeah, the dictionary has it, and I think they got it wrong. I think you were right, Mr. Jones. They had it as those awkward moments between sitting in the hot tub with new friends and the start of the first move. Ah. Who gets the point? between sitting in the hot tub with new friends and the start of the first move. Who gets the point? You know what, we'll do it for all of you. Wait, if I show you my boobs, will I get the point? Yes. You get the point. I don't need to play this game.

You should know a little bit about talking to the judge. All right. Next word. Nielsen's hard. Chattervac? VAC. V-A-C. Chattervac. V-A-C. Chattervac. Chattervac. Somebody who talks so much, they suck all the air out of the room.

That's not the answer, but I think that's better than what I came up with um do you have a guess no i don't okay um what the dictionary had was um the experience of landing in a breakout room on one of the virtual zooms and the complete absence of anyone talking yet that's a good one all right sorry folks something's gonna get close to home so all right um sorry folks something's gonna get close to home so um all right the next one um let's see where are we going here yep fomo-fication fomo-fication that's everybody out there that's not in this room uh yeah that's a good one i think you guys are gonna get a point for that one too um uh but the dictionary has it as uh when anxiety is magnified when anxiety is magnified needlessly in one's mind or the fear of missing out on one of wg's wgt's many planned events yes you magnify that fomo in your head need.

Yes. Because there's going to be another event. That's right. That's right. All right. I think we got, oh, three left. All right. This one's my favorite because I've done this so many times, and I won't admit it to anyone that I've done it, but I've done it many times. A nodversation. Nodversation. Could you spell that for us, please? It's like the national spelling bee backwards. Nodversation. Nodversation. It's N-O-D-V-E-R-S-A-T-I-O-N. It's when you're standing there in the hot tub just looking through somebody and nodding and you have no idea what the fuck they're talking about. Bing.

You got two more points for that one. That was spot on. I know you. Okay, Mr. Jones, have you ever taken a luggage deduction? A luggage deduction. I mean, you know, there's tax breaks, you take a tax deduction. Have you ever taken a luggage deduction? Thank you. deduction? I mean, you know, there's tax breaks, you take a tax deduction. Have you ever taken a luggage deduction? I give up. I got nothing. Okay, it's when you plan a vacation with vanillas that's going to be equal in time or longer and your one suitcase shorter. Yes. Say that again.

It's when you take a vacation with vanilla friends or family for a term as long or longer than being a desire and you're able to pack one less suitcase. Oh, got it. You take a luggage deduction. Yeah. Got it. No, no, like floggers and sex toys. No, no. Costumes. Yeah, costumes. Shoes. All right, I got two more, and these are, um, God, I hope he's landing. Okay, gauntledite. Gauntledite. And some of us pronounce it gauntledite. That's kind of a hint. Gauntledite. Gaunt is somebody that's really skinny. Alright, I'm going to give you a hint, alright.

So, skinny's on the wrong direction, gauntlet, like gauntlet-ite, like we like to say, gauntlet-dite-y. Somebody who's afraid of gauntlets? It's got to be relative to our experiences together. So, oh, you're going up. You're going down, it's like you're headed down the gauntlet. So, it's like you're headed down this inevitable path, yes. Diety. So, Diety. Like Aphrodite. Yes, like a goddess.

Yes, it's when you first arrive at Desire, you have to get through a phalanx of friends before you can navigate through and get through the pool so you can get the aphrodite to have a lunch after a long day of travel. Well done. That makes perfect sense now. I'm just shocked I didn't get that one. I know. That is perfect. Yes, it does take a long time to get from here to there when you're running into all these people. Alright, here's the last one. This is for the game, Mrs. Jones and Mr. Jones. Now, this one's my favorite. It was the first word that came up.

It's going to be hopefully difficult to guess, but when you know it, when you figure it out, it's going to make sense. What are pre-clicks? Oh, I think I get it. Pre-clicks. I think I get it. C-L-I-C-K-S. Pre-clicks. I kind of think I get it, maybe. Oh, okay. It might be the people you think you've connected with before you get to Desire and you think that you're going to those are going to be the ones you hang out with and then you get here and maybe you meet other people. So you've pre-clicked who you think you're going to hang out with and that may or not be the case when you get here.

Did I go the wrong direction? Let me answer for you. Here, all right. Go with the boobs again. So I will say, Mrs. Jones, that was a very, very good answer. But remember, the answers are supposed to be funny. Sorry, I'm cerebral. Mr. Jones, do you have a guess? Because you are responsible for pre-clicks. Is this a porn hub category? No, I'll let you off the hook. Here we go. Pre-clicks. And again, this just got added this year, the noises you hear before Mr. Jones says anything in a go-live. So, is that when he's typing good morning? You can hear that?

No, it's when I'm clicking, inviting people in. Oh, the mouse. I got it. What? Wait, I still don't get it. Can I be a blonde? No, so, okay, so he doesn't watch my go-lines. You're on the other side of what we're listening to okay okay clearly so I swear he has a little microphone taped to his mouse all right well my my clock here saying we need to like move along so So what we want to do now is, and again, your people were very kind to send me a list of some testimonials that you guys probably have published for marketing purposes, and they're very well done.

but we thought it would be even better if some of us in the audience wanted to come up and say something about congratulating you on the 10-year anniversary or just some testimonial about their own uh experiences in meeting you and being part of the community so at this point i'd like to invite anybody who would like to say something that's going to end up on the podcast to come to this microphone and uh say a few words or forever holds your peace i'll go first i'm sure there's a long line behind me so once upon a time i made a reservation at pearl to bring my wife who didn't know you all at all so we arrive and one of your kind members said do you you know Mr.

and Mrs. Jones? And she said, no, no, we've never met them. So she took our hands and ran to the pool where y'all were and introduced us to Mr. Jones, who looked at us with complete blank face when we introduced ourselves, even though I've signed up and canceled three times on the previous trip but then we turned to mrs jones and introduced ourselves and set our names and the recognition in her face was spontaneous and instant and authentic and in that moment I knew who did the spreadsheets. That's right. So I wanted to thank y'all for the community. Obviously, we're very engaged and enjoyed.

Every year we go on a vacation to Otter Banks' family vacation.

And one York to me we're going to go visit the joneses and i said no we're not that's not even funny he says yes we are he says i'm going to email her i'm going to email this is mrs jones and she's going to tell me you know we'll visit them and i said i don't think so honey so anyway here you did you got back to them and everything else so we went to visit them it was the nicest time we ever had you guys are so sweet and kind so we were it's just a funny story actually so we went we they invited us to their home for drinks which was awesome and then um we went for a walk we went to a restaurant which i thought your where you lived was beautiful it was so sweet so we're I ordered my dinner, and you know, Mr.

Jones had ordered a pizza, and I looked at my food. I thought, oh man, I ordered the wrong thing, and he gave me a piece of his pizza, and I thought, oh my gosh, he's such a nice guy. He's a giver. I never do that, by the way. Yeah, when we tell people to come by, that will be their rest stop. No, my philosophy is I'll share my wife before I share my food. So he really likes you. I would just like to say something a little different than most. I'm sure you've heard story after story about how people listened to you and got into the lifestyle.

Well, I listened to you when I was a single person and said, your connection and how you handle things are what I want in my second marriage, after a long first marriage. And shortly after that, i met my wonderful person back there we've been together for five years and married for about 50 days now so thank you so much wow thank you for that i don't know that i'll say anything that you don't already know but i want to publicly acknowledge you guys when i started listening to the podcast i came in in episode 100 Thank you.

anything that you don't already know but i want to publicly acknowledge you guys when i started listening to the podcast i came in in episode 100 which is not a sexy episode and what came through in that episode for me was the vulnerability and just amazed at a relationship where you could have such honesty with each other and amazed at the vulnerability that they were sharing with all of us and then we went back and listened from the beginning and I've heard you say something about maybe sometime you thought about uh re-broadcasting or re-recording episode number one it was awful it was beautiful and I listened to that episode and I hear such bravery to do something and put yourselves out there in a way that is just I've dreamed my whole life of having that kind of bravery and you and that kind of authentic vulnerability is really why a lot of us are here and that translated down to when I had my stroke earlier this year we were still in the hospital I want to share this with the community I want to share what we're going through so people see everybody's real people we're dealing with what we're dealing with and you guys made that so easy because we were scared to death that day but you made it easy you to talk to you and it was like talking to friends not podcast gods um it was just talking to friends another t-shirt by the way and i wanted to share and i think i shared this with you the other night but there's a couple here who came up to us at the beginning of the week and said we heard your go-live where you shared what you're going through and that's why we're here like you gave us a concrete example of what we'd heard about this community that people are caring and love you for who you are and those things the these things that happen in life to all of us doesn't matter and I just I have to thank you publicly I'm not fan geeking anymore but I have to thank you publicly yes you guys are our friends and it's it's just to sit at dinner and have open honest conversations about our life and what we're I just shared because we we've both been through illnesses and it there's something about that that's just the most beautiful thing being raised in church all my life and being heard people can unconditionally love you and accept you and never seeing that and then seeing it now is just amazing and I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart okay I have to share the first time I met Mr.

and Mrs. Jones it was at THE the Nashville meet-and-greet a couple years ago now and Jason I had flown in really late that night we missed the meet-and-greet and as soon as we get to the hotel our friend comes up and says I've been instructed that somebody wants to meet you and I was like okay and she goes you're in trouble and I said okay so she brings me to this bar in Nashville and there's Mr.

Jones sitting there with a bunch of friends and he says you're in trouble young lady and I said what did I do and he said you wish somebody happy birthday in the main chat and it just cracked me up and being the brat that I am I said oh I'm so scared and that was kind of the beginning of a friendship that's blossomed for a couple years so it's been a lot of fun and so I love that we started with a laugh and continue to do that but in all reality I just want to tell you guys we are so happy that you guys did this podcast and you're still doing it we love how real you are you're real people you're fun people and just thank you we love you guys so I was I had lots of careers I was in the military I was a teacher you know grow up with sports all that stuff I've never in any career and with any group of people had the sense of community that I've had with mainly online presence until this trip this is the first time I've met you and many of you.

And there's never been a sense of community in any other situation like this community. And I don't, I don't agree that, that you say that we got a thing needs to, can never be disassociated from the Joneses because I think think it's a it's an undefinable thing that you have that created this community i don't want you to get don't tweak it too much i think it's like you were saying but um it's an amazing thing that you built and you need to take some credit for that Well, hello. Hello.

well hello hello so joe asked me to talk to you uh kind of on behalf of the old guard those of us who've been around for a while since 2018 since 2018 this is our fourth trip to desire with you folks and we you know sometimes we get asked why are you still a part of this community and what why not this is this is our family you talked before about how you don't really tell us what to do but what you do is you you make things possible for us you made possible somebody who is in a very great marriage for 25 years to become newlyweds again because we found people that are like us that we can be comfortable with we found best friends that are hundreds of miles away but they're now they're our best friends the people that we can learn from what's possible that you guys have helped make possible is for us to learn about ourselves to learn about the lifestyle and to learn about how to react with each other we have had so much growth over just the last six years that you guys have helped to make possible and so for that we thank you the um the people that are here we have met the greatest friends in just two days you know you talk about how this has been a magical weekend it really has we've just you know the people that we can make connections with so we thank you so those of us who have stuck around for a long time it's because we keep experiencing that over and over so we will always be grateful to you we thank you and uh we say congratulations on 10 years well thank you can i joe joe am i allowed to tell a little story can i Okay.

So this gentleman here and his wife, like he said, we met them in 2018 at our very first meet and greet in San Diego. And you guys were rather local, so you didn't get a hotel room. And you needed a place one night just to stash your stuff. Well, pro tip move on our part, we're like, you can use our room. So they put their stuff in our room, and then at the end of the night, when you were gathering your things to go, Mr. Jones helped your wife put her, it was to put her shoes on, right? Where is she? Yeah.

Yeah, so, and she was so nervous, and you were helping her put her shoes on, And you all have come a long way. Yes. What she failed to mention is that while Mr. Jones was being smooth enough to put her shoes on, I was standing there going, wow, that's cool, when I could have been putting your shoes on. So, yes, I have since learned how to put shoes on and follow the lead of my mentor here. So thank you. Baby steps, my friend. Baby steps. We've led every step of the way and we'll be there for a long time. Excellent.

So I think one of the things, first of all, thank thank you because your podcast gave me the courage to go up and say hey if we're going to do this thing i want to do it this way because listening to you guys made us think that it was real people that did it and it wouldn't implode our lives and then we got to know the community and the community allowed us to become sort of this best version of ourselves. I think about when we first met you, and you had the meet and greet at your house. I was so nervous that I literally went up to, hi, how are you? Nice to meet you, and shook his hand.

To now you've created this safe place where people can become this version of themselves where they put chocolate sauce on people in the house. And neither of us would have ever done it without you guys because you're real and you're awesome. And it's just such a safe, happy place.

Well, I wouldn't have done the chocolate minxie little wife was up here talking about I meeting you guys in Nashville how that all went but one thing that would be good to add to this is we had had an experience Sarah and I well Sarah and I had had an experience in Vegas and we were trying to figure out what that was and we'd previously had lots of issues with jealousy between the two of us and so I'd found episode number three and she found well I told her hey you should listen to this because regardless of all the other things as i was trying to navigate recreating some sexy experiences um you should listen to this and she's kept going back and forth with no i am not interested in sharing you with anyone else i don't want to listen to that there is nothing valuable in that and so at one point i had her trapped in the car because we had to go to the store and I just put it on and she listened to it she enjoyed it she thought it was great and as I was turning it off and the snapshots came on she said no let's finish listening to this and at that point she went back to episode one listened all the way through through.

And by episode 30, I think, we were booked for Desire. And by 35 or 40, we were in the community. So thank you very much. All right. So we started listening to you guys when we were um on the road uh living full-time rving and making trips back to uh what was our hometown for work one week every month and so um first i thought the podcast episodes were, and then they made the miles roll by. Then we hit 36, 37, and it was a great discussion. We managed to go from episode one all the way to late 2019 and finished, or got caught up, and realized there was a meet and greet coming up.

So I pinged Mrs.

Jones, and I was told, there's one slot left if you want it it's yours you guys made me realize how um how jaded i had gotten about humanity um at the icebreaker i walked out of there with my wife and i said they're gonna sell us something these people are being way too nice just i i had a lady compliment my shirt that she saw it she thought it there was no strings attached and i said she wants something like my first thought was what does she want from me um uh i've worn this ring ever since that event and um it's improved my outlook on humanity so thank you I thought it was important to maybe share a story from someone who you know this is our first ever trip to desire and while we've done a couple of regional meet and greets it's it's not quite the same as as being able to come to desire being able to spend this much time together with folks.

And one of the things that maybe you realize, maybe you don't, but it's important, is because you show up in the way that you do on your podcast and in real life as so authentic, so vulnerable, so real, it encourages all of us to be that way with each other and that is not typical in a group of folks that you meet maybe just for the first time anybody that i've had a chance to interact with probably knows by now that chit chat is something i've got a pretty small bank for but an opportunity to have a really deep conversation with someone I could do all day long and I revel in it is my favorite thing because you really get to know people but the cool thing is the number of people here who also want to do that with me and I absolutely adore it and also that may have given me the courage to say yes to being asked to be pulled up on the stage in my very first time ever to desire on night two.

Not to take anything away from your intellect Sarah but that Thank you.

So I had reservations about coming up here, not speaking in front of you all, but because Joe looks like he's getting nervous about the podcast running long so so just a quick story um my wife and i were both pretty i mean wallflower is a good description of us and pretty shy and i look around and we know so many of you guys we have friends across the country and i think it's because of two things it's authenticity and inclusion and they both come from the joneses so that's just amazing and it's kind of rubbed off on all of you and then we've got the benefit from that so just a quick story first time we met you after we listened to some podcasts we met you in lotus blooms in alexander you might not remember yes but it was a small group but that authenticity showed through gave us confidence to be who we were and we benefited from that the second quick story is we were in desire first time with you guys and uh we were walking out of the pool and we were kind of by ourself and we thought thought uh we were a little alone, right?

So it was up to us. We started talking about your meet and greet in Austin, and you were saying, oh, it's full. And we were like, oh, we were thinking about going. And said, Mr. Jones, you said, for you guys, you know, we want you to come.

And that was kind of what what kept us involved and since then we've developed a lot of friendships that mean the world to us so thank you I hope the person we bumped is not here I just wanted to say that I never knew what this yellow band meant so this week you guys have created an amazing vessel that carries many souls upon it and you have brought people together like I can't even believe this week I've met so many new people who have turned our lives into realizing who we really are and what this feels like as a group and I would just like to say thank you very much for that it's been an amazing experience thank you very much for that it's been an amazing experience would anyone else like to put their voice on an internet for all perpetuity all right so yeah I do see the boss he's kind of fidgeting he knows he's got a fit a certain time slot for his programming so I think it's time to kind of bring us in for a little bit of a landing I mean thank you for everyone who has said and come up to the microphone and said things so eloquently and have characterized your experiences and in such a meaningful way for the Joneses and and I'm not going to try to summarize it but I will kind of this way um and i speak from my own and my wife's personal experience i think i can say for everyone who spoke and everyone who's in the room listening and everyone on the podcast listening that we believe our lives would be much is there anything that you two would like to put on your own darn podcast that I hadn't asked that you feel should be memorialized in this particular episode?

Well, the one thing that came to mind, as many of you just came up, Mr. Nomad in particular, is I think we had a little wake-up call one time. We got an email from a listener, and they said, you only talk about all the gorgeous people you play with. And we were like, come on, dude. Like, this is a podcast. It's not a videocast. Like, you don't know, you know, what we're talking about. And I think the beauty in people, again, it goes back to the whole, like, things and, and all that. The beauty is, is just all of the character that, that comes out as you get to know people.

And, you know, beauty has been so redefined for me as my lifestyle journey has grown. And, um, I think vulnerability is so beautiful and i i get to experience that so much much with you all and you all give us the courage to be vulnerable um because as you know that we've had to be pretty vulnerable the past couple years so in response to that email i asked the gentleman a one sentence reply i said if we ended up playing with you and your wife, how would you want me to describe your wife? And I think, you know, a couple of things.

First of all, we have experienced a level of friendship that we had never experienced before in life. We still have some close vanilla friends that are very special to us, but never imagined the number of meaningful friendships that we would have the opportunity to be a part of and continue to develop. And the other part of it is people we only see once a year or once every couple of years, you see them and there's a recognition, and maybe not between Tim and I, but there's a recognition that it's so good to see you again. And we pick right up where we had left off before.

And the conversation starts with people that we already care about and even people who fly halfway around the world that we've never met before but have been community friends for such a long period of time even though these guys came from all the way from Australia you a part of our community. And so there's, there's still a recognition when we meet you in person to say, finally, you know, we get to meet, you know, but there's already a recognition and there's already a connection that's made.

And so I, you know, it's really nice to hear all the things that you're saying, but I don't want you all to lose sight of the fact that we are so grateful that you share yourselves with us, because that's, we're cheating, really.

We get to know you all, and it really turns those download numbers into real people, and that's really what drives us and motivates us to continue, you know to be a part a part of this it's it's really difficult to imagine not having you all and this be a part of our lives and so and just a special thank you to to Joe and Barb for especially Joe Barb didn't really do much is to put well but but I'm pretty sure but I'm pretty sure Barb was the author of the pink letters pretty sure but thank you for putting your heart and soul into this Joe it's really meaningful that you like came to us and said you wanted to do this and because you're right we would have not taken the time uh you know as you all did so thank you for that we appreciate well thank you and thank you for being vulnerable once again um for sharing everything with us today uh it's it's been incredibly meaningful to to be able to do this for you and um it's something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life and i really appreciate the opportunity to to have done this um and i think there's only one way to kind of close this out so i was like worried like you know i i did all this this is going right back to the beginning of our friendship yeah i was like i don't know how to i don't know how to finish this uh but but i think we got it so if you have a drink out there please please get it we're going to have a little toast here to kind of bring us in so if you have a drink out there, please, please get it.

We're going to have a little toast here to kind of bring us in. So if you have a drink, you can follow along. So to the Joneses, congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment. Thank you for allowing the rest of us to benefit from the 10 years of your courage and vulnerability, your wisdom and your insight, and for your example of undying love and support of each other, which is one of the biggest reasons why this thing works for all the rest of us. We wish you the absolute best for whatever thing comes next. Thank you. We'll see you next time.