John: Welcome to Episode 19 of the Green Apple Podcast. This episode is absolutely hilarious and full of some great insights, but first, if you haven’t already, please take 60 seconds and go to greenapplepodcast.com and do my anonymous survey. Like I said, it only takes 60 seconds, and this research is going to really help me with my book. It’s coming out later this year. Thank you so much to the hundreds of you that have already done so.

Now, let’s get to my guest, Jody Padar, the radical CPA. She’s one of the accounting profession’s foremost visionaries and pioneers having successfully transformed her own firm, New Vision CPA group.

She earned her BBA from St Mary’s College and her MST from Northern Illinois University and has been named by Accounting Today as the 100 top most influential to the profession for the last four years. That’s pretty impressive.

It’s a huge honor to have her here with me today. Thanks, Jody, for being on the Green Apple Podcast.

Jody: Sure. Thanks for having me.

John: Hey, no problem. I just gave everybody a quick overview of what you do, but maybe it’d be best in your terms, in your words, just kind of what you’re up to now and a little bit of your back story.

Jody: I’m up to changing a profession, actually. I think that’s where I started to really focus. I know that I’ve been doing it for a while, but now, it just seems to be really solidified in truly my social entrepreneurship goals. A lot of people are trying to give water to Ugandans or something like that as their social entrepreneurship. My social entrepreneurship is now into changing a profession.

That’s where I’m headed, which is kind of big stuff, right? Kind of scary.

John: It’s huge stuff. I love it. I’ll be your wingman. I love this. This is awesome. You’re enemy number one, and I’ll be enemy number two. This is great.

Jody: Yeah, but how did I get here, right? I started right out of school. I was at PW before there was a C. I did that for a year and did what everyone calls a mid-sized CPA firm. Fight with seven partners who can’t agree and have a bunch of staff.

I spent ten years in those mid-sized firms. Part of that was on the mommy track. Whether or not it’s right or wrong, just say it is what it is. I had two small children, and I was working part-time and just felt that I wasn’t really being valued for what I was contributing to the firm, so I left and said “I can do it better myself.”

I joined my dad’s firm which really wasn’t a firm; it was a 10-40 side practice, because he was the director of tax for Midas International. I had a really big corporate background and was doing state and local consulting and did 10-40s on the side.

I joined him about ten years ago. I said, “Okay, dad, I’m ready. I’m ready to be your partner.”

He goes “Go find your own clients.”

I was like “Oh.”

John: Oh, man. “And we changed your bedroom to an office.”

Jody: What was really hard at the time ended up being really setting me up for success, because I really learned how to build a book of business which I think too many professionals never get the experience of doing and whatever.

But what happened is I started to work with – I’ll say “next-generation small businesses”, because they looked like me. They felt like me. They acted like me. I started to use technology to serve them, because again, it wasn’t the cloud. It was just how I would do business using the internet. It had nothing to do with inserting technology. It was just the way I was running a firm and living my life and serving my clients.

What I realized is – that was ten years ago; I started using this software called Pace Cycle – and I realized that it had fundamentally changed the way I would interact with my customer and how I would charge for it and do all these things. I realized that I was having great success.

What I realized is I started in certain technologies and social media and value or price on my firm. I realized that it fundamentally, holistically changed my firm at its core.

Then it was like a whole new business model was emerging, but I didn’t call it that, because I wasn’t that smart. I just knew that I was doing things differently, and it was working.

I went to social media, and I started to hang out with the other firm owners who were doing very similar things to me all over across the country. We met up on Twitter, and then we actually went to Vegas and we met up and we started really talking about running a firm differently, because if I went to a State Society meeting, they were all old school, and they couldn’t help me, and yet these other professionals that I met on Twitter were doing things very similar but different in their own respective areas of the country.

We met up in Vegas, and that was six years ago. We were coined a “movement” by Mark Koziel, the VP at the AICPA of small firm services. He said what we were was the example of what they had found in the CPA 2020 survey or whatever saying that what we were was an example of what all of their studies had said CPAs would look like in the future. Here we were, the living, breathing models.

John: Wow. You’re from the future. This is awesome. Yes. You’re like “I’m already here!”

Jody: As everyone calls it “Firm of the Future”, I’m like “It’s the firm of yesterday. Come on.” The future – whatever. I could go off on that, but whatever.

Now, fast forward another six years. I’m radicalizing other firms to really change the profession. From my perspective, when I say, “My goal is social entrepreneurship and to change the profession,” it’s because I left that mid-sized firm that I felt [0:06:15] [Indiscernible] and really was unfair to women in the profession and really wasn’t fair to this new idea of a flexible work environment.

To me, that’s why I’m doing this. That’s why I’m so engaged and so passionate about the subject is because I believe the CPAs are awesome people and that we can do really great things, but the old school model of the past doesn’t allow us to really do that. The more I can spread the word and help show people that we are living, breathing examples of it and that you can do things differently and still be profitable and still be a really cool firm that maybe we will change the profession and that mom who’s caught in that mommy track can realize that she can do things differently and still be an awesome CPA, too.

John: Yeah. Wow. That’s fantastic. That is awesome. Between the two of us, accountants are in trouble. I’ll tell you that much. That is fantastic. That is really cool.

One question I love to ask everybody, to go back to your high school or college days, is how did you even get into accounting?

Jody: That’s pretty funny. Well, my dad was an accountant. I was born and bred. My dad had a home office before home offices were trendy. I was answering the door when I was six years old for clients who would come to their house with their tax papers to get their taxes done. I took appointments when I was eight, and I had to put it in the book, had to answer the phone.

I kind of grew up in a firm. Actually, that’s one of the things that I think that I learned through osmosis is how to treat clients and how to work with clients. I grew up listening to my dad talk on the phone dealing with clients. I think a lot of CPAs don’t get that opportunity.

Honestly, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. I don’t know. It wasn’t like I was always going to do this. It was like I went to school, and then I took some accounting classes, and I seemed to be okay at it, so I did.

John: Right. Then it just happened.

Jody: Yeah.

John: That’s fantastic. That’s so cool. It’s so funny just to hear the different stories of how people got into it.

Jody: Yeah. I actually have a really strong liberal arts background. I went to a small liberal arts college. I didn’t go to a big ten school for accounting. I have actually a BBA which is a bachelor’s of arts with a concentration in accounting. It’s kind of different.

Most people who go to these big schools come out with really – I’m not saying my accounting degree is worth any less, but it’s just a different focus, because I definitely had a strong liberal arts background with accounting as opposed to accounting, accounting, accounting. I think honestly that’s what set me up for being successful at where I’m at, because I do have that strong liberal arts background.

John: Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. There are certain schools that grade really well on the CPA exam, but unfortunately, real life isn’t multiple choice. Otherwise, I’m guessing either way, but at least you gave me some options.

Well, that’s awesome. Obviously, running your own firm keeps you very, very busy. The movement – I love that. That’s so great. It’s obviously taking some time, but what are some hobbies or passions that occupy your time when you’re outside of work or on the weekends?

Jody: I have two teenagers. They still occupy my time.

John: So, taxi driver. Okay.

Jody: Right. Exactly. Taxi driver. Then also I’m a master swimmer. I swim competitively, though not so competitive anymore. I practice, but I don’t always make meets, because arc season is actually during tax season, and it’s really hard for me to spend a day competing on a Sunday after I’ve been gone all week. But I do swim three nights a week. I try to.

John: Wow. That is awesome. There’s competitive swimming, even for adults. It’s outside of high school and college.

Jody: Yeah. Our team is the Wellness Center Seadogs.

John: The Seadogs. I like it.

Jody: We’re Seadogs.

John: D-A-W-G-I – no, I’m just kidding.

Jody: We actually have meets and stuff, though like I said, I don’t get to go do much, because they’re during tax season, but when it’s not tax season or whatever and I’m in the pool, I swim with other people, and we have a good time.

John: That’s great. That’s so cool. How did you get into swimming? Is this something you’ve done since childhood?

Jody: Since I was age group six. When I swam in high school, I swam in college.

John: When you weren’t answering the door for your dad’s practice, you were swimming?

Jody: I was swimming. Yeah. Now, for me, that’s my time. Actually, it’s funny. A lot of time, everyone says “How do you have time to be so creative and write and put out all this content that I do?” A lot of it, it’s in the pool, because if you’re swimming laps and laps, your minds wanders. That’s where my creative genius comes from.

John: There you go. From the water. There’s the secret, everybody. It’s not a secret sauce; it’s a secret water.

Jody: Yeah, 3, 000 yards a night will do that to you.

John: Oh, my goodness. Straight? Yowzers.

Jody: Not straight, but whatever.

John: I know. I’m teasing. That’s impressive. What was the coolest most rewarding thing maybe you’ve gotten to do through your swimming whether in high school, college, or now? Just a rewarding moment or I guess maybe just the genius.

Jody: I have to tell you, I’m not that good. I definitely go swim, but I was never like a super rock star in the pool. But I’ve always been a really good team contributor. This is kind of funny.

I can swim butterfly, and not bad. Not that I’m that good at butterfly, but I can actually not disqualify.

John: That’s awesome.

Jody: But a lot of swimmers who are older can’t swim butterfly because they’ve taken to it later in life, so they don’t really have the skills from a tactical standpoint. Most of them are triathletes who have now taken up swimming. They’re just doing freestyle. I always like to enter myself in butterfly, because I know I’ll score points, because there’s no competition, because I didn’t disqualify.

John: That’s so great.

Jody: All I need to do is finish without disqualifying.

John: Yeah. You know what? I think I’m on to something.

Jody: I can add points to my team. Any way I can, I’m happy to add those points.

John: MVP! MVP! I like it.

Jody: But I do swim with some really good swimmers. I have a state champion who’s on my team, as well. Obviously, I can’t compete with Mary. Or I can.

John: That’s great. You find your place and drive it home. I love it. Has this swimming helped you with a skillset that you’ve brought to the office by being a part of that?

Jody: Absolutely. It’s that grit. That’s why I’m the way I am: because I don’t give up. I may not be the fastest. I may not be the smartest. But I certainly know that if I show up to practice and I keep working, it gets better. I think that that’s one of the things that, whatever kind of athlete you are, that’s one of the things that crosses over to real life. It’s just that not giving up – “Okay, I did it wrong this time. I’m going to redo it. I’m going to learn from it,” etcetera. That’s just being on a team sport or whatever, but it’s ingrained in me.

John: Yeah. When you’re doing tax returns not getting disqualified, that’s always good, too.

Jody: Yeah. You don’t want to get disqualified.

John: I like it. That’s an excellent point. A lot of people out there that are doing team sports with their firm or on the weekends and what have you – there’s certain things that you’re taking away that you don’t even realize necessarily. That’s great that you’re in the moment to realize that.

Jody: Yeah. I don’t know if you saw this blog. I wrote it maybe six years ago. It was really before I started really blogging a lot, but I actually did a triathlon. I was DFL, which is Dead Freaking Last. But I finished, which is not bad. I finished Dead Freaking Last. I don’t know if it’s still out there on the web where you can actually see that I was actually the last person to cross the finish line.

But I owned the swimming. I sucked at the bike, and I sucked at the run, but I owned the swimming. But the interesting thing about it is this blog I wrote was about the CPA exam. It’s essentially, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re DFL. If you finished the CPA, you’re still a CPA.

For those young people out there who are kind of having a hard time or taking it multiple times, just don’t give up because eventually —

John: Yeah. Just get your 75s and put that certificate up. If you get more than a 75, I’m a little disappointed in you, to be honest. I mean, I remember when I took the exam in the old school where we had to do all four parts at once. I remember sitting there, and I just looked around the room. I picked three people I was going to beat.

I was like “Okay. I’m beating you.” I wish I could pick. But then when they passed the exam out, it was just my lucky day, because a client I had been working on – the exam was on the stuff that we were doing. I was like “Oh, my. If there isn’t a God, then I don’t know how this happened. Otherwise, forget it. There’s no way I would have passed.”

Jody: Right. Someone was watching out for you.

John: I got so lucky. Definitely. When it comes to your swimming or even your kids, do you talk about this at work, bring it up with clients, what have you, or is it something that you just kind of keep under wraps?

Jody: I don’t think I necessarily advertise it, but I certainly don’t keep it under wraps. It’s just who I am. I am who I am. I’m a big social media person, so I have over 8, 000 followers on Twitter and hundreds of friends on Facebook who are work and customers as well. They’re colleagues and customers, as well. They really know all of me.

Obviously, I know that when I post on social that it is going public, but I certainly share the comedy that my son brings to my life at 14, as well as good work stuff, too. As much as my posts are about the funny things that my son does, they’re also about celebrations that I’m having within my firm.

It’s kind of funny that they mix. I think that’s what makes my social media presence so good. That’s to toot my own horn, but it’s because I’ve let people see all of me, not just the technical, technical, technical – because you know what? Who really cares about you? People do business with people. They always have. How can you let them into your life so that they realize, yeah, they like you enough to want to do business with you? A lot of people can do technical stuff.

John: Yeah. That’s an excellent point. That’s kind of my whole genesis for all of this is that people do business with people, just like you said. If you could have every FASB memorized but no one cares. Computers do have that, anyway.

Jody: Exactly. Nobody cares. They care about you, and they care about your values and your morals and what you do and who you are as a person. That’s what most home owners don’t understand about social media is that people aren’t trying to learn technical stuff from you via social. They’re trying to learn who you are as a person. How respectful are you? What do you share? Do you treat your customers nice? Do you apologize? All that stuff is what they’re trying to acquire from you via social, not “I know that code section one on 79 got extended at the tax year.”

John: Ooh, retweet.

Jody: Nobody cares.

John: How come no one favorited that one?

Jody: Right. They’re more interested in the fact that I’m moaning that my son keeps outgrowing his pants and I can’t keep up with all the pants that I’m buying him.

John: That’s awesome. That’s so great. Those are the conversations that you’re having with clients. That’s that connection that you have that creates that stronger bond. I have to imagine that that’s much better than talking about their business and their taxes 24/7.

They probably have kids as well or they did at that age. Plus, it’s probably a little therapeutic for you to know that you’re not the only one dealing with this.

Jody: It’s a lot of bonding over teenagers. That’s all I have to say. I think there’s more bonding over teenage kids than there is over toddlers. You think about moms who talk about their toddlers all the time. Toddlers are like nothing compared to teenagers. The conversations are that much more complex and that much more interesting and that much more drama than a toddler.

How many times can your kid be sick? Who cares? He’s sick. Move on. This one’s drama and that one’s drama. To me, it’s just so much better.

John: Yeah. That is so much better.

Jody: It’s better content for conversation.

John: Yeah. We need an accounting firm reality show. That’s what we need right here. That’s so great. That’s really funny.

Even when you worked for public accounting, before you went off on your own, was talking about swimming or extracurricular activities a part of what you did, or was it something that until you got your own firm you kind of started to social media and what have you? Use that?

Jody: I don’t know. I think obviously work can’t all be work. If you’re working with people, people have to talk about themselves. I think I’ve always done that, and part of it is because I’m probably almost an oversharer. People are probably like “Ugh, enough of that.”

But I don’t know. I don’t think it stopped me. That’s just who I am. I’m not that shy person who’s not going to talk. That’s just my personality.

John: Yeah. Probably when you’re in a firm like that, then relationships with coworkers are also benefited as well, I would imagine.

Jody: Right. I was always the one talking to everyone else. I was always the one who maybe got in trouble for talking too much.

John: Like it’s crass or something.

Jody: Yeah. Put that on your timesheet. “Oh, I sat in her cube for 20 minutes. Where am I going to put that?”

John: Just take a shorter lunch. That’s all right. We’re good. Okay. That’s interesting. I do find that it’s funny when people say “Oh, well, we’re not paid to socialize” or “There’s no time code for developing better relationships with coworkers and clients”. A lot of times, I don’t know what to say.

I’m like “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard”, because you kind of are paid to socialize, to an extent.

Jody: It is. Hello, that’s business development. Again, back to people do business with people. If you’re not working on those relationships, then why are they going to stay with you versus go with someone else, right? What’s the sticky glue? To me, relationships are what make people stick to your firm.

Even with employees, to get to employees, how do you even know how your employee’s doing if you don’t understand them as a person outside of work? A lot of management is if you’re not managing by timesheets, which we don’t, which I’m not going to get into here – if you’re not managing by timesheets, how do you manage?

Just like your kids. You treat your kids differently, so you have to treat your employees differently. You have to figure out what motivates them and manage around that. That’s where the people skills really come in. That’s what most traditional firms don’t have. Just because they haven’t focused on giving their managers those skillsets to actually manage people, which is why they go to the crutch of the timesheet, which is a horrible management tool. Sorry, I wasn’t going to get into that, and then I did.

John: No, it’s fine. I remember. I was a PwC myself. I did that for several years. I remember looking around and realizing a lot of the good ones left. I was like “Wow, that guy’s really good”, and then six months later, he’s left. Then the next one, then this lady, this guy, this whatever.

I was like “Wait. The only people that are being promoted are because they’ve been here longest.” That’s the worst idea ever. This is terrible. Oh, my goodness. It was crazy. Hopefully, it’s changed a little bit in the last ten plus years, but I don’t have a lot of faith in that. But we’ll see. But we’re going to talk about fun stuff.

One thing that I do like to ask, though, is when it comes to sharing or opening up at work, do you find that it’s more on the firm or the organization, or more on the individual to open up? Or maybe somewhere in between?

Jody: Well, I think it has to be both. Your culture has to permit it. I think good firms have figured out how to balance it. I think employees need to share something. I think part of that goes over time. Like on your first day, I wouldn’t tell them your life story, but obviously, you’ve been somewhere for five years. I would expect that you would know something about the people who you’re sitting next to all day with or whatever.

I mean, you spend so much time at work. Who wants to be at work with people that they absolutely hate? I don’t know.

John: Yeah, who you don’t know anything about. There’s some firms that I’ve done presentations for where I’ll say to stand out, it’s very easy. You just share your hobbies or your passions within reason. People are always trying to be super accountant. I’m like “Who here was the valedictorian of their college? Nobody.”

I’m like “But who here likes to paint or draw or do art?” In this one firm, like four ladies raised their hand. Three of them had no clue that the others also did art.

I’m like “What have you been talking about for all these years? What is it? You didn’t just start last week.” This is crazy.

Jody: Well, we talk about the Kardashians at our lunch group, so I don’t know.

John: You know what? You’ve got to start somewhere. Maybe that’s my next presentation. I’m going to ask “Who here likes the Kardashians?” A hundred percent, everyone’s going to raise their hand.

They’re going to be like “Well, next time you bring Kim in for your event…” That’s so great. Well, there you go. That’s the furthest form accounting you could possibly get: the Kardashians. Good God.

Jody: We go between the Kardashians and Naked and Afraid seem to be popular TV shows in my group.

John: That’s so great.

Jody: Here’s my take on it: somebody’s watching all these crazy shows. Obviously, some of those people are accountants. Why wouldn’t they?

John: That’s right. Just by percentage.

Jody: Just by percentage.

John: There’s got to be some accountants watching this. That’s so great. If I go to your Twitter now and it’s just Kardashian nonstop, I’ll be like “You’re trying to get too many clients. That’s what you’re trying to do right now.” That’s so funny.

Jody: That’s the core really of your message is to say “Hey, give yourself a little vulnerability, and all of a sudden, good stuff will happen to you.” Most people go to work and they have that cover. “Thank God I can’t tell them anything or I can’t show anything, because if I show I’m vulnerable, I’m going to get smacked down.” But in all reality, vulnerability creates growth, and growth is what’s going to propel you forward in your career.

John: Yeah. That’s true. It’s almost as if when you’re vulnerable, you create this void that then gets filled with good. Good things are coming your way. You’re open for it.

Jody: I think other people see that openness, and they’re willing to share more with you. It goes back to being a friend. You learned how to make a friend years ago, and yet so many people can’t figure out how to make a friend within the business sense to really create the ability to move forward in their own careers.

All my mentors, they’re my mentors because I was vulnerable with them and I opened up to them, and they helped me because I was vulnerable. That’s why The Intern’s my favorite movie: not because, like I said to them, they were so awesome. I said, “Look, I need help.”

They said “Oh, well, I have years of experience.” Then they offered help.

Whereas I think so many people, they just don’t get that. They’re so closed, and then they don’t learn anything.

John: Yeah, because they don’t want to admit that they don’t know everything. That’s an excellent point. That’s excellent. Very cool.

Jody: The more vulnerable you can be – and that’s what social media really is, it’s that transparency and vulnerability that makes it so hot, that makes it work. You know that, because you’re a comedian. When you’re a comedian, obviously, it’s all vulnerable. You’re putting people out there.

That’s what people don’t get is that if you can figure that out, if you can understand that piece of you, then that’s where the success is going to come, because people respond to that. That’s what makes the connections.

John: Yeah. This is awesome. You just do this. “I’ll take over your job, and then it’ll be gone in three months.” I’m just teasing. No, this is awesome.

I guess really quickly coming in for a landing here, are there any words of encouragement to others that are maybe on the fence as far as wanting to share something or any kind of tips or how you go about it?

Jody: Well, I’m going to say I’m taking it to the next level, and that I’ve shared my life with the world essentially by blogging and really becoming a thought leader. I think the big thing is you don’t have to set your end game as being a thought leader, but — and I certainly didn’t go out to be a thought leader when I started sharing and blogging and stuff; that wasn’t my intention – but what I have found is that the people who get me and the people who do really well with me or they know who I am, it really cuts the small talk with relationship building, because I already have a web presence as to who I am and what I’m about.

As you start to think about this, not to say that you have to post your whole life on social media, etcetera, but when you start blogging and when you start doing things like that and you really define who you are and you really put it out there for the world to see, then, all of a sudden, people who are like you naturally attract to you, and you find other people who are cool who are just like you.

I think that anything else, like if you want to make a friend, you have to be a friend first, and so if you can share a little bit, then you’ll be amazed who will come to you and share back with you. I guess that’s my little tip or nugget for other people.

John: Yeah. That’s so perfect. Whether it’s on social media or on a blog in your case, or even within an office where you’re just talking with people over lunch – “This is what I did this weekend” or whatever – but like you said, that’s such a great phrase: In order to make a friend, be a friend first. That’s so perfect. Just by asking someone else even what they did, and then they’ll in turn naturally ask you. If someone asks you, well then, you have carte blanch to say whatever. It’s not like you’re going around bragging all of a sudden. It’s just “Well, you asked. Here it is.”

Then everyone’s like “Oh, don’t ask Jody about the Kardashians anymore.” That’s so funny. There is a new charge code for the Kardashians all of a sudden, everybody, so thank you, Jody. That’s so great.

Well, I feel like everyone has really gotten to know you obviously through social media and the blog and through this. Before we do that, though, I have 17 rapid-fire questions that I like to ask to make sure that – I think that we could probably hang out, but this is the – you know what? When I interviewed for Big Four, I wish that these were the questions that they asked. These are just little fun rapid-fire questions. Here we go.

First one, Star Wars or Star Trek?

Jody: At my wedding, we walked in to the Star Wars theme song. All our groomsmen had light sabers. We walked in under the light saber. Now, I have to say that I absolutely hate Star Wars, but my husband’s a big fan.

John: You let him do that? Wow. That was the last decision he was able to make.

Jody: Absolutely.

John: Yup. As a married man, I know what that’s like.

Jody: We’ll be married 19 years this Monday.

John: Oh, congratulations. That is awesome. Wow. You hear that, guys? You can get away with a good one like that. Then you just burn all your chips on one good one. But that’s impressive. That’s a really good one.

Favorite animal?

Jody: Cow.

John: Cow? Why is that?

Jody: Because I collect them. I’m proud of it. That’s right. Chicago Cows on Parade – I don’t know if you remember when they –

John: Yeah, sure. The statue.

Jody: Yeah. I love cows, and I collect them.

John: Awesome. Okay. Sudoku or crossword puzzle? Or Kardashian show?

Jody: Candy Crush.

John: Candy Crush there we go. Right click or left click?

Jody: Swipe.

John: Swipe. Oh, nice. You’re hanging out with the kids, I can tell. With the cool kids. Balance sheet or income statement?

Jody: Cash account analysis.

John: Oh, fancy. Pens or pencils?

Jody: Pencil.

John: Movie that makes you cry?

Jody: These are hard.

John: Oh, sorry. Your favorite, favorite movie. Favorite movie. “Pens or pencils” – was that the hard one? Is that what tripped you up? Favorite movie?

Jody: Favorite movie – The Intern.

John: The Intern. Nice. Favorite number?

Jody: Seven.

John: Oh yeah? Why is that?

Jody: It’s my birthday.

John: Oh, okay. Favorite adult beverage?

Jody: Cider.

John: Cider. PC or Mac?

Jody: PC.

John: Least favorite vegetable?

Jody: I like all vegetables.

John: Wow. Okay. All right. Favorite color?

Jody: Purple.

John: Purple. Nice. Purple cows. Look at you, Seth goat.

Jody: Everything in my life is purple. My daughter’s name is Lavender.

John: There you go. Nice. Your husband had no choice, I could tell. He burned it all up. Least favorite color?

Jody: Green, I guess. I don’t know.

John: Heels or flats?

Jody: No shoes.

John: No shoes. Favorite actor or actress?

Jody: I don’t know. Reality TV.

John: Right. Okay. Favorite toppings on a pizza?

Jody: Sausage deep dish Chicago.

John: Yeah. Chicago style, of course. Favorite thing you own?

Jody: The favorite thing I own…

John: Or have. Probably one of your cows. No, I’m just kidding.

Jody: These are really hard questions.

John: Oh, okay. Sorry. They’re meant to be just fun, silly – although not everybody talks about the Kardashians like you did, so this is kind of the crack it open, but I was like, well, for you, I didn’t even need these. I needed one. Star Wars – done.

We don’t have to do that one if you don’t like.

Jody: What was the last one?

John: The favorite thing you own, or a cool thing that you have? Or your own firm.

Jody: My own firm.

John: There you go. It’s good to be the queen, right?

Jody: Yeah. Exactly.

John: There you go. That’s an excellent answer. All right. Cool. Well, I appreciate you taking time to be with me today and for the laughs. This is awesome. Thank you so much, Jody.

Jody: Oh, you’re welcome. Thanks for having me.

John: See? I told you this was a really great episode. I think it’s so awesome what Jody said about not being afraid to be vulnerable. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in trying to be this perfect robot that we forget to be human.

You can read more about Jody and see some links to her social media and even her book at greenapplepodcast.com. There’s also links to iTunes and Stitcher. If you’re listening on one of those, please take a quick minute and leave a review so people can hear about the message we’re trying to spread, which is go out and be a green apple.