Learning To Trust The Concept Of Living Right On Time

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh.

Hey.

Hey. Welcome to the Ride on Time podcast. I am not sitting in my usual recording location today. In fact, my recording location is about to permanently change. We have left the house that we've been living in in Chicago for the last couple of years, and we are on the move, making our way to our next destination. So we're hopping around a little bit until we get to to that destination and our final resting place and home for the next couple of years. So you might hear some different background noises, but this is it. This is my real life. This is right on time, and we're rolling with it. There was a point in time in my life where I'd worry about that I can't record, I'm not in the right location. I gotta get everything done before. But no, we just stay steady and we stay consistent and we show up no matter what is going on around us. And so here we are. This one, I've got Audrey next to me making faces and giggling and hanging out back there, but this is it. Like, they're right next to me. We're working together, they're working on some projects and we're making it happen with all this incredible stuff happening around us in life as things change and move ahead. And Jodi Bourne's story today, she is our guest for this episode and she has so many right on time moments in her life that have unfolded. And she is gifting us with a chat and a conversation where she is getting real. It's personal, it's intimate, and it is so moving and inspiring. And I want to invite you to listen today as Jodi, who in her business and her day job is an incredible vacation rental consultant who cares as much about her clients experiences as guests as she does about her clients and what they're experiencing. She goes deep into the vacation rental experience for your clients. So those people that she works with on building their vacation rental businesses is as rewarding as the entire experience working with her is. I think you're gonna get a taste for all of this as we move through this conversation today. This is definitely the episode for you. If you are in a space that is feeling a little hard, if it's feeling a little challenging, right? She's got you covered. I can't wait for you to listen to this episode. Let's do it. Jodi.

Hello.

Welcome to the podcast.

Amber, welcome again.

Oh, my gosh. So good. I love it. You know, those tech issues, we roll with it. And I'm so pumped to be here with you. Tell me about what right on time means to you.

Right on time. So like I said before we started this, I am 50 years old. When I was 25, if you had said right on time or that whole, you know, life is a journey and roll with it kind of thing, I would have said that's BS but now at 50, looking back and looking forward, I can say like, my whole life has been right on time. Just everything about it just, you know, it kind of actually brings tears to my eyes to think about the progress that I've made as a single mom and a business owner now. And just my whole life of getting to know myself and being right on time for the things that opened up for me had I not, you know, if it hadn't been the right time. And so many instances of things not being quite the right time and then finding out later, okay, yeah, now is the right time. So it's cool. I love that whole message.

Oh, you. What is an example of something that you was like, oh, why is this happening? Or one of those things. You're like, no, no, not. But it ended up being the right time.

Oh, a big one that, no, not now, but ended up being the right time is my, my marriage to my husband Michael. We've been married eight years. We knew each other in high school, same block of the same neighborhood in the same small town. And. And when he and I started talking in 2013, I was not prepared for a relationship. I didn't want a relationship. It was the first time in my life my kids were almost grown. I had just started my business in 2011, and I was like, no, this is not the time for me to get fall in love. But it was the time for me to fall in love because what he opened up for me was independence and being able to not. I'm not have to be, you know, now I don't have to support myself. So I can rely on him to kind of take that leeway. When my business wasn't as successful at first, you know, I didn't have to worry about a full time job, side hustle kind of thing. I could open myself up to just experimenting and learning what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. And that's you know, that was great. Is really great. Oh, so falling in love at, you know, 47 years old for 45, whatever I was then, you know, 43, was just fantastic. Second marriages for me. That, yeah, the best.

That is incredible. You know, it's interesting. There's this element of that I'm hearing, and these are things that maybe we don't ask for, maybe we didn't expect or plan in our lives, but, oh, it worked out. And it worked out really well. What is that feeling or what was the transition that prompted you to see, like, oh, actually, this is good.

Probably the first year that I made a profit in my business, and it's probably like a real profit. Like a profit that wasn't just extra vacation money, but was like, damn, I'm contributing to this whole thing, you know, and that. That was 2017. And, you know, every year I've just grown and grown and grown and grown. And so, you know, and, you know, also the love thing, I mean, you know, really, that also was like, okay, this is really working, and this is great to have a real true partner in life and business support. But so all of that. But just. I don't know. I mean, I was 40. I don't remember how old I was 42 or 43 when we met. I hadn't dated in seven years before that because I was building who I was, and. And it all just kind of fell into place, like, this was the way it was supposed to be from the beginning.

Ah, that is so cool. You know, when you were in those moments of, no, no, no, this isn't what I expected now. Okay, so now you're like, this is how it's supposed to be. You look back when you were in those moments, and do you remember anything that was going through your mind?

I don't remember for that particular thing in particular. Another story I'll share is when I was younger, I wanted to go to college right out of high school. In fact, in high school, I made a really high score on the SATs, was completely prepared to go to college, excited about it, and I got pregnant my senior year of high school. So that was devastating to me. I mean, you know, I was really excited and in love with my first husband and all of that, but devastated that I didn't get to go to college right away. And I was a mom, and it just was so not the path I thought I was going to be. And I wanted to be a lobbyist. I mean, of all things, I'm very politically minded. And even at a young Age, I was like, I want to be a lobbyist. I want to work in Washington, D.C. but, you know, so I was disappointed. But now looking back again, that's not who I am. I would have been so unhappy. I'm a very much a small town girl at heart and I would have missed my family tremendously. So it's. And not to mention just taking the courses in college, that really would have done me no good in my own particular love of my. Who I am and what I wanted to be and what I want to do with my life. So just lots of that.

Oh, that's incredible. You know, I did not know this lobbying interest and the political interest that you have and the support and the involvement that you have. And now you're doing something completely different. Can you tell us about your business today?

Oh, yeah. I love my business. I have the best business.

It's so cool to hear.

I mean, everybody loves what they do, or hopefully they love what they do. So what I am is I am a vacation rental consultant. So a lot of people think of vacation rentals as just stick your house on Airbnb and that's what you do. And you rake in the money completely. And there are people that do that. It's totally fine. That's their path. But what I do is I help people who want this to be a business. They take it to the next level. They are investing in other homes. Typically, I work with people who are in one or two destinations. They love tourism, they love promoting, they love creating a guest experience that is just, you know, over the top, you know, kind of experience. And so I help them transition from, hey, I've got a vacation rental to I've got a thriving business. I have a website, I take direct bookings. You know, I do all the things that another business owner would do. People are always surprised when I say, oh, yeah, you can. You can rent a vacation rental online just from a business owner. You do not have to go to all the sites. And of course, they were doing that for 20 years before Airbnb even evolved. There were vacation rentals everywhere.

Exactly. It's so interesting to think about because Airbnb, vrbo, right. There are platforms for this now, the platform industry. But yeah, it's been happening for years before that.

It's just like Etsy. I mean, Etsy is a great service for people who aren't. They don't know how to start, but people have been selling their craft. Thank you.

That's incredible. How did you get into this space in this business?

So I am. I'm a Texan. I'm a big Texan in everything but politics. And. And so I. I love. I love Texas history and culture and, you know, all of the food and. And Texas travel. So I have always been, you know, even when my kids were little, I'm a single mom. It was like, let's go here and spend a weekend and do the. So that love of tourism and learning about new destinations was just fantastic. And then as I started marketing, I graduated from college when I was 33, finally. And when I started marketing and developing kind of my own, like, extracurricular activities, I hit upon photography and completely just fell in love with taking landscape photos and old courthouses and little towns here and there. And. And so, I don't know, it just kind of all melded together. And so then I was laid off. I worked for a nonprofit in Austin. I was laid off in 2000. And I say laid off, I was literally fired. But it was multiple different reasons. But anyway, when I. That happened and I had to start my own business, I was like, let me dive into this tourism event kind of space and see what happens. It grew and grew and grew, and I got a reputation in our little small town, and I started. I helped my first vacation rental company in 2014, and then by 2016, I was working with rentals all over Texas, and then by 2017, all over the US and Canada. I have clients in Spain and Honduras. It's awesome. So it's really been such a great thing. I get to learn about tourism. Part one. I think I say that I get to be part of every guest great vacation because when I help my clients create that experience, I'm helping them with their guest experience. I'm helping their guests know this is. This is awesome. This is a great place. This is a great time. So I really love that.

This is so cool. How many. So do you stay in vacation rental properties a lot yourself?

Oh, that's always. Always stay. And every once in a while we're traveling, we'll hit a, you know, a day's in or something on the road, but that's basically all we do. And both my husband and I are able to travel with our jobs fairly frequently. Of course I can. I can go anywhere now, but my kids are grown, so as long as it's dog friendly, we hit the road. And I've stayed in more than 50 in 2014, so I think we're at 62 the last time we counted.

Oh, gosh, that's really cool. What was your most Surprising experience, good or bad, as a guest in a property.

So we kind of. One of the things we do is like, we try to find like what looks like not the. It's not that we try to. So here's an example. We went to New Orleans for. We were there for five days with one of my clients who generously we did, you know, a trade out in kind trade. So we spent six nights at her place in New Orleans. Beautiful, older 1905 built home. But on the way there, because it's a nine hour drive for us, we stopped at this little place, a fishing shack on of the bayou in this little bitty town. I don't even remember the name. The fishing shack was called Possum Lake or Possum Plan. Possum was what it was called. One bedroom deck. Outside, trees everywhere, swamp. We saw two alligators, like have a standoff in the middle of this swamp was, you know, the hammock that like swayed out over the deck. It was the most beautiful experience. Complete seclusion and privacy. And we had to take our own groceries. We're 25 miles from the nearest restaurant and we were there two nights. We can't wait to go back. Cannot wait. I mean, it is, you know, of course we travel so much that we only been to the same place. Only two, three places we've been twice, but that's one of the ones on our list. And it's fun to find those kind of jewels in the rough, you know.

That is really cool. That sounds incredible. We might have to get a referral to this location later.

That's one of my big goals, is one of these days just to have like, here's the top 50 vacation rentals I've ever stayed in because there's so many I could. And I've been very blessed to have clients that have allowed me to stay in their properties. So that's also a nice perk.

That's a huge perk. I love it. Oh my goodness. You know, you have shared some examples of things that have come up in your life and have been right on time. Single mom, the college shift, the marriage, the growing into an unexpected career path out of all this. And over the way, as you think about those moments, looking back, what is one of the most pivotal, unexpected moments that you've had? What jumps out at you most?

Oh, definitely. When I was 33, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which again is like, oh, that was what was wrong with me. You know, wow, the crazy things. And you know, would be on a path for a Year and a half that was really steady. And then all of a sudden, you know, just my whole life change and shift and be crazy. And, you know, I was never, like, illegal kind of crazy. I have bipolar, too, which is hypomanic, which means very creative. But also, you know, sometimes you go up, sometimes you go down. And, you know, I remember a time the reason I got diagnosed is because I was in a major depression for about a year. Like, you know, like, not getting out of my bed kind of depression. And. And I was 32 when that happened. So that just was a total shift. And everything started really falling into place after I started. If I. After I got medicated and learned a lot about natural ways to help myself and ways to kind of realize, like, now I know, you know, I can just look at my checking account and go up, here comes the media. Slow it down. Because that's one of my first symptoms, is spending too much money. So, you know, it's. That's pretty funny. But everybody has their kind of red flag. So that's, you know, I graduated from college or started college four months after I was diagnosed and medicated and graduated. Graduated in three and a half years.

Whoa, Jodi. This is incredible. There's so much there from knowing, like your observing your own behaviors and future casting. Like, okay, the bank account adjustment. Let me. There's something shifting here. There's something in play. Watching for these things on your own, observing. But also that you're calling this out as one of those right on time milestones. Like, how is this possibly right on time? Like, would it not have been better to have learned this earlier in your life? Or. Or not, or how did this play out?

So I could say that because you just don't know what would have happened, but because I'm so happy with where my life is now, how if I had learned I was bipolar when I was 22, the first time I really experienced a manic state, then what would my life be and what would you know? That there's a song that says, half the good things in my life came from half my mistakes. It's one of my favorite songs. Radney Foster, if anybody wants to look it up. But, you know, my daughter Katie is my youngest. She's 20. She is the. Was the result of a one night stand because I was going through a manic phase. But Lord, how she's my baby, you know, so right on time. Right on time. If I had experienced a different life from knowing that, then I wouldn't have anything. What I have Today or anything. You know, you don't know what you would have, but, you know, it wouldn't be this. So, you know, sorry. Start crying.

Oh, I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you.

If.

If someone is watching this video, you'll be able to see that. That hit me. That hit Jodi. And if you're listening, Jody, can you state that quote again?

Oh, half the good things in my life came from half my mistakes.

That's good. That's good. For someone who, like, there's a lot going on right now for, you know, there's always a lot going on. And then it's compounded right now with so much happening for people in businesses, in lives around the world, you know, there's just a lot. And for someone who's feeling it and feeling like, ah, feeling the weight that you could have maybe did before reflection and moving, felt the weight of any number of situations, what would you say to that person who's in the heaviness of it right now?

You know, it is hard to say that a lot of people say, you know, God has a plan. And I've. I kind of believe that, but. And then there's this. Things happen for a reason and God doesn't give you more than you can handle. And some of those phrases. And that could be true, but I feel like that does a disservice to people who are in that state because that doesn't help anything to hear, oh, God gave you this challenge for whatever reason. But I feel like if you can. If you can trust your own path and if you can trust your own decisions and your own heart and your. Your own state of kindness or goodwill towards the world, if you can just stay in that and trust, then it will get better. And it may not get great for a long time. I mean, I went through some really, really, really hard times with. Struggling as a single mom struggling with, you know, a drunk first husband, you know, and in the middle of just a lot of tough times. And at that point, you know, if you said things are going to get better, I don't know, did I believe it? I'm sure my mom told me that gonna get better. But it's just about press now that I am 50 and in. I would say in the last 12 to 15 years, just the bipolar thing, I've really said, you know what, I'm going to trust this and doors close. I got fired from a job I loved in the nonprofit space. But I mean, it was within two months that it opened my Eyes to A, I'm home with my kids again at a time that suddenly they really needed me. B, I can start even just freelancing a little bit and kind of growing myself in my own hobby in the photography. So I trusted it at that time, like I was old enough and had been in it enough to go, okay, wait, this is going to happen for me. I just have to trust that I'm going to get there. And that's. I tell people that all the time. I got my hair done yesterday and was talking to the young woman that did my hair and she was revealing some things to me and I was like, you know, just press yourself. Trust that you're going to make the right decision for yourself. And doesn't mean it's going to be the right decision for the next year, but it is going to be the right decision for five years from now because you've learned and you've grown from that, from whatever decision you make.

Oh my goodness. That theme of trusting and trusting in the process and the journey and the known and the unknown and just that this next right step, like one step at a time is the right step to take and we don't know how it's going to unfold but so you got to have this trust, right?

And it's kind of like if you're a business owner like we are, at some point you have to have a little bit of confidence in yourself or I mean, how in the heck did you ever quit a full time job and just go, I'm just going to do this thing because you have some trust. But there's so many people that may not have taken that leap yet or may not have and for multiple reasons they may not be able to. I mean not everybody can just quit their job and start, start a business. But you know, I know there's a lot of women, particularly because I am a woman and I talk to women who just aren't ready to do it, but then when they do it they're just like, I should have done this years ago.

You know, oh my gosh. We have the same thing in the photography business. Three Boudoir. We see so many of our clients come through and they're like, I'm nervous. I'm waiting until the right moment. You know, I'm waiting for this big event. I'm waiting until my health is at this certain. I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting like, ah, don't wait, don't wait. If, you know, if you have this inkling, this Nudge that. I should try that? Yeah. Tap in and trust what you're feeling and hearing, because it's gonna be good. It's gonna be good. And it might not be good immediately. There might be nerves going into it. But to your point, making the decision, great first step. What are some of the others you think about? Like, take that first step, you know, how do you build that confidence? Or how do you step into action when you're like, I don't know, like, I'm trusting, but I don't know yet.

You know, I think the main thing is just to build your own confidence. And I read a great book after the breakup that caused me the major depression and, you know, that whole thing. When I was in my early 30s, I read a book which I can never remember the name of, but one of the things that it talked about was how women don't have their own identities, especially after a breakup. And so it gave you a list of, like, things to do to find yourself. And one of those is go out and start a hobby. And who cares if you suck at it? Who cares if. If it's bad? You know, start painting, do embroidery. Mine was photography, and, you know, didn't know a darn thing. I had a little, tiny little camera. But once you, you know, once you build those little confidences just a little bit at a time, again, trust yourself and build a confidence. Maybe it's, you know, forming a new friendship, going out and, like, putting yourself out there as you build those little confidences, then I feel like you're more able to take a bigger leap the next time and just a little bit bigger. A little bit bigger.

That's so good. For me, it brings up this idea of starting with what you don't have to push yourself way outside of your comfort zone. Just a little bit out, and we'll just start nudging that boundary or that comfort out more and more over time. But start. Just start with something that feels a.

Little bit exactly on the scarier side. My daughter, 20, she graduated in the class, the COVID class. She was a senior that year. And she is very shy anyway, and so she didn't do well with the learning, the remote learning. And then starting college was a real challenge for her. And I was like, you know, don't think about it as I'm starting college. Think about it as I'm going to take a class that interests me at this community college and see how I like it. And then the next semester, maybe I'm going to take two that interest me not about your career path, not about anything else. It's just take a little bit of a leap that, that you're growing and see what happens, you know. And now she's in her third. This is her third semester and this semester she's taken 12 hours.

That's incredible. And it's, you know, Jodi, I feel so much ease and peace hearing you say that because it's a very different approach. Like the pressure I put on myself when I went to college, it's like, no, you're doing it, you're going all the way. You're going. And I too had. Lily came into our lives when I was in college. And it's just very different approach and it's very ease filled for me to hear this shift in approach. Like just take a couple classes and we can build up to 3, 412 or 12 credits. Take a couple credits, start with a couple credits, then go up to 12. And I hope, I wonder if there will be a shift happening as we move. We've moved through the last couple of years. We are still going through all sorts of stuff, but like, oh, we can get where we want to be going without the intensity and the pressure to do it a certain way. Because there are a lot of ways to get where we want to be going.

Yeah, I mean, there, there are. I mean, if I had gone to college right out of high school, which was my, you know, forever goal, I sure I would have, boom, boom, boom. I would have gone to a four year university and I would have done well. But I didn't do that. That wasn't my path. Instead, I became a mom and learned so many other things and had so many short term, you know, career shifts and retail marketing and let me do some accounting and let me try this. You know, bipolar people, they sometimes tend to not do well in jobs. But I learned and everything I learned led to today. And had I, you know, I, I fully believe that development of yourself, maybe it's college. There's lots of people that know when they go to get out of high school or start into college what they want to be and that's the thing that they want to be. But for anybody that doesn't, why force yourself into a mold when, when you can just learn who you are, you know, just learn who you are, work at Target and make some extra money while you learning because you get down to where you can't. You know, if you're stuck with three kids and a job you hate and you're 32 years old, then it's a little harder to take that next step of. I want to build my own business. I want to do my own thing. I want to completely shift.

Oh, my gosh, Jodi. I was just sitting here thinking. This whole conversation feels. I love that you just picked up your drink over there because I was like, where is my coffee? I need to have my mug with me. Because this just feels like you just gifted us with some of your story. And I know we are just scratching the surface, but you just. I just feel like I was just wrapped in this warm blanket with a cozy cup of something and you just gifted us just an ease and a peace and a trust to stay on this path and to continue the journey and inch outside of your comfort zone. You don't have to turn it all upside down right away, but over time, you're going to get where you want to go. And I'm just so grateful to you.

Well, thank you. I think it really hits the theme of right on time, right? I mean, just that little bit of confidence and growth and getting where you. Where you're meant to be, but where you know you're meant to be. You know, I mean, it's. It's really. It's just so important. And I could talk about it for years and I have just scratched the surface, but it's fun to be inspiring to people. And, you know, like I said, it's, you know, when you really get to that place where you know that your next step at the door, you know, maybe it is going to be really hard, really hard, but you are going to survive it.

That was good, Jodi. That feels like I could keep going. I would literally go grab my coffee and just keep digging in here. But I want to make sure that the person who is listening right now knows where to find you to continue. Continue these conversations to learn more about the journey you're on and to follow everything you've got shaking in your business. Where do people find you?

So my website is Jody Bourne, like Jason Bourne, the CIA agent. Jason born Jody Bourne with an I. And let's see. Oh, you'll have a link. And then I'm a. Hey, Jody, born at Instagram. I love Instagram. I don't post a lot, but I'm fixing to start. But I love connecting with people and watching reels and stories and getting to know people through Instagram and it's the best thing. But of course, I'm also on Facebook and I'm kind of an open book. We're friends on Facebook and Instagram. And I just tell it like it is.

Love it. Jodi, thank you so much for spending your time with us and sharing with us.

Thank you.

Oh my goodness. It was good. It was such a great conversation with Jodi. I am so glad you listened to this episode and were here with us today. You know, I want to hear from you. If there is a nugget in here that struck you, tag me in@amber McHugh on social media. Please leave us a message in the podcast review and definitely reach out to to Jodi because I know she is going to love connecting with you and hearing from you. We'll link all of her profiles and her website up in the show notes. And until the next episode, remember, you're right on time.