Adelaida Severson

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Rocket Space, an event and meeting venue in the heart of the East Valley with a full service four person podcast studio. All right, Sarah, what do we got today?

Today this guest is known for her incredible leadership of both business and community. A philanthropist at heart, she has raised three boys, but married for 30 years and has run an international business. She is a world traveler with a heart for Gilbert. Welcome. Dr. Adelita Severson.

Welcome, welcome.

Wow, that was nice. Thank you. So glad to be here.

We're glad to have you here. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

All right, so the way we work here is we start off with what we call rapid fire.

Rapid fire.

So we're going to run through some questions here. You ready? Set. Go. Star wars or Star Trek?

Star Wars.

Favorite color?

Red.

Winter or summer?

Winter.

What did your mom call you as a kid?

Adelaida.

Love it. Well, okay, Adelaide, what is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, always.

What is the last book you read?

The Vanishing Twin.

That's so good you can actually remember that?

I never remember because I just read it. I got a new Kindle and it's rockin' right there.

Would you ever go on a vacation by yourself?

Oh yeah.

Camping or glamping?

Camping.

If you had intro music, what would that song be?

Reverie.

How's that go?

Oh, it's a classic by Debussy, I think.

Can you give us a little of that? I always ask people that. I love it. I love it.

Okay, so last question. Glass half full or half empty?

Half full.

Love it.

I would have suspect that about you. Indeed.

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Did I get them all correct?

You got them all correct, Rhino.

You can't get those wrong.

Those are.

Those are 100% correct. Okay, so I'm excited to explore your childhood as we're reading through some of the pre interview. I love the fact that you were raised in Hawaii. It sounds to me like a magical childhood.

It is. It is. And I look back now and it still is. It is. You know, and it's funny because whenever I tell people, you know, growing up, I grew up in Hawaii. Wow, what's that like? Did you guys wear shoes? Do you have a volcano in your backyard? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I don't have my passport. And I'm like, wow, okay, we got some learning to do.

Lots of unpacking to do on that one, right?

Totally. But it was. It was magical.

Well, Lucky charm, would you talk to us a little bit about the life in Hawaii and tell us a little bit about what that was like and maybe in those years when you were there, who kind of influenced you in that time of your period life?

Gosh. So in Hawaii, everybody's family, right? I mean, you just. I hate to do the cliche, you know, it takes a village to. What did they say? To raise a child? But literally everybody's auntie, uncle, you know, cousins and whatnot. And it's also a super melting pot. So, in fact, I was talking about this to someone the other day, and not to get political or weird, but everybody's so careful about, you know, what they say and, you know, oh, gosh, you're being racist or whatever. So I'm going to warn you, I might say some things that are racist, but. That's right.

Have you met Sarah?

Yeah, but in Hawaii, everybody is a different culture, right? You've got Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Vietnamese. And the Fuji food is amazing. No one. I don't say no one. There's very few native Hawaiians anymore. But growing up in that environment, you learn about these different cultures and you celebrate the different cultures. And so, like, last week, I celebrated Chinese New Year, and people are like, you're not even Chinese. What are you trying to do? And I'm like, we do. In Hawaii, everybody does. You get the red envelopes with money in them. And it's an exciting time. I still get red envelopes. People think I'm still little. I love the red envelope. 20 bucks. Oh, my God. I mean, like 50 bucks the other day from, you know, friends, aunts, and people that are just giving money. It's a very generous, fun loving environment to grow up in. And, you know, it's, it's, it's. I'm very fond of it. So for me, growing up, everybody was nice. Everybody was welcoming, hugs, kisses, you know, this and that. And that's when I came to the mainland. That's how I was. And. And I was met with such a different lifestyle. Right. If you touch someone's like, wait a minute, she's hugging me. Why? Or, you know, why are you so nice? Why are you giving me this? It's because we. That's who we are. So the tough part was having to temper myself with that because people thought I was too nice then. And then you'd kind of be taken advantage of or whatever, but at base, that's who I am, so.

Well, you sort of double down on the cool factor because you were raised in Hawaii, but then also your dad ran a bar in Waikiki.

That explains everything, right?

The Zebra Room. What?

No, that's too cool.

Well, awesome. And, you know, when you walked in, it was a really cool place. And as a kid, there was a wall. In fact, four walls, but on the walls there was a carving, a wooden carving of the, you know, zebras in a jungle. And I don't know what. When I grew older, I was like, what happened to that wall? Because I would have love to just rip it off and take it, but that was kind of the, The. The mark. Right. The landmark, the Zebra Room at the beginning of Kalakawa Avenue. All kinds of different, you know, celebrities would go, and. And then you'd have your local people, so they were one in the same drinking at the same bar. You know, Jack Lord from Hawaii, typo be, you know, sitting next to Uncle Bubba, you know, or whatever. And it's like just the happening place. So. Yeah, it's kind of neat. Yeah.

So how long did you live there?

So, born and raised. And then I went away to the mainland to go to university at the University of Southern California. I have two siblings and both went to the University of Hawaii. Me being the wanderlust personality that I was, and also great high school counselors, that really kind of helped me to understand my potential, if you will, because not a whole lot of kids will leave. And back then, we didn't have Internet or, you know, we didn't have the money to go visit school. So we really had to rely on those brochures that came in the mail. Right. And you, You. You had to write them for them and, and usc and I. I'm not proud of this, but I really wanted to go there because O.J. simpson was a football player, and I was like, oh, my God, I gotta go.

I could have known. You can.

I had I known. Yeah, I don't know. But we could never, never afford to go to school there. And. But my counselor always said, you know, just get in and then where you want to, and then we'll figure it out in scholarships. So I was kind of Glad I was poor because I was able to get scholarships and grants and, you know, things that helped me to get through. And then I worked, you know, while going to college, work, study enough to. To get by. And I would be amazed because I never had a car. And there it was like, oh, so where you from? What kind of car do you drive? You know, it's just very kind of that materialistic. I wasn't used to that. In Hawaii, everybody is just sort of like, you hide your wealth or you hide, you know, whatever. And. Wow. So, yeah, kind of muddled through that.

This counselor seems like that person was pretty amazing. Do you see? So remember that person much?

Mr. Park.

Mr. Park. And that was just through the high school years that you were introduced with this person.

Yeah. So they kind of kept track like sophomore year on, and we had a big school. We were like, I don't know, 2,000 kids. And so our class probably was 900. And I know that because I was senior class president, and I didn't know that. Right. And it was like, you know, kind of diminished. But he definitely. If there could be school, high school counselors that could be like him, I'd clone him all the way around, you know.

So, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that you were class president. I mean, you just. You always have the spark to take the lead. And where does. Where does that come from?

I don't know. I think it was so my mother. So my dad had the bar, and my mom, actually, I think she was so ahead of her time. She and my parents are older. Um. Like, My mom was 40 when she had me. My dad was 50. So I had old parents. I didn't know this until I was 10 years old. I was in this play, and dad was so busy that he would never come, you know, to our programs or whatever. And this time he did because it was the Bicentennial Play, 1976, and I was the MC, and I was like, dad, you gotta come. And I remember he came up to me afterward and he hugged me. And the teachers were like, oh, my gosh, it's so great that your grandfather that come. And I'm like, what?

It's sort of sensitive because that's gonna happen to Ben.

I was just thinking that as you're telling me, I'm like, oh, man, my youngest is too. I'm gonna be right.

And that was just a game changer. But so I had older parents. My mom was a broadcaster. So she came, grew up in the Philippines, was a. A singer, a pianist. And so she worked her way up, got her master's in music, and knew she wanted to leave the Philippines to go to the. The beautiful country of the United States. Yeah.

Did she ever perform at the Zebra Bar?

That wasn't her thing.

Okay, just curious.

Yeah, she was more kind of classical, opera, whatever. And so her way out, she applied for this broadcasting school in Washington, D.C. now, this was like, what, the 40s? Ish. There's a picture of her, which I still have. She graduated, there's 20 men, and here's this cute little Filipino lady in the middle. And she got hired because of the dialect that she spoke in Hawaii. There were a lot of Filipinos in the plantations and whatnot. And so she was sort of like this goddess because, you know, she spoke the language. She had a setup. I think my mom was like one of the first podcasters because she had a setup like this at home. She would play the piano, sing, do the news, you know, whatever was going on. And she always used to tell me, you know, you need to. Don't have a boyfriend right now. You need to, you know, explore your possibilities, have a career, you know, blah, blah. And I'm like, who are you? Like, you know, and I think about it now, and I'm like, wow. She was wise. But she would always say, speak up. You know, you need to. Don't wait for people to do things for you, you know, that kind of thing. And maybe that's how I. I see it in you.

Absolutely.

Yep. Millie. Wow. Okay.

So those California college years. Talk to us about that time of your life.

Oh, my God. So, of course, those were the days when I was able to create a whole different person, if you will, because nobody knew who I was. And it really gave me the time to. I don't say uninhibit myself, but I was. I was Adelaide. You know, Velasco is my middle name. And so people would be like, sir, are you Hispanic? Are you black? Are you Ethiopian? Like, what's your makeup? And I'm like, I don't know. What do you want me to be? No, just kidding. What do you want me to be today?

What's the right answer today?

And so I didn't know, you know, and. And being grown. Growing up in Ireland, you. You're not exposed to a ton of things. Although we did travel, but, you know, it was the first time that I realized a gallon of milk didn't have to cost $5. It was, whatever, 98 cents at the time. And, like, what is this place? Place? Where are we? It was A wild time. I was in a sorority. You know, I kind of. Actually, I won't say I'm ashamed about this, but there was a part of me that kind of wanted to divorce myself from being from Hawaii and being more kind of like on the mainland, if you will. Right. Because I didn't want to. I mean, not that I didn't want to be from Hawaii. It was just the friends and people that were like, hey, you need to join the Hawaiian club and you need to do this. And I'm like, no, I been there, done that. I'm from there. I want to do this. You know? And so that was kind of my trajectory of learning about people and learning about people that were different.

Sounds like building your own identity by figuring out who you really were.

Absolutely. Taking classes that I didn't think I would ever take and hanging out with people that I don't know that I would ever hang out with. And they're now lifelong friends.

Yeah.

You know, and you never know. A lot of them are pretty influential now. And I'm like, what? You're what? You know, you. And I used to drink back in the day. What's going on? You know. But no, it's really. It was fun. It was really good.

So did you meet O.J. simpson?

Actually, Marcus Allen was the closest I got because he was. He just had graduated Jack Del Rio. You know, folks like that who were in my time frame of the athletes. I dated a baseball player. So I was kind of exposed to that world. And now that I see where they are and what they've done and where, you know, it's just kind of interesting to. To me, to.

Would you do it all the same again?

Absolutely. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah, it was a fun time. I do some things different, but, yeah, but, yeah, it was good. It was a good time.

So, next chapter, what happens then?

So I went on. So my major was broadcast journalism and international relations with the idea that I was going to be the next international correspondent, which didn't happen, obviously, but I did do some broadcasting. And I remember sitting in a. Back then. Well, always. It's always about, you know, being there first for news. Right. Being the first to get the scoop, getting the, you know, B roll. That's just beautiful. And so I was sent out, I got called. I actually had my own camera person at the time, which was like, that's a big deal. Big deal. Four in the morning, you know, you get out there and there was a burning building, and I was sitting in the parking lot, you know, just Kind of writing out what I was going to say. And, you know, it was all there, beautiful building, burning beautiful, you know, photo or whatever and B roll. And I was sitting there writing and I, I had this epiphany that why am I here? People are dying. And all I cared about was being here first. The broll getting the shot sweeps, you know, was coming up and I was like, wow, this is really kind of weird. Like, who am I right now?

An incredible perspective because I had a very similar experience. I also was a journalism major, print journalism.

Wasn't yours at the Dairy Queen though. No, Dilly Bar.

It's a little bit more sophisticated than that. But I had the exact same experience where I sat, I was sitting outside a courtroom recovering a story about somebody who was being accused of murder, murdering his wife and her family was outside the courtroom. And I was sitting there just watching them in their darkest hour. And I, I felt the same. I thought, okay, did you interview him? No, of course not. I didn't. I didn't have the wherewithal to intrude on that. But a, A good reporter would have, but I didn't.

Right.

You still had a heart though.

You just. Yeah, I did. And then I met Ben and things just changed drastically. Well, yeah, and I think, you know, I'm a pretty faithful person and I think things happen for a reason. Right. And so fortuitously. And it was also crossroads because I was being passed up for the anchor position because I looked too young. I didn't have the look. I wasn't blonde and blue eyed. I wasn't. There was always something they needed me to change the look of my nose. And me and another journalist classmate of mine, we pinky swore, said if they ever ask you to change anything, you know, physically, you're not going to do it. Right. Well, she ended up changing features.

She didn't hold true to her pinky swear.

Yeah, she didn't. And she ended up jettisoning to New York and was an anchor there. And I went on to satellite communications because right at that time I think I was questioning my life. Right. It's sort of like this is not. I wanted a family, I wanted to be married. I wanted, you know, all the things that a woman, you know, should be having at this point in her life because all my friends were getting married and whatnot. And interestingly, a friend of mine from, who graduated from usc, like out of the blue, reached out to me and said, hey, I'm starting this company. It's satellite communications. I know you probably don't know anything about it, but would you like to join me? And I'm like, well, what. What is that? And I'm a fairly. I think journalists are pretty quick reads and easy learners. And he goes, and you got an international relations degree, right? So I need somebody in the international division. And so I took the leap and didn't stop, I guess, after that. So here we are.

Yeah, there's some incredible friction, internal friction, of which, which way do I go?

It was. It was a little crossroads, but. And I kind of missed the whole, like, you know, being on camera going to the grocery store and people like, hey, you are.

But now you can. You can just pull out your cell phone if you want to be on camera at the grocery store.

Absolutely. Got lemons.

The inner life of Sarah's mind.

Sorry, guys.

You gotta unpack some of that. Right, Ben? Yes.

So then, is that roughly then when Bush Tech started?

No. So I worked for that company for a while, and then that's where I met my husband to be. He actually lived here in Phoenix, and I was in Santa Monica. And he would call in his reports to me and he had this deep voice. I thought he was an older guy. And all of a sudden. And he would be like, hey, sweetie. Hey, honey. And wouldn't say my name. And I'm like, who are you? Anyway, long story short, we did have a clandestine romance going on and decided we needed to kind of figure something out. So he got. We both quit the company. He went freelance and got hired by CBS to be. To cover that first Gulf War in 1991. And then I went back home to Hawaii because my parents were aging and I just didn't know, you know, how long I was going to have them. And. And I worked in Hawaii for a bit. And then he actually. And I don't haven't told many people this, but he got kidnapped during the war because he and two other journalists were doing a site survey. And it was just really kind of. Didn't have their passports or anything. And they were on the border of Iraq and Iran and got picked up by the other side. I was in Hawaii at the time. His mother called me, we weren't engaged or anything yet, and said, hey, just want to let you know, Barry's gone. I'm like, what? And, well, we don't know yet. He's got kidnapped. This is all I'm hearing. And it was quite scary because then that evening on CBS News, it was like, yeah, three journalists, you know, got kidnapped. And there's Barry right? There was It.

Your friend that was the anchor.

Yeah. Right. Okay.

Just kidding.

No, it wasn't, unfortunately. But yeah, so that was interesting. He was gone. We didn't know what was going to happen because at the time, that's when all those journalists were getting their heads cut off and, you know, on the videos and wouldn't know what to think. And so anyway, he got out, thank God, and then he came to Hawaii and I guess that's when he thought about proposing because he must have thought a lot in that jail, wherever he was, because he did come. And that's. Yeah. Then we decided that we would do this on our own. So got married. You know, he did a lot of high conflict areas again, as if that wasn't enough for like seven years. And then. And then we decided to just kind of do this on our own. So here we are.

And so let's explain for our listeners exactly what Bush text does.

Oh, my gosh. So Bush tax means. So tax. It's Tex is a sexier way of having our logo, but it's more like text. So technicians in the bush with satellite, you can do anything remotely. So whatever we do, it's in the bush remotely sending and receiving information, communication data. And so we were doing it a lot for the broadcast industry back in the day. You'd see live via satellite, you know, and then they'd have the, you know, whoever, Christian, I'm poor, you know, in the fields, and, and doing her thing. As, you know, television is different now. You know, you could, like you said, just bring out your phone and here's that. So that's what we were competing with, although the broadcast industry still liked the quality of what we did. And so, so we will do things, sports events, Olympics. We, you know, I talk about that because we've been supporting the Olympics with satellite communications and bringing the. The Olympic televised version to everybody that has the. The license. So NBC for United States, nhk, BBC in London. And then that then translated to when they. When we were in the bush, you know, there were. There were military outlets and they would see what we were doing and they were like, wait a minute, what is that? And so we kind of now do it for the government. Can't tell you what we do for them because if I do kill you all, I'm a spook. No, just kidding.

So it has to lead to a lot of incredible opportunities and opportunity to meet other people and experiences. What are one of the most or some of the most memorable experiences that you can share with us?

Yeah, so, you know, interestingly so there's a lot of travel, obviously, and luckily, because I came from a place where there were lots of cultures anyway, I able to adapt. But I remember, you know, young, bushy eyed, wanting to get things done. And here in the United States, time is money and you got to get stuff done. And so Saudi Arabia ride in Muslim country. And so I had to get some information like that afternoon. And so kind of like, hey, you know, need to get this and oh, Adelaide, come on in. Now, you know, so you got to have coffee, tea, you know, sit down. Oh, you know, come in, Ben. So how's the family? And in the meantime, I'm fidgeting because I got a deadline, I gotta meet this thing. And so I sit, so drinking my coffee, everything. But he's fine. So about this thing, inshallah, that means God willing. So I'll get it to you, inshallah, Like, God willing, I'll get it to you. I'm like, no, by 3:00 clock this afternoon, no, inshallah here. But that's. You can't, you can't force it, right? I mean, so, so many different types of things. You run into South America, same thing. You know, you Americans, you, you work to live, you know, you, or you live to work. That's all you do. Oh, that's all you care about. We, we work to barely live. So basically chill, you know.

Right.

And so that's kind of helped me in a lot of ways to step back because I find myself in a tizzy when it's really kind of like, okay, what are we, what are we doing here? Is it really worth it? Is it really, um, something that, you know you're going to lose sleep over? So I've kind of learned to, to mellow a little bit. And so those kinds of experiences for sure. You know, I been to Cuba, beautiful country. Everybody's like, why would you want to go there? Communist country, they're going to kill you. Nicest people. China, same thing, you know, Although, you know, there are some issues, but you really have to kind of watch yourself and not be that person, that ugly American, if you will, because that's kind of how they see us and just be. Roll with it. Right? You gotta roll with the punches. Yeah.

So you're a professional running an incredible business, you're a wife and you're a mom. How do you balance all of this? And I have to add that you also are very involved in the community.

Just a little bit.

Yeah, I think because I love all those things. It's not Easy, you know, Sarah, I mean, you know, having a kid that's brand new, I've never done that before, you know, when you first have one. And again, just got to bring my faith into it because it really kind of balances me out because there's days when I call out to God so many times, and you're like, what? And I always believe that, you know, he challenges you and doesn't give you something that you can't handle. Right. And so we've been through a lot, a lot of different things, and. But you get through it, and you just do. So. Yeah, you know, I don't know. I can tell you I've got organizers or whatever, but some of that always. It doesn't go as perfectly as you want, as, you know, you think that you can trust certain people and you can't. There's times when there's, you know, an event that's ready to roll, you're ready for it, and then something quickly happens that you're like, wow, didn't plan for that. So really, it's just sort of trying to keep that balance, if you can. Supportive friends, supportive family, and just, you know, just having trust and faith in yourself that you can pull through. Because there's those dark days when you're like, I don't know what I'm doing. Why am I doing this? You know, so it actually, it reminds.

Me of a conference I just attended, and one of the speakers spoke about the work life balance and the stress, and she emphasized that stress is. Is only damaging when you resist it. And if you can just embrace it and roll with it.

Yeah.

Whiskey shots before a show.

Yeah, that's right.

All right, so one more final thought for me here is. I love this quote that you had in here that we had captured from your interview here. One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching. What would make it worth watching for.

You in my life? I don't know, because I feel like I've done things right, you mean? So I don't know, for me, just living. Living the dream that you all. I would be if you. If it was me.

It is you.

And I. I mean, I feel like, honestly, and I'm not trying to be, but it, you know, I feel like things that have happened in my life, I wouldn't change. Right. If there was one more thing, you know, it would just be looking at my. My kids, my boys, and making sure that they're happy and they have wonderful wives and I could have these wonderful grandchildren. I could be, you know, sitting on the beach and sipping my. My tie and that's it.

That's cool.

I like it somewhere.

I think it's beautiful. Yeah, I would take that, too.

She's in.

Absolutely. I'm in.

All right, Sarah, let's make it happen.

Thank you so much for being on the show with us today. This has been a lot of fun learning from you and adventures and stories you've shared. Very, very cool.

Appreciate it.

And thank you for your service to Gilbert and continuing to be available and stepping up when someone needs to do it.

Absolutely. I enjoy it. Thank you.

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