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Hey guys, welcome to Couple Connections. I'm Portia and we're here coming to you from our virtual cafe Better With a Couple Coffee. We are savoring relationships with coffee lovers around the world and sharing their experiences that have been better with a couple coffee. Well, hello guys, I have a new guest and, of course, as I always say, my guest is fantastic. Her name is Jean Jones. She is the CEO of Opulent Solutions. Hello Jean, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm doing great. How about you?
Speaker 1:I'm good, it's a busy Wednesday, but you know it's just keeping going, so, jean, I have to jump right in. Why did you want to manage people's businesses? Do you help people with project management and social media management? How did that come about?
Speaker 2:Well, as a person who comes from a social work background, I have a big heart and I want to see everyone grow and succeed, and I know that that looks different for many different businesses across the many different industries, and I just realized that this was a great way to be that cheerleader and supportive voice and voice of reason in some instances where I can really lead and manage my CEOs and my teams to get to the places that they want to be.
Speaker 1:You're here in North Carolina with me. Right, You're on the East Coast. Have you lived anywhere else in their country?
Speaker 2:I grew up in Virginia and I lived for about 10 years in Colorado.
Speaker 1:That's where I went to school. That's awesome. You and I had chatted before that. Actually, when we you and I were supposed to have a meeting, you were in Italy. I was so shocked about that. I really was. You were like, well, can we schedule this? Because my sister had scheduled something for us and you were in Italy and you guys were going to do something. And I thought that that was so cool, because I have not yet been to Italy and I've heard so many wonderful things about the Italians and their Expresso. You were telling me how the Italians are serious about their Expresso.
Speaker 2:Talk to me girl.
Speaker 1:Talk to me, talk to us, tell us about the Italians and Expresso and where you guys went All that great stuff.
Speaker 2:So, first of all, one thing that really stood out to me was if you went anywhere after 11 am and you asked for a cappuccino cappuccino, they would look at you like you're crazy. Cappuccino was a morning thing. You didn't have it at any other time. It's almost like you have a three course meal or a four course meal, and that fourth course, after dessert, is Expresso, and their Expresso is so good. Now, I'm a person I love sugar, I love sweetness. I put a lot of sugar in my coffee, but here you really didn't need that and it was almost like a different breed of coffee. I can't even explain it. You'll have to taste it, but it didn't need anything extra Big thing I would like to also point out is that they come in very little cups.
Speaker 1:Their Expresso, their coffee, their cappuccino, it's all little cups, so it's not like this no no I swear we as Americans we do consume, as far as just one say, if we want one cup of coffee. You know a cup is eight ounces, but I know we don't start with eight ounces generally.
Speaker 2:So their little cups.
Speaker 1:are what? Probably two to four, I don't even know how many ounces it is.
Speaker 2:It's closer to like two and a half, I wouldn't even say four.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you start off, and if you go past 11, you said cappuccinos are not allowed. So you were like, oh wow, did you ask? Did you have to be?
Speaker 2:school. You know what I'm saying. I did. And one day I was like you know, I and I was there with my sister and her husband. Her husband is from France and they've done a lot of world traveling, so they have inside scoops. So I knew this. Going in, I was like I really want a cappuccino. I mean, I was on vacation. I wasn't going out earlier than you know 10, 30, 11 unless we had plans that day. So I was like I just want to ask and see what happens. And while they did make it for me, I could tell that it was a very strange request and I got kind of looked at like I had three heads, yeah okay, this is good for me.
Speaker 1:Things to do and things to not do. Now tell me where in Italy? Where'd you guys go? How long did you go for and where did you?
Speaker 2:go about almost three weeks and I went to the entire Malfi Coast, which Positano, rivello, all those places Capri, naples and Florence Look at you the Malfi Coast.
Speaker 1:it's just so beautiful in the rocky, the cliffs, and this is in what the beginning of summer or right at the end of spring, how was?
Speaker 2:it Beginning of summer, very, very hot. I love the hot weather, so that was fine by me. Very sunny, very bright, everything. I remember thinking like, wow, it's just so bright and airy, but it wasn't stifling hot Like here in North Carolina. It can get stifling, you don't want to go outside. It wasn't like that Now. Naples, rome and Florence, they all had very different feels to them. There's like a different vibe. The different coffees and drinks they tasted different, like you could tell you were in a different area.
Speaker 1:Really, yeah, yes, yes, what is okay? Describe. So when you say they taste different, do you think it has something to do with the water, or like, was it a little creamier, or was it stronger, or was it a little bit sweeter? What is it? What's the difference?
Speaker 2:So in Naples I felt like it was definitely more on the sweet side, I wouldn't say creamy, but almost thicker. Consistency was almost thicker. And in Rome there was more of like that bittery taste. It was waterier, like a lighter brown. And then Florence, it was very interesting. It was like a very rich tasting coffee but the coffee was like almost like a maroonish red, Like a bit of dark maroonish red. That was just something I did. I made a mental note of it because it was different. That is so cool.
Speaker 1:So now you say, your sister's husband is from France. But do they live in France?
Speaker 2:No, they live in London.
Speaker 1:Ah, okay. So you guys rented a car or something. Did you drive up and down the coast?
Speaker 2:We actually flew, and then what we did was take the train to the different cities. We pretty much walked everywhere Unless, so some of the times, like when we went up to Ravella, we had to get a cab because that would have been like a mile straight up Do most people I've heard now correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:Most people in Europe. They walk a lot.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I came home and I ate the best food and so much of the best food. I had lost seven pounds because of how much walking we did. We walked everywhere, did you?
Speaker 1:Girl I'm going now Okay because the pounds need to come off. You hear me, I know. Isn't it so different here in Greensboro? You absolutely need a car.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, you cannot survive.
Speaker 1:But it's just something about walking to your cafe or walking to the market or going in a nice stroll through town.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and it's so intimate and connected and the people there, even the people that don't really know each other, you could just tell that there was a sense of unity and community, and I do think that's something we're missing here, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I've said that so many times. I mean, even though the market is about a mile from where I live, but it's not as connected but there. I can only imagine if I'm in my apartment or if I'm in the hotel, just getting out and walking down the street's, cobbled stone or oh yeah, yes, how wonderful is that I had to turn my guide to that I was like can you stroll her because they're cobbled streets, we can't push a stroller down there.
Speaker 1:Okay. So this is the exciting part for me, because you told me about your daughter, serenity, and you just mentioned about a stroller. I've heard more and more younger people travel with their kids, like they start young when they're infants, and so Jean told me that she traveled specifically with Serenity. She wanted to show Serenity other cultures. She wanted her to be privy to other cultures when she is young. So, jean, what was that like? What was the first thought? I can only imagine what that feels like to want to introduce your child to another culture and have them learn early and be ready for the world as they get older, because that's really important. How does that start for you?
Speaker 2:So, as I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to instill in her the different values that I hold dear and how does one really do that? And I really wanted her to be open and accepting. But I also wanted her to know that she could live any kind of way that she wanted and be comfortable doing it, and that there's more to just this and what we experience here in the States. And so it really grew from there. I'm like, well, how do I introduce her to this? How do I explain it to her? And it's like, well, I'll just show her. And for me, I know I'm a very hands-on learner doing things, experiencing things, that's what really teaches us because it gets ingrained in us. And that's really how it started. At what age? So I think she was three on her first trip. I think she had just turned three on her first trip. Where'd you take her? London. So we were just dipping our toes in. We went to London and then we went to France on that one.
Speaker 1:You went to London. So you went to London and you took the train to France.
Speaker 2:The train to France yes, I think it's called the Eurostart goes under the ocean.
Speaker 1:How did she feel? Was she a little scared, or you know how kids are? My mother, she, had a daycare center, so I was so used to seeing infants and babies and every little thing that was surprised. And their eyes would get bigger and they would just look around. Was she like that?
Speaker 2:Oh yes, so inquisitive, wanted to see everything, wanted to ask all the questions. It was definitely very interesting for her and I feel very blessed because she's an amazing traveler. We started traveling from Colorado to North Carolina to visit family three times a year since she was a little baby and we'd always get compliments. People would say, oh man, I was so scared when I got sat next to the lady with the baby. Oh, she's such a good baby. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:I know she said hey, we know. That is the one thing where hearing a baby cry in the airplane it's like oh my God, I just want to get to her and no one wants to meet that mommy very young. She says it's so cool. Okay, so that was London, then France. Now you told me, did you say the Vatican City?
Speaker 2:Yes, vatican City counts as its own country. So when we were in Italy this time we were in Rome we went to Vatican City, and that is counted as its very own country.
Speaker 1:She had a passport already at three years old. Yes, that's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about Now. She may not be able to drink coffee, but at least she could travel Now. Didn't you tell me you took her to Greece? Yes, oh, my goodness, santorini.
Speaker 2:She probably liked Santorini the best.
Speaker 1:What is Santorini, like I've heard about it but I've never been.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, it's indescribable. The colors, santorini. The colors pop even probably more than the pictures it is, and the culture there. It's like a tight community. Everybody knows each other. There was this elderly woman that we stayed with and she lived on the property. It was her house that we were renting through Airbnb and she had her own little house on the property as well and she would walk three miles to the store every day, and she's probably like 82, if I remember correctly and she still had to walk three miles to the store every day.
Speaker 1:Three miles every day, yep.
Speaker 2:To the store just to get her things for the day and back Everything there. And that was another thing. Everything there is served very fresh. People don't go shopping for the week, go shopping for two weeks. They're getting their food every day, every other day, and everything's just fresh all the time.
Speaker 1:Like the fresh market, like the stalls out, yep, oh, and you get your fresh veggies and your bread and you go home and so each meal, right, it's probably. It's not like hours where we'll make a meal and then it'll last for maybe two or three days.
Speaker 2:They don't do it that way, as you're saying.
Speaker 1:No, what does breakfast consist of? I'm a breakfast person, I mean, although I go simple, but I love breakfast, you know, just sitting down coffee, whatever I'm eating. What do they consume with their coffee? Because I heard they have great coffee too.
Speaker 2:Yes, something that I did know. I was there. You know how we use cream. Cream was not really a big thing every time, like, do you have any cream? That wasn't something that they offered, but they would have a lot of the cucumber type vegetables and I noticed that was like something that was served with our breakfast, was vegetables that you would typically associate with lunch or dinner. You have this like like sweet flatbread I don't remember what it was called, but it was delicious and it was almost like a pastry. Hummus was another big thing. I still associate hummus with a snack, but that was served at breakfast as well, so I just thought that was so interesting but again, very fresh.
Speaker 2:There's this type of alcohol that they would drink. I cannot remember what it was called, but it reminded me of the kombucha. You could tell it was definitely like fermented vegetables or fermented fruit and apparently it has all these different healing properties in it. One lady was telling me that she started getting older. She was getting varicose veins in her legs and she started taking a shot of it every day and it made them go away. What?
Speaker 1:Yes, Now wait a minute. Are we talking about? You start early in the morning, you start drinking this and you just keep going on and gives you a joke.
Speaker 2:You just one shot a day in the morning with your breakfast and I mean it wasn't enough to. It's just like a little tiny shot, kind of like those little fruit shooters that they have in the stores, kind of what I compared it to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know the Greece and Turkey. They're very close together, and when a friend of mine went to Greece, she was saying that, hey, you don't compare Greek coffee to Turkish coffee, but it's similar in the fact that it's in a smaller cup, just like in Italy. Right, yes, and isn't it sweet.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I feel like that's why they don't serve the cream with it. You don't really need anything else to go in it.
Speaker 1:So when you guys stayed at the Airbnb in Greece, was it where she would cook for you guys sometimes, or would she recommend places for you to go and and eat?
Speaker 2:Yes, she definitely did recommend a lot of places. She wouldn't cook with us, but we did have her over for dinner one night. She was so sweet at all the tips and it's amazing to have that person with the inside scoop when you're going to different countries, because you're not going to get the best information online or from a travel guide, you're going to get the best information from a native.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's even more crucial because you're traveling with child. It's a vulnerable situation where you're with a child and you want to have the best, most safe information you can. It kind of protect you in a sense. You know, that's your first time in Greece, right, and that was your first time, your time for your daughter. So moving forward. What's the next trip? I know you just finished this trip not too long ago, but I know, once you finish a trip, it's almost like you want to go again.
Speaker 2:You want to go? Yeah, I really want to go to New Zealand next. Oh, a very long flight though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like 20 hours. I believe you said Serenity has been great oh yeah. From North Carolina straight over to Italy.
Speaker 2:We flew from North Carolina to London, stopped in London for eight hours and then got on another flight to Italy. And she was great, oh, she was great. She sleeps on the planes still, you know. Watch her iPad or play games, color. She's quiet, she doesn't? You know? She did go through a phase where she'd like to play on the tray, with the tray on the back of the seat, but I explained to her, you know, we don't do that because it could disturb the person in front of us, and she, she understood it, hasn't done it since.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. So this is awesome for mothers, or mothers, to be. How do you plan for that?
Speaker 2:You know, aside from planning, of course, where we're going to stay and knowing that it's a safe area, I like to kind of wing it and see what's there when we get there. I don't want to buy a bunch of tickets before we get there and see something else that I'm like, oh well, we could have done that, you know. So I do actually kind of wing it in that sense. My biggest tip, though, would be for the plane and your carry on. There's no such thing as overpacking for a child. Have their snacks, bring a water bottle. Even though you're not allowed to bring liquids through, bring that water bottle so you could put a drink in there and they're not at risk of spilling on the floor. Your chargers have everything charged up. You've got an iPad. Bring that. Bring some books, coloring books, just, you know, it's kind of like an a child emergency pack to keep them occupied.
Speaker 1:So how do you do? How do you balance Because I know my life is crazy Now I may not have a child, but you know I take care of my dad and I do take care of my brother is autism and trying to balance being an entrepreneur in the beginning stages of being an entrepreneur, a business woman. How do you balance that you want to travel, you want to give your daughter a certain lifestyle and then you are an entrepreneur as well? How do you manage? You know the day to day work grind.
Speaker 2:So I actually make sure that that part is definitely pretty planned. I know that I'm going on vacation at least six months before I'm going so that I can prepare my clients and also prepare myself, get any of my deliverables taken care of for that month before I leave so that I can still be compensated for my work, and so probably that last month before I leave I'm extremely busy. So I take about a month before I leave where I'm really busy and I'm working in advance for all of my clients. So I'm getting any deliverables that are due in those two or three weeks that I'm gone. I'm getting all of that taken care of. I'm preparing my client for my departure, I'm wrapping up any loose ends within their business and within mine so that everything is taken care of before I have to leave.
Speaker 2:Knowing what my boundaries are and communicating those boundaries are huge. If I let my clients know in the beginning of our partnership look, I typically take a vacation in December around Christmas time and in the summer in the month of July or August they know to be prepared for that. They know that's something that I do, regardless of you know anything. Those are two things that I hold dear to and I stick to them, I prepare them for it and when that's communicated early on and they know that that comes with the package of me and what I am offering to their business, it's never been an issue.
Speaker 1:Right, so I met you through Alignable. And then, what other social media platforms are you?
Speaker 2:on. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook as well.
Speaker 1:And LinkedIn. Right In LinkedIn, yes, you are the first person that I've spoken to who's balancing a baby and traveling with a baby and doing all these wonderful things, and you have this wonderful mindset of being a businesswoman but also being a mother. What advice other advice would you give, because you just gave the advice of you know your preparation for traveling with a baby what other advice would you give as far as balancing being a businesswoman and having your daughter?
Speaker 2:You have to have boundaries with yourself, right? So there are days where I'm like, oh, I could be working, I could be working right now. But I have to remind myself, you know, she's not going to be little forever, she's not going to be this age forever. One day she's going to be 45 and I'm going to be, you know, an old woman and she's going to have her own family, right, right, and really cherish those moments and knowing that my first, most important job is being a mother, and in that it's like, yes, I should, I need to have my own life and the things that mean things to me, and it is, it is, it's a very fine balance and I'm still teaching myself every day, but knowing that there's this little person who relies on me to help raise them and help them become a kind, empathetic, well-rounded adults, and that is the most important thing in my mind.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's trying for me at times because I'm multitasking, I'm trying to balance so many things and here I am striving to have this business where I want it to be, but having the responsibilities of taking care of my father and my brother, and I'm thinking to myself. You know what your number one priority is to take care of your father and your brother. You know you gotta do everything you can and make their lives great. So I understand that mentality.
Speaker 2:It's a fine line, you're right but and so, on your bed, what are you gonna be thinking about? Are you gonna be thinking about oh, I wish I had sent that one last email, or built out that one last project? Or are you gonna be thinking about the people who meant the most to you in your lifetime?
Speaker 1:That is so true. I'm looking at my brother and he is so sweet and he's the kindest person that I know. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body and to see him grow like I know that that is so wonderful for you to see your daughter absorb all of these things that you have given her traveling and seeing various things and people and geography. I know you can see her and her mind and her being altered right, and so that's the same way that I see my brother just allowing him to have a certain lifestyle and just to continue to be happy. It means the world to me, so I can only imagine how that makes you feel.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's the most fulfilling thing it truly is, and I think, also as women who take care of families, we have to give ourselves a break, you know, and we have to know that we don't have to be perfect, we don't have to be on at every single moment of every single day. It's okay when we get annoyed. We're entitled to our emotions, we're allowed to have our feelings, you know.
Speaker 1:I think it's so true. There are times when you just have you. Do you have to let things go and save them for another day? Yep, exactly, do you ever find yourself reaching out, like you have a wonderful sister and wonderful brother-in-law. Do you ever find yourself just saying, just reaching out, saying hey, I can't do everything, whether it's just for a talk, that support, how important is that?
Speaker 2:to you so important, and I lean on my sister hard and I'm blessed that her husband is in my life. He's like the brother that I always wanted and never had. My family, my mom, my dad, my family is you know they are rock solid and they are my rocks. And you know I am a single parent and so, as a single parent, it truly does take a village, and I'm so grateful to be able to have them, to just be able to call up and be like. You know what it's a hard day and this is. They lift me up, they bring my spirits out. They always know just what to say.
Speaker 1:That's so good. I'm so honored to have this conversation with you. So again, you can reach Jean and see her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. If you're on the lineable, she's there as well. I really appreciate it. Yeah, wow, thank you. I'm Portia White and I hope you've enjoyed today's conversation. I'd like to give a special thanks to our sponsor, betterwithacouplecoffeecom. If you like what you heard, please rate and review our podcast and join us again soon at Couple Connections.