Stephanie Wallace
Episode 192

Narrator:

Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, welcome friends to another episode of the Story & Experience podcast. I am at St. Helena Adventist Health, in the most beautiful morning, which is, I've got to ask you if this is just a regular morning here?

Stephanie Wallace:

It's beautiful.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's fantastic. It's an amazing territory, amazing hospital, and I'm excited about the guests you're going to hear today. If you're brand new to the podcast, we have a hundred questions. They progressively become more vulnerable closer to 100, and they get to pick where we go, and we'll hear stories and experiences that shape this leader into the person that they are today. So let me begin with the first, could you tell us your name?

Stephanie Wallace:

Stephanie. Stephanie Wallace.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Does anybody ever mispronounce that Stephanie?

Stephanie Wallace:

No.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wallace. Oh, that's fantastic. Is there any heritage that you've traced?

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, heritage.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. To Scotland?

Stephanie Wallace:

The Wallace comes from my husband, but my family's from Fiji.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, really?

Stephanie Wallace:

First generation.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, wow. Wow. Were you born in Fiji?

Stephanie Wallace:

No, I was born here. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic. Have you ever been back?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, hey, that's great. That's great. Stephanie, what do you do for work?

Stephanie Wallace:

I am the director of the heart and vascular unit, so the teleunit. And recently it's announced that I'll be also over the mental health and med surgeon, ortho units.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow, that sounds like a lot. If I was a lay person, could you unpack that for me a little bit?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes. I had a opportunity, a wonderful opportunity. Started here as a volunteer at the hospital.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Stephanie Wallace:

Volunteered for about six months. As a new grad, was hard to get a job. Worked my way up to the heart and vascular unit, night shift nurse, new grad, all the way up to a house supervisor. And opportunity came for the director of the unit and I knew this is what I wanted. I really cared for the unit and had an opportunity to take this job as the director of med surge and ortho and mental health. The managers will be helping me, but I just really, really care about the hospital and the staff and our patients, and it just felt right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's amazing. That's fantastic. So how long have you been working at Adventist Health?

Stephanie Wallace:

About 15 years.

Japhet De Oliveira:

15 years?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow. What a great journey. Well, congratulations on the expanded new role.

Stephanie Wallace:

Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that's great. So you literally, you said you graduated and you came into this role and you've been here the entire time, your entire career?

Stephanie Wallace:

The entire time. It just felt right. It felt right. This is my home. This is where I want to be until I retire.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah. This is where I see it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow.

Stephanie Wallace:

I know.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Not a lot of people see it that way. That's fantastic. Well, I'm very happy for you.

Stephanie Wallace:

Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay, so where did you grow up as a child?

Stephanie Wallace:

In Modesto.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right.

Stephanie Wallace:

So first generation parents from Fiji learning English. Hindi was my first language when I went to school. I learned English at school.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. Okay. All right.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah. Modesto, California.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. And as a child, what did you imagine you were going to grow up to be?

Stephanie Wallace:

I always knew... My parents said, "You're going to be a nurse."

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Stephanie Wallace:

My dad saw that in me. Yeah. I love caring for people. They just saw that in me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Are you that one in the family that cares for everyone? Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

I actually am.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good. That's good. That's good. That's fantastic. So it actually all worked out.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. It's nice when someone sees that in you and it makes sense to you as well.

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, yeah. It just clicked. Like, oh my gosh, this is perfect. It's right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Now, are you an early riser or late night owl?

Stephanie Wallace:

I am an early now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right.

Stephanie Wallace:

Early now, but I'm a late night person.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really? And what is late night for you?

Stephanie Wallace:

Late night is... Working all those night shifts, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the people late night, but I have to be an early person for my family. I have a family. And it feels good to be up with the sun.

Japhet De Oliveira:

With the sun. Okay. Okay. So do you change as the sun changes?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes, I do.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, some countries you should probably not live in. Okay. That's fantastic. All right. So now when you get up in the morning, first drink of the day, do you have liquid green smoothie, water, tea, coffee? What's your...?

Stephanie Wallace:

I have a coffee. I have my coffee. A couple cups.

Japhet De Oliveira:

A couple cups. Back to back.

Stephanie Wallace:

Like right now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Like right now, okay. You just line them up and take them?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh good. How do you have your coffee?

Stephanie Wallace:

How do I have my coffee? A splash of milk.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

And that's it. That's it. No sugar. The sugar is too sweet for me now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Hey, that's okay. That's okay. All right. Personality, if people were to describe you, I wish you could see your face, if people were to describe you, would they say you were an introvert or an extrovert? And would you agree with that?

Stephanie Wallace:

They would say I'm an extrovert, but I don't agree with that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

I am extrovert. As soon as I get home, I become an introvert, homebody introvert. I speak at work all day long and then it just turns off at home.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Actually, as you said, you speak two languages then?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, okay. All right. All right. And do your kids speak other languages as well?

Stephanie Wallace:

They were fluent in other languages, but with school it has gone away.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It has gone away. That's okay. All right, that's fantastic. Now, this morning when you woke up, very first thought that went through your mind today.

Stephanie Wallace:

Wow. I was up at three.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. You are an early writer?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is that your regular routine?

Stephanie Wallace:

Now it is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Three?

Stephanie Wallace:

Three. I just woke up. I was wide awake.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is the sun really up?

Stephanie Wallace:

No, I don't think it was up. But I did hear birds out there in the backyard. The first thing in my mind, my daughter climbed in bed with me and I was just watching her, just appreciating how beautiful she is. And yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Kids are amazing.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

That's what I did first thing in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Beautiful. Beautiful. All right, this is a leadership question.

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Are you a backseat driver?

Stephanie Wallace:

Am I backseat driver? No.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No?

Stephanie Wallace:

No. That's not me. I am a, let's do this. How do I get from point A to point B? Why not? Type of leader. If there's a challenge, okay. We can overcome it. What do we need to get from point A to point B?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. Good, good. All right, we begin with the numbers. Where do you want to go? I know.

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay. Can we do 20?

Japhet De Oliveira:

20. All right. Oh, if Stephanie was going to give something 10 out of 10, what would it be?

Stephanie Wallace:

10 out of 10 to something. Last night. 10 out of 10.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Last night?

Stephanie Wallace:

I made dinner and it was getting late, in my mind, about seven o'clock. What can I whip up that's healthy and good. And it was a 10 out of 10. It took me 10 minutes. I made fajitas and I was pretty impressed.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Are you often shocked with yourself?

Stephanie Wallace:

Well, when you're in a rush.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, sure.

Stephanie Wallace:

I was like, wow, I really surprised myself.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And the kids ate it?

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, yeah. Gobbled it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's always a win.

Stephanie Wallace:

So that was a 10 out of 10. Yesterday was a 10 out of 10 at work. I had some good meaningful conversations, did some evals. Really surprised some of the staff of how I said, "I noticed you. You're doing a great job. I appreciate you." And it was a 10 out of 10 day at work.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, great. At home and at work. Hey, that's fantastic. I'm like, it was just yesterday. All right, that was 20. Where would you like to go next?

Stephanie Wallace:

Let's do 40.

Japhet De Oliveira:

40. All right. Ooh. Tell us about a time when you failed.

Stephanie Wallace:

So a time where I failed would be growing up I thought I wanted to go into the dental field instead of nursing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

I wanted to prove my family wrong. I don't know why. It was such a cliche, Indians going into nursing, and girls. And I forced myself. I wanted to prove my family wrong. I wanted to go into this dental route. And I was in a pediatric office. I was cleaning teeth, and we would take patients to the OR and do oral surgery with the doctor. And my wrist started hurting because it was just repetitious work and it was starting hurting. And I knew I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't happy. I wasn't finding that joy. I feel like that's where I went wrong. I decided I need to go the different path, still stay in the medical field because I enjoyed taking patients to the OR and taking care of them and watching the nurses there who were working in the OR with us. So that's where I failed I think. I should have just gone with my gut, but I had to learn that lesson the long way. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

The long way or the wrong way?

Stephanie Wallace:

It was a long way.

Japhet De Oliveira:

The long way. Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

The long way. Yeah, the long way. Learned that lesson. 10 years. I made many friends.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So you stayed 10 years doing that?

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, wow. It wasn't like... Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

Six months or, yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So when you say 15 years here, that was 10 years after there?

Stephanie Wallace:

Mm-hmm.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, wow. Wow. Okay. That's a long time.

Stephanie Wallace:

That's a long journey.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that is.

Stephanie Wallace:

But I don't think I failed.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You found your calling.

Stephanie Wallace:

I found my calling. Made a difference there.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That takes a lot of courage to switch. I've got to ask. I mean, question 40 A now is like, how difficult was it to make a decision to switch career direction after 10 years of investment?

Stephanie Wallace:

Right. This is what I knew. I had to make some sacrifices. Going back to school.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That would've been difficult.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes, it was.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow.

Stephanie Wallace:

But I'm not afraid of a challenge.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, clearly.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah. A challenge. Work through that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So when you arrived there, you were already very mature in your work history and stuff. Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. That was new for me. That's good. Hey, that's good. If somebody is thinking the same thing, like they've done 10, 15 years in their career, what would you say to them? They're scared to stop doing this and try something entirely new.

Stephanie Wallace:

Do it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Just do it.

Stephanie Wallace:

You have to. Do it. What do you need? What do you need from me? How can I help you? Support you? That's what I give advice.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at that. Well, good for you. Thank you for encouraging anyone who's out there listening to that. All right. Good. All right. That was a 40 and 40 A. Where next?

Stephanie Wallace:

Let's do 50.

Japhet De Oliveira:

50. Okay. Oh, share about who's influenced you professionally.

Stephanie Wallace:

Influenced me professionally. My coworkers. My charge nurses. I had a charge, actually two charge nurses I was on today when I rounded on the unit. Norma, she's influenced me. She is so caring and just really gives it all. And when I see that, I was like, wow, I want to be like her when I grow up.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great.

Stephanie Wallace:

And June, this morning, I said, "June, you're so organized. I love it. I love walking in and everything's just so organized. Helping us start our day."

Japhet De Oliveira:

So now, do they know that, that you have influenced them? That they have influenced you? Sorry.

Stephanie Wallace:

No, they don't.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, you've got to go tell them before they hear the podcast.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah. I'll have them be surprised. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's great. All right. Hey, good. All right. Where next after 50?

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, let's do 60.

Japhet De Oliveira:

60. When in life have you felt most alone?

Stephanie Wallace:

When do I feel alone is after hard days. And I don't want to talk about my hard day at work. I don't want to bring it home. I think I internalize. That's when I feel alone. And then I know, wow, I have all these people I could talk to, but at that moment I just know I can't burden my husband or especially the kids. I have to...

Japhet De Oliveira:

Absorb it.

Stephanie Wallace:

Absorb, smile, light their day. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

They notice. They see it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

They see it.

Stephanie Wallace:

They see it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. So for somebody who absorbs everything, and as a carer, how do, this is a bonus question, how do you replenish your soul?

Stephanie Wallace:

I pray.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

I pray. Meditate. A car ride. I don't like to be on the phone. Listen to meditation and really appreciate life. Wow. This is beautiful. Look at this drive. We drive up here. We have hot air balloons.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I saw the hot air balloons this morning. Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

Beautiful wineries. We're so lucky. We're so lucky to see that sunrise.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, it's good.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good word. All right, super. All right, where next now, that was 60.

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, that was 60. Okay. Let's do 70.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Tell us about one thing that you are determined to accomplish.

Stephanie Wallace:

This is a good one. I am determined to really push my staff. When I talk to them and they say this is their goal. I had a nurse when I interviewed him, he said, his name is Alex. I hope he listens to this. He said he wants to be a flight nurse. Let's get you there. When I see the nurses on the unit doing a great job, okay, you could be a charge nurse. Let's get you there. Or my CNAs, they're my family. They want to go to nursing school. Let's work with your schedule. Let's get you to school. You have a test. Okay. How can we swap your schedule? You need to ace this test. Don't worry about work. Work will always be here. Let's get you to school.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You love developing people.

Stephanie Wallace:

I love it. Yeah. I love it. I got the opportunity myself being here as a volunteer, somebody pushed me. If they want to be pushed, I don't want to push anyone against their will, but if that's their goal, I see it. I see it in you. Let me push you to get there.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So where does this come from? This desire to develop other people? Is it from your childhood? I mean, is it just like you were born this way?

Stephanie Wallace:

It just feels so natural. I think I was born that way. Yeah. Parents, my mom only went to sixth grade education and I saw it in her. I was like, why not? Let's get you through school. She didn't want to pursue a higher education. But when somebody says they want to do it, go to school or go to a different unit and grow. I see it. Let's keep them in the system and help them get that goal even if it means they're going to leave me one day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure. Better for them. Better for everyone else.

Stephanie Wallace:

Exactly. And then they'll pay it forward as well.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah. That's the way I see it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, great. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Where next? That was 70.

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, that was 70. You said it was getting harder, huh?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, depends what is difficult. It could be great.

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay. Let's do 80.

Japhet De Oliveira:

80. All right. How would you like to change in the future?

Stephanie Wallace:

How would I like to change?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

Man, I wish I had more time in the day. Change is natural and scary. Change is scary. I see myself growing with my kids, changing with them. They're always changing, making me look at things differently, through their eyes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

There is some change that happens to us and some change we control. Is there a change that you control that you want to do?

Stephanie Wallace:

I am pretty happy at this point, I was going to say.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great.

Stephanie Wallace:

But that's a good question. If I was forced to answer that question.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I would hate for this podcast to be, and I forced her to answer this question.

Stephanie Wallace:

Because I ask people that too. I think I should listen to my own advice about growing. I'm such an introvert, so learning to be a little more extroverted.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

That's how I would change.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. Even though everybody thinks you're extroverted. All right. All right. That's good. Hey, that's good. No worries. All right. That was 80. So where next?

Stephanie Wallace:

Let's do 90.

Japhet De Oliveira:

90. All right. Tell us about how you overcame an insurmountable obstacle. Yeah. Something in your life and you overcame it.

Stephanie Wallace:

I agreed to go through with an arranged marriage.

Japhet De Oliveira:

To go through with an arranged marriage?

Stephanie Wallace:

Right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Stephanie Wallace:

My parents were arranged and we always talked about it growing up. And it came up with the family. There was a family meeting, it came up. And I saw that, I felt that if I didn't do it, my siblings, it would go to them. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

They would not do it then?

Stephanie Wallace:

No, I didn't want that for them. And so I agreed to arranged marriage. And this young man, this photo, like a little passport photo was shown to me. I knew him for a month. We spoke in the kitchen. It was arranged where the families came together. And I brought out tea to the family and all dressed up. And the family asked us to go speak in the kitchen to see if we agreed to arranged marriage. And I already knew yes, that I was going to say yes. And we both said yes. And we both had agreed to what our futures were going to be. I told him nursing, I was going to nursing. And he agreed he was going to support me through that.

After the marriage, it was, you're going to work two jobs, you're going to go through school. It was such an awful experience. I couldn't tell my parents. It would've broken their heart. It was very short. I remember police officer telling me the last person that he had this conversation to, the young woman had passed away and he saw the situation I was in and he had this conversation with me. And it was a light bulb moment. I think you're right. I think I will die if I'm in this situation and I needed to get out. Never really told my parents the details of what had happened in that situation, that marriage. It would've broken them, but I did get out.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That was difficult for them, even that? Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

The arranged marriages, because the family arranges it. The family gets involved.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Everyone's involved?

Stephanie Wallace:

Trying to resolve any issues and things, but it was not a good situation. So I'm glad I was able to... It took every being my soul to be able to get out of that situation.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That would be very difficult for a caring person, wouldn't you say? I mean, because you want to fix and care and then just extricate yourself from that.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow. Now, I presume, obviously that your parents are aware. Do they know? Do they understand?

Stephanie Wallace:

They understand. They love my husband, my new husband, they love him. They see that I'm happy now, but I just never told them all the details of that. I think it would've broken their heart.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'm sure there are people listening, whether they're in an arranged marriage or a marriage or some relationship and it's just not working out. Stephanie, what wisdom would you give them?

Stephanie Wallace:

You have to do what's right for your safety. Number one. Follow your heart. Find support. Having support's important.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, what was the support system that worked for you?

Stephanie Wallace:

At that time?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. That helped you?

Stephanie Wallace:

I had some good friends that really supported me, listened to me at all hours, hours at a time. My sister. My sister is my support. I would do the same for her too.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that's fantastic. Hey, congratulations. Incredible courage. Sorry you had to go through something so difficult.

Stephanie Wallace:

Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But yeah, you did the right thing, right?

Stephanie Wallace:

I did.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Absolutely. And there are so many layers to the story, so many complexities to it. Because unfortunately in society we put a lot of guilt on people and a lot of on people. And yet, it's the right thing to do. Yeah. So, well done. Well done.

Stephanie Wallace:

Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. And to anyone who's listening, I would definitely say the same thing. Encourage them to not do it alone, get friends, get support. But you can get out of it. Life is short.

Stephanie Wallace:

Life is short.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Life is precious. It's true. Hey, thank you for sharing. All right. Yeah. So where would you like to go after 90?

Stephanie Wallace:

Oh, let's do something easy.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, sure.

Stephanie Wallace:

25.

Japhet De Oliveira:

25. No worries. Let's go to 25. Oh, share the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

Stephanie Wallace:

The first thing that came to mind was seeing my children.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. How many kids do you have?

Stephanie Wallace:

Two. Gavin and Mackenzie.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right.

Stephanie Wallace:

And seeing them, the most beautiful thing in life. Absolutely beautiful. Prayed for children, they're angels, just make me smile.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Something's kind of special about it.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I feel the same way. I have a 26-year-old and a 21-year-old and I'm just like, oh yeah. Hey, that's good. That's good. All right. That's 25. Where next?

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay. Did we do 30?

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, we did not.

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Tell us about something that you're really looking forward to.

Stephanie Wallace:

Vacation.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. That's great. I mean, people need it. Time to switch off.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

Switch off. Really just, you said it perfectly, switch off. Enjoy time in the sun. Enjoy some good family time. I live here, I live at work, and it'll be nice to switch off. And it'll be hard.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes, I'm sure it will be.

Stephanie Wallace:

And I'll keep my phone.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I was going to say, are you going to check in?

Stephanie Wallace:

I'm still available. But be available.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, sure.

Stephanie Wallace:

For my soul.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Good, good. All right, look, we have time for two more. Final two numbers. Where would you like to go for your final two numbers?

Stephanie Wallace:

Okay. Let's do 80.

Japhet De Oliveira:

80. We did 80.

Stephanie Wallace:

All right. Let's do 85.

Japhet De Oliveira:

85. All right. Describe a role model you aspire to be like.

Stephanie Wallace:

My dad.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Oh.

Stephanie Wallace:

It brought a smile to my face.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. So what's the quality of your dad that you love?

Stephanie Wallace:

He's honest. He's this honest human being. He's funny. Just listens and give great advice when you need him. Yeah. I would love to be like him when I grow up.

Japhet De Oliveira:

When you grow up.

Stephanie Wallace:

He's my role model.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great. Does he know that?

Stephanie Wallace:

No, he doesn't.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ooh, that'd be a great conversation to have.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's good. All right, last one.

Stephanie Wallace:

Let's do 100.

Japhet De Oliveira:

100. All right.

Stephanie Wallace:

I'm kind of scared about this.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, no. It's all good. All right. Tell us one question you don't want to answer.

Stephanie Wallace:

One question I don't want to answer. I was afraid you were going to ask me, who's my favorite kid? No. Yeah, that's a good one. I get asked that. Who's my favorite kid?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Stephanie Wallace:

You know what I say?

Japhet De Oliveira:

What would you say?

Stephanie Wallace:

You are my favorite daughter. And I tell my son, you're my favorite son.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's very good.

Stephanie Wallace:

But honestly, a question. I don't talk about my personal life. And I've learned that being a leader, you have to be transparent and honest. So I'm learning-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Be more open.

Stephanie Wallace:

More open. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. Responsible transparency.

Stephanie Wallace:

Yes. And being vulnerable.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Well, Stephanie, that is a fantastic and strong word to end on. Thank you. Thank you for taking time. I'm glad you brought some coffee and that we were able to talk and connect here. I would encourage everybody to do the same thing. Sit down with a friend, just ask them good questions and listen. And I really do believe that I'm changed by your stories today. I mean, boy, it speaks into so many aspects of our life and I think it speaks to people who are listening to this as well. So it's really valuable. Thank you for changing us. I hope you're changed as well through the act of storytelling and for everybody who's listening, we will connect again. God bless and thank you again.

Stephanie Wallace:

Thank you.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for the Story & Experience podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your Story & Experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience podcast was brought to you by Adventist with the Office of Culture.