Todd Hofheins
Episode 22

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 shaped us, our families, and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. For all our regular listeners exactly what's going to happen. But for those of you who are brand new, this is what takes place. We have 100 questions. The first 10 I ask of our guests, that's when you get to know their name. He's smiling right now in anticipation, eager to share his name, you can tell. He's laughing. You can hear him.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And then questions 11 to 100, he gets to pick a number. 100 obviously is the hardest question the most vulnerable and it gets more difficult as you go along. And 11 is the easiest. And so we'll get to discover a little bit about which numbers he picks and chooses and which area he wants to go in.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But it's all about the stories and experiences that shape us. And so imagine we have our cup of tea, we're sitting down, we have a little bit of chinwag, a little bit of a moment here. And you should do the same as well. Without further ado, let's dive in. And well let's begin with your name. Would you share your name? And does anybody ever you know mispronounce it, slaughter it, or anything interesting about it.

Todd Hofheins:

Great. Thank you, Japhet. And glad to be here. And I will tell you I am intrigued about questions 90 to 100 now that you've set it up, so my name is Todd Hofheins. And my last name frequently gets slaughtered, it's Hofheins, its Hofheins. It's a Hofheins or different accents. And spelling is a little challenging because there's an H-O-F-H-E-I-N-S, and usually it is spelled H-O-F-F. So it's a difficult one. Usually it doesn't take people very long. And once they get a hang of it just flows.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'm not going to admit that I may have looked it up a couple of times before I wrote it out the first time.

Todd Hofheins:

I still find things on legal documents. I'm like, "Well, we probably should correct that." And people are so worried once they find out that it's wrong. I almost feel bad because they're so apologetic. It's kind of funny.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good. That's good. That's nice. That's good. Where does the name come from Todd.

Todd Hofheins:

It's German. And my mom is a big genealogy person. And she's tracked it back where my ancestors from Germany was actually spelt, E-I-N-T-Z. And sometime when they came to America after that, they dropped the T and the Z and they replaced it with an S. So it's kind of an interesting evolution of the name. Kind of fun to see.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic. Always good to know a little bit of the past. I love that. I try to find out as much of the past as well. It's just beautiful, brilliant. Todd, what do you do for work at the moment?

Todd Hofheins:

I'm the Chief Financial Officer of the health system of the Enterprise. And probably-

Japhet De Oliveira:

The Enterprise Starship?

Todd Hofheins:

Oh, excellent, thank you. For the health system, Adventist Health. I joined in September of 2020, which is always interesting to join during the pandemic. It's the first time I've done that. So that was a new experience for me.

Todd Hofheins:

But really, my job is overseen how the resources available for us to serve our communities and mission and the allocation of those resources. That is usually not the way people describe it. They know about the accounting and they know about the debt issuances, or they know about the budgets. But when it really comes down to it, we have a number of resources available to us. They aren't limitless, but we have a number. And it's how do we really kind of deploy those as an organization and engage leadership to help me understand where we think the best places to do that are. So that's kind of what I do, how it happened is a bit more tactical and mechanical, not nearly as nice as the way that I stated it, candidly.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I remember when they announced that you were coming to join Adventist Health and not that long ago. But it was a huge deal, it was fantastic, because you've got a zillion years of experience in finance and so it's really, this has been something you've done for a long, long time. In lots of other places as well.

Todd Hofheins:

Yes a long time. And my journey is probably and I know we'll get into this to some extent, my journey is less traditional. Even starting from kind of early before I got into finance, so it's been a different journey which I've appreciated because it's added different perspectives to how I lead and how I engage people.

Todd Hofheins:

Some of it was intentional, a lot of it was a door opened at a point in time and it was, "Wow, that seems really exciting and interesting." And so it has definitely been a guided journey. And it's been one where my wife would say I'm a glutton for punishment I would say I'm interested in new experiences and opportunities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic. Well, it's great. It's great that you take that as well into your leadership culture as well. So beautiful. Let's talk about when you wake up in the morning, what's your first drink of the day? Is that water, green liquid smoothie, is it coffee or tea?

Todd Hofheins:

Yeah, one of my habits that I try and really balance is coffee. It is coffee. That smell and that first cup is probably one of the pleasures that you think, "Wow, this tastes good." As we go through it, so I try and limit myself but yeah, it's coffee for sure. I have found as I get older water is more important. So I try and blend it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That was beautiful. And is there a particular type of coffee that you like?

Todd Hofheins:

I like black, dark coffee with nothing in it. So I like it strong, not bitter. So things like the Sumatras, kind of the espressos, that kind of stuff.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Nice, nice, beautiful, good. Todd, tell us where were you born?

Todd Hofheins:

Ah, great. I was born in Campbell, California. So South Bay. So about two hours and 20 minutes south of Roseville. My father worked at IBM in South San Jose, and my mother worked at what was Varian, time Watkins-Johnson then Varian at the time, in Palo Alto. So I am a Bay area kid. I'm a West Coast California kid.

Todd Hofheins:

I spent 26 years there and then the rest up in the Pacific Northwest. But my wife says you've never gotten away from California. It's kind of the you can take the kid out of California but not California out of the kid, probably.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So you're back in the home territory, that's good.

Todd Hofheins:

Absolutely. It's been awesome to be back here.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So when you were a kid, did you imagine that you were going to be in finance? And is that what you imagined and dream of?

Todd Hofheins:

No, not at all.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's not what you dream of?

Todd Hofheins:

I grew up in the Bay Area and the time of the dot com craze, kind of one of the early dot com craze, the initiation of Apple, Hewlett Packard was getting big, all of those types of things. So I really thought that I was going to do something in the engineering and innovation space. Now this was innovation when PCs were innovative so it's a little bit different.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes, yes, taking up the whole garage.

Todd Hofheins:

And I realized fairly quickly that I am not an engineering person. Now some would say I'm not a finance person, either. By the way, I laugh and joke, but so it led me different paths.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. Beautiful. All right, let's talk about personality. Would people say that you are an extrovert or an introvert and would you agree?

Todd Hofheins:

Yeah, so something to know. I come from a family of I've got five siblings. And I state this because I think coming from a large family, you develop different personalities or survival traits, however you want to look at them. And there are three girls, five years and then three boys and I'm the oldest boy. So I've kind of in this middle child slash older child syndrome.

Todd Hofheins:

I would say people generally think because I'm pretty gregarious and outgoing, that I'm an extrovert and candidly, I am more of an introvert. Especially, and I don't know if it's happening more as I get older, or if it's always been there, but I'm a little bit wiser, in terms of, I've just learned there's a lot to be picked up. And I enjoy listening a lot more and really kind of processing things at a different place.

Todd Hofheins:

So when it comes out is if I'm in a larger group, and it's a new idea. I will sit and gather information for quite a long time. And then kind of after I processed it, speak versus jump in early and kind of go through that. But it is my personality from gregarious and outgoing to quiet can sometimes throw people off in terms of they are kind of like are you angry? Are you not interested? And so, I have learned, it helps me to speak about my problem. "Hey, I'm just thinking about this." Kind of vocalize that. So people don't think that I've fallen asleep maybe.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's a good tip. That's good. That's good. What about habits? Are you an early riser or a night owl?

Todd Hofheins:

I love the mornings. I love getting up in the morning. And when the kind of the day... Just the day feels fresh, possibilities just feel like they're all over, that you could do anything. And it's usually quiet. My wife is a night owl, I'm a morning person. So it's kind of we've got our times.

Todd Hofheins:

I can have that cup of coffee that we talked about. If I'm in Seattle, I'm sitting on the back patio. If I'm in here in Roseville, our place here I'm sitting on the back deck. And frequently, I don't do anything other than sit. I wouldn't say it's a formal meditation, but it's a bit of my kind of centering time, I may have a little bit of music playing sometimes just to kind of think about that. And then that is a couple... If I could get two minutes of that, the day is completely different. If I can get five, it's awesome. But if I can just take a couple of minutes before the day rush starts, then I might start kind of listening to some news and kind of check into the day. But that is definitely my favorite time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That is beautiful. That's beautiful. You've painted a beautiful picture there. So this morning when you woke up, and hopefully you had that at least one minute of music, maybe even. What was the very first thought that went through your mind?

Todd Hofheins:

Well, I am flying up to Seattle for the weekend. And so my very first thought was, I'm excited to see my two kids that live in Seattle and my wife who's up there. So it was one of excitement for the weekend. And just to kind of all be together. So it was kind of a wake up and you got that morning and you thought this weekend, it's going to be a fun weekend, we're kind of getting together. And this is the weekend we're putting the boat in the water as well. So we do a lot of boating as a family.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful.

Todd Hofheins:

So it feels like Summer is here. And this weekend for me feels like it's kind of the starting of that season, because of being together and that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

My wife's from Seattle, and she actually is flying this afternoon to Seattle for the weekend to visit with her parents and brother's birthday and stuff. And so totally with you. Yeah. And the boat. Oh, yeah. Understand that entirely. Yeah. All right. Here's a leadership question for you. And you kind of alluded to this, but are you a backseat driver?

Todd Hofheins:

You had a nice way of asking that one. I'm like "Wow, I..." I don't know, most of the time. My style and preference is to set a vision and then engage and inspire, provide mentorship so that those that I work with can take it and move it forward from there. I will say that if it isn't quite happening fast enough, and I feel a sense of urgency or if there's something I'm thinking, "Uh oh, we're getting off of the tracks in a way that's going to create something." I know I can step in and grab a hold of the controls.

Todd Hofheins:

Because in my 360s that I've had many of over the years people have said, "Everything was good until..." And so yeah. So what I've done, which is super interesting, I just share that with folks now. I was working with somebody when I was at HealthPartners in Minneapolis, and I said, "I can get into the detail if I am uncomfortable with something. Or I feel like there isn't a communication or something."

Todd Hofheins:

And so I was asking, and I shared that with her. So we're going through something and I was asking a bunch of questions. And she said, "Wait a minute, am I not doing something right? Are you upset with me? Am I..." And I said "Why?" She said, "Because you told me you will behave like this if." And so it was actually helpful to kind of to raise up and say, "Ok, if it is can I name it? And if I can name it, then she can help address it." Because sometimes it's a communication miss or it's a vision miss. I'm thinking one thing and we just haven't worked through clarifying it. So no, but I know I can and it happens.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, that's great. But I mean setting it all up as well is really good. Setting up the culture and the mode of operation is really good. And knowing yourself is really good as well. So that's fantastic. So see how easy that was. That was just the introduction. Now, the real dance and fun begins of this conversation. And so you get to pick a number between 11 and 100. And as I said it gets progressively more complex. And we did have these questions bettered by a couple of pros. And so yeah, where would you like to go?

Todd Hofheins:

Let's not go all the way to the deep end yet. But let's jump in at 35.

Japhet De Oliveira:

35. Share a special interest or unique talent that you have.

Todd Hofheins:

Does it have to be a talent and an interest? Can it be an interest but not quite the talent?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sounds a bit analytical. But yes. See the beauty is you can interpret the question how you want to.

Todd Hofheins:

Yeah, so I had an opportunity in 2017, I had a little bit of a gap and in my professional career, and so I had the chance to do some of those things that are on your list, but you never get to do. So two things that were always interests and I started doing is fly fishing, and playing the guitar. I've kept with both of them.

Todd Hofheins:

On the guitar, I know a few songs, I actually can sing with those songs, I would never do it in a public forum or I would either have to be in public and nobody knew me or only with... But it is something that both of those what I find with myself is my brain... For me to turn my brain off sometimes is a bit challenge because I'm constantly thinking, "Oh, we could do this or we could do this." And reading is helpful, but I can wander with reading.

Todd Hofheins:

But the aspect of doing something that is tactical at the same time as learning it, and then having an interest around it. So that's something. I have a huge passion for music, the guitar, I go to music events with my kids, different venues. My son has been trying to teach me how to do some mixing on a board of different... So I love music and all kinds. And so that is a huge passion of mine and I participate in it quite frequently.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. It really is. It heals and it creates. It's powerful. It's powerful. That's beautiful. Love it. I agree with you as well, about that. Good. All right after 35 do you want to go down or up?

Todd Hofheins:

Up. Let's go to 65.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, 65 it is. Share one word that you could use to describe your past. And then could you unpack that one word?

Todd Hofheins:

I would say... one word's tough because it seems like a good word. And then I think about it and it feels inadequate. I was more creative than this but I'll say journey. And the unpacking of it, and we talked a little bit about this. I have been extremely fortunate to be presented with different opportunities through my personal life and my career. Some of those opportunities ended up being super difficult. And it wasn't something that I necessarily enjoyed, but it is something as I reflect on it, I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to go through it.

Todd Hofheins:

In my personal life, same thing. I see my life as a series of relationships and experiences. My wife and I have three kids, my wife and I have been married 30 years. We've got three kids, twin boys that are 25 and a daughter that is 22. And I am learning... Memorial Day my boys and I for example we're going to a baseball game in Houston and then we're going to Austin. We kind of do this baseball trip to stadiums and we haven't done it for a while so we're picking it up.

Todd Hofheins:

So I enjoy my kids tremendously. We enjoy doing things with them. And adult kids are hard to... They're smart and boy, all of the things that we wanted to instill in them in terms of independence and making decisions they're doing and you're kind of like... And so another part of the journey. I thoroughly enjoy it and at times it's frightening and heartbreaking. And so it's been... As I get older and see my family relationships develop and change and my relationship with my wife, my relationship with the kids and work. It's a journey that has been, like I said, very fun at times.

Todd Hofheins:

And at times you kind of go, "Wow, that's tough." But it's all part of it. And as I said, there are things that I've done that weren't necessarily enjoyable. What I'd change, and I remember my dad saying this to me, "There are decisions that I made in my life that weren't the best decisions, would I trade them, I don't know, because I like what I have now. And the family that I have now and some of those made me who I am and got me to where I am." And that's kind of how I feel it the point I am in my life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's profound. And I think there's just tremendous wisdom in that, and tremendous wisdom in the journey metaphor as well. Because I'm with you on that, I think that we live in that kind of space with our kids and with our parents and in that Middle Earth space, so to speak.

Todd Hofheins:

I have found too, as my kids get older, me thinking about my life as a journey and approaching it that way I think has helped them at times of whether I got accepted to this college or didn't, or whether I got this job or didn't or whether I... If we don't look at the greater aspect of it. We can overplay successes and achievements, or overplay challenges or let downs and I think it's part of the excitement of life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Love that. That's beautiful. Thanks. Oh, that's good. That's good. I think it's going to be really good for a lot of people to hear. Where do you want to go next after 65?

Todd Hofheins:

Let's go to 80.

Japhet De Oliveira:

80. All right, here we go. How would you like to change in the future on that journey?

Todd Hofheins:

My journey up till now has been a lot of learning and has been doors opened. What I'd like to do going forward is be more intentional and purposeful. I know, those are two words, but you can kind of combine them into one to kind of get the theme. And what I mean by that is as we start our lives, we have aspirations, we have things that we think, boy, if I could do this, my life would be grand. If I could achieve this, everything would be great.

Todd Hofheins:

And to some extent, we do need to build these resumes. And we do need to build a career, and we do need to do those things. And then you get to a point when your kids are older and your career has developed into kind of the pieces that it has. And I'm at a point where it's ok, what can I do with this to make it meaningful beyond me?

Todd Hofheins:

And that is not the same as outcomes. That's not the same as achievements. Yeah, there are things like I'd like to travel more and that. But at the end, that's kind of what can I do to pass things on to my kids that are different. And I've learned the hard lesson that a lot of us have learned of supporting them more isn't always a good thing. And so it's kind of the how can I participate in their life, or the lives of people that work with me, or people that I come in contact with?

Todd Hofheins:

How can I participate and engage with them that makes it better for us, and it makes it better around us? And so it really is kind of that? I don't want to be overly kind of whoo hoo, kind of Yoda spiritual kind of approach, but it's where I get the joy. I mean, it's kind of tactics and outcomes are important, but only if they lend themselves to something bigger, better. So that's a big part of it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I think that actually comes with time. And so you've developed that over time. I don't think that's actually something that I would have seen or you would have seen when we were young.

Todd Hofheins:

Yeah. And I think it's also a choice. I've probably in the last five to six years, it's gone from an aspiration to where can I do it? How do I engage in this experience or this relationship or this interaction different to achieve that? Because I think, kind of what I've learned over the last... And once again, experiences that have kind of shed some things off of me that are different and you kind of realize you can... My, I shouldn't project, I have found over times in my life, my identity has gotten tied up with things that aren't my identity.

Todd Hofheins:

And while the changes to shed those may not have been mine initially, or maybe different things, boy, the shedding of them have been enlightening and empowering on how I do my life going forward. And so that intentionality of it is important. And it's choices and not all the... Some choices are easier than others. Sometimes it's easy to make that choice to engage differently, sometimes it's ok, there will be consequences, there will be implications, and how do you work through that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

For our listeners, if you work at Adventist Health and serve at Adventist Health in you may have heard Todd speak, recalibrate with Scott, or you may have heard him speak at the ops Council and other leadership events. And you would have got a little glimpse into just the humility and the confidence of this leader.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And I think it's come with the stage of years, and he jokes about the Yoda and Jedi thing. But the truth is that I mean, I think it comes with time, that you realize that you don't have to prove something. And therefore you are more intentional with it. So I love that about your Todd. And I think that actually speaks into your leadership and into your vision as well. So yeah, that speaks volumes to that. Great. What number do you want to go to next?

Todd Hofheins:

We're at 80?

Japhet De Oliveira:

80 yeah.

Todd Hofheins:

How many questions we have left do you think?

Japhet De Oliveira:

You have enough time for three more?

Todd Hofheins:

Three more? Well, let's span them out, let's go to 85.

Japhet De Oliveira:

85. Describe a role model you aspire to be like?

Todd Hofheins:

I've been asked a similar question before. And my biggest challenge with this is one. That's my biggest challenge is because I definitely have role models. But they're varied role models. So what I'll go with, which is who is probably the greatest role model to me, and that's my father. And I'll probably get a little emotional as I talk about him. And my dad was flawed. He was not a perfect man by any stretch. He really went through some pretty tough challenges in his life.

Todd Hofheins:

But what I take away from him, and you'll hear it kind of as I reflect on what I take away from him, in some of the conversations that we had, tell you a little bit about him. He grew up on a copper mine in Utah. His father was an engineer. His father had a drinking problem, and his older brother and sister would have to go get his father from the bars every now and again.

Todd Hofheins:

He lived in a time that was kind of the, "Owe your soul to the company store." And that was just the time that he lived in. So came from some pretty rough times, dropped out of high school to go into World War Two, extremely patriotic, came back, got a GED, and ended up at IBM and then others.

Todd Hofheins:

But the thing that I admire most about him was his innate ability to reset and be vulnerable. I remember one time I was probably 18 years old, maybe 17, I came home late. It had been after hours. I was supposed to be home at probably 11:30 or midnight, and I probably got home at 1:30. I don't recall what I had been up to, but it probably wasn't anything that I should have been up to at the time and my dad met me at the door. That ensued to a conversation as you would expect with most fathers and 16, 17 year olds like this, and it escalated and escalated and was getting pretty tense.

Todd Hofheins:

And at one point he said to me, "I'm sorry, I don't know what to do. I'm doing the best I can. I just am worried for you. And I love you." And I'm like, "What? That's not fair. What am I supposed to do with this?" And to this day that situation has resonated with me and I remember one time with my son came home, we went to a football game, we couldn't find him. Yada, yada things went through. He came home, I was angry as could be.

Todd Hofheins:

I was so... I mean my wife's like, "I'll get him in bed, you..." And the next morning, I drew from my father and I said, "Hey, I'm not mad, I was just scared." And it changed the tone. So there's an ability that he had to do that. And I know that he had demons, and he had challenges. And so I don't think that came lightly to him. I don't think that came easy. But he found a way to do that. So that's something that has always stuck with me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. That's beautiful. Yeah, great Todd. Good. Where would you like to go for the last two, then?

Todd Hofheins:

You got to go big. So we'll go 95 and then 100.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ok. Well, here we go 95, then, tell us about how you see your faith and life intersecting.

Todd Hofheins:

So I was not raised Seventh Day Adventist. But I was raised in a religion very similarly. And participated in that religion through most of my life, served in different capacities. And at one point in my life... And my wife was raised that way, as well. And at one point in my life, we have gone a different direction, I consider myself still very religious, personally, very spiritual, personally. I enjoy learning about religion, I enjoy learning about doctrine, I have an opinion. I have what I consider faith.

Todd Hofheins:

And I have chosen throughout my life to work in situations where I can bring that faith to work. My mother jokes with me that, "You're very religious, but I think you're confused about what religion you want, because you've worked for a number of different religious organization." And she always says, "So how's that different than this?" And so I've chosen not to have to choose, kind of, in my own way.

Todd Hofheins:

I've worked at organizations where I've been able to have a picture of Christ on the wall. Most of my career, I've worked at organizations where we start meetings with prayers, or scriptures. So I would say I'm beyond comfortable with it. It's kind of what I've expected as we go through that. And I believe different than others that it isn't a compromise of excellence. I think it's the opposite. I think it's a higher level.

Todd Hofheins:

I think it is because I've been able to work in places like this, I feel like we have been able to put ourselves in hard conversations, and sit in the middle of them, and be part of it, because there isn't an easy decision. But we've expected something higher, as we've had to change an organization, or as we have had to make different calls that we know, these are two values in balance, but somewhat in conflict and how do we within our value set, move them forward? And I mean those are the kinds of people I want to work with.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful, beautiful, love the balance.

Todd Hofheins:

Good question. Best question yet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Yes, it could be.

Todd Hofheins:

I said yet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You did.

Todd Hofheins:

They are getting harder.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, they are. A little bit more complex. So question 100, are you still ready for that?

Todd Hofheins:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ok. All right. Here it is. And tell us about the one question that you just don't want to answer.

Todd Hofheins:

I think the question that I would find the hardest to answer are probably the ones that get to the core of kind of the insecurities. We all have them. Regardless of the stature we have achieved. We all I think know what they are. Others know what they are as well. But it's difficult to talk about them. And some of them are pretty simple.

Todd Hofheins:

And so that's probably the one. I think being a father, being a husband and being a leader. To me the thing that is probably the most is that judgment piece of how do I make this call? And knowing that it's going to be hard, how do I adequately represent, create enough clarity for the organization or my kids or others without opening the dialogue in the right way to allow people to influence it.

Todd Hofheins:

And it sounds like an easy thing. But there's an adequacy in there and there's an engagement thing in there. I think it's important that leaders and parents and others provide some vision, provide some confidence, provide some aspiration, provide some motivation. Those levered to hard become hierarchical, become kind of a dictator, become prescriptive and sometimes as a leader it isn't what we intended but it is how it is taken and perceived.

Todd Hofheins:

So that's probably the thing and it's less about me, great I did it or didn't. It's more about for me to achieve the things that I want to achieve, for me to raise kids that have these capabilities and that have learned through decision making and have done this, I've got to provide some guidance. But I got to create enough space at the same time within an organization especially as a CFO it's a very similar piece.

Todd Hofheins:

And so how I constantly ask the question and think about am I looking at it from all sides, but not getting in the space of self doubt. I think very different context even though the openness or multiple perspectives is needed. So that's probably the thing. So one insecurity and that's probably the insecurity to me that has plagued me my entire life just trying to balance that. And I can say that I have been grateful to be surrounded by people and worked with teams that I have found the more that I have embraced that and vocalized that I can be more open with my visions and dialogues because we've developed relationships where they can kind of come the other way. So it comes out of this full development. So that's probably the one that I would put stay out on.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No that's beautiful Todd, look I think it speaks volumes to all of our listeners as well. Because the truth is that we are made up of a lot. And if we imagine that work is one compartment, our marriage is one compartment, our relationship is one compartment, our parenting or family relationships is other I think we lose the pressure and the benefits and the strength that it has when we realize that they actually are all connected. And sometimes they affect us and we have to be honest about when they do affect us. And I think that's actually really good. I'm with you on that.

Todd Hofheins:

I think the other thing is I love working at places where people can bring their whole self to work. Because I think there's a richness in that, in our relationships and how we talk with each other and yeah, there's always an appropriateness of sharing. But I think that also varies based off of relationships and setting as we go through that. I've got great, great friends and colleagues that I've made over the years. Not everybody that I've worked with as a friend but there are a lot of them, from a lot of different situations.

Todd Hofheins:

And it's rich, I mean it's nice to kind of go through that. And boy I'm in Roseville today and usually my buddy Jason wells is here or usually you're here. And you've seen me. I'll walk to the printer and I'll do jumping jacks along your windows, but I enjoy the human part of our jobs, because the only way we get things done is working with each other. And sometimes what we have seen as a flaw in ourself or others is actually a great capability that can get played out in a certain environment, to really just launch things forward. And our ability to recognize that and value that in each other is... That's exciting. That to me is energizing. That first time you sit down with somebody new hear their story, and you're like, "Wow, that's cool." And I didn't expect that. It's kind of like opening a little box and just finding this...

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's true.

Todd Hofheins:

So that's cool.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's true. That's true. Well, Todd, our time is up. But it's been an absolute pleasure. And I want to thank you for the honesty, for vulnerability, for sharing some of the stories and experiences that have shaped your life. Just snippets of them, but it's been a valuable time for us and for everyone.

Todd Hofheins:

I appreciate it. It's been a pleasure as well. Thank you very much for your time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I want to encourage everybody who's also listening to continue sharing your own story and experience, because as you do, you will grow others well. It is a valuable moment. Take the time to do that. God bless you and look after you.

Narrator:

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