A Lofty Dream, Worth the Drive

🎙️ Episode 1 – Worth the Drive, A Lofty Dream

Featuring Jenelle Hutcherson – Lofty Dream Salon

A haircut can be more than just a change in appearance—it can be a moment of transformation. In our first episode, we sit down with Janelle Hutcherson, owner of Lofty Dream Salon in Long Beach, to talk about what it really means to create a space where people feel seen, safe, and confident in who they are. From her journey into the beauty industry to the impact of gender-affirming hair care, this conversation goes beyond style and into identity, community, and self-expression. This is a story about more than hair—it’s about what happens when people are finally able to feel like themselves.

🎧 Follow Worth the Drive for more conversations with the people behind the places shaping our communities.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Cross centuries hair has meant a lot more than we think. I mean, from black barbershops being the pillars of community and conversation to specific hairstyles reflecting our culture and our identity. We all know that feeling when we get a new haircut and we we feel a little different, we walk a little taller, we feel special. Even being in the chair, having conversations, we feel heard, we can feel seen. And for some people, that means a lot more. I mean, with gender-affirming hair care, with hairstyles that reflect who they are inside. Today we get to talk about hair and everything around it. Today we're joined by Janelle of Lofty Drink Salon. It's always awkward to do a non-start start. Like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Sometimes my clippers make that sound. Wah wah. The pull start ones? The pull start ones. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Okay. Alright, alright, alright. So Janelle. Yeah. Um, when was the first time in your life you had an interest in doing hair?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Well, you know, it's kind of funny. I got introduced to hair pretty early on. My grandma Tilly, she was a hairstylist and owned her own salon when I was a kid. And she I remember her doing hair in the kitchen for my mom, perming her hair, perming my dad's hair as a kid. And uh that kind of had an everlasting effect on me and made me interested in the art of doing hair and connecting with people through hair.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah, like what can you describe like what it was like, like sitting in Tilly's kitchen? Tilly's kitchen, okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Let me tell you right now, I remember distinctly my grandmother had like a collection of roosters and chickens in the kitchen. There must have been like 5,000 chickens and roosters in the kitchen. Cocky lady. She was a cocky lady, yes. Uh, she would laugh really hard right now at that. Um but uh you know, my favorite part was she would take this big bed sheet and like lay it on the floor, and then she'd put the stool over the top of it, and she'd cut their hair or perm their hair, do whatever she was doing. And my job was to pick up the sheet very carefully as to not lose any of the hair clippings and go shake the hair clippings off into the planner box outside.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

You best not mess up Tilly's kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

I know, she was not about a mess, trust me. My grandmother was not about a mess.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So those initial memories of of that, that feeling you got when you were getting your hair cut by your grandma, that kind of instilled this in you, what you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Well, yeah, I mean, well, one of the fondest memories I have is I remember, I mean, as any kid, right? Like, your grandma is your grandma, and you don't think anybody else knows them, and there's some sense of like ownership over them. I remember going into the store with her someplace, and two or three people walked up to us knowing who she was, and immediately I got kind of protective over her, like, how do you know her? And I realized my grandma. Yeah, exactly. And I realized it's just the fact that she does their hair, that that's how everybody knew her, and there was some magic to that that I think I realized, and that resonated with me, and I think to this day I realize that is a special magic to have as a hairstylist who know so many different people from all walks of life, but yet they connect in one place, and that's your chair.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

So, what were some of the things you talk about with your grandma while getting your hair cut?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Um I don't remember the things we'd talk about other than I wasn't allowed to have scissors as a kid because I cut my own bangs a few times. So the couple of haircuts I got pretty early on was my first wallet. Uh-huh. You know, not by choice, uh, not by necessarily, I guess, fashion design, but because I chopped a chunk out in front and well at the in the 80s, you know, it was like the top trending haircut, so at least I was trendy.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

So your first your first haircuts were self-inflicted haircuts.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

I yeah, you know what? That hair was in my way.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah, okay, so life goes on and you go through when did you decide to circle back to doing hair on your own?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Um I would say probably about 15, 16 when I was in high school, and I realized what I wanted to do for my life career was do hair. Um, too smart for school for for the books and things like that, and I had a connectiveness with people, and I just I realized I really wanted to do hair, and people would trust me and let me do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

So when you decided, hey, I'm gonna make this a business, what what were the first steps you did?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Well, because my family, growing up in Bakersfield, California, they own businesses. I knew immediately, number one, I had to go to school to get my license to touch people, cut their hair, cosmetology is what it's called. Um, and I also knew I had to go through the city stuff and get all the business licensing, all that set up.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

So tell me about the name. Why lofty dream?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Oh, well, I mean, it's taken a few a few turns here as far as what my name was. Lofty Dream Salon is actually about me and my wife when her and I first met, and uh I knew she would keep me grounded, and she literally looked at me and said, I've never met anyone with such lofty dreams. And uh that's that's how Lofty Dream Salon came about.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

You find that's fitting, right? That's that's who you are, that's that's part of the goal.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

That's who I've become, it's who I've I've evolved to be. Yeah, and I I love to keep things lofty even with clients and for them to chase their dreams that happens every day in conversation.

unknown 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

So when it comes to when people come into your your salon, people come into your studio there. I know you and I always have good conversations when we come in. How much of the hair care process is the conversation?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I mean, it didn't always, I mean, there was always some sense of like women in our industry taking care of other women, and there were classes we could take to make sure that if someone was being trafficked, um, that there were signs for us to know, to look for. Um, but I think at this point in time, like women talking about real issues that are happening today in a safe place provided for them to talk about them in, I think is probably one of the key situations that I deal with on a daily basis. And it's not even just mental health, it's it's actual issues that that we're seeing happen daily, and I think it's important that we talk about them.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

So there's kind of a catharsis in the chair.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

So people get to talk to you and uh kind of unravel some stuff and get their hair done.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Absolutely, yeah. I think it's important that we are discussing issues, taking a seat at the table. I I think in like barbershops, like in that sense, like men talk about chop shop all day long, about politics, religion, anything, you know, in those catered to scenarios, right? Like those scenes, like that place, a barbershop. You go and you talk about those things. Where women have been taught to not talk about those things and to be quiet and to stay silent. And I think offering a place for women to learn to have those conversations is important.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

So what I get from this is hair care is self-care. Yeah. Right? So when we're sitting in in the chair and we're we're getting our hair done, when we're doing something for for us to make us feel different. I know every time I get a haircut, I feel different. But we're also able to unwind, and we're also able to uh vent, right? Yeah. So these are all important things um to do. I know one of your special things that you uh do are gender-affirming haircuts and gender-affirming hair care. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Yeah, so I know gender-affirming haircuts were not a coined term when I first started doing hair. Um, as someone of the LGBTQ community, um, every haircut I've ever given, I feel like, has been a gender-affirming haircut uh because I listen to who that person is and how they want to present themselves to the world. And um I I try to bring that to life in their own version of themselves, tailored to them. Their hair texture, their t their, I guess, um willingness to style their own hair. I really try to listen and understand the individual.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Can you tell us a little bit about I mean, specifically about what gender-affirming hair care is?

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah. So gender-affirming hair care hair care is about cutting techniques that help an individual feel as they are on the inside reflectively outward. So that can be a combined two things. For example, like a barber shop. So clipper cutting, right? Um typically when you walk into a salon, there aren't a lot of barbers. However, I would argue today there that's a lot more open. Where in a salon-like atmosphere, a male that wants a traditional clipper-cut haircut may not feel so comfortable walking into, right? It's like a man walking into the brawn underwear section, you know, like, oh my god, where am I at? I'm out of place, right? So, with that same set in mind, like you want a stylist that is capable of doing both things, both the long-haired, more feminine styles, but also the masculine clipper cutting work, right? And finding those special niche places is really, I guess, what I forte in in offering that on an LGBTQ spectrum as well. So it's affirming who they are, the way that they want to feel and present themselves to the world, but offering both masculine and feminine details at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

So, can you tell me a specific moment or a time where you were doing a haircut and you actually saw that person come out into themselves?

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Oh, so many times. I mean, I I love the fact that I have a lot of things I could reference right now, but I would say that first haircut when a female is ready to chop her hair off, to buzz it down, to really just shine and show who she is, I think is a super feminine power move for women to do. Because we identify ourselves so much through long hair in order to feel feminine, because that's who we're told we should be. Whereas if you still feel feminine even though there's no hair there and it's gone and you really are shining as an individual, I think that is your true identity, and I think to connect with that is important. And when I get to see that on a daily basis, somebody come in and go, I'm ready to make this big move, and to step boldly into who I am. That's there's there's no greater honor as a hairstylist to get to do that for them.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

What do you think it is about you that makes people feel comfortable enough to do a haircut like that with you? I mean, it's it takes a lot of courage, one in itself, right? Like I have to feel comfortable enough in myself that I I want to do this haircut and then I need to find someone that I can trust that's gonna guide me through it. What what is it about now that makes it a safe space to do something like that?

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Well, I think as someone that likes to do a lot of my own inward reflective work, I think I'm just a safe person for people. You know, I find myself on a daily basis, someone will share something completely random with me in public, a complete stranger, and they just sense that perhaps you know we have this connected safeness within each other. Number one. Number two, to have the skill set I think is key. Um and of course people look for a stylist that's able to do what they're looking for um as a component when looking for somebody new. Um I think there's there's not a a written formula, but somehow I have that little magic key that I think lets people feel like they can grow, feel safe, have the skill set, and of course, too, maybe we can have a great conversation and see what else is beyond that big bold step, you know? Dream, lofty dream.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

It's true, it's true. So you and I have had some pretty deep conversations in the chair.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Talking about all things, I mean politics, oh yeah, family, relationships. Does it go both ways, or do you feel like you're a sponge absorbing everyone else's stuff? Oh or do you feel, oh, I got to be a little cathartic as well?

SPEAKER_00 13:34

I would say this is a this is a this is a I guess like an exchange of energy too. Like, I don't want to be draining you, we don't want to be draining me, right? Like, we want to keep each other motivated, right? Like, and keep each other uh held accountable, whether it be the inner work that we're doing, uh political work that we need to be doing as a community, anything, it's not just haircuts, it's definitely us at large as a community of human beings trying to take care of each other.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

So do you consider like like the salon like a community space for you and all of your clients?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

So it it feels it feels like the town hall, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Kind of.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Everyone meets at the same place, maybe at different times, but everyone meets at the same place and we go over all the topics that concern us, all the topics that bring us joy. I mean, you get to experience all types of life events with people.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Sure, and sometimes, I mean, it can be even hard to get through some conversations because I've already chomped on that and know how I feel about it, but then sometimes people can express things that might even be hard to talk about and awkward in the chair. But you know, you do your best to move forward past those and try to educate each other. And sometimes if you just realize that you've grown apart, then sometimes you've grown apart.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

How important is that connection to your client?

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Um for me as the as the person doing the work, in order for me to stay in love with what I'm doing, I need to have that genuine connectedness with everybody. And if I I have to call it, then I have to call it.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Can you give us an example of when you had to call it? Or you've had to fire a client.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Firing clients, oh yeah. I think every hairdresser out there knows this feeling. It's not fun, and it's really disappointing, and there's that knot in your stomach, and you're just like, ugh, I can't breathe, right? But you know what? It's hard to put on your big girl panties sometimes, especially when you're you're you're having your emotions around it. But I can think of a few times, and one of them being, I think, early COVID. Um, you know, having to let go of a couple of clients that didn't want to wear a mask in order to help keep others protected. Um, especially being that I have clients that entrust me with such serious health information, um, like having Hep C or HIV or AIDS, and they've kept you safe for years, and you have zero clue that what they have done by being open with me so that I know, right? Like it's so important to me that we're taking care of each other as a unit, as a group, as a community. And when you can't see outside of your own self and contribute to taking care of others by just simply putting a mask on, then that's very disappointing, let alone bigger topics, you know, like um, I don't know, as a female not wanting to protect other females. Yeah, you know, you're contributing to men. No offense, you're a good one, we'll keep you. You can say all men. It's fine. It's not always all men, but why is it always a man? You know? It sucks. I hate this, but here we are, we gotta talk about it. And it's it's uncomfortable and it can feel cringy, but but everyone get comfortable in that cringe real quick.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think we we we need to start being comfortable in expressing ourselves freely, or else what's gonna happen is uh we're all gonna go back into hiding and the loud ones are gonna get the attention.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Yeah. Well, on to another topic. I want to go back to business. Yeah. Um, what were some of the steps you took when you started your own business? Besides the credentials and stuff like that, like what was the physical act of starting your business and what was the drive behind starting your business?

SPEAKER_00 17:27

You know what? I am an implant in Long Beach from Bakersfield. I really wanted to get out of that area, that place. I wanted to see where my my visions, my dreams could take me. Um, I slept in my truck on weekends while coming down to LA area to put myself in interviews on Saturdays and Sundays, Monday mornings even, um, to see where that next step would be. And, you know, funny enough, one of my um middle school friends went to Long Beach State out here at Cal State. And um she said, hey Janelle, your cousin told me that you're you're sleeping in your truck out in LA tonight. Do you want to come down and have a couch to sleep on instead? But will you do my hair? And I said, Okay. So I drove through what would be Ocean Boulevard, and I saw, you know, this beautiful view, and I didn't even realize I was still in LA. Technically, Long Beach is still LA. And I just fell in love. I fell in love with the area, I fell in love with that drive through there, the beach, the city, everything. It was it was beautiful. And you know, had that not happened or occurred, I don't feel like I would have ended up in Long Beach. I was looking through West Hollywood, LA, prime, you know, but I just found that it wasn't quite my vibe.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Like looking through the prime hair locations, yeah. Were you like looking to like work in the industry, or were you just looking so the the Los Angeles film industry or any of that stuff?

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Yes, I think as every hairdresser dreams, oh, I'm gonna do hair in LA and you know, be the next Paul Mitchell or you know, from Bakersfield, be in my lofty dreams.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

You go in your lofty dreams to be Paul Mitchell with fantastic hair. Uh so what was one of the big mistakes that you made when you started out?

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Ooh, I guess that's a tough one because I feel like any mistake, as long as there's a lesson learned, it's not a mistake. Um I would say it would be that I didn't believe in myself enough off the bat that I should have known what I had to work with and what my cards were, knowing that I could rely on myself more and really shot for the stars on that. But with all said, I mean I have done the Oscars, I have worked for the Academy Awards, working on the board members. Um, I've had the opportunity to work for uh Broadway out of New York. I've had the opportunity to do a few stars hair here and there. Um, but nothing better, I think, than actually running my own business and doing the work I'm doing right now, and that's with my people in my community and my clients.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

So you worked for other salons before you started your own, of course.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

And what were some of the the horror stories of working for other salon owners?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Oh man, I can tell you. I can give everyone some trauma right now. No, I won't do that too.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

That you corrected that you corrected when you started your own salon, of course. But like, what are some what are some of the the horror stories that you went through with other salon owners?

SPEAKER_00 20:41

I mean, I have seen salon owners um have way too big ego for their bridges, that's for sure. And that's in our hair industry in general. Um, I've also seen salon owners really dictate how artists go about their art, and I think that that's really uncomfortable when you should just let artists be artists. Um I've seen people flip out over how a towel's folded. Um to me, I'd pick my battles, you know. But I'd say thank you for folding the towel in general, you know? But I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

How much of that is ego, and how much of it is like intimidation from another artist actually maybe sometimes be better than you. Uh, because I think we live in a world where we don't support when someone's better than us. I I think a lot of people tend to belittle when someone's better than us. Um, you think a lot of that may have been, and and this is don't be humble on this, you think a lot of that may have been intimidation?

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Definitely. I think people can be intimidating, especially when they realize that that somebody that is under them might actually be better than them. And I mean that could even be in all domains. That could be as a human being, that could be in life choices, that could be in their artistic work. And they've got a lot to work on and they don't want to deal with that. So it's easier to focus and pick on and bully.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah. Yeah, because a lot of times it might not even be skill-based, it may be connection-based. Like you connect with your client so much more than them.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Even even to the fact that some people may just like you more in given situations. And so that's that's the hard part.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

So genuineness, I think, is hard to cover up and hide because it it and it can intimidate people on their own when they're insecure.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Yeah. So when you came out onto your own and you're like, I'm gonna starve my, I'm not gonna deal with anybody else's anybody else's salon, I'm gonna do my own thing. Well, tell us about that process, like like the fear behind it. It had to be scary, right?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

It definitely, I I think I shook handing in my two weeks' notice, you know, at the last place I worked at, um, for many reasons, um, but also too, just in general, shaking because you're scared to do it on your own.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Um what's the fear? Let's dive into that. Like what's the fear?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Is the fear failure?

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Okay, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:08

We're all scared of failure, right? We're all scared to know if we actually can cut it. Can we actually cut it? It's not just hair. Can I cut it? Can I make sure that those numbers meet? Can I make sure that I am actually connecting and doing a good job and creating a culture, right, of a business that that connects with the community? Because at the end of the day, you know, you've got to have that, otherwise you're unsuccessful altogether.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

What was your support network through that?

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Um, I think I was pretty hell-bent on succeeding out of spite.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Usually works.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

You know what I mean? We'll be me and the roaches. We'll still be here. But, you know, I think something lights your fire under your ass that just gets you to move, you know, and whether it be timing, it be a series of events that actually call you to action, whatever it is that you're just sitting on waiting. You know what I mean? I think that go for it, give it a try. Test the waters, test the market, test, and just see if it's something that you you can actually achieve and trust yourself.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

You know, it's scary. I've scary to trust ourselves. I believe it because I've I've been through that when I started my own thing, when I when I got out on my own, and and not having the safety net is a big thing. And uh, but the best things are are made through that trial. Absolutely. Uh the trial of fire to actually just get it done.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

So you worked at other salons, then you became your own brand, your own business. When was the time you said, okay, I have my own business, now I'm gonna start my own salon specifically for me? What was that like, and what was the the push to get you to that?

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Well, I had taken some business classes over at the um community college, Long Beach Community College. Go Vikings. Uh-huh, go Vikings. Um, and you know, this this eight-week course that they offered uh for brick and mortar businesses really helped open my eyes and fine-tune me to what I was looking for, uh, that next step to be because I really didn't know what that would be, what it looked like. And I realized that I wanted to possibly own a salon collective. So I had a mentor that had already owned a salon collective out in Orange County, and that I was having phone conversations with and asking questions as they came up. And I had my eye out looking for a collective to join before opening my own to make sure that it was, I think, who who I wanted to be and step into. And so hence one of my clients, Julie, uh, who owned her own business as well as a personal trainer, came in one day and she said, you know, I got a I got a space just up the street here at this uh Feet Studios wedding collective. And I said, You do? That's really weird because I've been looking at joining a collective. This is my new stuff I'm gonna, you know, go into. And she said, Well, they do have an extra room in the back that technically isn't rented out or used. And I said, Well, when you go back, ask the owners if they would want to have hair on site. And so as soon as uh I'd gotten a message that apparently the owners Michael Farmer and Marnie Farmer were open to having hair on site. Uh I set up an interview with them just uh to see what worked and if it worked or didn't work, and now here we are sitting in this car ride today. So when I was looking to open up my own space and to make it my own self and my own salon business, I was looking for a collective, I was looking for other artists, other forms of art to connect with. I was looking for a place to that was safe for LGBTQ people, um, and a place that I knew would force me to grow. That's what I was looking for.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Was it scary initially um taking on the added costs of running a business by yourself and not just uh a booth? Um taking over a physical space was was the what was the intimidation factor in that?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Um I would say numbers-wise, the numbers all added up and made sense. Um because when you look at what I was paying for rent in a salon space versus uh the other areas of uh Long Beach, and I kind of cross-checked because I'm a numbers person at the end of the day in a business, you have to have numbers meet, right? So all those numbers from hair product shampoo to um any build-out needed to be done to uh monthly cost of rent, right? And my home bills and all that stuff be taken into mind, it was actually a wash. Okay, so it was a why not take the chance?

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah. If a young hair artist came up to you today and asked you your advice on how to get started, what little piece of advice would you give them besides run?

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Um I would honestly ask them how serious they are about honing in their skill set. Because I do to this day still find that a lot of newer artists are going out there thinking they're gonna make lofty dream numbers, and they don't have the skill set to back it. And I would want any new artist coming in, which I've done in the past, you know, like the um taking an artist under my wing and tried to teach them everything. Um, but a lot of times they can't hack it. They don't want to actually truly work on their skill set and know the art of doing hair. And I think that would be my number one question is how in love with the art are they?

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Yeah. Because it requires the love behind that type of stuff, yeah. So on a day-to-day basis, what drives you? I mean, that's the point of this whole thing. Yeah, basically. It's what drives you to continue doing what you do on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

It's the people. It's the people. I love the people I get to talk to that I get to spend time with. I love being able to be consistent for them as their hairstylist and us pick up conversations right where we left off, or perhaps we're gonna have a new one and we're gonna chomp through whatever this is they're going through that day. Yeah or that week or that month or new life situation they're undergoing, right? It's the people.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Okay, on that same note, like what drives you outside of business? What drives you to be who you are in the community?

SPEAKER_00 30:04

I would say being able to connect with people in such a way that it's helped me evolve enough as a human being to want to create change out there in the world for the better, and to leave the world a hopefully a better place. You know? And I know that sounds kind of mushy gushy and cheesy, right? But at the end of the day, what are we all doing this for then?

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Which is true. There's no I mean, no the best reason to do stuff is to make things better. I I don't truth truthfully, I don't think people intentionally go out to cause harm. I think they just look more selfishly for self-gratification, but what makes Lofty Dream worth the drive?

SPEAKER_00 30:50

I'd say a great conversation. You're not only gonna leave with a great haircut, great color, but you're gonna leave with perhaps a shifted perspective and um help me help me help us, help us as a community, join the fight and being good humans and and fighting for what we love, and that's each other.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

I love that. I love that. That's really good. I like I I like that. I think I think that should be everyone's drive is to make everything better and collectively collectively be better humans.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Well, thank you for joining me, Chanel.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Oh, are you kidding me? Thanks for taking me on a cool drive in this cool car. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_01 31:34

I hope it was I hope it was worth the drive.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Oh, it was worth it.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

And I hope uh going forward in the day and the next couple weeks, you you can focus back in, because I think a lot of us have to do that. Focus back in on why we do it and who we do it for. And I think you are an asset to the community uh in all forms. I think coming in and having a safe space for people to come in and feel comfortable. I know I've personally been there when I've seen someone come in and say, Oh my god, I feel like I'm home. And I think that's really important. And I think in the community at large, where we are, who we are, it's important to have people like you. So thanks for coming. Thank you.