Trust, Love, and The Ultimate Experience - Judy & Erik Thureson

Speaker: 00:00:04

TUCP Intro/Outro: Amy, thank you for tuning in to The Ultimate Coach podcast, a companion to the transformative book The Ultimate Coach written by Amy Hardison and Alan D Thompson, each conversation is designed to be a powerful wake up call, reminding us of what's possible for you and your life. So if you're on a journey to expand your state of being, this podcast is for you.

Meredith Bell: 00:00:37

Thanks for joining me for another powerful conversation on The Ultimate Coach Podcast. I'm Meredith Bell, one of the hosts of the show, and today's episode is very special for a couple of reasons. I'm talking with two guests, not just one, and they have just wrapped up an extraordinary gathering in Arizona called The Ultimate event. I'm thrilled to have with me today. Judy and Eric thurer, welcome to the show.

Erik Thureson: 00:01:08

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Judy Thureson: 00:01:11

Great to be here with you. Meredith,

Meredith Bell: 00:01:13

I'm so excited about our conversation, and for our listeners, most of them know your names very well because of the loving service that you have brought to the members of this community since day one, and really to everyone that you encounter. And so I'm so grateful to have this opportunity with you today. What I'd like to do before we jump into the recent event is to kind of zoom out and have you talk about, how did you learn about the ultimate coach and get involved in this being community?

Judy Thureson: 00:01:50

Wow, we're going way back the through the fall of 2021 I was following Steve Hardison on Facebook, and he put out this contest. He said, Hey, I'm driving to California from Arizona. Write to me and tell me why I should take you with me. And so back then, the access to Steve was very, very limited. You know, it's being a private client, and we know that that take the large investment. And so for a chance to be with him on a, you know, six, seven hour car ride with a huge deal. And I was not in that community. I didn't I just knew of Steve. So it felt like a one in a million. Chance, you know, felt like a needle in a haystack. Chance, how did you learn about Steve, maybe I said I just through Facebook. Well, I was working with rich Litvin at the time. I was in a cohort with rich Litvin, and, you know, he had coached with Steve Hardison. So I knew of Steve just as this kind of, like this urban legend, like the Wizard of Oz, or Willy Wonka, you know, if you've heard of him, but to have access to him was very limited at the time, so when he put out this contest, you know, all my friends, everyone and the cohort was like, Judy, you live in Arizona, you should put, at least put your name in the hat. And I thought, Okay, what the heck again, not thinking I was going to be picked. But I wrote my little note of why he should pick me. And the essence of the note really was that Jacob, our son, Jacob, who passed in 2019 was my greatest teacher. And something that he taught me was to live your life full out and to, you know, don't have any regrets, and live every day, you know, as if it's your last kind of a thing. And so that was kind of the essence of my message to Steve, that I'm putting myself out there because of what I've learned from my son. And lo and behold, the very next day, I get a phone call from Steve. It's like 630 in the morning, and I remember looking at my phone and seeing his name. Most normal people would pick it up, but I threw my phone on the bed. I caught potato, I threw it on the bed and and I let it go to voicemail, because I was so just shocked that he would call me. And when I listened to his method, she just said, Hey, you're in the running. You're in the top I think it was top 20. And I called him back and had a wonderful conversation, and then I made it to the top six. There were six of us, three from Arizona to California, and then we had to figure out how to get home. And then he picked up another three from California back to Arizona. And I'll tell you that car ride changed my life. Literally changed my life, just being in his presence, being being with him. At this point, I had already read the manuscript. The book wasn't out yet, but I always tell everyone you know, being with him for those seven hours, the book didn't. Him justice. Who he was in person was so much more, you know, just the unconditional love, the creating in the moment, and just being with people and loving people, and just the energy, it was just amazing. So funny story kind of back up is when I wrote that the message to Steve that I wanted to be in this car ride with him. Eric was out of town on business, and so out of respect for Eric, I said, Okay, before I send this, I should probably ask my husband first what he thinks about me riding in a stranger's car, you know, for seven hours. And when Eric came home, when I told him, I said, Hey, there's the Steve Hardison, and I wrote this letter, and I want to, you know, ride with him and win this contest. Eric's first words, exact words were, what? What did you say, Eric,

Erik Thureson: 00:05:53

How do you know he's not a serial killer?

Judy Thureson: 00:06:00

Those were the exact, exact words. And if you know my life story, you know that I've actually escaped from two serial killers in my lifetime. So my answer back was like, Well, if he is, it won't be my first rodeo. That's for another podcast. Meredith and I shared a little bit about it at the last ultimate experience. But anyway, so. And then Eric said, hey, if this is something you really want to do, why don't you pray about it, ask the spirit. And if spirit says, Yes, who am I to get in in the way of spirit, right? And I did pray and but looking at Eric's body language, I could tell he wasn't really 100% on board with this, so I was pretty much like, okay, I guess I'm not going to do this, but I did consult and pray and ask, and two days later, spirit was super clear. I cannot explain it logically. It made no sense why I should be in this car with Steve Hardison, but everything in my being just knew I'm supposed to know this man. And so when I sent the the letter, I got a call back right away. And I did get chosen so

Erik Thureson: 00:07:11

And I knew that was I knew that was gonna happen, like when she asked me, there was something that just this intuition, the spirit was confirming, like she's gonna, she's gonna get picked. Like I just knew when she sent it that she was, she was gonna be one of the ones riding in this car. And it was interesting, because after I had said that 10 seconds later, I was like, well, the spear is like, Hold on, wait a minute. This might be a really great opportunity. And I can't pass a judgment on somebody I don't know. And there's, there's a possibility that this could be a really, really great experience for her, and, and I really needed to put, let, put it in God's hands, and, and then that's why I encouraged her. I said, Well, you pray about it and, and if you, if you feel like it's a yes, then it's going to be yes. And I already knew it was going to be a yes before it even occurred. So it was an interesting wrestling in my heart, like between here in California, there's a lot of empty desert, you know, places to hide the bodies. And so I was like, but at the same time, you know, as I was like, well, let's see what happens. And here we are.

Meredith Bell: 00:08:41

Here we are amazing. So Judy, the the ride in the car really started you on this amazing journey. And so talk about the steps, or the what thinking went through from the ride in the car with Steve to putting on that very first ultimate experience event in in Phoenix.

Judy Thureson: 00:09:08

Yes, so kind of long story, but to shorten it up, there was an opportunity to work with a coach that who Steve was coaching at the time, and I had to get creative on how to come up with the funds to start working with this coach. So everybody now knows that the ultimate experience is a we support nonprofits, something that we do all over the world, and it's nobody gets paid to do it, you know, the amazing charitable work of service, right? But what people, most people, don't know, is it started out, really as a selfish endeavor, if I'm going to be quite honest, because I had to get creative, and I want to work with this coach, but I don't have the funds to do it. What can I do? What can I create? And I said, Oh, here's an idea. Why don't we create a. Event for Steve's book, and we charge people at the door, and I can raise money for my coaching fund, right? And when Steve and it was Philip reach at the time who with this coach I wanted to work with, when they caught wind that I was creating this event because I wanted to raise funds for my coaching. They both said, You know what? First of all, you're a genius. We're thinking about that, and we don't need the money. Please. Whatever you raise, give it a charity, and consider your coaching be paid in full, right? And so that just showed me, you know, who I was dealing with. It just made me love them even more than you know, they're really coming from this place of service. And I love that that was the seed that was planted. So now every single ultimate experience had the charity that they support. And this year. You know, we're we supported soul shop. I think we're close to 20k now that's been raised for them, and they're an amazing Vicky a desko. She's part of our community. She's doing incredible work with with the kids, and, you know, has served over a million kids already, and so we're really excited to serve them this year as their beneficiary. Last year, we served, Oh, you are operation Underground Railroad, and raised over 100 $111,000 to help support human traffic victim. And Eric was really the catalyst for creating that and making that happen. So, you know, it's funny, it doesn't matter how it started, right? It matters how it's going. And I love that this has now become such a beautiful part of, an important part of the ultimate experience events, which is to support charities and nonprofits.

Meredith Bell: 00:11:58

That's wonderful. The focus and the spirit that people bring to it. I'm sitting here curious, because I can only imagine the very first event when you had never done I'm guessing anything like that, compared to this third one, there's got to be some evolution that you probably both have been through in between, you know, from that very first event and organizing it, seeing it through to the one you just completed. Can each of you share some of the things that you've learned and how you've grown through this process?

Judy Thureson: 00:12:39

Do you want to go first on that, honey,

Erik Thureson: 00:12:42

Yes. Well, okay, I'll share something that occurred in the first one. I work in production. That's where my skill set is and and so one one evening before the event in the first one. We met in Steve's living room, and there were a handful of us there, rich habits, Eric law home, Sarah Adnani, Philip Judy and myself, Alan Thompson and Steve and Amy. And I can't remember who else was there. Rafael was on Zoom. So we had him on the screen. Was Alex. Alex might have been on zoom as well. Dumas. Anyway, during this meeting, I felt completely out of place. I'm like, What am I doing here? And just grateful and happy to serve. And made a commitment that I would serve this, this event, with my skill set, with the things that and I'll serve in that capacity so cameras, recording live stream, etc, etc. And long story short, one thing after another started to fail, and it was like a perfect storm. And I've never seen anything like this. The cameras weren't working. I had we had tested all the gear the night before, and everything was fine. And so walking into the event, we're confident everything's working. It's tested. We're ready to go. Cameras aren't working. The streaming platform wasn't working, the outbound signal wasn't working. The recording was like nothing. It was like one and and the event starting, and I and I'm just, I'm getting really anxious, and nothing to it. I'm trying everything. And so the frustration is just slow. It's like this, it's just this boil that's starting to come up and and. And they're delayed, like Alex is on stage, and he's kind of, you know, warming up the crowd, but really delaying, trying to give me some time to get things in place. And then Eric law firms in my face, going, where's the stream? And and so he starts one on his phone. And so I'm getting even more frustrated, because he's pouring gas on the fire, then he takes matters into his own hands and and so I'm like, Well, I guess I'm gonna have to pivot, and I'm gonna do it from the phone, instead of all this really expensive gear that we brought and and so I started a live stream from my phone, and then I started a second camera live stream from the computer, the laptop. And so I set them in different spots so you could kind of get it. You could tune in to either one. And then I'm running around. The event's finally rolling, and my heart's pounding and I'm sweating and angry and frustrated and carrying my phone around and and then I start to see all of these comments come in on the live stream. So grateful that we can see this. We're tuning in from South Africa. So grateful to be able to see this. We're tuning in from Australia, we're so grateful to be and the gratitude just started pouring in. And then it hit me, I don't have to. I get to choose whether or not I'm being frustrated in in it was the first time in my life where I was able to catch myself in the fields in the moment and make that shift, and it was such a powerful lesson for me that and it also dawned on me that just because all of the other stuff wasn't working didn't mean that I wasn't having integrity because I was making it mean that I was making it mean like I was failing on all these fronts and I wasn't having integrity, and yet that wasn't true. I was still serving to the greatest degree that I could with the tools that I had that were, you know, thankfully, we had phones and different backup to be able to do that, but to be able to realize that and shift my attitude and who I was being in that moment in real time was, was such a powerful lesson that that was, that was the biggest thing for me in the in the first one.

Meredith Bell: 00:17:42

You know, I just love that you shared that Eric and I could feel your frustration as you were describing that and imagining how this happens in life, doesn't it that we have we've prepared, we've done everything we can, and then things can still go wrong, and they're totally out of our control, and yet we do have that choice. I love that you made that choice and you made that transition to realize who you could be in that moment and who you were being to all those people who were tuned in to the live stream and benefiting from that. That's very powerful. Before we shift to the third event. Judy, do you want to talk a little bit about where you were, what was happening with you in that first event?

Judy Thureson: 00:18:32

Yes. Well, what Eric didn't share is, again, Right? Steve doesn't do events, so the fact that he said yes to do an event was was huge number one. And he did not want to be on camera, and he didn't even want photographs. And he said, Judy, if anybody comes up there with a phone or camera, I'm gonna walk off the stage. Do you hear me? I said, Yes, sir. And so at this point, this is still a little bit post COVID, so a lot of people couldn't travel. And I'm fielding all these calls. People saying, Hey, we can't travel. We really want to be there. Or is there an option for live stream, please? And people are begging. And so most people, most normal people, when Steve says, No, I will not be doing that. They take his no for a no right, but I'm not most people. So I came back to him and I said, Dean, I know you said no to this, but there's all these people that really want to be a part of that. Would you reconsider and negotiate, you know, a new agreement? I said, How about this? What if we put the live stream in the Facebook group at the private face Facebook group, nobody will see it, and we can put it up there for 48 hours. And then once that 48 hours is done, if people watch it, or if they don't watch it, we'll, we'll remove it and destroy it, and nobody will ever see. It again. And so he says, Judy, I don't know why I'm saying yes to you for things that I normally say no to, but because of who you're being Yes, I will do that. Okay, so I think it was two days before the event, Steve calls me, and he said, Look, I know that we made an agreement. And I said yes to the to being recorded, but I want you to know my preference is to not be recorded. But you're the leader, and I said yes to you, and we have an agreement. So if you choose to use that as you know, to make that call to have it recorded, then I will say yes to that. But I want you to know that that my preference is to not be recorded. Now, Meredith, this is little old me who's never done anything like this, talking to Steve Hardison, I'm like, is this some kind of reverse psychology? Because what do I do with that? You know, he basically empowering me to be the leader. And that was a huge lesson that was such an expansion for me. Wow, am I going to give in to my people pleasing and because I want to please Steve, or am I going to act from a place of what will serve the greater good? And I knew at that time that what would serve the greater good was for him to be recorded in live stream so that the whole community can experience this together. So at the, at the beginning of the the event, I told him, you know, sorry, but we are going to record this and then we'll, we'll destroy it after 48 hours, okay? And he's like, Okay, I will do that. But then when we turned on all the recordings, nothing worked. Did Steve manifest that? I don't know. That's still the mystery, but I also have another theory, that in that room was what 300 of powerful beings vibrating on such a high frequency that I think we just had electrical interference, because there's no other logical explanation why everything went wrong with the with the production. So those are my theories. Steve Hardison of the magician, and he he didn't want to be recorded, so he created that and or the frequency was so high that we just, you know, nothing would work with the with the electronics in the room. So So then fast forward. As Eric was saying, the live stream was such a hit. Everybody was so grateful. People are watching it, crying and just saying, that's what's so transformative for them. And so this was Sunday night after the event, and I have a thought, and I and I thought, you know, we can't destroy this. This is too powerful. This is going to transform many, many lives. But how am I going to ask Steve for another thing? Right? I felt like at this point, I've asked for an inch, and I took a mile. And here's another thing that I'm asking, and I I have no idea how I'm going to ask him for this, but I'm having these, these thoughts, these feelings of, we cannot destroy this. What can we do to keep this up? So that was Sunday night, Monday morning, first thing in the morning, about eight in the morning, I get a call from Steve, and Steve said, Hey, I had a dream last night about you and an 18 year old boy, and I think we both know who that was. And Jacob came to me in the dream and said, Steve, you need to leave this recording up, because it's going to transform many lives. And Steve said yes to Jacob, and he called me the next day and he said, I said yes to Jacob, and I'm saying yes to you. We can leave the recordings up. And I'm telling you, even though the recording with a live stream not the best, you can barely hear it, so many people have become part of this community because of that live stream. So many miracles have happened from that live stream. So sorry, honey, because I was mad at Eric for about six months after that, because I blamed him for the production not working. And finally, when I understood that there is no logical reason why the production, like I can understand if one or two things broke down. But for everything to not work, there was something else at play here, yeah. So yeah, Jacob was a huge part of Steve saying, Yeah, to being recorded, to being videoed to now we have all this content, and, you know, just such a beautiful co creation, collaboration with all of us, and

Erik Thureson: 00:24:43

I'm out of the doghouse. Oh, yay.

Meredith Bell: 00:24:48

I remember watching that and watching Steve's part, and I was so moved, and I still remember some of the key points that he made that have impacted my thoughts. Thinking and behavior over time. So you're so right. I was what a powerful way to for him to get a message and change his heart and mind about what should be done with that that's very powerful. So after that event, I'm just guessing you were breathing this sigh of relief, and you know that you had pulled this off, and you know you've had, I assume, a team of people, including Eric, to help make it happen. Talk a little bit about what, what was your, what was going on with who you were being to propose a second event. What was the driver behind that for really, both of you getting on board with doing it again last year?

Judy Thureson: 00:25:52

Wow, I can't believe last year was only the second event. I feel like we've been doing this for 10 years now. Feel that, you know, for me, Meredith it the heart and the intention is always about what's going to benefit the greater good of this community. And you know, it's really moving, because when I see what people have gone through, the breakthroughs that they've had, and the transformations and the businesses being built and the relationships being mended, and even love relationships, people meeting each other in these rooms and are now married and families that are being put back together, forgiveness, human things, right? Like sure, we're in a room of the most powerful coaches in the world, but this is not about coaching. This is not about how can you make more money. This is not about how can you make more, you know, get more clients. This is really the essence of who are you being. I mean, it's, it's the heart of the book, who you're being is everything, you know, all the other stuff. It's just extra. It's just gravy. It'll come it's a byproduct. But who we're being is everything. And so for me, you know, I say this to our team, I say this to Eric, you know, what's more important to me is not as what's happened. It's not what is happening on stage on those days that we're having the event, but it's who we're being on our way to that, right? Who am I being with the hotel when there's miscommunication and now we have to pay extra because they rented out the rooms that we were supposed to use. Who am I being when the production comes to me and says, Oh, well, that changes things. Now we have to charge you over time, and it's going to cost this much money. You know, who am I being when I'm getting all the bills from all the expenses, and it's way more than what I anticipated, right? And I get to shift my being into that gratitude, like what Eric shared earlier, and the example of that, for me is what's most important is, who are we being in creating a being event. I will not be a hypocrite, and, you know, be this crazy person screaming at everyone and being stressed out, but it's really that we get to to practice being the ultimate experience starts here. It starts the moment you choose to come, the moment you choose to buy a ticket, the moment that you choose to get on that plane. It's not what's happening in that room, those three days, two days, even one day. It's about who you're being every day.

Erik Thureson: 00:28:38

Yes, yeah, it's so it's so powerful to see and watch Judy. I feel honored and blessed to have a front row seat to watch her transformation and the commitments that she's made that people don't see the things that happen behind the scenes, that the in the way that she shows up and she challenges the people that are are going to be presenting in, in like, hey, this isn't about imparting your wisdom. It's about sharing your heart and and yes, wisdom will be shared in along with that, but that's the the intent is coming from our heart center and not just our heads. And I did, I did put my foot down, though, and said we're not skimping on the production budget for the second one, I said, we're hiring the right team, and I know who they are, and it wasn't cheap, but it was going to make it worth it, and Kramer productions and Sammy premier have have been an absolute godsend for us to be able to really pull off these events in a way that. This is is seamless and professional, and we're able to create a safe environment and in a container, allows people to come together from all different walks of backgrounds and and all over the planet and in different belief systems, and different economic backgrounds and different racial backgrounds, in different beliefs, and are able to come together and love and respect and honor one another in a way that is just, I don't know if I've ever experienced this in any other environment, with note, with zero judgment, and with such a say she she has curated such a safe space and really prepared such a safe space for people to come together, that the vulnerability that occurs, it is like nowhere else, the love and the compassion and the words are insufficient to describe. People will talk about the the vibrational frequency, and others will talk about the the the spirit or the energy of the room. And it's one of those things that we can try to describe, and it's much like being, right? We can describe the being and by doing, so it ceases to be that, if that makes sense, because the incompleteness of words to describe something that's that's other worldly or ethereal, and in in many ways that you can sense and feel it's, it just doesn't do it justice to describe it in words. But yeah, there's a lot of logistic, logistical things that we've learned in in in the the three events that we've had, and being in a hotel and one and being in a really fancy environment that wasn't conveniently located to food and rooms and stuff of that nature. So there's a lot of a lot of those things that are that go into it, and to watch Judy really pray through those things, and the way that she leads and selects the and makes the invitations for the people to to to be on the stage the way that she curates the the programming, there isn't one thing that that happens or that occurs, or person that's that's in the program, that isn't spirit led, like she's been offered lots of money for people, from people to speak on that stage. And it's always a no, because it's not about that. And yeah, it's, it's, it's remarkable.

Meredith Bell: 00:33:13

I'll just say that you know, as I'm listening to you describe that, Eric, what's coming through for me, Judy, is the amount of preparation and attention to detail that's required, but then letting go at a certain point and recognizing you've put in what you can to Prepare and now you can be comfortable. Be okay. In fact, be happy with letting things evolve. Is that accurate?

Judy Thureson: 00:33:48

Oh my gosh, you hit it right on the nail. And even at the event, people were coming up to me, asking me how I was doing, and I was so just happy to be there, and I'm experiencing everything in real time, just like everybody else. All I do, they give the speakers the title for their talk, and then they come up with whatever it is that they're going to share, and there's, I don't micromanage. I don't ask for bullet points or give me a copy of your speech. First, we're all literally sitting there in awe of what's going to come out of people's mouth, and for the first time, so that there, it really requires a lot of trust we, you know, I extend that trust to the speakers who are chosen to come up and speak and and they show that same trust, you know, with with me, And with the audience, with the people participating in the event. And so it really has just this mutual honor and trust and respect and non judgment and love. And there, you know, there's no way, no words to express there to explain what it is. And I think we live up. To the name the ultimate experience, because it really is an experience like you can't if you ask people who were there to describe what happened, there's no words for it, you know. So you guys just have to come next year we're doing it again.

Erik Thureson: 00:35:19

That's the trust part is huge. And I and I that really is the foundation of of why it's such a safe space. And I think that the the trust that the people that are coming that they have in Judy, so there's that level of trust, the trust that Judy's extending to the the people on that she's invited to speak on the stage, trust that she has in the Spirit that God is guiding her in giving her the right things for the right Time, even if she doesn't necessarily understand the why, which her faithfulness and that is remarkable, the trust that the audience is giving the speakers, and the trust that the speakers are extending to the audience, as well as because the things that they're sharing like they're trusting When this they're sharing the deepest recesses of their heart to everyone that this is very vulnerable, and this authenticity that I'm sharing, if somebody was malicious, could use for some very ill purposes, however, that because of the safety and the trust They're trusting, that they're trusting the audience to steward that information in a way that's beneficial to themselves and to those to those around them. So it's it is, I'm grateful that you did say trust, because that is a huge foundation for for how these events are so successful.

Meredith Bell: 00:37:01

And you know, one of the things I want to kind of bring to our listeners is some of these elements that you're describing aren't limited to your event, right? These are areas that we can all think about in terms of who we are being with others in every aspect of our lives, the trust we're extending to others, in how we're interacting with them, the lack of judgment, the bringing coming from love. Just want to make that statement that we're not just talking about an event here.

Erik Thureson: 00:37:39

Mm, hmm, yeah, exactly

Judy Thureson: 00:37:43

I wanted to connect. Something that just came through right now is that when Steve requested to not be recorded, and his words were, but, you know, we have this agreement, I don't this is my preference, but I trust your leadership, and whatever you end up deciding to do, I will do that. And so even from the first event with Steve leading the way, and that trust that trust that empowerment and like just connecting that right now, and I'm blown away that, that those are the seeds that were planted from the first event that just continue to grow and grow. And it's such a beautiful thing. And I really appreciate that Steve leads by example, right? I mean, he's Steve Hardison. He can say, Judy, if you don't like it, I'm not coming and just, you know, leave me alone, but the fact that he extended that trust was really the seed to the foundation of these events. And like you said, Meredith, it's a way of being. It's a way of life, not just the event.

Meredith Bell: 00:38:54

And so tying in with what you just said about seeds to me, these events that you have had where these speakers share so deeply, there are seeds planted within the participants from and they could be hearing different things that hit them at their heart level, but then things are different when they leave there and go back to their lives. Be seeds, take fruit. You know, bloom and blossom over time. It's like having experienced really powerful coaching you continue thinking about and reflecting and living into the coaching you've received. It seems to me, everyone who comes to these events leaves with opportunities to continue, growing, learning, being a different you know, making these shifts in their lives, and I would love for the time we have left for you to share some of these transformations that. How each of you have observed in people who have come what what changes, what's different? Because I think that can serve as inspiration for our listeners for what's possible in people's lives when they consider alternative ways of being than the way they have previously shown up in a specific situation or with a specific individual?

Erik Thureson: 00:40:26

Yeah, I'd like to share first on that. And one of the miraculous things that occurred, that occurred for me and for others, was a lunch that was ahead of the the the event last year, not this, just this past 120, 24 and I was meeting and coach for lunch. He called me, asked if he could have a client that's in town join us. And I said, Sure, and that client happened to be Peter McCammon. Peter McCann is just an absolute amazing, beautiful individual as a human, but also a very powerful business coach in in the UK. Long story short, we were sitting just chopping it up for lunch and learning, you know, as a first time meeting Peter, and this first time meeting me, we're getting to know one another, and we're kind of unpacking the things that are occurring for for one another at this time. And then, and Coach prompts me and says, We'll share with Peter what you're up to with the event. And so we're talking about the event a little bit, and we had already decided that, Oh, you are, was going to be the beneficiary, on the heels of the sound of freedom movie and just this awareness of human trafficking and how we can have an impact. And I was learning a lot about that during that time. The goal was 20k so we that's typically the goal for the events is that we're raising 20k to give to whatever the beneficiary was. Well, I just got done reading the book, 10x is easier than 2x and and I had the secret goal of, like, Wouldn't it be cool if we did 100k like, that would be amazing. That would breast that would sponsor 10 rescue missions, and who knows how many kids that would rescue. And so I said, I told them what the goal was, and I said I had the secret goal. And then ashes me and says, it can't be a secret. Peter leans across the table and looks at me, and he says, I'll give you 10k right now, and I was like, What did he say? Like, I didn't hear it, like I couldn't hear it because it was so out of the scope of what I thought was possible. And I had this, this dream, this idea, this inspiration, but I wasn't going to tell anybody. And because of who Peter was being in that moment, and he said, My wife and I have been praying about something that we want to contribute to and support, and this is exactly it. And then in that moment, I realized it wasn't only possible, but if I'm being like Peter, it's gonna, it's likely gonna occur. And what unfolded was rescuing over 500 children from the money that was raised in that room. Now that that wasn't my win, but it started with the seed of the idea. It it started, and Peter watered it, and then God made it grow, and the entire community made this massive impact. And the miraculous thing that occurred was the shift in me from this idea of, it's it's an idea to this is possible. The other part of that was Ken Crenshaw during the event, because we weren't even halfway there, and it's the last day, and Ken Crenshaw says, hey, if we want to get this thing rolling, you just pick on me first and we'll get it rolling. And I didn't really understood what he meant in that moment, but there were additional things that needed to shift, because I had the idea that, Oh, it had to be already contributed in. Counted in in the number, in order to count it. And then I realized I don't need to do that. I just need to trust that if someone commits to giving a certain amount, that they'll be their word and and follow through. So I was able to count it differently and and then Steve Hardison whispered something to me, which I I've I've committed not to share, so I'll just leave that to your imaginations. And then I step on the stage, and there's $57,000 on the check, and I turned to the the producer, Michael, and he's like, Well, that's a big that's a big number, that's that's respectable, and it wasn't what we were trying to achieve. And I simply said, watch this. And then, and then the rest of the room. I mean, there are people that were making calls that were donating from not that weren't even in the room. And then when people started going, I'm going to donate 1111, and then it was just the room was on fire at that point. And yeah, it was that that was a massive, massive life changing moment for me, really learning how to step into leadership on who I'm being, not in a manipulative way or trying to guilt or pressure people in anything it was. No, I'm going to take a stand for these kids. I'm going to take a stand for the win for the room, and we're going to watch something miraculous unfold. And that's exactly what happened

Meredith Bell: 00:46:42

That from idea to speaking possibility and then the creation of the reality that, to me, is such a valuable theme around who we are being, those increasing levels of awareness of what's possible as we step forward in faith and take take action and speak it and speak it. And Judy, I know you have so many stories that you've heard of people. What are some of the ones that you would like to share with us right now?

Judy Thureson: 00:47:19

Yes, I think especially in the first event, one of the main themes was, how can you take your inspired thought and make that and take that instant action to collapse time and to make quick decisions to to take action On the thing that you you want to create. And so seeing so many people live their lives that way, starting from the first event. I mean, I know couples who decided to move to different country because they had this inspired thought. And what happens when we take too long to take action is sometimes we talk ourselves out of it, right? And so it's been beautiful to watch people take that instant action and to see their lives skyrocket and jump quantum leaps because of the action that they've taken. I know people who have restored their marriage after these events and really seeing that they needed to have the tough conversations, and these events helped inspire them to do that. And now they're they have thriving marriages. I know people who were estranged from family members, who were pretty much ready to go to the grave, never speaking to, you know, their mom or their dad, and because of these events, really softened their hearts to go and reconcile, and now they're able to be a family unit again and to have vacations with their family. I mean, these, these are stories after story that you know, make me emotional thinking about it. Because when you think about the butterfly effect, when you think about the ripples, you know, the restoration of the families, this is for generations to come, and this last being event, last ultimate experience, we had a whole section on just with the kids. We had kids keynote speakers. We had kids panels. So the adults in the room were bawling their eyes out because they're hearing from these kids the questions of like, Hey, what are some things parents should know of how to be better parents. So hearing it from the kids firsthand was so humbling. You know, answers like parents just need to listen without trying to fix anything. They just need to give us that space without judgment and just to unconditionally love. And I'm looking in the room and I mean, grown men are bawling their eyes out. Because they're really hearing it and being so impacted and being so convicted of like, wow, there's going to be some changes made in how I parent my kid, right? So again, these are the real deep rooted issues of being it's not just, Oh, I'm gonna go, you know, create a business that's gonna make a lot of money. Where that had happened in this group, and there have been many businesses created a lot of inspiration, and people taking action on that, and have now created amazing businesses. But what I'm most proud of and what I'm most touched by are the deep heart shifts that people have made, and their relationships and their marriages and their parenting and reconciliation so yeah and the love connections made. Dr Aaron Bennett and Desiree Crespo were on stage at the last being event, and they were at the 2024 event. They didn't know each other. And I asked Dr Aaron Bennis to come up and speak his document. And when he declared his document, he was speaking about his future wife. He didn't have a girlfriend at that time, but he said, You know, I, I am that my wife is this, this and this, and Desiree is in the audience, and she's like, Hey, that sounds like me. And, you know, they met, and since then, they've gotten married, and they are now traveling the world together and just an, you know, an amazing, powerful couple. And that happened at the at the event, so many, many, numerous, countless miracles like that, all over the place. And I'm sure those are just the ones that we've heard of, right? Actually, one more there was a woman that was there who was in an abusive she was in a abusive relationship, and being at the event gave her the courage to stand up to her husband and get divorced. And she's now divorced, she wrote a book. She's traveling the world. She's living her best life, and she's so thankful that being at the event gave her the courage to, you know, get out of the abusive relationship. So, yeah, many, many miracles.

Meredith Bell: 00:52:26

You know, I get chills hearing those stories, and that last one in particular makes me think about how when we're talking about who you're being, it isn't to adjust to other people or try to change other people. It's looking at taking a stand for yourself, yes, and being able to show up as your best possible self. And sometimes that means leaving a relationship that is not redeemable, and other times it means, as you said, mending relationships that were damaged partly because of how we were showing up and what we were creating these other people as and so I just love both sides of that so our listeners can reflect on their own lives and where could they show up with greater love towards someone that perhaps they've been judging, or with a greater confidence in themselves and their value and what they will and will not allow in their lives because of who they are? This has been so rich we could talk another hour, at least, I know. But in in wrapping up, is there anything else that's occurred to you that you would like to share during our conversation today?

Judy Thureson: 00:53:53

Eric, you want to go first?

Erik Thureson: 00:53:55

I think, yeah, the thing for me is, I'm working on this documentary about our our son who who passed a little over five years ago, and the event last year was what really in, in seeing what unfolded, it really helped me to see that I need to Take a full degree of commitment. And so I stepped away from my the job that I was working at, that my w2 job that provided steady income and benefits and all the things. And I put my full trust in in full commitment in making this this project in this film, and it's had its challenges, but I realized that I need to make that degree of radical commitment in the event that this project has the impact. It will have the impact is commensurate to the degree of commitment that I make, and if I want it to reach to the four corners of the world and help serve young people that are struggling with their mental health in substance abuse, then I need to be 100% fully committed with with no question and no distraction, and that's what's occurred for me. And I can't, I can't begin to express how grateful I am for for that, for that inspiration, for the example of of of my wife, for the example, of people in the community that have really shown me what's possible and and the steps that I need to take about who I'm being in order to get there.

Meredith Bell: 00:55:53

That's great. Thank you. And we will include on the show notes page links to the documentary so people can learn more about what you're doing there. Thank you. Thank you. Judy, yes.

Judy Thureson: 00:56:05

Lastly, I love that you you said the word earlier, sacred, that these are sacred spaces that you create when you do these podcasts. And a few days before the event, God gave me this word, sacred seed, sacred seed. And he said the words that are going to be spoken from the stage and off the stage, they're sacred seed. And the seeds that will multiply and that will ripple, and that will grow, and that's positive and or negative, right? So it's helped me to be more mindful of the words that come out of my mouth, because every word that comes out of our mouth is seed, and we saw that in this last ultimate experience event is that people are hanging on every word, and that is a huge responsibility, that we have to share things that are true and that are from our heart and that are coming from a place of love. And you know, my favorite thing about the event is what happens before. So we have a blessing of the space. We create a sacred space, and we invite the speakers to come in, and we pray over every single seat, every single seat in that room is touched and prayed over. And something that we learned when we were in Bali, is this an unconditional devotion. Doesn't matter who you pray to or where it's coming from, or who you're calling in whatever it is that's most authentic to you, you bring that into the space, and let's blast every single seat in this room, so that when the people come, they feel there's something else here that's present, and that's exactly what happened. Meredith and and I just want to encourage our listeners that that's the responsibility that we have, that our words are seen and to share generously and with wisdom and with intent and what I would love to share, and I would love to see everybody at our next event next year. Right now, we have early bird pricing. It's the lowest the tickets will ever be, and we have that until the end of the month. So would love to have everyone there to experience this incredible, incredible experience. And those dates are, they are January, 23 and 24th it's a Friday, Saturday, and usually we have, like, upgraded tickets or platinum ticket holders. This year, everyone's going to come in as a general admission for those two days, but we are adding a platinum ticket holder event that's going to be really, really special. More on that that's not completely live yet, but yeah, so that's what I would love to share.

Meredith Bell: 00:59:18

Yeah, I love that sacred scene, sort of beautiful phrase to kind of keep in people's minds, and what that means, as you so beautifully described it there, and also being able to put in a plug for next year's event, because, based on what you've said, I'm sure a lot of folks listening who haven't been able to attend we're going to are going to be very excited about being able to join you. So thank you both so much, Judy and Eric, for everything you shared today. This truly has been, to me, a very sacred conversation and so special. And I just honor each of you for the contributions you've made to this community and your. Medical commitments to not just this, but the projects like you're working on, Eric, and all the ways you're showing up and who you are being in the world. I'm just so grateful for each of you. Thank you for being with me today.

Judy Thureson: 01:00:14

Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

Erik Thureson: 01:00:17

Thank you for your commitment and the things that you're doing with the podcast, and your consistency, your discipline and creating these amazing spaces for transformation. And the impact that it's having, that that is reported, let alone the unreported, impact that it's having, is remarkable, and that's a testament to who you're being. So thank you for having us.

Meredith Bell: 01:00:45

Thank you, Eric and you know, in closing, I would like to encourage our listeners to go back and listen to other episodes, because they're sort of like a mini event. There's so much that is shared in each of these conversations that has application for each of us and how we're being in the world. So thank you again for being with me today.

Judy Thureson: 01:01:08

Thank you, Meredith,

Judy Thureson: 01:01:12

TUCP Intro/Outro: Thank you for joining us today. If there's someone you know who could benefit from this conversation, please share this episode with them. Also check out our website, being movement.com, you'll find valuable resources and links to connect to an engaging and wonderfully supportive community. Together, we can inspire and support each other on the path to a greater understanding of being until next time, take care and be kind to yourself you.