Welcome back to another episode of our introductory series to the Manager Mom Podcast. Today I'll be sharing a story about our family's tradition that has literally shaped our lives for more than more than 15 years, definitely more than a decade now. And it's called what we call our Family Visioning Day. If you've ever wondered how to capture big dreams and bring them to life, this episode is for you. You know, I still remember the moment the idea came to me. It was back in 2009 where we were planning our next monthly family activity. We were at that that particular year I wanted to do something every single month. And this was um I wanted to do something different. I wanted to um really focus on something practical at the same time. And so it sparked a creativity, just stirred up inside of me again, and I really thought, oh, you know what? I'll I'll teach our children how to do goal setting, and we can do it in a creative way, you know. Um, because I have dreams, I have ideas, and I'm always writing my my goals down. So I thought, hmm, let's take it to the next level, let's do this as a family activity. And so creativity was stirred inside of me to create something new once again, and uh this time, which was wonderful, it was out of good and not from a place of pain. And so I'm so excited to be able to share this process and share what Family Visioning Day is and how it all came about, and how it's continuing to be a blessing to our family and many other families. So just take you back to that year, 2009. Um, it was during one of my hour commutes to work, and I was praying and thinking about, reflecting on all of the dreams and goals that I have. I'm like, oh gosh, I've got so many things in my head. I have things I want to do for my home, for our home. I have things I want to do for um my business and things I want to do for my family, um, places we want to travel, vacations we want to go together. So I had all these things in my head, and I thought, you know what? I really would wish I could have something more portable. I want to be able to create create a vision board. I had heard and saw all these, you know, at that time, you know, these big poster boards that you could do. People would put uh pictures on them and things like that, something really big. And I thought, gosh, that's so cumbersome. You can't take it with you, and I want to take mine with me to be a reminder and to remind me of what of what I'm what where I'm going, right? And I just was having this kind of conversation with God in the car, and um thinking, man, I really would like something that I could um put my put multiple boards together. And then this idea just popped in my head once again. Um it was a witty idea being inspired, and so I saw this this cover, this protector that you could put, it had a pocket and you could put all these multiple boards inside of it, you know, and it was it wasn't really, really big. It was the size of if you stretched out a a composition notebook, it would be about that that width uh across. So not quite the 17 inches across, but it was it was about that size, you know, and 11 inches uh like a 11 and a half, eight and a half by uh 11 type paper doubled going across. So, but anyway, I saw this in my head, and it was a clear um cover where all these boards were going inside of it, and I was excited, I couldn't hardly wait to get off work so I can go home and and try to create this, what I saw in my head. But I went to the store and went to the fabric store and purchased some vinyl, some clear vinyl, and some binding tape. Went home and I'm like, I am gonna create these, I'm gonna cut this out, and I sewed them, put them together and made six of them for our family. And um at the time, you you know, they kind of peeked in and I'm at the sewing machine, and I'm like, you I'm just having my time at the sewing machine right now, so nobody could come in. And I was in my work in the workroom area, the place that we call workroom, and here you hear the sound of the sewing machine just going to town, you know, and I continued to sew until I had six total six covers made, and I'll tell you with the name of those, uh what we call them now. But I had um six of them made, and it was so uh getting prepared for our little special surprise. It was it was actually gonna be the special surprise for our extra special moment together when we had this family night. They knew that I was preparing something for the family night, for family night activity, but they didn't know what was happening at the time. So by the time our big uh vision board night had arrived, um, each person had a homemade, what we call, tote a vision. You can tote your vision with you, and they had that waiting for them. So when the first when that night came, it was on a Friday, Friday night in August of that year, and we had I had laid out all the uh the room was just overflowed with magazines and had scissors and glue and um the blank boards that I had cut out, custom sized to fit inside of the um Tote A Vision. And before we got started, I kind of had a little powwow with the boys and I had my little flip chart there and started asking them questions, you know. I won't go over all of the questions and all of that. That's something that for a later time that I can share with you. But I asked them questions like, where would you love to travel this year? You know, and what things you would like to learn this year or to achieve. And some of the things, tell me some of the things that you want. Just randomly tell me some of the things that you really want right now. And it was so cute. Uh, my youngest son at the time was only four, he was four years old, and uh his name is Joshua, and he joined in with his brothers, Jonathan, Jamaica, and Jeremy, and they were just calling out stuff, and I was writing as fast as I could. They were so excited, they didn't know where I was going with all this, but they were engaged. And um, so I'm writing, writing, writing, and my youngest, he was calling out all these toys. He he named all kinds of different toys that he wanted, and of course, that that's appropriate for that age, right? Four years old. Um, they all had some kind of uh thing that they wanted that was toy related anyway. But um, so I wrote everything down, you know, and I had them, my older sons, uh, I told them, hey, this is your journal. I had given them something so they can write in the journal. So they were writing some of their things inside of their journal while we were going through it, and I was writing it on the board. So that was our first little activity that came, first part of the activity. So they were kind of getting some of those goals, some of those ideas, those thoughts, those desires out and um out of their head and uh out of their heart onto some kind of paper. So that's what we were doing, and they didn't even realize what was happening. So after that, um I said, okay, now it's time to do like our little scavenger hunt. We're gonna go and find some pictures, we're gonna find things that relate and words that relate to what we've been talking about. And um so they begin to snip, snip, snip, and cut away. It literally, we lost track of time. And it, I don't know, I think it was a Friday night. It was almost midnight when we were finished, you know. Um, they just was so into it. We were cutting out, cutting out, flipping through magazines and words, and uh we have names for all this stuff now, but um everything we were kind of just putting it on our on the boards that I had to cut out for them. And so by the time the night was over, we all had created our individual vision boards. It was really, really cool. Our own tote a vision board so we could tote it with us and show it off, and and we it was protected by the sleeve, by the vinyl. Um, so um that was really a really cool experience, and they they really enjoyed it. And so this is what happened next, though. The uh a few days later, maybe a week later, um, I got before the boys and I said, Okay, I have a challenge for you. Like, what mommy, what do you got now? You know, so um I said I'm gonna challenge you to to use your talents or your skills. I want you to choose whatever you want. You uh you've been learning how to do some things from uh editing videos because I had the time had a my own little show uh called Focus on Praise. And it was once a month we would have um a feature of a different type of dance or some type of thing that was related to the creative arts. And um we didn't have this was not taking place in our home, it was actually in a venue um where our church owned um some property, and so I would go there on a Saturday and have um this workshops, these um focus on praise workshops. And so we had at the time it was being videoed, we had the equipment and everything, and my sons were uh my older sons were involved, and I was teaching them, you know, different things about uh videoing and capturing the you know, helping to edit and so forth. So we had that going on, and um uh at the time my you know, my husband was putting up and setting up, helping to set up the equipment, and we we had everything going um for that time period. Uh so it was really good, and they were learning, they were learning skills, they were learning how, and I had websites that we were working on, and um they were learning how to do the editing and how to create different things. So, and um I think even my oldest at the time, where he was maybe 11 maybe, um, but he was starting to edit and do things at the church in the media department. So they all were growing their skills and talents. So during this challenge, I asked them, I said, okay, what type of skills and talents do you have? And I want you to over the next week or two weeks, however long it takes, maybe um, I told them, I think like two weeks, give you two weeks to or three weeks to earn some cash based on using your skills or talents. And you know what? They surprised me. They said they literally landed a small video production job. That's the whole story in itself, and it's look it's I share this full story in my book, Mind Your Vision 2020 and Beyond. So, but within a week, they had more than enough with my matching. Oh, I forgot this one part. I forgot this one part. I told them if they earn the cash, I will match it. I said, whatever amount you earn during this little short period of time, I will match it. So they surprised me uh after getting this um small video production job within a a week, they had enough to um, along with my what I promised, I matched it, they had enough to purchase the exact get get, I think it's called a guitar hero uh game, little game system that came with the guitars and the physical guitars and uh the whole little console. Um they actually earned it, they had it on their board. This is one of the things that they had called out and had found a picture of it, cut it out, and placed it on their boards. So it felt like Christmas. It really did, but it wasn't. They had they went ahead and ordered it, and when it came in, they were so excited. And Jeremy um he ran and got his board, his vision board, his Totovision, and he shouted, Mommy, mommy, guess what? Look, we got it. It's here, it was on our board, and here we got it, you know. And I'm thinking, man, this was so, so cool. It was a great experience, and it was such a quick win, you know, for us, and to be able to see their exp their expressions and their excitement, it literally lit a fire of faith in all of us. We were like, this is something good. This is something good, we gotta do more of this. And so that was like that August of 2009. So the following year in January uh 2010, I thought, you know what, it would be great for us to just have a one family one. You know, we did our individual ones, we're gonna continue to work toward toward those goals individually, but let's do something. I want a vision for the whole family for the year, for it. And I called it focus 2020 2010. Focused family focus 2010 is what I had these big words put on it, and you can see a picture of it in my book, Mind Your Vision 2020 and Beyond. Uh, but I have a picture of that that very force board family vision board that we did. And so on that um we put I had them participate in what we wanted to go on it. So uh again, I wanted to do the family um activities and things. So I said, okay, what are our monthly adventures? Um they wanted they were highly into doing tech fairs, technology fairs, uh, during that time when they were in school. So we wanted to put that on, and we wanted to put, oh, we want to win in this category, we want to do this. They put those on put that on the board. And in my heart, that year, I really wanted to for our entire family to go to a Christian film festival that was happening uh in Phoenix, Arizona. And so we put that on there and we cut out this airplane and pasted it at the top of the board, and I put cash, you know, a big uh symbol of cash on there because I knew it was gonna require lots of cash in order to fly a family of six out to Phoenix, and it was gonna be our fair first um flight that the boys had ever been on. And so we um we put it on there. It was all by faith, and um it was a lot of other things on there too, from vacations and um some other things I wanted them to do and grow some of their um other others other ways I wanted them to grow was on there, right? So after after creating that, it really you know, we placed it on the refrigerator so that we could see it every day. And um literally it was a really just trying to think how to say it, it was um something that kept us unified as a family because we were all focused on the same goals. We all were wanting to go the same place, the same direction. And it literally cut down any type of um, I would say if the boys wanted to um maybe I don't know, they if they were asking me to to buy something when we went to the store that was really caught was gonna cost considerable amount, I thought I I reminded them, hey, we're we're saving to go on our on our big vacation. And so they, you know, would go, oh yeah, you know, and they were remember. So it really kept us all on the same page, it kept us unified as a family. Um, and again, I share this full story um in my book, so you can read it more there if you would like to. But some of the goals um begin to happen. Things things begin, doors begin to happen, you know, step by step. We start to see things open up for us. Um my sons all won that year. They're their categories for the tech fair. They won first place. It was like they were so excited about it. I was too, you know. Um, and unexpectedly, uh, finance is just the money that we needed for that trip, it showed up. It showed up. And it wasn't through my job, you know, I was still the sole provider for the family. And at the time, and um, so all of everything that I was making was going toward household the household um needs. So, but this the extra money and extra income came for for us to be able to travel and to get all of our tickets. We were able to stay at a five-star resort during that time. And it it was so cool how uh we had um on the plane, it was three of us on one side of the plane uh of the row, and the other row was filled with the other three. And it was, I took a picture, it was just really um a blessing. My heart was full, and uh we had some challenges, it didn't come without a challenge, so I don't have time to really go over that the challenge, but the details are shared in my story. Um, and we just were able to experience something um that we had been believing for as a family, and it was big. And everything that we wanted on that trip, we were just it went above our expectations. It really did. Uh, one of the things that I did in preparing for the fact for the festival, we had to um submit um some of their short films because they were doing their own little short films and everything. And Jamaica, uh, one of the twins, he had um created this film called Honesty. And um I had I submitted that. I also um submitted a little ad that I had uh created about the TodaVision. So I created that and I let them know um well I I told them that I had a product and they said you can bring them, you know, bring them with you, and we'll you have a place that you can can set up uh um as a as a vendor, you can set your your product up so on a table. So by faith, I packed an entire luggage full of Toadovisions. I I put them all all the ones that um uh had that that I had in inventory, I packed. It up, packed the whole thing. I can't remember how many it was, but it was a good bit. And so we um went when we got there, uh, I was able to to get get everything set up in between the sessions, and um my youngest son, while I was doing that, he was actually going around. Uh someone was giving him, they had a table full of these slinkies that that were free. And the the man at the owner owner of that table was kind of giving them to him as he would come by. And before I knew it, you know, someone, you know, I think he walked up to me and um uh he had a pocket full of dollars. I'm like, where did he get that from? And he had been selling free slinkies to everybody for a dollar, and he was only at the time five. He had turned five because he he had his birthday that February. And I was just blown away. I'm thinking, oh my gosh, you know, but he became the first little entrepreneur uh of the family at five years old. So I thought that was hilarious. But that happened. Um, but one of the things that um that I'll never forget that still amazed me is that every single Toadovision that I took and that I had packed in my luggage was sold. They were all sold. Um the the host of the festival decided to purchase a large portion of them and put them in their bookstore. So that was just amazing favor. I was just so blown away. Um, and how because of our faith and our belief in doing what it took and just praying and and uh being able that God was gonna provide, everything was gonna happen, doors was gonna open for us to go as a family, and it did, and we were so blessed. We were so blessed during that trip, and my sons learned a lot about film and um things about the hot what what they do in Hollywood, you know, but it was um actually on a Christian-based level. So it I was amazed. Um, and the the last thing about that trip is that we had money left over. I told you finances came in, there was extra money left over from that trip. So we did not come out in a deficit at all. It was a blessing. That year we achieved over 90% of our family goals. 90%. So it was just I'm still I still love to tell the story because it was so such a rich experience for my family. And you know, that cover that I had made, it um, you know, it tugged at me uh a lot. So I went ahead and took the steps. I kept having this thought, you gotta protect the idea because it's bigger than you, you know, it's bigger than you. And I decided to apply for a U.S. patent um and found a manufacturer. Um, I did find a manufacturer even before I took them out to to Phoenix uh to the Christian Film Festival. I had found a manufacturer and we had gotten several made, and they were um done professionally and it was sealed. So it was not I only had to make that one time, I only had to make it once with my sewing machine, and then after that, I had a professional um manufacturer making them for me based on my specs. And so in 2012, the patent was granted to me, and it officially made my Totovision as my second official invention. Um, so you know, but after seeing how powerful uh that process had helped my family reach our goals, I realized that it was something meant to share. It was something meant to share with others, other families, other individuals. So I began hosting Build Your Dream workshops, build your vision workshops, uh, vision board parties, uh started, you know, creating spaces where other families and individuals could uh dream big and put their goals in writing, really showing them the importance of that. And um taught taught it to, I've taught it to so many different people from youth groups, uh teenagers, um uh getting prepared for uh high school, graduating from high school, planning their future, you know, so many different levels. Couples, I've had we've had, we had couple um dream, build your dream vision uh sessions, and so many. Uh I literally started, you know, I started offering the um portable board uh poster boards that was cut custom and the Totovisions along with journals for them to write in. So it became like a little package. Um and they could literally carry their dreams with them. So year after year, almost everything we placed on the board continued to come to pass, continued to happen, um, from family road trips to creative projects to personal achievements. Um but it wasn't magic. I want you to know that it wasn't magic. It was because we wrote the vision and believed it was possible. We prayed together, we didn't give up hope, and we took action when opportunity showed up. That's what we had to do. And we learned to, you know, I was teaching them how to capture those milestones as they were happening, uh, to write them in the journal, in the Totovision journal. So we were capturing little mementos like from ticket stubs to photos to um whatever we were experiencing as as things were happening uh that was related to our vision or our goals, we would, you know, put those, tuck those away, tape them, glue them, tuck them into our journal, and then we literally wrote a note, journal out them those milestones on um as they would happen and become reality. And so now, a decade later, or if you fast forward, it's now 15 years later, here's because we are um launching the Manager Mom Podcast uh in 2025. We're doing an official launch for that, and that's what this introductory series is all about, uh, kind of telling you my story and my journey. Um, but at the time in 2020, a decade later, because we started our family first first very first one was done in 2010. Um, when I released my book, Mind Your Vision 2020 Beyond, that was that year. Uh, so that was the decade right there. I was a part of the vision. I wanted to really get tell the techniques and write it out, make it plain for people to be able to read and understand all the different things that we did and the things to help keep you uh moving forth toward your dreams. They're all kind of there, they're uh a methodology that I put together in that book that will help you in your journey. So, because many people make vision boards, but not everything happens, and so this was really to get out what the process to kind of put that on paper for everybody, and it's in that book, Mind Your Vision 2020 and Beyond. Um, that particular year in 2020, my three older sons they were in college, so our focus for our for our family vision board had shifted. So things change, uh, you go through different seasons, your children are growing. So your your focus for that particular board for your family uh will will change just like your individual one goals will change. So our focus at that time was had uh was shifted to staying connected. We since they were away, we wanted to figure out ways that we could stay connected. And um, so on that board uh that family board that year, we had prayer, we had family FaceTimes on there, and creating more happy memories. So those are some of our major focuses. And each year we continue to host our family and friends visioning day. Um over time, the event has literally grown beyond our family, and we have friends that come and join us each year, and uh we celebrate uh our dreams together, we set our goals and we encourage uh one another to pursue them. And even in life's uh as life changes, uh the practice of writing and visualizing our goals have really helped to keep us grounded and connected and inspired, and we've seen that same uh success flow through the others that have been a part of it that's an extension of our family, their friends. So maybe you've you've uh never thought yourself to be a visionary for your family, but you can be, and you may be a visionary for your family. You have these things and thoughts in your head, your mind, and you kind of walk through through things um by giving instructions or um, and you may even write some of those things down, and I that's that's great if you're doing that. Um, but if you're not, I challenge you to do so and take it to the next level. Um, it's really just a simple start by gathering your loved ones and asking what they dream of doing or having or becoming, and putting it on paper, you know, putting it on paper, writing it out, because that's the very first step. You've got to write the vision, you've got to clarify where you want to go, where you're headed. And the next step would be, you know, taking it to a 3D level where you have a visual representation of it. So a vision, you know, writing your vision clarifies your desires and invites faith and action to meet you there. That's literally what you're doing. So that's the heart of writing your vision. That's what this whole episode is about and helping to dream, building your dream together as your family, as a family, that's what this whole focus of this episode was about. You got to see it, believe it, and capture it. And then watch how doors open for you and your family so that you can do it. You can do it together, you can do those things and see it happen. So if this today's story has inspired you in any way, I want you to share it with another Montpreneur. Subscribe so that you never miss an episode and join our free Manager Moms community at ManagerMoms.com. And that's ManagerMomswithans.com for resources and coaching to help you build your own family tradition of family visioning. I'm Rachel Moore, and I hope you've enjoyed this episode. And until next time, I want you to keep managing much with grace.