How a Conference Sparked New Empty Nest Community Ideas E152

Clancy Denton (00:00)
This week on The Loud Quiet, how a conference sparked new empty nest community ideas.

Rick Denton (00:05)
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Loud Quiet. Today we want to talk to y'all about two major events. One of which I imagine a lot of y'all have gone through this or know someone who has gone through it right now. And another one, well, it actually inspired us to think bigger about what this could be and how y'all are going to be involved in making that happen. Yeah.

Clancy Denton (00:30)
So we know a lot of y'all are probably doing college move-in or just did college move in, or I know there's still some that are about to do it this weekend. But we at the beginning of last week, which is crazy to think it was at the beginning of last week, we moved our daughter back for her last semester to her university. And this one was a little different because she had gone from having

three other roommates to now she's living by herself because they all graduated. Yeah. And there's a lot of things that you don't think about when you're going from living with roommates to living by yourself, especially the things that the other people had that y'all all shared. So some missing items that we had to go shopping for many times. And

You know, it it almost felt like moving in for the first time again.

Rick Denton (01:35)
That's what this one really surprised me with is we have now done move in. It depends on how you count. Seven, eight or ten plus times, depending on really how you count. And it did feel like, you know, and there's a little bit of smugness that was kicking. we got this. This will be easy and that sort of thing. well no, actually there was a lot of things that you Hey, you probably do need a vacuum cleaner in your place.

Clancy Denton (01:57)
Yeah,

I don't think I had any smugness because I was like, we're getting all of this stuff out of her storage unit, which we packed two cars at two mid size SUVs were full, plus the stuff that y'all had packed her car with coming back from home. I was thinking, Okay, how are we getting all of this to

the seventh floor when she went from living in just a town home that you just walked into and now we're dealing with a high rise that elevators are involved. How do we get all how many trips is this going to take us? And well I don't know I didn't have a smugness.

Rick Denton (02:44)
I'm with you on all of that, but I think there was a little bit of we know what we're doing. And it shows that no matter how many times you do this, whether you it's you're a parent that it's the first time that you are taking your kid to school, or if it's not school, whatever that next outside of the nest experience is, if it's the first or the tenth, there's always something new to learn. And there's all those same emotions that keep coming back up.

It was so exciting to see Teagan in her place. There was a little bit of she's now getting even closer to that fully independent adult when she's living there by herself. Now, you know what mitigates that a bit? Four hundred thousand plushies that are on her bed. She's got a lot of roommates. They're just stuck.

Clancy Denton (03:33)
And you know, she has this idea that she's gonna live with one of her friends for grad school, but I'm thinking after she lives by herself, she's gonna be realize, this is awesome. I don't know that I want to go back to having a roommate because the whole kitchen she had to herself, she doesn't have to share the fridge with anyone. You know, it just

So I'll I'll be interested to see if she really wants to have a roommate again or not. And I even texted one of our friends and I said, How many more times do we have to do this? How many how many more times do we have to help people move into their new places? Because I don't even want to move myself as much as I'm ready to move out of this house. I don't want to do it. So

Rick Denton (04:24)
Well we did we got her moved in and she was well established in there.

Clancy Denton (04:28)
And it was nice to talk to her yesterday and she's like, yeah, I'm loving it and you know and her friends that graduated, a few of them are still there, so she's been seeing them and so yeah, she's doing well.

Rick Denton (04:41)
And so w we followed that with what you might effectively call a laundry stop. We came home, we washed clothes, we repacked, and said to you, Hey, do you want me to put your suitcase up?

Clancy Denton (04:53)
No. I left my suitcase and all of my toiletry stuff just sitting on the counter because it was literally probably what f less than forty eight hours before we were back on a plane.

Rick Denton (05:04)
To head to

a podcasting conference. It's one that we've been to before. It's one that and this is the one that I th and I think some of it is by having gone there before. One, you get to see people, you get to the the ones that you knew. There were still plenty of new people to mate. This time we came away inspired with what could actually change and grow and what the appetite is for the need around empty nesters.

Clancy Denton (05:31)
It's interesting because these conferences and this one I will say I was not excited. Had nothing to do with the conference, but I was not excited to leave again. It was so fast and I just felt like, my gosh, we're gonna be gone again and so I didn't go into it with probably the best attitude, but it shows you that there's gonna be nuggets and it may only be one or two that just hit

And you're like, okay, this needs to be our focus. We had it last year as well. And this one I love because it is smaller. And so it's really like a family reunion almost. You know, we have got to know these people and with social media you can stay connected over the year. And we see most of them at another conference that we go to in January. So you do you get to see them, you know, twice a year in some

more than that because they live locally. But yeah, it is it's like a family reunion. So once I got there and got out of my attitude, yeah, it really was very good. And I even commented today on a post that it just re energized me. I don't know how you felt, but it re energized me about our business.

Rick Denton (06:55)
Yeah, the it re-energi well, it's funny to say re-energize given how exhausted. And it's not just that it I'm s seeing through the eyes of the podcasting conference how our audience and it even the conference reminded me how y'all, you, the audience,

are such a part of what this is. And something happened on Saturday where I I released a pretty vulnerable video. And, you know, there were some really heartfelt comments there. Shayla, Candace, Sharon, Deanan all posted something that was really from their heart. And it showed me that this isn't just entertainment content that's out there. Sure, I hope that people laugh. I hope that you and I laugh. I hope that there that folks are entertained.

But that this really is a community and I appreciate y'all for what you have made this become.

Clancy Denton (07:59)
You know, this conference just really gave us a sense of gratitude for you guys. When Rick and I started this, we really started this for us and then quickly realized there are so many people out there that want to talk about the empty nest and are in it, and there's just not anything out there that's serving that group. We met so many people this weekend that are either

In the empty nest. We met Holly, who was telling us she just dropped her daughter off for her freshman year. I mean, and then came. She said, I've been crying a lot, and I haven't really had time to to get to feel all the feelings. And so it was so nice to be able to connect with so many people that are just wanting more for this.

age group and I I think it's just because our whole generation is a different generation than our parents. We are way more involved with each other, with our kids, not necessarily with friends because our parents, both of our sets of parents had a ton of friends, but I think it's just people are now focused on, okay, my kids are gone because we were so involved in their lives and now what?

And so it was just so neat again to see so many people. my gosh, I love that y'all are doing this. I'm an empty nester. I just became an empty nester. I'm about to be an empty nester. And just excited to know that there's some place that they can go and feel seen and heard.

Rick Denton (09:45)
That's the and and so much of podcasting is about that, that when people find something that they love, they listen to and it's because they're recognized, okay, I am a part of this. What I'm listening to that's in my ears, I'm a part of that. That idea of there were people that we met that they're my gosh, I just did this. It was interesting how quickly people said, I know someone who just did this. I met someone at one of the sessions and immediately she said

I know this person, I'm not gonna name this person, but I know this person who just dropped their kid off and they're experiencing all of those things. And there's something about this, this identity of and it we've talked about how empty nest isn't necessarily the best name for it, but that idea, that concept is such a defined concept that even if you aren't one, you immediately can think of someone who probably is or is about to be.

Clancy Denton (10:39)
Yes, and at

these conferences we get to talk to all age groups. We had younger people coming up to us saying, My parents just became empty nesters because my brother or sister just left. my gosh, I'm gonna tell them about your podcast. And so yes, it it runs all age groups because if you're a kid, you have parents that are gonna be empty nesters. And if you're an adult who has kids, you're gonna be an empty nester. So it's just

crazy how it runs through all generations and they again are excited to share about it with the people that they know.

Rick Denton (11:20)
It really reinforced how much of an appetite and a need there is for conversations around that. But it it started to get our wheels turning a little bit on I think there's more that can be done. We got motivated, we got excited. There's there's a lot of ways that we, you me as empty nesters, but then also we, the wider community of empty nesters, can start to do some bigger things together.

Clancy Denton (11:49)
Well, and I remember a conversation that we were having with Cindy, who even she's an empty nester, and she said, You know, this time in my life, in our life, it's hard to make friends. And you guys know we have talked about that a lot on our show. And so, you know, it got us to thinking, Okay, how can we get outside of behind the microphone and

start implementing some of these ideas that came to us to really get out into the community and grow this community and and connect this community.

Rick Denton (12:33)
Yeah, and there's some ideas that we're already rattling in our heads. how can we do things that are in real life? Can can we get out there? if there's a if there's enough of us gathered in one geographic location, can we get together for a meetup? Can we do a happy hour? But what about retreats? What about well, we actually and I gotta shout out the podcast. Can I shout am I allowed to shout out the podcast?

Clancy Denton (12:56)
yes, 'cause he's I consider him well, I called him our I said, You're our, you know, third child

Rick Denton (13:03)
Which is one of the co-hosts of a fantastic If you care at all about travel and certainly if you happen to be a flight attendant or in that space, you definitely will want to listen to Two Guys on a Plane. He is the one of the co-hosts of that. A brilliant podcast. And we've come to know him through podcasting comic

Clancy Denton (13:20)
And just

a really nice guy, sweet guy.

Rick Denton (13:23)
Well, they do something that has inspired us as at least an idea that we're exploring and that's where y'all come in. Group travel.

Clancy Denton (13:32)
Yeah. And we were like, We got time resources. Let's go.

And we love to travel. We've been traveling since we were in our dating stage. And so we're like, duh, empty nesters have freedom. Let's start putting together some trips and see how that goes. And so yeah, that was one of the big ones that I think will get implemented pretty quickly.

Rick Denton (13:55)
Why can't now to be safe, I'm not committing to any any topic and I'm not committing to any dates, but I am

Clancy Denton (14:01)
No,

but that would be the of all the ones we've talked about, to me, that's the easiest one because you've done it. So

Rick Denton (14:09)
You know what though? We this

isn't this isn't about us, and I know that you know that. This is actually about the empty nest community, the wider empty nest community. What is it that y'all would like to see an empty nest community grow into? Your your ideas are actually what can be the inspiration that defines what comes next, whether that's group travel or hey, there's enough of us that live in this zip code, let's all go to

a bar or restaurant and meet each other in real person. And there's a very specific way that y'all can do that. I'd love for y'all to answer the question, what would y'all like to see the Loud Quiet create to serve the empty nest community? And leave us a voicemail. Head over to theloudquiet.com, go to the podcast page. There you will see a new function where you can actually leave us a voicemail. We will listen to every single one of those. And who knows, you're

Your voice might actually end up on a future episode and certainly your ideas will be an inspiration to what we take going forward.

Clancy Denton (15:17)
Yeah, we really do want to make this something that's great for y'all because we have just again seen how much people really want to connect and have community in the empty nest. So we really do. We appreciate you guys so much. And I know some of you are just starting out on this adventure and

We are here for you. Thanks for listening to another episode of The Loud Quiet.