 Hey, y'all, this is Jamie with Out of Bounds with Jamie and Abby, presented by Ashley. Yes, today on our episode, we have Courtney LaCorte. She is known as Cheese Gal, if you're begun Instagram. She makes beautiful cheese boards for all the celebrities in town that rolled into having her own shop, which she is actually closed and talked about what she's going to do next. She also shared a lot of personal stories about kind of a scary incident with her daughter when she was born. And so we think it's a great episode and we hope you enjoy it. We have Courtney LaCorte, also known as Cheese Gal. She turned her passion of making cheese boards and hosting into a blossoming business, and now she's doing a bit of a pivot away from her cheese shop. So we're really excited to talk to you today. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. I'm so very excited. It always cracks me up to be introduced as Cheese Gal. But it's really what is the light bulb for people. I know, I love it. How did you come up with that name? Honestly, a good friend of mine, you might know her. Shannon Ford, she's an influencer on Instagram. OK, yes. We were sitting at Tin Roof the weekend before I got my first like cheeseboard gig. We had a cocktail napkin out. She goes, we have to come up with a business name. And I was like, well, she was like, OK, so we start writing down all these different names to come up with ideas. And I think one of them was Nashville Cheese Lady. And we were like, I'm not knitting. I don't know. That's exactly what it sounds like. Yeah, that was not going to work. And we're like, Nashville cheese gal girl gal gal. Yeah. And so it kind of just came up with that. It's so good. But then you switched to you took Nashville out as soon as we took Nashville out because I was like, maybe one day I'll have either multiple stores or I'll have something that needs to be not just Nashville specific. And yeah, it really opened up the doors truly for so many different things that have happened since then. But yeah, that's amazing. OK, well, we'll get more like back on that. Topic, but tell us like kind of like your history background, how you got to Nashville. Chris, my husband, brought me to Nashville. I've been here nine years, I think this year. Love it. Could never imagine going back to Dallas as much as I love that. Are you originally from? He and I are both Dallas natives. That's where my daughter was born. Oh, my gosh, in Denton, Texas. Yeah, no, I don't always have a special place in my heart, but this is definitely home now. Yeah. Did you go to school together? Girl, back in the day before I did cheeseboards, I thought I was going to be a singer-songwriter. Oh, you're kidding. And Chris played guitar on the little EP that I put together. And so he and I met briefly and then we were just friends on Twitter. This is before Instagram, before Facebook. Really was a thing for anyone that wasn't in college. And so my space, my space stays top eight hundred percent. And I don't know, gosh, three, four years later, he came back in town because he had just moved here. And we had a group of like five or six people that were all we were all supposed to go to dinner, and they all canceled except for him. So that was our first and official first day. Yeah, it was really cute. So anyway, all that to say, but you know, what's interesting is even back then, I was making cheeseboards before they were like a thing, a thing and like trendy. I mean, I would argue you made them a thing. Oh, my God. Because once your Instagram started, it was like everyone was like, go to this account. It's so crazy. And basically like copy it. It blew up so fast. But to go back to your question, I first started making cheeseboards when I was around 15. My godmother, who's like the most fabulous, entertaining, hostess guru, like she's amazing. I was having a sleepover with her one night. I looked at her and I said, her name was Kare. I said, tell me how to do this. I'm like drinking sparkling apple juice at 15. And we have this beautiful cheeseboard and she's just doing all these just like things. I'm like, teach me. She does a couple of things. Always have a bottle of chilled champagne in your fridge one day when you can drink and then have mozzarella and grapes and crackers and olives. And I'll show you how to put it together. She was like, if you can make something that's delicious, look pretty. That's what we're going for. That's what's impressive. And it also feeds your guests, you know. And so I started, I don't know, learning ways to up my cheeseboard game over the next five, six years. And then before I knew it, I was like the go-to person in my friend group or for family. I was doing friends weddings and baby showers. I would do these huge cheese spreads. Cool. And then there was one night, my husband used to tour. He was home and I made a cheeseboard for dinner. I said, would somebody pay for this? He was like, yeah, that's brilliant. And so that's kind of how the idea came about. And then I somehow landed my first gig. It was for an artist named Lauren Daigle at the Ryman. Oh, I love Lauren Daigle. She's amazing. Oh, so cool. I did her pre-show cheeseboards. So what year was this? 2019. Okay, so it's only 2019. It's only been a few years. That's insane. It's insane. I thought I'd been longer. Were you advertising? How did she know? So I didn't even have an Instagram devoted to cheeseboards. I would post pictures of my boards on my personal account and somehow, I forget the story, but a mutual friend that worked for her knew a friend that sent her a picture and I got a phone call from an unknown number and I somehow answered it for whatever reason. She was like, hi, I help manage Lauren. And we just saw your cheeseboards on Instagram. Do you have a business? We would love to. And I was like, oh my God. Sure. I'll do it. You're so funny. And then a couple of days later, I'm leaving the Ryman and I call Shannon. And I go, I did it. I dropped it off. She goes, girl, get your Instagram handle. Let's get some pictures up. She goes, you have 30 minutes about to post about you. And then that's when it all changed. I had like 3,500 followers in the first 24 hours and I've never had a little since then. So that's how it started. That's so smart to hurry up and get your Instagram handle. She's like, grab the handle, post your pictures. And you had high-end clients who were probably posting and so they had a lot of followers. It was a ripple effect. Yeah, that's amazing. Because now you have how many Instagram? 95,000, I think. That's insane. How Nashville is as a community. People have asked, do you think that this would have worked the way that it has here anywhere else? And I don't know. Just because our community is so we all support each other and shout each other out. I never had to ask anyone to post. I just would. I gifted a lot of boards at the beginning just to kind of get my name out there. And they would post and then their friends would follow me and hire me. And then it just was this effect that was really dynamic. It was crazy. It happened in the last three years. And you have two daughters we should mention. Because you are not busy at all. I'm traumatized from the first year and a half of being a business that's for sure. I had my little one and it was all just me. How old are your daughters? Charlotte, my oldest is four and my youngest just turned a year in March. I mean, I'm in the thick of it. Well, I am. OK, we have to mention your eldest is the one that's called Coach Vrable, a beautiful man who made the news. That's how you and I met. That's how we met. I will self-admittedly tell you I am not a huge. I don't know anything about sports. I don't know players' names, even coaches' names. But Charlotte loves getting into the mail. She'll like draw over the water bills. Anyway, so we get a national edit magazine in. So she's in the mail. I'm cooking dinner. I can hear her like flipping through the magazine. And all of a sudden I hear her say, oh, what a beautiful man. And I'm like, she was three at the time. Let's keep in mind. And I know my daughter. She is so funny. I hear her say something funny and I pick up my phone immediately. And I know just to, I got this goal. Keep it rolling, yeah. So that's the first thing I did naturally because I'm Kris Jenner. I pick up my phone and she's sitting there, oh, what a beautiful man. And she's, mom, I got to find these beautiful man. I'm like, and that's when you see her open up, find Mike, and she's petting his face, kisses. And I'm like, what is happening? But I still had no idea who it was. I didn't know. I should have. And I didn't. So I post it to my Instagram and it like blows up in the next 12 hours by the next morning. So many DMs. And then Taylan texts me and goes, send me that video. I'm sending this to a coach. And that's when I realized it was like, oh my god. And then one thing, and Mike actually, he was so sweet. He sent me a text later that day and goes, please tell your daughter she's beautiful too. So then I told her and she really thought that was so. She was sweet. I'll just call him Michael. And I was like, oh no. You got a handful. That's what somebody said to me. And I immediately sent it to Jen, my swipe. And I was like, you have got to see this. And she about died. That was the first time she saw it. And I think she contacted you as well. She did. She and I DMed. And I was like, I'm so sorry. My three-year-old's coming after your husband. Stop threat, I promise. That is so funny. And she also likes to be on the garden, right? Yes. I don't know where she gets any of her personality. It's really, you know, she said she's so funny. She was on the garden. Yeah, anything in front of the camera? Does she like to cook? Loves to cook. And she gets a lot from her dad too. He's been so good about being hands-on with her in the kitchen. She's been cracking eggs, making scrambled eggs since she was little. So it's naturally now she's like, well, I can be on TV and do that. That wig she wears. The wig. It's so funny. It's sense being on. Well, I will say, the first time I met you was at a Soho house event. Remember the one right before COVID? And I just remember being like, gosh, Courtney's so cool. And you do have this presence where I'm like, you're totally going to be on TV one day, like a star for sure. It's what I'm manifesting. I want it so bad. You will. What you want to do. Yeah. So let's talk. So you opened a tea shop during COVID. Yes. Done phenomenally well. Still huge operation now. But you've decided, as this episode airs, it will have shut down. So talk to us about kind of like getting into that, the whirlwind of like, this business has only been around three years. So I'm sure you just were like, yes, yes, yes. And now you're like, ooh, let's see. What do I really want to do? Exactly. Like you said, it blew up so fast and became such a huge operation. I have 14 employees and I'm so blessed. And really like, it's been one of the biggest joys of my life, just to see this thing unfold that I did, you know. And I kind of had to take inventory because I've been running at warp speed for the last three years. And I've always said that I have two parts to what I do. There's the where we make and sell cheeseboards. And then there's like the Instagram personality or someone that is teaching you how to do it. And my passion has always lied with teaching you how to do it. In fact, as I started CheeseGal, I had people that are like, oh my God, is this just your dream come true to own a cheeseboard business? And I would always say, actually, I always, I've just loved entertaining since I was a little, I mean, I would host my high school friends at my mom. I would put on these parties or these elaborate. So that's where it all stems from. It all comes from the love of teaching you how to do it and entertaining. And so in order for me to put more energy and focus, I have to say no to this. And I'm blessed to be able to go, hey, this gave me the platform to where I can now teach you how to do it and put all of my focus here. So I'm really excited. Someone the other day was like, oh my God, I'm so sorry, your business is going under. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. No, it's a decision you made. It's a decision. And I also have two small babies and I just, it's not sustainable to keep going the way that I'm going. I have to just go, okay, what am I passionate about? This. I want to put it all there now. Good for you for doing that. It's hard. I bet it is. It's really, it's kind of sad. But I have so much peace. Yeah, that's great. I know, I think it's hard. It's like you, I think sometimes as a female you kind of get lost and like, I'm cheese gal. I have a shop and this is it, but like money comes in. Like if you're working 80 hours a week and making whatever it is, it's just like the notoriety sometimes like gets in the way of like what you actually want. Exactly. And I like applaud you for calling it and being like, I still love this. It's still something I want to do. It's still my passion, but it's just not in this way. Yes, yeah. And my husband has been so supportive and instrumental. This whole journey really for me. And a couple of days ago I was kind of having a day. I'm like, oh my gosh, am I doing the right thing? And he goes, honey, don't you remember like this whole time. This is what you have wanted to do. And now you get to, I'm like, yeah, but I'm closing my business. He goes, no, no, no. You're just closing the catering side. You're still very much so, he was now you get to be cheese gal. You're not, the company doesn't have to be out. Oh, this is a retail store. So it's like one of those things like with, with John for instance, he had to walk through all these certain doors before he could get to where he is now. And we actually had me McCormick on the, on this show. It was the same thing for her. She had her restaurant in Pinewood. And when she closed it, it was a gut wrench that was her baby. But then now it's opening other doors and things that she couldn't do before. Kudos to you. Thank you. Yeah. I'm really, I'm excited. I know. So what, so I know you do, you do all the how-tos, which I watch like every night. I'm just like ignoring my kids watching them. Like the dirty martinis, the Bloody Mary. The journey. I know. Oh shit, I had some stuff here. Why didn't I bring, totally use a Bloody Mary right now. Listen, you guys might have to be my taste testers because I have not landed. Part two. I need to do the part two. I'll make you the dirty martini first and then I'll make you the Bloody Mary because it'll taste better. You know, that's how we met. Was over drink. Is that it? That's how I knew. That's how I knew she's left my life. She's the one. She's the one. That's how it became best friends. I know some of your tips and tricks for making like the perfect cheese board because I was at your class. Yep. And I think a couple are like cutting the cheeses. So people aren't having to cut. Like I loved everything. Can you give us some tips for people making them at home? Totally. I think the first thing to always remember if it is pretty but it doesn't taste good, miss the mark. If it tastes good but isn't pretty, also miss the mark. You're always thinking of how can I elevate this? Can I take cheese out of the wrapper and just lay it down? You sure could. But it's not visually going to give you that. Mm-hmm. You know, the thing. Yeah, yeah. I know what I'm going to say but I don't know about what I'm going to say. I just shimmy. But truly, so you just learned these little tips on how to step up your cheese board. So like you just mentioned, it's the cutting of the hard cheeses. How many times have you gone to a party? Yeah. Or there's a big block of cheddar, a big knife, and guess what? Nobody's going to touch it because we won't be the first one. I'm guilty. You're doing that. Yeah, I know. But not after today. Not after today. So pre-cut your hard cheeses. A, you can arrange it in a more interesting, pretty way. Gives you texture, layer, yeah, yeah. But it also makes for easy grazing. It's about making it accessible for your guests. So cutting hard cheeses, also putting an assortment of like different milks, cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, also gives you different flavor profiles and folding your meat. Folding your salami. That looks so difficult. It's so easy. But you do it so fast. Grow it so easy. So like any, let's thinly sliced round piece of salami or shortcut grime. It's like this, right? You fold it in half. Okay. You fold things like, you do it in half. And then you fold it again. And that's all. It just gives you this little like, and you put them all together and it makes this, yeah, it makes it look interesting. Does it taste any different? No. You could take it out and put it down. That's okay, but it's pretty. And it also, again, goes back to, it's easy for your guests to pick up and grab. They're not like trying to pull it apart from the other meat. Well, another thing you taught me is like, add a color because I feel like sometimes I would go like get the cheese and the nuts and the apricot or whatever fruit. And then it was like all one color or like one tone. And I was like, mm-mm. Yeah, find fresh seasonal produce. Honestly, that's where I get my inspiration for boards. It's what is in season right now. Yeah, so we have berries, which are so beautiful. Adds texture, like she said, adds color. Add them around your plate and make it symmetrical. And it just brings your board to life. And my last tip that I'll give you, and this is one of my favorite parts of the board making process, fresh herbs. It's like putting a bow on a present. So I don't know, go out to your little herb garden, snip some rosemary or some thyme or whatever you have. Hey, there you go. Listen, I can't keep herbs alive. I'm out here talking like I have an herb garden. I don't. I just killed them all. Even the green ones that they say nobody can kill that. I killed it. Ready to like the cactus and that's the last same. Go to Kroger, grab the little packet of herbs and put it on the plate. And I'm just telling you, it just adds this freshness and vibrance. And it's just so pretty. That's what's going to set it back. It doesn't matter what herb or whatever. It just has to be pretty. Just something that's edible. Are you actually going to eat it? No, but just your taste. I always have our time if you want to add like a jelly or a mustard or something. Do you put them in like content? Like how do you do that? Yeah, totally. Get like those cute little ramekins or like a little bowl and just, or leave it in the jar. You could do that too. Just take the lost jars. But there's like just little ways you can step up your cheese plate. And that's why I love offering workshops and virtual master classes. Are you still going to do those? 100%. Okay. So are you going to get out your own space or will you do it outside your home? I think I'll probably find different places around town. Maybe like different restaurants or whatever that like want to partner with me. And then spaces, something in Illinois. I don't know. Just like different places around town. And I'm actually doing my first tour. And it's the dirty like the Cumberland cheese and martini tour. Okay, where is that? I know we have to go. So I just did my first one in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. And then we're doing our next one in Dallas. And then it looks like we might go to Chicago or New York next. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so this is what I... Where'd you go in Nashville? I had it at my shop or I had it in the bagel shop actually across the hall for my shop. It was so fun. So you taught them how to make them. We did the dirty martini, which for those that don't know, I went on a bit of a journey of a lifetime. Last July, I had just had, let's see my youngest was maybe four, five months old. And so you can't, with two kids you can't go out to eat every night. It's not, well, I guess you could, but it's not enjoyable. No, it's not enjoyable. Messes up bedtime, but I just recently had a dirty martini at Sperry's over in Bellevue. And I was like, this is everything I've wanted because I used to order them and then I would never drink them. And Chris is like, I don't think it's your thing. I'm like, it's my thing. I really, it's supposed to be my drink. He's like, but you're never drinking. And I'm like, I know. So I found the one that I liked. And then I was like, okay, I want to learn how to make this at home. But then I quickly found it is not as easy as one would think. You can't just like take any recipe online because I have a very specific taste. Yeah. Salt. Salt. Lots of salt. I mean, y'all, I'm still like, I wondered why I couldn't get my rings off. So I, yeah, I made a martini every day for the month of July using different vodka's or I didn't drink the whole thing every day, but I just was trying to find the perfect recipe. I know. We're pro drinking. Okay, same. Okay, good. I just like didn't know if it was the same space. There is no reason to waste. You have no ways. I knew I liked you guys. If you have little kids. Yeah. Or big kids. Or teenagers. Or no kids. No kids. We promote it. It's appropriate. Love it. I arrived at the perfect dirty martini and it's a very specific recipe. And I am telling you, and okay, that's what I should have. And like chilled glass. Like it's, the glass has to go in there. The glass has to be chilled. You have to use the right olives, the right olive juice. Just the rinse of vermouth and discard it. And the right vodka. It's very specific. It is. When I tell you it was a journey. It was a journey. And I filmed it all and put it on Instagram and it became this movement truly. People don't even talk to me about cheese boards anymore. Like it's, if they come up to me they're like, the dirty martini. Like, I know. I know. I feel like I had to ask you about cheese. I know. But they know me. So a follower of mine sent me the CM and she was like, so what I think, she was like, my friends, whenever we go out to restaurants, we say I want it the color of the Cumberland River. And I was like, that is brilliant. So now I used to always say from that dirty, like the Cumberland, cause it describes how dirty we want the martini. Oh wow. So we're doing a tour where we make the martini, like from start to finish, we stuff the olives with blue cheese, we do the whole thing and then we make a cheese board to pair with that. And it's so fun. But you also do like, I mean, you're cooking dinners basically live, like a lot of nights, right? And everything looks delicious from like super simple recipes to more complicated. But I just love following it. It's so fun. My husband is a really amazing cook, like amazing. And so he, now we do these Sunday suppers together where we, I mean, we cook every Sunday no matter what. And it was his idea actually, he's become quite the influencer husband. Yeah. And he's like, should we tag? So it's, I'm like, okay, so one piece. He's like sponsoring me. Yeah, literally, he kills me. So what does Chris do? Chris is a producer and songwriter and country music. So he used to tour for Destin Lynch for like eight or nine years. He was this right hand man guitar player. And then when our youngest actually, I think I was pregnant with her, that's when he started writing and then it's just, I mean, his career has also just taken off in the last couple of years. He just had a second number one a month ago. What was it? Can you say? I was like, I don't know. What was the big 23 by Sam Hunt? I love that song. He just told me this morning he has three more singles coming to radio from different artists this summer. So I'm like, it's amazing that both of your careers and just they're starting to explode. We're really blessed. We're really blessed. And it's cool to see them overlap. Yeah. It's brand very opposite into the spectrum work wise, but you do a lot of musician, like cheese boards. Yeah, my clients have been who he writes with or writes for. It's just, it's wild. That's cool. But how do you balance that? Do you have help with the kids? Not a lot. Yeah. I have a teenager that babysits. Do you really? Absolutely. No, I need. She loves it. Desperate need. No, I'm a desperate need. It's so hard. I need her though. I'm actually, she's like, move over. No, I feel that. Are they in school or do you have a nanny or something? I have like a like a like 10 girls that I'll just text. Are you available? And then when one says no, I go to the next one. It's like that. But I am looking for like full, well probably part to full time. Because I just, it's so hard. Whenever the girls were younger, I had one. I mean, you do and I'm a stay at home mom. And at first I had such the mom guilt. Why, why am I asking for help when I'm not technically like going into an office or anything? But I mean, when they're three years apart, when they get to be like both doing activities, I felt bad because my second one, I felt like was being pushed to the side because the oldest was dancing and natural is so spread out. Oh my gosh. It's actually John that was like, you can't do this by yourself and I can't help you with my schedule. So I had one up. I mean, she still helps me like with my dogs. I tell everybody. Even like this Friday, I have, you know, like it's in the last day of school and it's like there's a party at the preschool but then there's a party at her school and like at the same time and that we should be at both. So like thankfully Josh is flexible too, but I'm like, we didn't have that. Yeah. It's a lot. It's so hard. And back to the mom guilt. It's like the day your kids are born, they also hand you a card for mom guilt that goes in your, it like doesn't matter if you're at home, you have mom guilt. If you're working, yeah. If you're in the middle, it doesn't matter. On multiple levels. I now like Taylor just had bunion surgery. And so she was down in the dumps about a week later, you know, fun games are over with. I don't like crutches anymore. I'm like, sorry, baby, you're on them for five more weeks, you know. And so I'm texting her best friend going, Taylor's upset. Can you dig into this a little bit deeper? And she's like, she's fine, Miss Jamie. And I'm like, no, something's wrong. No, something's wrong. I need you. I need you to help me. And it's, they're like, it's like the heart outside of your chest. Just right around you like, oh my God. I mean, I can't, I started the other day getting emotional thinking about my girls going away to college. They're four and one. And I'm like, and I just can't imagine if they ever leave Nashville. I'll die. Like I won't be okay. I'm two years away from that. Oh my God. And it is such y'all, like I'm getting emotional thinking about it. For me, it's not even like my kids are good. I can be there for them, but then it's like, you're supposed to have the perfect house. Everything organized like the whole, it's like all of it. And then I also work and then you gotta look cute and you gotta do this. And to be social and your friends wanna go to happy hour and I'm just like, how? How do we do it? And also go to therapy and work out every day. And the list is just like, eat well. I'm like, okay. Like at these, the influencers, I have a hard time sometimes watching. Like Landon is a friend of mine. I admire what she does so much, but she gives me anxiety. And I tell her that just, I'm like, I can't. She's a wonder woman. Oh my God. She really is. And some days I can watch it. Some days I'm like, skip. I know, right? Like I can't, I can't. She's amazing. Oh my God, she really does it all. I know. It's damn good. But I'm like, so how do we do it all? I guess we don't. I saw this amazing TikTok video of Shonda Rhimes. I think her name, she does all the shows like on ABC and Scandal and all that. Grace Nadine is hers. And she's giving a speech at a college graduation. And she says something to the extent of, you know, someone asked me the other day how I do it all. And the truth is I don't. If I am missing one of our actors last day on set, that means I'm with my daughter on her first swim lessons or I'm missing my daughter's ballet recital because we can't do it all. And I think there's a beauty and surrendering to going, I can't. So I'll just do the best that I can. I'll prioritize. Some days I'll work out. Other days, it's important for me to sleep in till whenever Ellie will sleep in too, you know? I think it's just this, we just do the best we can. Well, and for me, I've finally understood that like not everything's gonna be in balance at the same time. I'm like, sometimes I feel like a great mom and wife, but like work is suffering. And sometimes I feel like a good friend and works great, but like, homeland. And so it's like, but our laundry pile is not balanced, you know? It's like, but that's okay. At school, like they'll put all the moms on a text chain and I immediately, I'm like, I'm adding my husband. He is like 50, 50 partner with me, but we're just expected to be the ones that are like at every function, at the night stuff, making the mom friends at school. And it's like, it's just, you just can't do it all. If a kiddo is sick, oh, it's us. We're staying home, we're us, you know? Oh my gosh. Do you miss Dallas at all? No, no. Not at all. It's so, it's, in fact, Chris and I just got back from being in Dallas briefly on Saturday and every time that I'm there, it feels familiar, but it no longer feels like home. And it's one of those things where I almost get anxiety when I'm there, because the thought of having never left and not having my, it's the strangest feeling. My new life here, yeah. It gives me anxiety almost to be there, but it's always good to see our family because both of us grew up there. And so we get to kind of like see everybody at the same time and. Totally. But I do, there are parts of it that I love. Parts of it I miss, like the text max, I totally miss the 100% Apocitos, oh my gosh, it's my favorite. Where, what part of Dallas? Group in Plano. Okay. Born, I mean, I was there until I was 18 or so. We were in Argyle. Oh yeah, I know where that is. We were in Argyle for about three and a half years. And then my sister was in Highland Village and then my parents moved to Canton, Texas. Oh yeah. The best monthly. I have never been. You never went. Never been. Oh my God, Jamie. It's so good. We moved away. My sister ended up moving to Canton and she's still there now. My mom's in Nashville. Oh my gosh, and I have family. My mom moved here too. Oh, she did. Oh yeah. That's nice. The second I had her first grandbaby, she was like. Hi. Yeah. And it was so great because Chris was still on the road and it was tough. You need her. What part of town are you in? Now we're in East Nashville but we're building right now in Bellevue. Oh nice. I'm like right by, we're right by Innsworth. So it's like on that line of Bellevue, Bellevue, West, I don't know. That's a beautiful area. It's so pretty. The houses and the property over there, I love it. It's gorgeous. It's just too far from school. Yeah, yeah, I feel that. It's an FRA. Speaking of school, I don't know. Charlotte goes to kindergarten in August. Girl, you better start touring. Everybody tells me. I did not know. Yes. And I know my chances of private school probably aren't happening this year, right? Start touring now. Oh yeah, they will. For August? Oh wait, for this year? Oh no, you're done. You're out. Well, there's a. Can you hold her back? Could you imagine? Yeah. But could you imagine, Charlotte? Oh yeah, she turns five right August 4th. So she's like on that line. You're doing what you may be at. My daughter is August 1st. And we went ahead and sent her at five. Yeah, I'm going to send. She's so social. She's so smart. That's how we were. And you kind of know your kid. But I will say she is the very youngest in the whole grade. Do you feel like there's any negative points to that? Yeah, she's not quite there. I think she'll catch up as she gets older, because the differences become smaller. But she's definitely sports-wise at first. I was like, come on, basketball's coming at you. Let's get with it. And then she's a little bit, she's just not as there. But she'll be fine. She'll catch up. Do you wish you would have held her back a little bit? No, because I can't imagine her in kindergarten right now. She's so tall. She is tall. She's like the tallest in her grade. Or like one of the tallest in her grade. So I think that would have like, I wouldn't change it. But again, kids are turning eight. She's not even seven in her grade. I will tell you, two of Taylor's very best friends. They were August babies. And they laugh and say, we're the baby. They're completely fine. They're completely fine. I was almost a October baby. And at the time, they didn't have the cut-off. I went to school at four years old. Wow. And she's like, I'm great. Honestly, the little public school in our area is great. So I'll send her there and then maybe for first grade. I would definitely start even now, even for first grade. I would start touring and getting ready. I don't even know where to send her. They're all good. I don't know anything. We'll send you. We'll send you a list. Put me on a group text. OK, do you like it? Love it. And if you're right there, you should document it on Instagram because I do feel like people don't know. The Nashore school system is crazy. It's crazy. And I told this to some friends. They had similar reactions to you guys. And they were like, two years ago. I was like, I didn't know. I was supposed to. And because of COVID because of people moving here, it's been absolutely insane. Oh, my gosh. Well, and then because Metro was shut down like during COVID for so long, I think a lot of people moved to private because they were still in. Yeah. Yeah. You're fine. She's got to be fine. She's like, I need my margaret to pull over. I was going to say, immediate leave is here to make a buddy marry. OK. Holy moly. OK, it'll be fine. So what's like the dream now? OK, the cheese shop's closed. And you're like, sky's the limit. Manifest it. Put it out there. What is it? Really? Yeah. Your own show? Yeah. No kidding. Yeah. It's been my dream since I was a little girl. You can do it. I used to protect the personality, the looks, the everything. Oh, my God. Stop it. You're so sweet. No, that's been the dream. I mean, y'all, I was five years old pretending to be Martha Stewart with two teddy bears, both named Dan. I don't know why. I would start the beautiful Dan. And I would go, thank you, Dan. Thank you, Dan. Hi, boys and girls. And I would teach you how to make spaghetti. So that's why when people have said this whole time, was the dream, the cheese shop, oh, my God. I'm like, no, my dream must be Martha Stewart. So to be able to kind of try to go that direction. And I was telling, using this example last night, not that I'm Ina. I am not Ina. Nobody can be Ina, OK? But Ina had a shop in the Hamptons. It was called the Barefoot Contessa. So this is her story. And then I loved it. Same. So she closed the shop and became Ina Garden as we know her. So I feel like you're on the same path. Yes. And obviously we have very different approaches to like how we teach you how to do it. I hope that I come across as relatable and people feel like they can do it in taking the intimidation factor out of making a delicious, beautiful meal or a delicious, beautiful cheese board or a cocktail or teach you how to set a table. I love dinner parties. Chris and I are like, have you your agents put you? Not quite. We've done different things. I am in a conversation right now with a streaming network to do my own like little short form. Not sure that that's going to be what we do next. But I'm going to start doing kind of my own thing and put it on Instagram, put it on YouTube, start there. And then we'll go, you know, I'll see what happens. But I feel it feels like you're already doing it too. Yeah. So it's like just getting the right right connection to be like, you're perfect. Let's do it. And you're such a love. Like, I mean, seriously, I feel like we've known you forever. And I just want to hug you. Thank you. You do. You have, like I said, the glow, the personality. And then you have your little mini me. That will be your sidekick. She would love it. She would love it. I took her to a checkup recently at the doctor and the doctor walks in the door and she says, Hi, Charlotte. How are you? And her first words were, I'm great. Did you see me on the news? Oh, my God. Yeah. That's what I'm up against. But she's the best. She is so precious. So we've been talking a lot about Little Miss Charlotte. Yes. Let's go into a little bit, if you don't mind, sure about your your baby. And I saw on Instagram, you're trying to have more awareness around what happened with her. So yeah, I'm so glad you asked. Because I feel like this is such an important thing for us as parents or not even as parents, just as human beings in general, to know that you are your only advocate. Or in this case, your child's only advocate. We have a Tennessee just to trust anybody in the health care system. And don't get me wrong. They're incredible nurses and doctors. However, they're still human beings, too. And where there's human beings, there's human air. So long story short, with both of my girls, actually, I had something called gestational diabetes, where it's hereditary. It's not because I was eating bad. It's just when I get pregnant, my body goes into full-blown diabetes. And I have to check my blood sugar four times a day, alter my diet like crazy. But I was having really high blood sugar throughout my pregnancy. And it was a little bit difficult to manage. Well, the second that they cut the umbilical cord, you don't have it anymore. It's like the wildest thing. But thank God, I knew this type of, what's the word I'm looking for? There's a protocol in place for mothers that have gestational diabetes for their kids to basically monitor the baby's blood sugar the first 24 to 48 hours of life to make sure that once that cord is cut, like I mentioned, that their blood sugar doesn't tank because they're used to making up for it in utero. I knew that because I had Charlotte. And they would come in every few hours, the first day or two, and say, hey, her blood sugar is great. She's doing great. So I'm like, OK, so I knew going into having Ellie, that's what was going to happen. Well, when I went into the hospital, my labor and delivery nurse brought me these snacks, which by the way, did you know you can eat now? When you're, like you can snack when you're in labor. That was like, remember last time, I could only have popsicles and ice. So I was like, this is great. But she brought, I know, it's like anything. But she brought me like a bunch of cookies and stuff. And I was like, I can have that? She goes, well, what do you mean? I said, well, I have gestational diabetes. She was like, oh, I didn't know that. OK, glad you said that. And I'm like, that's kind of odd. Well, and that should have been my first thing. But again, you're in a place that you just trust. Surely that's in my paperwork. And you're in labor. I'm a high risk, technically. So I have Ellie. And again, once that cord is cut, you don't have diabetes. So I sent Chris immediately to get me Krispy Kreme donuts and Chick-fil-A. I had been dreaming about both of those. So he was like, I'm on it. Ellie is maybe two hours old. I'm now just left in the room with the nurse that she's getting her all cleaned up and whatever. And I asked her, hey, what was her blood sugar? And she goes, again, what do you mean? And I'm like, well, I have gestational diabetes. I had to say that that 10, 50 times. Oh my gosh. Different people the entire time that I was at the hospital. And she goes, I'm so glad you said that, let me check. And she just threw some numbers at you for point of reference. Blood sugar for babies needs to be above 60. When it's below 55, they do a sugar drip treatment to kind of reset their pancreas. It's not a big deal. It happens all the time. But she goes, well, her blood sugar is 56. I'm like, I knew the cutoff was 55. And I'm like, OK, she was, don't worry. They're going to be monitoring this. So I'm like, OK, good. Well, over the course of the next two days, I kept asking over and over and over. Everything's great. Oh, she's great. How are her levels? She's great. Blood sugar's good. Yep, blood sugar's great. Our health care provider doesn't do hospital visits. So I had the pediatrician from the hospital even came to look at her throughout. So there's a lot of people that missed her. Oh, they're in your room all the time. And every second. The amount of people I told. I had gestational diabetes. Wow. So all that to say, I hadn't been noticing that she was really sleepy. And I just kept going, something doesn't feel right. It's been four hours. She's not even. We're having to wake her up to feed. At one point, you guys, I'm holding her, trying to nurse. My husband, my nurse, the lactation nurse, we're all going, come on, baby, wake up. And she was so sleepy. We go to leave. Y'all, we are always get chills when I tell this part. I have packed our bags. We have the car seat in the room. We are getting ready to leave. And we had just gotten this new nurse. And she thanked God for her, truly. And she goes, and she has her paperwork. She goes, listen, I know that you guys are parents, but I love to go over this just to refresh your memory. If you see any of these things with your child, give us a call because something could be wrong. Well, she gets this part where she goes, sorry, if she's really sleepy. And I go, that's Ellie. She goes, yeah, but this would be blood sugar related. And I go, no, that's exactly what I'm concerned about. By the way, nobody has told me her exact blood sugar numbers. Can you tell me what they are? Her face goes, white, sheet white. She goes, what are you talking about? Again, I have gestational diabetes and I've been asking about her blood sugar. And she just looks at us and she goes, oh my God, nobody's been checking her. What? And she looks, she shows us, she goes, that is nowhere in your file. She was in fact, she pulls up the record sheet, which is an Ellie's file. So it was not in my file that I had gestational diabetes, obviously. But in Ellie's file, there was the record sheet of her blood sugar and only that one. Just the 56. The one, and she goes and it's blank. Nobody's, so she runs, I'll never forget this, as long as I live, Chris is holding Ellie. I'm sitting on the bed. She runs to get the blood meter, comes back, pricks her little heel, and I see my husband's face just. And I see, she goes, this can't be right. This, this can't be right. She does it again. She rips my baby from my husband's arms and runs out of the room, runs. And I am sitting there about to leave. Like what just happened? And what just happened, and Chris goes, honey, it was 26. And we would be both start losing our minds. Oh my God. For 30 minutes, nobody was there. And I call my mom, I am hysterical. I am inconsolable. My mom thought the baby died because I was so, I mean, you can imagine, I just was losing it. Otherwise, perfectly healthy child. We should not be in this situation. And the NICU doctor who, I could cry talking about her. I love her, she comes in the room and goes, okay, Ellie's in the NICU. We have her on emergency, a dextro strip. We don't know how this happened, but all that I can tell you, it's so maddening. She goes, all that I can tell you is thank God you asked the questions that you asked because her blood sugar was so low and it was dropping. It was even lower when they checked her again upstairs. So it was dropping. And just so people understand what can happen with low blood sugar with infants, brain damage, seizures, they could die. And she told us that the way her blood sugar was dropping, she would have died. Oh my God. If you had gone home. To think. Yeah. It's one of those things that just, for a hypochondriac, that is not a good thing because I was right that one time. So I've had some trauma to work through, but all that to say, she responded beautifully so quickly. But part of the thing was we didn't know if any brain damage had occurred because we did not. There was no record of knowing. We had no idea how low for how long. Oh my. So we were there for almost a week. What the hell with the hospital? I mean, are you suing them? I would be so. We were in contact with an injury attorney. Basically because Ellie has no signs. Normally you don't pay the attorney because they get paid when you win. They take on, he goes, there's just such a high risk. It's just hard with malpractice. It is a hard lawsuit to win and because she's okay, which is what we want at the end of the day. We dropped it. We were like, it's not worth it. But don't make you mad. When the admins came in a couple of days later, we're still in the hot loo there, I don't know, six days or something like that. The admins came in and gave this whole, we're so sorry, how did this happen? At the end, she offers, I'm thinking they're about to wipe our bill at the least. She's like, this can't take away what has happened. She hands me two $7.50 gift certificates to the cafeteria. That's a slap in the face. I was so stunned. I looked at her and I was just like, oh my God. Like read the room. That may be protocol, read the room. I am hysterically crying. You're handing me $15 to go downstairs to the cafeteria. My daughter almost died in your care. So listen, my point of telling this story is you are your child's only advocate. If you feel something, just say something. At the very worst, you're wrong. Absolutely. And everything is okay. Yes. If I've learned anything through this whole ordeal, it's okay, I'm speaking up. I'm gonna say something and it's the same thing with you. If you feel something is wrong in your body. I don't know if you know, but my daughter has type one diabetes. Oh my God. So that's why, yeah. Yeah, she knows what that means. Yeah. And we had to be my daughter's advocate 10 years ago. Yeah. And had to listen to our instincts. Mm-hmm. And she was diagnosed. Oh my God. Yeah. I had no idea. Did they say anything? Is she gonna have like, is her pancreas okay? They told us that with that sugar drip, and this is why they said it, it's protocol for them to check because it's so easy to stabilize it. And it basically resets her pancreas. And I had such PTSD from this that I asked her pediatrician to still give me a blood meter so I could check her. And even though they swear, they're like literally 98% of cases, even when we have to do the sugar drip, they're gonna be okay. But I still, I mean, Yeah. For the next, For the first, yes. Oh, that poor baby's healed. So that's why. Oh my God. You just won a ball. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. It's hard and something traumatic. It's been a hard thing. I am passionate about it. Yeah. And I finally spoke about it for the first time on my Instagram a couple of months ago, right before Ellie's first birthday. Everyone was going, well, what happened? And I never talked about it because we were in a lawsuit and I couldn't speak about it. And I have never said the name of the hospital, but. Yeah. Well, she is healthy. Yes, thank God. So she is just so delicious and sweet and just a chunky little baby fiery. Well, we wish you all the best. Thank you guys. And thanks for like talking through closing the shop. Oh my God. Thank you for having such a good decision for you personally, obviously. I'm taking this one day at a time and following my gut as I've done this whole day. I'm like, you know what? It'll turn out the way it's supposed to. I feel a pull in this direction. I'm just gonna do it. Thank you for giving me the space to talk about it too. Absolutely. And I can't wait to round two. Yes. That is gonna be something. You have to do that. You have to do it immediately. Okay, we're gonna do it. Next time you see us. Thanks, guys.